Camp

Praise the Lord for a good week of camp!

• The weather was good–maybe a little bit too hot, but it did not rain during camp.
• The teachers all worked well as a team, helping each other and helping the students learn about God.
• The sixth graders who had just graduated elementary school forgot that the junior high school (middle school) would require them to attend orientation classes. So, although they had preregistered for camp, they were unable to attend. This meant that we had less students than expected.
• Those who attended had lots of enjoyment.
• The students loved the music, and participated well in the singing and doing the actions. Songs included: (1) “Lift My Eyes to the Hills“; (2) “Light of the World“; (3) “The Grape Vine Branches“.
• There were 22 visitors (students and their family members) who attended the Friday evening meal at the church after the conclusion of the camp.

Thank-you for praying!

Praise and Prayer

God Loves Baozhong!

The map graphic above says in Chinese: “God Loves Baozhong Township!”

We are thankful to George McFall (a TEAM international worker who promotes prayer for our area of Taiwan) for his work in creating this.

A few of the evidences of God’s love that we are seeing:

• Short-term workers are coming to Baozhong to help our church hold a DVBS-style day camp for elementary students (July 1-5).
• The preparation for camp English-teaching that we are responsible to oversee and participate is done. We think we are ready.
• Each month, two Christ-followers come from Taichung to Baozhong to help with visitation and stay overnight to worship with us on Sunday morning.
• The visitation team was able to visit a home and pray with an elderly member of the family.
• Our church is able to use donated food to bless some needy families in our community.
• The mother of the church member mentioned in last week’s letter had a successful procedure at the hospital and was able to return home on Wednesday. We  continue to pray for her salvation.
• Our church’s women’s fellowship enjoyed a trip to a DIY tie-dyeing tourism shop. The group included someone who is still becoming acquainted with the church and what we believe.

Join us in praising God for his work in Baozhong, and ask Him to do more!

Praise and Prayer

Field Forum Report

Field Forum created many memories:

• The church did have air conditioning–so Lorne learned that he had believed someone’s joke prior to attending the Field Forum.
• The speaker, James Chung, shared about “The Gospel Changes Everything.”
• The Taitung Alliance Church joined us for supper and worship on Wednesday evening. (photo) Young people from the church led the worship.
• Our international worker team is multi-ethnic. People shared about their families of origin and how the gospel has transformed their personal cultural views to become Christ-centered.
• We enjoyed the foods, the sights, and the experiences we had in Taitung.
• A few international workers who attended are recovering from the Covid virus that also attended. So far, Kathy-Lu and Lorne are symptom-free and hoping to stay that way.
• One couple travelled by train. They returned home safely. A later train was trapped in a tunnel by a rock slide. We praise God for protecting our coworkers. We have also pray for those who faced the trauma of being trapped in the tunnel.

Thank-you for praying for us all!

Praise and Prayer

Graduation

It was a privilege to attend the graduation of Taiwan Alliance Theological College and see Jennifer Hu graduate with her Master of Biblical Studies degree.

Jennifer is the daughter of the first pastor we worked with after language study, about 32 years ago. Jennifer trained as a nurse after high school. It is only in the last few years that she has sensed a call to be a pastor.  She will begin as an assistant pastor to her father, in the church where she grew up.

What a privilege to witness the work God is doing in the lives of some people whom we have known for a very long time.

Please pray for Jennifer and other seminary graduates who will begin serving in different roles within God’s kingdom.

Praise and Prayer

A Festive Time

The Dragonboat Festival on Monday, June 10. Traditional sticky rice dumplings, like the one above, are commonly eaten on this holiday.

Because the name of our town is a homonym (sounds similar) for the phrase for wrapping this kind of dumpling, Baozhong uses the day as an annual day of celebration. This year;s event was on the Saturday of the long weekend. After three years of Covid-cancellations, people were excited to gather again. There was a festive atmosphere.

Afternoon activities included DIY handcrafts, booths selling premade handcrafts and foods, educational displays by the health and fire departments, and a place to sign up for the raffle draw at the evening program.

The evening included FuHsing Elementary School students performing a flower-drum dance, the local middle school presenting a lion-dance, acrobatics, music, speeches by politicians, and the draws for a large number of prizes. (We admit that we did not endure to the end, so may have missed mentioning something.)

It was a good time to meet people and see some friends.

Praise and Prayer

Friends Visit

We have been privileged to host Rev. Wilson Tran and his wife Irene at our home this weekend.

