OMF Taiwan Tinder

February 2012

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:03:29 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun Bible Church:

A retired Christian doctor and his wife who have joined the church have been learning Chronological Bible stories from a church leader and are using these to teach seekers in an evening fellowship group. The church had to vacate the school where they had been meeting due to opposition, but have recently found a very suitable place to rent.

 Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

One of the storying groups had 3 members get baptized last month and has now transitioned into the first house church Pray that the other group members will believe and for their growth as individuals and as a church. Pray for a desire to see friends and family saved too.

In January, Sylvia, a lady from Kaohsiung, started a 6 month apprenticeship with the Donggang team. Pray she will be gifted in making contacts, gathering groups and telling stories and that she can influence her home church to have a greater vision.

Praise God Ping Ho (Nancy’s former tutor) prayed to receive Jesus and attended church over Christmas and New Year. Pray he will understand more, be faithful, be kept away from bad influences. Nancy’s other former tutor, Yi Jie, and her daughter visited her on Christmas day. The daughter asked, “what is Christmas?” which gave her a chance to share. Pray they can meet regularly.

Dashe: David & Ruth Ullstrom

The Dashe church has contact with many youth through church families and ministry in the community. Last year 3 key youth leaders had to leave for further studies and military service. Pray for God to raise up others to reach out to youth in the community.

Chiayi: Wayne & Angela Chen, Allan & Bronwyn Lihou, Kerstin Richter

Kerstin is encouraged that the Sunday Night Group has been growing although most of them are not believers. Pray especially for A-Chin, who takes on responsibilities and is excited to read the Bible. In Orchid Street Kerstin recently had good opportunities to share the gospel and pray for people. Pray that the seed of God's word will grow in their hearts.

Give thanks for the 11 people who are now willing to hear Bible stories after a short-term team helped with Christmas gift distribution in the market. Pray that God’s renewing work in these friends’ hearts will help them receive His salvation.

A gathering in the park for a fruit selling family, the Lius, was started after the team came. Pray for the Lius to grow in the knowledge of Christ, and that surrounding sellers will want to join this gathering.

 Pray that those who asked about Fun English night will allow their children to attend, building family connections across ministries, and reaching more people. Pray for wisdom to respond to the open door in Minzu Primary School where Angela and Kerstin share weekly bible stories with 2 classes.

Zhongpu: Seann & Amy Gibson, Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre

The Zhongpu team gives thanks that the Christmas presentation with the Village Gospel Mission at a local school was well received and the principal has invited them back. They plan to share a story each month. Serving at the school has already opened new doors for building relationships with parents in the community. The story-telling in the park also is attracting more crowds to listen than even the games and music. Pray that the stories would stick in people's hearts.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken  

Pray for a special New Year outreach at the Taiping center on Sunday 5th February.

Nathan & Tina Keller officially transition from language studies to join the Taiping Team this month. Pray that they will adjust well to the new schedule and that God will use them in the team. Pray that as a team they will work well together and grow the ministry.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

The small house fellowship the Adams have started Sunday mornings in their home is slowly growing as Lucy and her friend May have begun to bring their friends. Some of those who come are not yet believers. The Adams continue to meet on Saturday mornings under the trees at Fumin with the small band of faithful people to sing, tell Bible stories and pray. Their prayer is that people in these groups will decide to put their faith in Christ this year.  

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Pray that this might be a year of open doors -- gaining access to tea shops, building relationships with ladies from the Mainland and mobilizing local Christians / churches to pray for the ministry.   Pray for more women in Wanhua (including Wenxin, Lily and Xiaojun) to turn from other gods to follow Jesus and to be willing to declare their faith boldly by getting baptized. 

Prison Ministry: Teo Sin Ee

Sin Ee has a Bible storying group with 8 women every Monday. Thank God for the 3 students who are very responsive and attentive. Pray that something (e.g. a Bible verse, song, story) will stick in the minds of the other students.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

Lately there was a great turnover in Class 3. It is not easy for new boys to get adjusted to this new lifestyle. The old ones often have problems accepting the new ones, as they are no yet used to all the rules and commands, make mistakes and the whole class is punished.

 The ministry team need to readjust the program to the new situation. Pray for wisdom to do justice to the old and the new boys. Also remember those who have been released or sent to other facilities.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Beate Harr, Annie Laurinkari, and Tina Keller will start a new semester teaching Champions at the Junior High School in Taiping. They praise God for the opportunity to continue teaching the students they had last term in a course on Managing Your Emotions and they can continue to build into the lives of students. Beate will also teach a course on Boy-Girl Relationships in an Elementary School in Taiping. Pray that these young people will see Christ in the teacher, that they will hear Christ through them and will learn to trust Him. Some of them live in such difficult circumstances and under pressures which are beyond what they can bear. May Jesus himself touch their hearts and bless them as He did with the children brought to Him.

 The two University Campus Evangelical Fellowship winter Bible study camps (16th-21st January and 30th January to 4th February) are very full this year. Over 1,100 students registered and they are desperately short of small group leaders. They need people with inductive Bible study skills and good knowledge of either Acts or Romans - the two books for advanced study this year. Pray for Martin & Angela Symonds who will be leading groups at these camps.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander is delighting in God's goodness and asks prayer for deputation & support. StorySeed has nearly finished recording 108 audio Mandarin Bible stories & will make a book to accompany them. Sadly, StorySeed must take the former administrator, to court. Pray for a just outcome. Pray for preparation of the Taiwanese group which will join the BibleTelling Israel tour in early May.

Chi Pin Hoon thanks God for a smooth trip home to Singapore. Pray for grace to adjust to life with parents and family. She will be teaching a class on OT characters in her home church from Jan 8 to Feb 26. The challenge is that youth and adults will attend this Bible study together fro the first time. Pray for wisdom to teach and love to minister to them. 50-60 people are expected to be in this Bible study.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Anja Lijcklama à Nijeholt thanks God for a good first month in Taiwan. She is thankful to be able to live with Birgit Glaw in Chiayi and for friendships with the teenagers at the Gospel Center. Pray for her language study, that she would work hard and improve fast. (Anja will be in Taiwan for one year.)

Brian & Faith Janssen give thanks for the way that God has been their foundation during a time of significant transition as they have joined OMF and the Taiwan field. Pray for their kids Abby and Nathan. Abby started at Morrison Academy before Christmas and Nathan will be joining a local preschool shortly. Also pray for Faith’s mom, who is in the US. May God’s peace be with her and the Janssens as she has recently been diagnosed with lung and brain cancer.

Linda McKerrell is encouraged that people seem to be understanding her when she talks to them in Chinese. (very exciting!) Recently a shop keeper in a dress shop asked her 'something' about God (that much she could understand) but she didn't not have enough Chinese to answer her. Keep praying that Linda will grow in her knowledge of the Chinese language, be a light pointing people to Jesus and keep walking closely with Him.

Markus & Annie Laurinkari give thanks to God for the first semester of Champions Course that Annie is teaching. It was a good learning experience co-teaching with Beate and a good opportunity to get to know the students and the problems they are facing. She will teach again next semester in the same junior high school.
 Markus gives thanks for his Taiwanese study. It's improving slowly but he feels quite tired at the moment. Pray for strength. He also has a second language partner now, pray that it will be beneficial for his listening and speaking skills.

Will & Edna McKelleher thank God for a busy and inspiring Christmas. They were involved in many outreaches and there are now many new faces at church. Pray for the upcoming Chinese New Year's Eve outreach. The church will be distributing dinner boxes to the homeless nearby.   They will move to Taipei after Chinese New Year. Pray for a good transition including finding a suitable apartment and a school for Joshua.

OTHERS

Mary Jeanne Buttrey has just returned from Home Assignment. She is hoping to follow up on some friends who have clearly heard the gospel. They had not embraced it as good news for themselves when the Buttreys left Taiwan in July 2011. What has God been doing in their lives in the interim?

Katherine Tang asks prayer for wisdom as she learns the ins and outs of the Serve Asia Coordinator role, and that there will be a smooth transition into this role during the next month. Continue to pray for Taiwanese language studies as well. Her six months of study is almost over. She can understand more than she can speak. Pray for people to be able to practice with.

Stephen & Megan Noble along with 3 of their 4 children will be moving to Taipei in August (Conrad will be boarding). Megan has been transferred to Taipei campus in the role of librarian for the beginning of the next school year. This will enable both Stephen and Megan to have the opportunity to slot into ministry to the working class and use their Chinese. Pray for their transition.

Philip & Miriam Snelling thank God for some good times with Miriam's family over Christmas. Pray for Miriam's cousin Gus, who has been on a short-term trip with the Taiping team & stayed on to help & encourage the family. May God guide him as he finishes Bible College this year. Pray for the Snellings to settle into a new church & for continued perseverance and contentment whilst language learning.

January 2012

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:30:05 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun Bible Church:

The church is considering renting a place for future meetings. Pray for wisdom and God's provision.

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Sylvia (Ming Jie) is a local seminary graduate who started working with the team for 6 months. Pray that she'll make friends and learn to tell Bible stories.

Pray that they will find more groups in which to tell stories and that these groups will transition into house churches. One of the groups dissolved just before the crucifixion story because 3 members became too busy. Two other groups are still hearing stories.

Nancy praises God for His love that came in many ways this year: for adjustment to living in Donggang, for friends, and for what she is learning.

Chiayi: Wayne & Angela Chen, Allan & Bronwyn Lihou, Kerstin Richter

Wayne and Angela shared the needs of working class people at the Conservative Baptist Seminary in Xiluo. Pray for the students to catch the vision and to mobilize more students to come and join in working class ministries.

 A team of 5 from Sydney came before Christmas. Pray that they can follow up new contacts as a result of the team. Pray for confidence in beginning story telling groups with these contacts.

 Pray for children in the market area. May time spent in primary schools and park ministry touch their hearts and make an impact on their families.

 Pray for the fledgling church meeting on Sunday nights. Pray especially that they will grow in Christ.

Zhongpu: Seann & Amy Gibson, Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre, Anja Lijcklama à Nijeholt

The Zhongpu team was excited to discover that outdoor preaching in the park was well received. After doing the regular music on guitar for the young families who gathered to play, they told the story of how Jesus calmed the storm, and the large crowd stayed to listen. Others walked over just to hear the story. They gave a very practical application to how the story can help life today and encouraged people to respond. They are going to continue to experiment with this over the next few weeks with other NT stories mixed with a bit of a preaching/teaching style and application points. Pray for people to respond and for it to spark better one-on-one conversations in the park.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

A short-term team from one of the Gribbles’ supporting churches was in Taiping December 12- 23. Pray that there will be new contacts to follow up as a result of their outreach. Pray too that the team will return home with a fresh enthusiasm for missions.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

The Adams have begun a meeting in their home on Sunday mornings. They pray that this will be the beginning of a house church. They will continue meeting on Saturday morning at the Fumin “Under the Tree” gathering as well as meeting on Sunday afternoons in the Three Cornered Park. They are also planning two Christmas outreach activities in their home, inviting neighbors and hospital staff.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

During Christmas time each of the shopworkers small groups and the Dorm fellowship got to know quite a few new seekers. May the leaders have the love, energy and time to follow them up and start one-to-one Bible studies with them.

At the end of January Elisabeth will go on Home assignment for 3 months. Please pray for Kai, the church’s fulltime coworker, and the small group leaders that they have the strength as they take up more leadership responsibilities.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

The team thank God that Audrey has returned from Home Assignment. Pray that the team will press on, fixing their eyes on the Lord Jesus and persevere with the task he has given them despite some setbacks. They would like to grow the craft "business" to provide income for a few ladies (e.g. unemployed or single mothers). Pray that God will provide local Christians who can help.

Wanhua Hope Team: David & Sigrun Jansen, Linda McFerran, Veronika Rieben, Margret Zingg, Hannah Zhang (Taiwanese colleague)

David & Sigrun give thanks for the 2 week conference they attended that helps them prepare for Home Assignment next April. The number of non-Christian men that David is meeting with to study the Bible is growing. Pray for salvation for these men and for a Taiwanese Christian man who can help him share the Gospel with them. Sigrun is continuing with Champions course teachings. Pray for juggling Wanhua team, local church, and OMF field and home office responsibilities.

Veronika shares that sometimes it can be quite overwhelming to see the darkness and rebellion against God all over Wanhua. It hurts to see students walking away from God even though they have heart so much about Him. Pray for a spiritual breakthrough and that God's hope and light will reign in many people's lives.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

Chinese New Year (Jan. 22 – 27) is a difficult time for the boys who are locked up. Pray that those who are Christians get comfort and joy from the Lord and are able to pass it on to others. 

The boy who has to prove to his mother that he really became a Christian has been released (see the previous Tinder). Pray that he has a good testimony and trusts the Lord when he is assaulted by many temptations.

Lately several boys have called Margret because they have financial or other problems. Pray for wisdom in how to respond. Most of them do not have a clue how to handle money. The ministry team wants to teach them how to budget their money and need good, creative ideas in doing that.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

During the winter break CEF (Campus Evangelical Fellowship) will run two weeks of Bible camps for university students (15-21 Jan & 29 Jan - 3 Feb). Martin and Angela Symonds, Judith Jackson and Melanie Bister will be leading groups. Pray for students who are attend the seekers group, that they would come to faith, and for all students to have a deeper understanding and love for God's Word.

Birgit Glaw thanks God for the 6 students that have been coming every Friday to the Gospel Center. May they make clear decisions for Jesus and hunger for God’s Word.

In January Annie Laurinkari and Beate Harr will finish teaching Champions Classes for this term. Praise God for the good time and the input they could have into the lives of many Junior High School students. May God himself protect the good seed of His word in their hearts, that they can remember what they have learned and trust God.

The short-term team that visited Taiping in December helped outreach in 10 different classes in the Changyi Senior High School. Praise God for this excellent opportunity. The gospel has been sown abundantly through personal sharing and evangelistic literature. Pray for eternal fruit.

Beate is responsible for training the many small group leaders for the CEF winter high school discipleship camp to be held on Jan 16-20. She will support them throughout the camp and help them as they may face difficult situations. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the students and in the staff.

Angela Symonds has had a hectic term. She is the CEF staff worker for Taichung Teachers College and National Zhongxing University. Her life is filled with organizing training for new students and Bible study groups, speaking at other student fellowships, teaching specifically on heresies, and dealing with people and their problems. May she be as full of Christ as she wants the people she leads to be.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander (on Home Assignment) praises God for completed exams, and asks prayer for deputation & financial support, especially in view of the US economy. StorySeed continues to seek wisdom in leadership & resolving problems left by the previous administrator, while moving forward with vision to empower many to tell Bible stories.

In January Andy Wilson will finally begin teaching his course on insights into Church Planting and Mission from Acts. He will also continue to mentor students and interns.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Phil & Miriam Snelling ask prayer for finding and settling well into a Mandarin speaking church and for making some friends there. They have a lot of visitors in December and January. (9 family members!) Pray for quality time with them but also that they can remain focused on the priority of culture and language learning so that they can communicate God's Word and love to the Taiwanese people. They rejoice that they have noted improvements in language after a year and are thankful for your prayers for this. Pray that God will lead them to people with whom they can start having some gospel conversations. 

Will & Edna McKelleher thank God for their inspiring ministry visit to Chiayi. Pray for the numerous Christmas outreaches they are involved in: small group, church, local markets and friends. Pray for willing hearts to attend & participate. May the Lord move in the hearts of many. They also pray that God will equip as committed prayer intercessors, sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

Linda McKerrell gives thanks for continued progress in language, but please keep praying. She will have a holiday between Christmas and New Year. Pray for a restful and relaxing time. Continue to pray for a close walk with Jesus and that she makes the most of every opportunity to share Jesus with people in Taiwan.

OTHERS

From January, the Serve Asia Coordinator position will begin to be handed over from Irene Nicholson to Katherine Tang. Pray that all details will be covered, including training on the OMF computer personnel system. Irene will move on to work on other aspects of mobilization for the Taiwan field.

Stephen Noble is thankful for all the help he is getting from IHQ and the office staff in Taipei. There are always new enquiries and concerns that take quite a lot of time to handle so pray for him to have patience and perseverance. Megan has been on a library taskforce that requires time and insight. Pray that it continues to be a fruitful time with her colleagues.

December 2011

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:45:13 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun Bible Church:

The church continues to grow through baptisms. A Christian Taiwanese doctor and his wife who have moved back to Taiwan from the US to serve at the Hengchun Christian Hospital are considering joining the church. More church members are involved in discipling and outreach. Wisdom, perseverance and spiritual insight is needed in discipling new believers and seekers.

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Nancy praises God for friendship with fish vendor, Amah. Pray for wisdom in nurturing this friendship.

Pingho and Mayet continue to meet for Bible stories. Pingho said he has already heard stories about Jesus. Pray he believes and that both will desire to read the Bible. Their place is frequented by friends where they enjoy Filipino food. Pray for fishermen Roselle, Bong, and Val; contract worker Armida and Angie. Pray for their conviction and provision for their families.

Dashe, Kaohsiung: David & Ruth Ullstrom

Praise God for 2 people who have asked to be baptised. May many others be encouraged at their baptism on Dec. 18th. The church will have several special Christmas outreach events: to middle school students, university students, at 2 nursing homes, a local hospital, and at a night market near the church. May God be glorified and move hearts.