Lorne worked with them when he was the Field Team Leader 2003-2005. There are lots of memories of what God did as we partnered together in ministry.

It was a privilege to show them our town and take them to visit other Alliance churches being started in our area of Taiwan.

Dr. Irene Tran shared from Psalm 103 in the Sunday morning service. Among the many things that were shared, she challenged us to pray in the following ways for those who are not yet Christ-followers:

1. Ask the Lord to give people repentant hearts and the gift of forgiveness for confessed sin. (Acts 5:31)
2. Ask the Lord to give people a capacity for clear thinking, so that they can understand the gospel. (Luke 24:45)
3. In Christ’s name break down the strongholds that prevent people from believing in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Will you this week pray in these ways and as God directs for the people of our town that do not yet know Christ as their Saviour and Lord?

Praise and Prayer

Out of Gas

Saturday evening, we suddenly found ourselves without power. A few minutes later, the lights came back on at our house and a few of the neighbours’ houses. But most of the subdivision continued to be in darkness. That did not last long as we once again joined those who were sitting in darkness.

When things like that happen, neighbours will frequently go out onto the lane and talk to each other. People made sure that the outage was reported to the power company. And there was visiting, in the dark, on the street. The only light was from a passing vehicle or a few mobile phone flashlights.

Pastor Lee contacted us and requested that a  weekend guest could come and stay in our guestroom. We welcomed her. We stood in front of our house laughing with the Lee family about the fact that we still had hot water at our house. That was because we still use a propane water heater, and have not upgraded to an electric unit (like they have at the church and at Pastor Lee’s house). Everyone said that they would be over in the morning for showers if the power was still not available..

Our guest came and showered, expressing thanks to us and to God for hot water. We all went to bed slightly earlier than usual because of the lack of electric lights. And, of course, had to get up a couple hours later to turn off the lights when the power was restored.

Sunday morning, Lorne was the last to shower. And the water turned cooler and cooler. The propane was used up. But, we were very thankful there was sufficient for our guest to use. And, we will easily have a replacement tank delivered to our house.

God’s provision is enough. In Philippians 4, Paul could be content with the provision of God in Christ Jesus even while in prison and while he was prevented from travelling to preach the gospel. He was confident that God would provide for all our needs, so that we too can be content through trust in and reliance on Christ. I think God wants us to be content even when we run out of propane gas.

Praise and Prayer

Camp News

Elementary Summer Day Camp is scheduled for July 1-5. Once again we will use the Fuhsing Elementary School facilities.

The theme for this year’s camp is “Who am I?” and will include the following stories”

• Monday: John 14:6 Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life
• Tuesday: John 6:35,51  Jesus is the Bread of Life
• Wednesday: John 10:11,14 Jesus is the Good Shepherd
• Thursday: John 10:7, 9 Jesus is the Door of the Sheep Pen
• Fri: Exod 3:24  God is the I AM

Praise the Lord we have found three additional English teachers to help that week. Please pray for Nathan, Laura, Jon, Kathy-Lu and Lorne as we plan English lessons that will be taught that week.

Pastor Joshua and our intern Kai will teach songs. Pastor Joshua will also tell the Bible Stories.
The pastor and some volunteers from Living Water Alliance Church in Greater Taipei will assist in leading other camp activities.

Please pray for the registration process and for the plans that are being made.

Praise and Prayer

Mother’s Day

We are thankful for this year’s Mother’s Day celebration at Baozhong Alliance. We had a number of parents attend with their children.

Before going to Sunday School, the students participated in the service by singing and doing the actions to a song about love originating with God. Lorne helped Kathy-Lu with Sunday School because there were 14 students.

While the students were in Sunday School, Pastor Ho shared with the adults from the Bible and her own experiences about a mother’s love.

It was a special day! We hope and pray that God will give more opportunities with today’s attendees, helping them learn more about Christ Jesus.

Praise and Prayer

Interactive Activities

The Baozhong Alliance Church is inviting members of the community to participate in activities sponsored by the church. The first of eight parent-child clay modelling classes happened last Saturday.

A class teaching how to use essential oils and massage techniques will be offered on the Saturday before Mother’s Day.

Please pray for God to help Pastor Joshua with the promotion of the interactive activities. We are hoping to establish and deepen relationships with people in the community. Our hope is that we can share and learn from each other. Attendees will be invited to participate in other church activities.

Praise and Prayer