Chiayi: Wayne & Angela Chen, Allan & Bronwyn Lihou, Kerstin Richter

A new house church is forming on Sunday nights in the gospel centre. The people who are coming are very low working class (recycling garbage collectors and such) with many social problems. Since beginning 2 months ago with one single father and 2 children, the group has grown to 5 adults with 4 children, one helper and one missionary. They eat together, sing, talk about God, hear God's word and pray. None are Christian yet. Kerstin strongly emphasizes Sunday night as time of rest and refuge, receiving new strength and hope from God. Most also come Wednesday nights, when Kerstin is also around. May God build his church with these people!

Give thanks for new relationships through a school volunteers’ dinner in November. Pray for opportunities to share deeply.

Ms Zhou is sharing more, open for her beliefs to be challenged - pray for wisdom to clearly understand God's salvation plan and love.

Pray for wisdom to lovingly handle Taoist believers complaining Wayne's amplifier was too loud, affecting their business in the market. Pray God's stories will continue to be broadcast there. Give thanks for growing relationships. Mr Water has introduced his extended family and friends.

Zhongpu: Seann & Amy Gibson, Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre

The Zhongpu team is excited that 2 Village Gospel Mission workers have moved to central Zhongpu, rented a facility, and are beginning ministry. Pray for good opportunities for them to work together. Praise God that kids in the park on Sundays are remembering the lyrics to the songs, and that adults gathered to listen last week. Praise God that Jennifer's children's English class is extremely popular and some adults now gather downstairs during the class to talk with Thomas. Praise also that Thomas & Seann's men's English class had a few working-class guys attend and is off to a decent start. Pray for new contacts as they try to spread themselves broadly in the community. Praise that the Gibsons are continuing to make great progress in the village where they live.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

David will be away at the Pre-Home Assignment workshop for two weeks until Dec. 8. Lucy hopes to continue visiting and sharing bible stories with two older ladies in Taiping. David will be preaching at two local churches this month.

The Gribbles ask prayer for Lily who is studying the gospel of Mark and has been coming to the house church recently. May she decide to commit herself to Christ wholly. Pray that Liu Mama and her grandson, who have joined the mums and toddler's group this term, will meet God personally.

The Taiping team will be hosting a short-term team from Sydney Australia from Dec. 12-23. Pray that the team will help make new contacts and benefit from the mission experience.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

Lucy, the Adams' co-worker, continues to meet with her family for singing, Bible study and worship each Sunday night. Lucy and the Adams have begun to sing and share Bible stories in a small park in an area where Lucy lived as a child. Pray for spiritual breakthrough and more people to join the Fumin gathering under the tree. The Adams praise God for new people joining their weekly English Bible class.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

Gospel Christmas parties for shop workers will be held at 7 different locations in Taipei on Dec. 20, 21, 23. On Christmas Eve there will be a party for the Dorm fellowship, neighbours and family members. The church will do quite a lot of visitation in the department stores. May they find many seekers.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

A team of 7 will come from Sin Ee's home church in Singapore to help with the Christmas outreach program at The Spring (church for homeless people) and at the Pearl Family Garden. Pray for unity and love as they work together.

The Pearl is also looking for opportunities to raise awareness and mobilize more local Christians to get involved in the ministry. Pray for open doors to share the vision and mission with local churches, university fellowships and seminary students.

Wanhua Hope Team: David & Sigrun Jansen, Linda McFerran, Veronika Rieben, Margret Zingg, Hannah Zhang (Taiwanese colleague)

David & Sigrun rejoice in many personal contacts. David is doing Bible studies with three non-Christian men and Sigrun is enjoying teaching her Champions courses. Their local church, Kids' Club, park outreach and the Youth Club all have various Christmas activities to prepare. Pray for discernment and success in the endeavors.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

Thanks for praying that the boys at the Reformatory would become disciples of Jesus. Some of them have started sharing the gospel with others, challenging them to believe and pray with them! To hear their reports is encouraging, but also amusing.

One of them told his mother that he is reading the Bible and wants to follow Jesus. She would not believe it and told him, to prove it to her when he gets out by the end of the year. Please keep praying!

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Melanie Bister will be involved in Christmas outreach events for the student fellowship groups in Taipei Business College (7 Dec), Changgeng Technical University (19 Dec) and Kangning College of Medical Care and Management (22 Dec). There is also a joint vocational college Christmas event being held by Campus Evangelical Fellowship on 9 Dec. Pray that the message of Christmas will draw students to faith in Christ.

Jeannie Newquist asks prayer for Christmas programs and preparation for the spring semester. Pray that Christmas programs and community interaction will have an impact that reflects Christ as non-believers astutely analyze and want to participate in this "Christian tradition". Pray for wisdom as they decide how to structure the Friday night gathering, content of Bible discussions, and seek to offer effective training and mentoring opportunities for students. Pray that students will eagerly want to know Christ.

Beate Harr is always amazed how Junior High students respond to the classes about "How to face problems". She praises God that they enjoy the classes, that there are no discipline problems and that these classes are real eye-openers to them. They probably never have thought about ways to face their problems. Her prayer is that they not only learn ways to face problems but that they learn and are encouraged example to trust God as they face relationship and family problems, temptations, school pressure and sometimes uncontrollable emotions. They have so little support in their struggles. Pray for the teachers as they try to teach, guide and counsel them and respond to the problems they share.

The weekly Social Club in a senior high school in Taiping is very encouraging. The hearts of the students are so open. Stephen Gribble has joined Beate and hopes to develop relationships with the boys there. Hopefully through a short-term team in December they can also share the gospel with students in 10 classes as they are invited to join English classes and teach about Christmas. “God so loved the world” - pray for this message to enter the hearts of the many students as they reach out to during this special season. May there be a harvest after the sowing the seed abundantly.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander has been blessed by two training conferences in the last 2 weeks. Anne is also encouraged by several churches who are interested in hearing about her ministry teaching believers how to tell Bible stories. Continue to pray for the StorySeed chairperson, Lily Peng, and the secretary as they seek to undo harm caused by the former administrator. Lily also needs prayer for her arthritis.

Chi Pin Hoon asks prayer for finishing her 3 classes well by end of December. Pray for her preparation for home assignment from 29 Dec 2011 to 29 Feb 2012. She will teach an adult Bible class and preaching in her home church. Pray she will have a good time with family and church during HA.

Mimi Yeh asks prayer for wisdom and strength to prepare teaching materials and teach clearly. May God grant insight through the Spirit to teach His Word in the seminary and through distance learning. Pray that God will protect her quiet time and help her maintain a lively spiritual life. Also pray for health and for Mimi to keep up her routine exercise.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Phil & Miriam Snelling praise God that they have been in Taiwan for one year from Dec 6. It's been tough and challenging at times, but they can look back and praise the Heavenly Father for sustaining them with His grace. Thank God that He helped them through an extended period of sickness. They welcome Miriam's family in late December and will holiday with them. Pray for safe travels and rest for despite a busy time.

Will & Edna McKelleher will move to Taipei for ministry in early 2012. They ask for God's help during this transition period, including finding a new home, school (for Joshua) and a church in Taipei. They are thankful for opportunities to use Chinese in church & external engagements. In their remaining time in Taichung, may God empower them to impact their neighborhood for His glory.

Katherine Tang asks prayer for good rest. With a lot of things to do, she's finding it difficult to have quality rest. Pray for refreshment in her times spent with God each day. Continue to pray for her language study, that she will remember all the new words she is learning and put them to use.

Although her language is progressing, Linda McKerrell feels like she has hit a brick wall. She is having trouble understanding when her teacher speaks and is starting to forget the vocabulary she have memorized. Pray she can review her textbook thoroughly and greatly improve her listening skills. Pray also she would hunger more for the Jesus and grow in my relationship with Him.

OTHERS

Irene Nicholson asks prayer for the Pre-Home Assignment Workshop Nov 29-Dec 9 that she will lead along with Marilyn Schlitt from IHQ. 15 OMFers (11 from Taiwan) will work on HA preparations. Childcare will be provided by 4 volunteers. Pray that the conference will go smoothly and that the young kids will be happy.

Stephen & Megan Noble praise God for His continued provision of health and grace. Stephen enjoys his role as acting finance manager although travelling to Taipei each week is long and tiring. Megan is busy at the library. The OMF KOFFEE KLUB will meet on December 9th for a Christmas Craft afternoon. Pray for continued language progress for all the Nobles.

November 2011

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:25:46 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun Bible Church:

A new fellowship has been started for a group of people who are not able to attend other meeting times. Some new people are coming. Pray that new leaders will be trained to help lead this group and more people will grow in faith through serving in the church and sharing their faith.

 Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Ping Ho, Nancy’s language tutor, hears a lot of the basics of Christianity from the book (Religious Conversations) they are using. Although he insists he does not want to be a Christian, may the lessons convict him. He and his mother Mayet Chen continually meets with Nancy for weekly Bible storying. Pray that God would convict the fishermen, Raffy and Pancho, with whom Nancy shared Jesus. Pray for the healing of Maribel (skull surgery) whom she visited at the hospital.

Pray that Nancy will be able make Taiwanese women friends. She has lost contact with some previous friends, Mr & Mrs Yan and Yi Mei who suffers from depression. Pray they will all come to Jesus.

One of the storying groups in Donggang is led by a new believer, Amanda. Pray that as the group reaches the crucifixion and resurrection stories each member of the group will respond positively to the gospel and be baptized.

May the Top 5 group (a community leader and 4 friends) become spiritually hungry as they too reach these important stories. May they want to keep hearing beyond the basic stories.

For several years OMFers have been teaching an extension course for lay people on evangelism to working class people for the Lutheran Seminary’s Grassroots Ministry Department. In November, Christine will twice go to Chiayi to talk about storying. Pray that the students will become excited about sharing stories with some of their non-Christian friends and family. Pray also for the ongoing impact of all that OMFers have shared.

Chiayi City: Wayne & Angela Chen, Kerstin Richter, Allan & Bronwyn Lihou  

Ministry is going slowly in Orchid Street. Relationships are good and trustful, but people are so rooted in their traditional world view that at times it looks like the gospel can't find a way into their hearts. Pray especially for the 4 ladies from the massage shop, for Mr Su the idol carver and for the ice shop (Yao) family who worship the hell god but like Christianity too. All of them have heard several Bible stories. Pray that God's word will take root in their hearts.

Thank God for the opportunity on 4 Nov to meet with all the volunteers in the local primary school where Kerstin and Angela are sharing Bible stories with children weekly. Pray this meeting will help build solid relationships, leading to more opportunities to share with other volunteers as well.

 Every Thursday, Angela and Bronwyn share a Bible story with Ms Zhou and her friends. Lots of Ms Zhou’s friends joined in, so pray that God develops this group into a house church.

 Pray the team will notice the opportunities God provides to build relationships with people of all ages in the area and that they connect well with the children each Saturday in the park. Pray that fruitful neighbourhood relationships continue developing as Lihous settle into Chiayi.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

Pray for the team as they consider new uses for the prayer center this month. The ladies meeting on Wednesdays has been successful at attracting new contacts and they have been meeting new people in the park but we need to find creative ways of meeting and building friendships with local men. Pray for follow up of new contacts from prayer walking.

The Gribbles thank God for the opportunities to meet families at Taiping 921 Park. Pray for more families to come and join in the games and listen to Bible stories. Pray for Grandma Liu and her grandson to meet God through Bible stories, songs and prayer at the Wednesday parents and toddlers' group.

 Pray for the Tiu family, as Tim works through discipleship material with Mr Tiu. Continue to pray for his wife's salvation.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

After the death of her 92 year mother, Lucy, the Adams’ co-worker, was invited by her non-Christian brother to have a family worship and time to celebrate their mother's life in his home. Since this first meeting, they've continued to meet on Sunday evenings. Pray that these family worship times will result in Lucy's family coming to faith in Christ.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

Pray that seekers in the ministry will will come to a better understanding of salvation. One is the grandmother of one of the coworkers. She has a strong Buddhist background. She and her hrandson moved into a ministry dorm because of health reasons. They are both learning to pray more and more Jesus.

Dzung Huei, a man working in a restaurant, will be baptized on November 13.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander enjoyed an excellent International Orality Network Conference in North Carolina. She is looking forward to further Bible Story skills training in Illinois at a BibleTelling workshop. Her preparations for exams continue, interspersed with enjoying family & developing local relationships. Pray for StorySeed Taiwan's vision, activities & finances & everything necessary for Anne to return to Taiwan in June.

Chi Pin Hoon shall be going to Singapore for HA at end of December for two months. Pray for God's enabling as she wraps up her 3 courses at AGTM. She shall also be involved in teaching an adult Bible course and preaching in her home church during HA .

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

A few women come to the centre on Fridays to earn some money by making gospel beads and other accessories. Please ask God to provide more opportunities to sell these locally and overseas.

Praise God that Jade is doing well in hospital. Fiona has found a new job at a laundry. June is also keen to find work outside Wanhua. Please pray that Lily and June might be ready to make a firm commitment to the Lord and be baptised.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

Praise the Lord for the 18 boys writing the Bible course on John’s gospel. So far they do it very diligently. As they are confronted with the word of God their conscience is stirred up. Some have been offered to deities as god’s sons, many have been involved in temple activities. There are all kind of bondages in their lives. Jesus said: ‘if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’. John 8: 36.

Many boys need to be helped through one-to-one talk. But time is very limited and at the moment the Reformatory is not willing to give more. Pray that the boys will be set free and become free and courageous disciples of Jesus.

Wanhua Hope (family ministry): David & Sigrun Jansen, Linda McFerran, Veronika Rieben, Margret Zingg, Florence Lin

Pray for the team as they talk about goals and strategies. Pray for unity and that they recognize and obey God's leading.

 They praise the Lord that Mr Chi, the former noodle shop owner at the park, has become a Christian. Pray that he grows in his relationship with Jesus and becomes a passionate follower of the Lord.

The Jansens give thanks for their time in Taipei (now 3 months). They are busily involved in much of the Wanhua Hope Team's ministries while studying Chinese on the side. David asks for prayers for language speaking while discipling a Taiwanese seeker friend. Sigrun will begin teaching a Champions course, a Christian program helping troubled junior high school students with communication & problem solving.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

This semester Melanie Bister is helping with two student fellowship groups in Kang Ning College of Medical Care and Management and Chang Geng Technical University. Praise God for the good number of new non-believing students who have joined the group at Kang Ning. Pray for the two Thanksgiving Day outreach events on 21 and 22 November and for courage for the students to invite their friends.

Jeannie Newquist asks for prayer for two graduates who are volunteering time with student ministry. Doris and James are both leading incoming freshmen. Pray for several new believers to receive solid grounding in their faith, and for students coming from Christian homes or High School fellowship groups to establish good life habits and keep spiritual growth as a high priority.

LANGUAGE STUDY

OMF Field Conference was an important time of input and fellowship. Will & Edna McKelleher were inspired by local Christians & colleagues reaching the working class. Pray more Taiwanese Christians will catch the vision for this people group.   Pray the McKellehers would also have increased faith & ability to learn short Bible stories to share with locals. They complete full time language study at the end of the year. May God help them to become fluent in Mandarin & Taiwanese. 

Linda McKerrell has settled down to a steady pace in life and language which is good, but she is quite tired. Give thanks for her Taiwanese church which has welcomed her. Pray that God will bless her friendships with people at church, for good sleep that restores her for each day, that she will walk closely with Jesus and will continue to enjoy learning language and making Taiwanese friends.

Philip & Miriam Snelling’s whole family has been quite sick throughout September and October. This is on top of feeling discouraged about language learning. Pray that this time of trials might strengthen them and enable them to be more equipped for service.  Pray for their children to grow in maturity and wisdom. Especially for Denali, their 2 year old son, who is full of energy. Pray that God would provide a Taiwanese family to be friends with.

OTHERS

Stephen & Megan Noble continue to praise God for the opportunities to practice their language and ask for persistence in language learning. Stephen has been very busy inputting the data for the fields’ finances and although he understands more how the financial system works, he asks prayer for stamina. Praise God for good working relationships between Stephen and the OMF office staff as well as Megan with her library colleagues.

Pray Serve Asia Worker, Diane Wee, who is coming from Singapore for 2 weeks to work with the Hope Team in Wanhua. She is also weighing up God's plans for her future through this trip.

Karen Nicolson (UK) will be arriving at the end of November for 2 weeks, also to work with the Hope Team and spend some time with the Pearl Family Garden as well.

October 2011

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:24:41 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun Bible Church:

The whole church worked together to host a seekers group for several weeks this summer. The result was three people being baptized and many others to follow up. Pray for church leaders as they continue with one on one discipling with new believers.

 Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Continue to pray for the two potential house churches. The Top 5 group (2 couples including a community leader and a grandma) has as yet no intention of becoming followers of Jesus but they keep hearing stories. They are already into New Testament. The natural leaders of the group are also listening to an audio Bible. May they not be able to ignore Jesus. Amanda's group is much closer to becoming a house church. Pray that they might come to new life soon. Pray for Amanda as she leads, it’s a big challenge for a Christian of less than 18 months. There is at least one other potential group. Pray that the grandparents would want to listen to stories so that this extended family gets into the habit of a regular story time.

Praise God, Evelyn prayed to receive Jesus at the hospital when Nancy and a friend visited her. Pray for her recovery from mild stroke. May she know Jesus more. Mayet Chen is growing in her faith. Mrs. Yan, the fruit vendor with limited Mandarin heard a simple Creation story. Pray Nancy can share the next stories. Pray also for Yu Mi, vendor in the night market, to be willing to listen to Bible stories.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

Pray:

that the Shopworkers' Church will become a praying Church.
that young Christians will get into the habit of having a quiet time with the Lord.
that each of the 30 coworkers will find a seeker they can lead through a 1-to-1 seekers class.
that the church will become more and more involved in overseas mission.
that through visitation in department stores and restaurants they get to know more men who are seeking the truth.

Zhongpu: Seann & Amy Gibson, Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre

The Zhongpu team is working hard to keep their Sunday night adult group going. Although they have good, on-going relationships with all the families outside of the group meeting, it has been difficult to get them to commit consistently to learn more about God with their busy schedules and their other priorities (like attending local god parades). No one in the group knows Christ yet.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

Thank God for a great time of outreach during the Moon Festival BBQ, pray for follow up with new contacts that were made. Pray for the visit of a short-term team for a few days before Field Conference in October.

Continue pray for the outreach at the 921 Park using story telling, tea, and family centered activities. Pray Sunday house church regulars to take increasing ownership, and for the return of some onetime guests that they have had. Pray for Tim’s discipleship time with Mr. Tiuⁿ, and for softening of his wife’s heart toward Jesus.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

The Adams are praying for spiritual breakthrough in the lives of people who have attended the gathering under the tree for two years. Their Taiwanese co-worker Lucy is now telling the stories each week at the gathering. They are thankful for her faithful help and seeing spiritual growth in her.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

A two day song and music camp was held at the Reformatory in August. It was moving to hear the 100 boys sing praises to God. There were also heart-breaking stories but it was great to hear some of the boys testify that God is their healer, because he has touched their hearts.

16 boys signed up for a written Bible course on John’s gospel. Pray that the Holy Spirit will make the word of God alive to them.

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Ruby has been homeless for many years and has been diagnosed with 3rd to 4th stage cervical cancer. But God did an amazing thing for her. Through her illness her two younger sisters were located. Both had become Christians last year! They hadn't seen Ruby for 30 years and were thrilled.

Fiona recovered well from her own operation and is now looking after Ruby in the hospital. This provides her with a much needed job and is a blessing for Ruby. Since Fiona left the Teashop about 5 months ago, she has not lacked anything even though she was hospitalized twice. She even was able to pay off some debts! May God’s grace be sufficient for both of them in the challenging days that lie ahead. 

Wanhua Hope (family ministry): David & Sigrun Jansen, Linda McFerran, Veronika Rieben, Margret Zingg, , Florence Lin

In September, Dali school kids club, Fumin English tutoring, youth club and Champions (moral education) classes have all restarted. 

Pray that the team can build good, valuable relationships with the students and their families, as well as with teachers and social workers that they are involved with. Pray for key people to become earnest followers of Jesus. The team appreciate your prayers for guidance, wisdom and unity as they are seeking God's will for the things He wants them to do in Wanhua.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Since September Junior and Senior High School students are back to a daily routine of classes at school, at the cram schools and other activities between and over the weekends. School pressure, peer pressure, family pressure in addition to the pain of growing into adolescence makes this a difficult period of life for many young people. Youth depression, the meaning of life, struggles, hurts, family problems, addiction and many other issues are addressed by school counselors.

Beate Harr praises God for opportunities at a Junior High School in Taiping to teach each week about "How do face my problems?" and "Boy-Girl Relationships" in three different classes. The planned Social Club in a Senior High School in Taiping can't start this term because only 8 people signed up. This is a pity but they are thankful that the school keeps the door open for Christians to come in and meet up with these students and to restart the Social Club next term. May God give them wisdom to know how to continue ministry in the school.

Jeannie Newquist asks for prayer for incoming freshman. Each year, the fellowship makes phone calls and visits incoming freshmen who have been introduced by their home churches or high school fellowship groups, But there are many activities during their freshman year that can take higher priority. Pray that students will make it a priority to get to know God better, and for protection from false teaching as they seek to know the Truth.

Angela Symonds asks prayer for determination to keep going and keep smiling in contacting and welcoming new college students. It is tiring in the hot weather. May the Lord give Christians love for each other, and for the new people they hope will soon be part of their fellowships. 

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander was blessed by attending the International Orality Conference learning how to reach those who can't, won't or don't read. Pray for her as she promotes missions, thanks supporters, spreads a vision for sharing through Bible stories, companions her parents and prepares for exams in her missions studies.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Markus & Anne Laurinkari thank God for a relaxing holiday. They feel very refreshed. Pray for Annie as she is going to teach one Champions class with Beate in Chung Ping junior high near the Taiping prayer centre starting from the middle of September. Markus has started to have a language partner once a week and finds it very helpful. Continue to pray for courage for him to use the Taiwanese he has learnt so far.

Will & Edna McKelleher will move to Taipei early 2012 following their placements in Pearl Family Garden (Edna) & the Reformatory (Will). They ask prayer to be able to rest in God amidst busier times. Edna gives thanks for the friendly response from the street outreach to prostitutes around church. May God protect & provide for a lady who is heavily pregnant. May God also save a local cobbler who is suffering from last stage cancer.

Linda McKerrell gives thanks for for prayers for language study. She is steadily making progress but please keep praying. She gives thanks for the opportunity to spend New-Moon Festival with a Taiwanese friend, whom she met in Australia, and her family – great time of friendship and cultural and language learning. Pray for Taiwanese students studying in Australia to know Christ and return to their families in Taiwan and share Christ with them.

OTHERS

Stephen & Megan Noble give thanks for their first two years on the field. Stephen is still learning his role as business manager and asks prayer for his long Wednesday’s travelling to and from Taipei and continued language study. Megan needs prayer to juggle her roles as TCK advisor and full time job at Morrison as well as family life. Healthy Noble children have set but busy routines.

FIELD CONFERENCE

Pray for our Taiwan OMF annual conference which will be held on October 8-12 in central Taiwan. Pray for good fellowship, encouragement and spiritual input from the Bible teachers, David and Gwyneth Carling, who are coming from the UK.

Pray also for the short-termers and visitors coming to help with the children’s activities as well as visit some ministries on the field. They include Ruth an Anthony Choong (with kids, Laura, Timothy and James) who host a monthly Taiwan prayer group in Sydney, a team of 7 from Western Australia and a few others. Pray for good health, ability to relate to the kids and youth at conference and also an understanding of the field as they meet OMFers.

September 2011

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:35:38 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun:

The Hengchun house church is excited about their Tuesday evening meeting for seekers. At the first meeting they had 15 seekers attend and they have continued to come. The whole church is helping; taking turns sharing a Bible lesson, leading discussion, bringing friends. Church members are growing spiritually as they reach out. Pray these efforts will result in more people coming to faith.

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Christine’s visit to the first three community leaders has produced an unexpected result. The third leader had guests the night she went to visit and this has resulted in a storying group of 5 adults (2 couples in their 50's and 70's and a grandma). They have already met for 5 weeks and they are beginning to learn to ask questions and discuss. Pray this continues and that this becomes a house church.

Nancy and Christine have been able to share their vision with two local churches. They are praying this will result in interest from churches to learn more about evangelism and storying. They are also hoping for a cooperative effort towards drama/storying in the night market so that more abundant gospel sowing will occur. Pray for God to overule people's lethargy and prejudices.

Nancy praises God for the opportunity to help in the VBS at one church. She shared the creation story to a group of 19 young children. Praise God for the weekly storying time with Mayet Chen and with Ping Ho. Pray that Ping Ho will continue to have interest to listen when his school classes resume.

Chiayi: Wayne & Angela Chen, Allan & Bronwyn Lihou, Kerstin Richter

The Chens praise God for the readiness of Mr. Liu, a vegetable seller, to have a weekly 1-to-1 Bible study. His mother is also open for spiritual conversation. Praise also for the positive outcome of broadcasting Christian music and Bible stories in the market. Pray for opportunities to share Bible Stories with fruit sellers opposite the temple, Mrs. Liu and her daughter, Mrs. Lai and Yu-ling whom they met through the park carnival in July.

The Lihous have just arrived in Chiayi. Pray that initial contacts with people will be positive and that their language will be competent for this. Pray for them to adjust to a new ministry context, new team and new city. Pray they will be bold in conversations and have opportunities to start telling stories to groups who naturally relate to each other.

Kerstin Richter prayer walks in Orchid Street. This has changed to visitation of the most promising and welcoming contacts. Mr. Su, an idol carver, has recently received a Bible, a gift that he honors. May he read in it and experience God in it. The Huang family likes to listen to Bible stories and experienced healing. Pray that these places would turn into house church meeting places in the future.

Zhongpu: Seann & Amy Gibson, Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre

Pray for the Zhongpu team as they follow-up with over 300 people from a very successful summer carnival. They are holding two events at McDonalds for those who are more interested in Christianity. Praise God that the first one was already held and several working-class families attended. The other will be held soon. They are trying to build a group from these two follow-up activities to meet at the Gibson's house for Bible study. Praise God that He is actively working in this unreached area of Taiwan. Pray for Taiwanese co-workers to assist them as the number of people beginning to respond to the various Zhongpu ministries is far beyond what the small team can handle.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

The Gribbles thank God for the opportunity to build and deepen relationships in the neighborhood. Pray for Lily, a teenage mother in their complex, who is growing in her knowledge of God as she meets Him through His word and in prayer. Pray also for Mr Young, a recently retired man who has been coming along to the 921 park to chat over tea.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

Busy schedules have kept people from coming consistently to Randy and Janet's English Bible Class, but they do come when they can and they have had great classes at those times. Randy has begun seeing patients again at Wanhua hospital as well as some nursing homes. Pray for wisdom and opportunities to share the gospel with hospital staff and patients.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

The 7th anniversary of the Taipei Shopworkers Church will be celebrated on September 1. Give thanks for what the Lord has done: 67 adults have been baptized and 12 were confirmed; 100 people meet weekly in small groups all over Taipei. They depend even more on the Lord as they look to the future with the desire to see church services or gospel centers not only in downtown Taipei but also in the areas of the Taipei 101 building and in Neihu and Yonghe.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Fiona and Ruby were hospitalized for severe medical emergencies. Pray for full recovery and for blessing and growth through these trials. Pray for compassionate medical staff and wisdom in Ruby’s healing process. She has been bleeding and in pain for 3 months for unknown causes. Having no home, family, and little education, treatment is challenging and medical staff often treat her poorly.

Audrey leaves for Home Assignment 9/8 and Sin Ee returns 9/30. Pray for the 3 weeks that Tera and local colleague, Huang Jie, are on their own.

Wanhua Hope (family ministry): David & Sigrun Jansen, Linda McFerran, Veronika Rieben, Margret Zingg, , Florence Lin

Praise the Lord for the international Serve Asia team's help in sharing the gospel with the people in Wanhua. Pray for follow up. The team is also thankful for the Jansen family who have joined them. Currently they are working on new mission, vision, and strategy statements. Pray for wisdom and unity as they are getting to know each other and seeking God's will together.

After the summer break, they will restart kids club, Fumin English tutoring and youth club in September. Pray for creative ideas in organizing these programs and that families in Wanhua turn to the Lord.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

Each Saturday at the Reformatory Margret introduces some Christian books to the boys. Pray that she chooses the right books and that these books are a help to the boys to grow as people and also as Christians. But for many boys books are not a useful tool as they hardly can read. Pray that the lessons and ‘one to one sessions’ are helpful for them.

Many of the 50+ boys in Class 3 say they believe in Christianity but pray they become disciples! Every Thursday they have to take part in a Buddhist Tea serving class – many go there with a lot of inner opposition. Pray for their protection and that they know how to behave under these circumstances.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Melanie Bister asks for prayer for the start of the new academic year as vocational school student groups prepare for fresher’s week events. Pray that many new students will join the groups.

Birgit Glaw is back in Taiwan after one year of home assignment. Praise God for the good home assignment. May God work in the lives of the young people she met in Germany that are asking for His guidance. Pray for her time of language refreshing from Sept-Nov. She will also be looking for an apartment.

Jeannie Newquist is looking forward to working with a new group of university student leaders and coworkers who have a heart for serving. Pray for unity in the leadership team of the church and the student fellowship. There are several events coming up to welcome incoming freshmen. These events are usually what determines whether new students feel welcomed to the fellowship, and can often lay the foundation for whether they start their college years with a strong spiritual foundation. Pray for strength, good communication and loving care as relationships are built with these incoming students.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Andrew & Ruth Butler ask prayer for the new batch of students who will begin study at China Evangelical Seminary in preparation for future ministry. The seminary will be full to capacity. Pray that new and returning students are ready for the new semester, and for the staff, under the new President, Dr Peter Chow and his wife Esther.

Chi Pin Hoon asks prayer for her preparation as she will be teaching 3 courses in AGTM the coming semester which beginning Sept.19. The 3 courses are OT characters, General Epistles and Church History.

David & Ruth Ullstrom recently began using Bible Storying with their youth group. Pray that the youth will get excited about the stories and want to share them with their friends. Many thousands of university students return this month to the 4 universities close to their church. Pray for Sarah, Shiowei, and Yongning, working to start a small group for college and career young adults.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Will & Edna McKelleher thank God for a fruitful ministry visit to Taipei. After visiting a number of ministries, they were inspired by what God is doing through His people. Pray for the right ministry placement for them in the near future. Recently Edna and a Taiwanese friend did street outreach around their church. Praise God for a lady who accepted Christ. Pray for wisdom for ongoing prayer walks and outreach.

Stephen & Megan Noble are very thankful for a rich short home assignment, meeting with many small groups, churches and friends eager to hear about Taiwan. Pray for Stephen to be organized and efficient as he steps into the Finance Manager role. Pray for Megan as she returns to the rigorous role of Elementary & Middle School librarian at Morrison and for their 4 children for good starts to the new school year.

Phil & Miriam Snelling find they are spiritually dry and ask for prayer for good times with God. Pray for their 2.5 year old son to love his 1 year old sister and for Phil & Miriam to be kind and firm in their discipline. Pray for them to make the most of language practicing situations and that they keep persevering and not lose heart.

Linda McKerrell has been in Taiwan for 1 month and is settling into language school. Pray that she will love studying Mandarin, both at school and at home, that she will be disciplined and have an ear to hear the sounds and tongue to make the sounds of Mandarin and a good memory to remember the sounds. May God bless her friendships with the other OMFers in Taichung.

Katherine Tang requests prayer for her Taiwanese language study, that God would help her to be able to compartmentalize other languages learned, so that they will not interfere with her learning. Pray that she will not continue to have a headache after class every day. Also pray for her mother who had a follow up appointment at the cancer center. There is a shadow on a part of her stomach. Doctors believe it is just a scar from the surgery that hasn't faded yet, but are unsure, so have asked her to return in September for another scan.

August 2011

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:25:12 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun:

The church is starting a new meeting on Tuesday evenings to invite seekers. Pray that people will be willing to come. New believers are bearing fruit and seeing friends come to faith in Christ and be baptized.

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Christine is experimenting with some new ideas. Donggang has 23 districts, each with a community leader. She is hoping to visit each of them and not only get to know the area better but find people of influence like Cornelius (Acts 10) who can be gospel bridges into their networks. For the first round she will do a small survey and hope to find people worth visiting a second time. Pray for courage to talk to all these strangers and good Taiwanese language ability.

They are also hoping to share their vision to churches in town. Pray they will find people who want to be trained in Bible storying. Pray that the church youth groups might be interested in doing monthly night market evangelism (drama and storying). They would like to see more abundant gospel sowing and distribution of mini-Bibles.

Nancy praises God for Mayet and Cynthia, Filipinas in Donggang and Fangliao, who prayed to receive Jesus; for Ping Ho, the teenaged Chinese speaking son of Mayet who read Genesis 1 with her; for Yi Jie, her non-believing diligent language teacher who listened while correcting her pronunciation of the Creation story; for enabling her to participate in two churches; and for His faithfulness in providing for her needs. Pray for the salvation of Yi Jie and Ping Ho, and pray for Nancy to have wisdom in ministry, improvement in pronunciation, and peace of mind.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

David & Lucy Eastwood return from their trip to the UK on August 6. David will travel to Singapore for meetings on Member Development 12th-20th. Lucy will attend Project Timothy in the Philippines 22nd-26th. Pray they would still be able to continue with ministry in Taiping despite all the disruption.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

Randy and Janet have recently started an English Bible storying class in their home. A small group of folks from their neighborhood have been coming, including a community leader and his wife. After the first meeting, this leader started to read the Bible on his own and now his son also wants to read the Bible.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

A lot of new friends joined the outing for shopworkers in July. For many this was their first contact with Christians. May the church coworkers be able to follow them up and start one-to-one Bible study with those who are open to the gospel.

On April 25 there will be a retreat for the 12 small group leaders. Pray they "will be filled with the knowledge of His will" (Col. 1:9).

Pray for Guan, a young man in the Youth Fellowship. He was recently baptized but is still taking drugs.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Praise God that Tera is back from a very blessed home assignment.

Pray for wisdom in counseling the women in their relationships with children. A number have been going through an especially anxious time in this area of their lives.

Praise God that Verna, who was recently diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer has put her faith in Jesus. Pray for her continued discipleship, healing, provision, and the care of her two grandsons who have cerebral palsy.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

Sometimes it is frightening to hear what kind of ‘business’ some of the boys have been involved in and the amounts of money earned. How will they ever be able to handle a ‘normal’ job and get much less money for more and harder work?! Two other frightening things are the hatred in some of them and the deep shame and regret in others. Pray that the gospel becomes a healing, forgiving and renewing power in their lives.

This month there will be a two day camp for Classes 3 & 5 with an emphasis on singing. They would like to give the boys a ‘treasure box’ of Christian songs.

Wanhua Children: Veronika Rieben, Linda McFerran, Jennie Rawlings, Margret Zingg, Florence Lin

Pray for lasting fruit from the Wanhua kids ministry camps that were held over the last month in a local school and in Fumin social housing community.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Last month Melanie Bister attended the CEF Vocational School Department’s annual gospel camp. She was encouraged to see around 250 students including many non-Christians. Pray for those students who responded to the invitation to trust in Christ. Several of the core students at the Taipei Business School fellowship group are graduating this summer. Pray for God’s direction for these students and others like them and that they would continue to walk closely with God and find good fellowship groups and churches to attend.

Beate Harr has attended two discipleship camps - one for Junior High School and one for Senior High School. Many students hearts were touched. May they continue to grow in their relationship with the Lord, that they know how to love and follow Him. Most of the Senior High School students need to go back to school for classes in August. The parents are glad because it means that their children are back into a daily routine. Computer game time is limited, and the time of hanging around with friends, boredom, facing temptations, and the danger of getting into trouble has come to an end. Of course, the young people are not very excited about that! Pray for good adjustment at school, understanding teachers, and the building of new and good friendships. Pray for the registration of the students in the new Christian Social Club at Taiping Junior High School and for the new start of the Champions program at that school.

Jeannie Newquist asks for prayer for campus ministries in Changhua. Because there are several Christian groups working on campus, it is difficult for the Christians to have a unified identity. Although many are asking questions about Christianity, it is easy for them to be thrown into confusion because of a wide variety of "faiths" and groups that claim Jesus Christ, as well as teachers who speak badly of Christianity. Pray that Christian students on campus will be strengthened in their faith. Pray especially for those who have trusted Christ in their youth, but have been putting aside their faith during college, that they will seek out friends who reflect Christ and seek to follow Him whole-heartedly.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander gives thanks for safe travel to the US, family and OMF reunions, and time with friends. Please pray for StorySeed board as they deal with the former administrator's noncooperation. The good news is that 3 bilingual Bible story training DVDs are finally finished and available. Other colleagues continue to work on the 108 stories in Chinese.

Chi Pin Hoon thanks God for seeing her through the first year of teaching at AGTM. She hopes to have some good rest in the summer and to prepare for the next semester courses. Pray for wisdom as she prepares 3 courses: OT characters, General Epistles and Church History. She also plans to visit her students and will be preaching in a few churches to spread the vision of reaching the grassrooots in these 2 months.

August is “Ghost Month”, and a very busy month at the huge local temple. David & Ruth Ullstrom’s church is joining two other churches for a special prayer meeting and outreach event to let people know that with Jesus we don’t have to fear hungry ghosts. Pray that the “captives might be set free”.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nathan & Tina Keller ask prayer for Tina’s sister-in-law who was recently diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. The family are missionaries in Papua New Guinea. They will now have to move back to Taiwan for medical treatment. Pray for encouragement for Tina's brother's family during this difficult time. The Kellers are also currently looking for housing in the Taiping area. Pray for a suitable house to be found.

Markus & Anne Laurinkari would like to give thanks for good adjustment into the life in Taiping as a family. Give thanks for the church they attend. It is a church with good teaching and a good mixture of young and old people. Pray for courage for Markus to use the language he has learned so far and for Annie as she is helping out in the children's Saturday club this summer in the church.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou ask prayer for their transition to Chiayi in late August. Pray for the market people who have heard 6 stories in Taichung: give thanks that they have taken mini-bibles, pray that God will continue to reveal himself to them and for good farewells. Pray for their initial contacts in Chiayi, that God will prepare hearts to hear his stories and that they will be courageous in sharing.

Will & Edna McKelleher thank God for their first year in Taiwan, for ongoing prayer and financial partners and the OMF community here. They were refreshed at the recent Taiwan Missionary Fellowship conference. Pray for ongoing relationship building with a couple of local Taiwanese. May God guide them in this and upcoming visits to other OMF ministries in the next few months.

Miriam & Phil Snelling ask prayer for wisdom in helping their 2.5 year old learn to share their attention with his 1 year old sister. They give thanks that that Phil's Mandarin is coming along, with the help of 2 language helpers who visit their home weekly. Pray for continued perseverance as language learning is hard with a young family. Pray also that God will provide meaningful relationships and opportunities with their neighbors nearby.

July 2011

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:18:13 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun:

The church is planning and praying about starting a new Tuesday evening meeting open to the seekers with whom members have been visiting and sharing the gospel. Pray that people who really want to know about God will come.

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

July is a good month to get to know people in the local churches because they often host short mission trips for various fellowship groups. Pray that that strategic relationships can be established. We would love to have at least one of the three local churches asking for storying/evangelism training. If Christians started telling stories regularly it would really multiply gospel impact in town.

Pray also pray the formation of at least three house churches by the end of this year. The difficulty is finding groups of people who already meet and will listen to stories or who will gather round a seeker or new believer and listen to stories. So much of society has broken up so gathering groups is hard. People are usually busy working or watching TV. May God prepare hungry hearts.

Nancy praises God for friendly acquaintances, Mr. & Mrs. Yan, fruit vendors who speak Taiwanese more than Mandarin. Pray for open hearts and minds. When she practiced her language with them speaking out Gen 1:1 they did not understand but just smiled back. But the customer beside her who overheard, smilingly replied: well done.  Nancy also is thankful for a keen but busy language teacher. Qi Zhen. Pray that she will have good pronunciation and tones so she can confidently tell stories and be understood. 

Zhongpu: Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre, Sean & Amy Gibson

Give praise that Jennifer's English class is helping them get to know working-class people in the community. Praise that the “mat-time ministry” in the park is also achieving that same goal. Praise God that Thomas and A-Kiong, the fruit guy, are building a good relationship. Pray that Claire would accept the exclusivity of Jesus and see her need for Him alone. Pray for perseverance, patience, spiritual health and strong marriages.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen and Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

The Eastwoods will go to England for a month in July. Pray for the visit to supporting churches and a family holiday with David's relatives.

Give thanks that the Gribbles are settling into life and ministry in Taiping and that God has provided the opportunity for Susana to befriend a few stay at home mums and their children who live in their apartment complex. A couple of mums are coming to the toddlers group that meets on Wednesday mornings at the new Taiping Prayer Center. Thank God for these ladies who come and pray that they'll meet our loving Heavenly Father as they spend time together.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

Besides the Friday afternoon gathering, the Adams need prayer for an English Bible class they hope to start in their home. Several former English students and others in the neighborhood have expressed interest. This is a time of seed scattering. Pray that those with open hearts to know more about God would come.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

A camp for youth and single mums will be held July 1-4. May it be filled by God’s love. There will be an outing for shopworkers on July 14. Many new friends will attend and most of them will be with Christians and hear the gospel for the first time.  

A new single mum with one child has moved into one of the dorms. Pray that they adjust well and that the father of the child leaves them at peace and won't search for them.

The past few months have been busy for the Pangs as they prepare emerging leaders before their upcoming brief home assignment. Pray for two shopworkers, Anne and Five as they lead the small group meeting near Taipei Main Station for the next few months. Pray that seekers who have come to the group will continue to attend.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

The team has been feeling the effects of intense spiritual warfare recently. Pray that the team will be united as they challenge people with God's word and speak the truth in love.

Sin Ee will be on home assignment in Singapore for 3 months. Pray that she will have many opportunities to mobilize people for missions and have a good time re-connecting with her family, friends and church. 

Prison Ministry: Teo Sin Ee

Shan has moved into the dorm at the shopworkers church. Pray that she will grow in her knowledge of God and experience his gracious provision each day. May she be able to settle into a routine and look for a job soon. Pray that she will build good relationships with other Christians in the shopworkers church while Sin Ee is away on home assignment.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

The hot summer is a difficult time for the boys at the Reformatory. Often not only the weather, but also tempers are hot! Pray for protection and God’s mercy. Pray the team, as they seek ways to share Christ with these boys and make disciples.

Wanhua Children: Veronika Rieben, Linda McFerran, Jennie Rawlings

A short-term team will work in Wanhua during July, in Dali Primary School, at the Fumin government housing area and in parks. Pray for good health, energy and strength for the team, to work well together and to make the most of each opportunity to share God's love with those they contact.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Jeannie Newquist rejoices in seeing students recognize God at work in their lives and sharing about their own spiritual growth over the semester. Student leaders for the coming school year are being selected, and prayer is needed for good role-defining, communication and planning. God's provision is needed for more Christian students to be involved, and for the fellowship to continue to be a place where non-believing classmates feel welcome. The first church-run youth camp will be held on July 1-3. Many of the college students and young adults will be serving together. Pray for relationships in the church to be strengthened during this time of serving together.

Martin & Angela Symonds will be leading small groups at the annual CEF Discipleship camp in Tainan on June 24-30. Then July 1-16, Martin will be in Bangkok teaching a missions course for Taiwanese seminary students who are considering cross-cultural missionary work. From Bangkok he flies directly to Singapore to teach language & culture learning on the July Orientation Course. There will be 25 attending. Pray for stamina and a sensitivity to each person's needs. 

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Transitions are the focus for Anne Alexander, as she hands over StorySeed leadership to Rev. Lily Peng, the head of the board. Pray problems caused by the former administrator's collapse will be resolved & this will be a year of growth and stabilizing. Anne begins this month with a short workshop at a missionary retreat, then heads for home assignment, family reunion, OMF debriefing, & comprehensive exams. Transitions can be traumatic, & Anne covets your prayers.

Pray for Chi Pin Hoon’s preparation of 3 courses for the AGTM (grassroots) Bible school for the next semester beginning in Sept. She will be teaching 2 OT courses and one on Church history. Pray for wisdom as she scouts for suitable Chinese text books for the students. 

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Pin Hoon needs to be involved in a Vacation Bible school in Keelung July 4th to 8th (5 days). Pray for God's guidance and grace in this short time of preparation. 

Pray for Pin Hoon’s preparation and teaching on OT Characters at an AGTM evening class in Taoyuan from May to early Aug. Pray that the students be open to His Word and be transformed by it. Most of them are middle-aged and are leaders in church.

David & Ruth Ullstrom’s church in Dashe is having a special push to reach teenagers this summer, starting with a special outing Saturday, July 2. In addition to weekly Saturday youth meetings, they are also planning a camp July 26-28. Pray that many of the youth they have had contact with over the last few years will come.

Andy & Mei-ling Wilson have significantly revised the Banner Church Missionary training program curriculum. May and June, July and much of August will be spent in actually arranging a timetable, briefing trainers and interviewing potential trainees for the third cohort to start in mid September. This must be done while their children are on vacation and in the heat of a Taiwanese summer. Pray for energy.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Will & Edna McKelleher thank God for their inspiring church in Taichung; for involvement in church; for prayer walks and the distribution of Christian material. The recent dumplings outreach saw many new faces. Thank God for Edna's parents' time with them in Taiwan.   Please continue to pray for their language learning and adjustment to life in Taiwan. Pray also for wisdom and discernment about the future as they visit different OMF ministries in the coming months.

Stephen & Megan Noble are currently on a short home assignment in Australia. Pray for safety as they travel and for good communication about their support roles for the OMF team and Morrison Academy. Praise for a good trip back and for re-connecting with their sending church as well as Stephen’s trip to IHQ in June. Continue to pray for each of the family as they fit in some daily Chinese practice.

OTHERS

Pray for 2 Serve Asia teams coming for ministry in July. One is an international team in Wanhua working in the “at-risk kids” work. Their first week is a bit uncertain due to changes in scheduling with the school where the team usually works. Pray that this first week would still be a productive time and may even lead to new contacts in the community as they try something different.   

The other team is from Australia and will work in the small village of Chigu with the Village Gospel Mission. Angela Symonds is their supervisor. They will be run a bilingual camps along with a Taiwanese University group. For the following 2 weeks they will be with the Chiayi teams. Pray for significant ministry and for all of the short-termers to be able to acclimatise to the heat and humidity.

June 2011

Mon, 23 May 2011 02:55:33 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Christine will be helping new believer, Amanda, to start a storying group for 2-3 seekers in a nearby town (Chaozhou). Pray that these seekers will invite more people, that Amanda will become excited about storying and that this would eventually become a house church. Pray also for 2 men from nearby areas who have heard all the stories and are reading the Bible on their own. May they want to follow Jesus 100% and be transformed so that they lead others to Him.

Praise God that Nancy is getting adjusted to the noise and heat, and has overcome her fear in learning to ride a bike. This enables her to go to language classes, to church, and to the stores since there are no buses within Donggang. She has increased her circle of friends, from the two churches she attends. Pray for wise use of time and safety in biking and prayer walking. Pray also that she has storying opportunities, and that the churches she attends will want to learn how to share the gospel through storying. There is a need to multiply storytellers.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susanna Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken

Two men who were regulars at the house church are no longer living in the area. Pray that they would be able to encourage some of the other male contacts to meet on Sunday mornings.

The Gribbles are settling into life in Taiping. Pray for them in developing relationships and opportunities to share the gospel with locals.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

Two ladies have continued to join the Friday afternoon gatherings. Instead of cooking they want to spend more time talking and sharing personal concerns. Each time they have sung, shared Bible stories and prayed with the ladies. Praise God that they are drawn to keep coming.

Hengchun: Randy & Janet Adams

The church is praying about starting more small group fellowships in different parts of the Hengchun peninsula. They are specifically praying for a mountain village where two church members live and where they have seen God heal a man from cancerous tumors. The Adams had the joy of attending another baptism on their recent visit. 

Chiayi City: Wayne & Angela Chen, Angie Piau, Kerstin Richter

The Chens have been telling Bible stories in 5 locations in the market. Pray that they can get into these market friends’ circle and enlarge the Bible story telling group in these 5 locations. Also pray for more opportunity to tell Bible stories in different location in the market. Pray for wisdom for the Chens to mobilize the ‘hidden Christians’ – Mr. & Mrs. Mai, Mr. Green Bean, Chuan, in the market to do a weekly prayer walk with them.

Angie praises God that two of her students, Lily and Doreen, are growing in faith. Pray for them to be good witnesses to their families. Angie also asks prayer for the 4 new students that have been coming - that their hearts will be open to learn about God. Pray for all the youth as Angie and Sam Huang leave permanently in July and the Gibsons will begin to lead this work.  Angie asks prayer for her follow-up and closure with shop-worker contacts, Shou Ru and Xiao Ping. Pray that God would bring other Christians into their lives to witness to them. 

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Audrey is going to Manila for Pre-Home Assignment workshop on June 13-24. Pray that she will have a fruitful experience.   More helpers are needed at the Thursday meetings. Two of the regular volunteers have been absent due to various health or family reasons.   Fiona left the tea shop about a month ago to look after her ailing father-in-law. Her ex-husband is paying her for this job, which she enjoys. Pray that he will be willing to keep her on even after the new caregiver arrives. She is also making good progress in paying off her credit card loans. Pray for wisdom as the team thinks of ways to help several women who genuinely need financial aid (e.g. money for rent deposit and child's school lunch / field trip). 

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

It is heart moving to hear the 50 boys sing: ‘There is only one God...’ and many other Christian songs. Most of the boys know the songs by heart. Pray that they choose the right songs and that the Lord brings them to mind, once the boys are released. Wisdom is continuously needed in choosing and preparing themes and activities for the boys. Above all, they need the work of the Holy Spirit. Summer has arrived and often tempers get hotter with the weather! Pray for God’s protection.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Linda McFerran gives thanks for good times with the children in Dali Primary School in Wanhua and for great helpers. Praise the Lord for Chinese brothers and sisters also joining in ministry in the park. It's so encouraging and a real blessing to be able to work together. Pray for wisdom in knowing how to follow-up contacts and also help and encourage these children and young people.

Jennie Rawlings would like prayer preparation for the summer camps planned for July. An international team will come to Wanhua to help run these camps. Jennie will return to the UK in August. Pray for a good finish to her internship.

Beate Harr praises God for giving her the opportunity to work in 2 schools in Taiping - a Social Club in a Senior High School and teaching the Championship Program in a Junior High School. This academic year is almost over but she is looking forward to the new academic year beginning in September. She would also like to look for Christian teachers. They are key people in the school and for the ministry too. Pray for God's guidance for a good closure of this year, the preparations for the new year and for God arranged contacts with teachers and students. The end of June is exam-time. Pray for the students in this stressful period. 

Jeannie Newquist is finishing up the last few weeks of Bible studies as her university students end their school year. She is grateful for a strong core of faithful students and prays for their continued spiritual growth as they consider how they would like to serve in the coming semester. She prays for wisdom as students continue to grow in their understanding of God's Word, as they desire to apply it to their lives, and she is thankful for the way that their faith challenges and encourages her. The group is praying for a more consistent core of first and second-year students, as most of the current students are in their third and fourth years.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Recent difficulties with an administrator have made completing StorySeed's government formalities and ministry obligations difficult for Anne Alexander. Meanwhile workshops continue in 2 cities, along with packing for Home Assignment and homework for her D. Miss. She covets your prayers, as she and the StorySeed board are stretched to the limits.

Andrew & Ruth Butler ask prayer for all the students graduating from China Evangelical Seminary who are preparing to face new situations and challenges. Some will be going overseas. Pray that the training they have received will stand them in good stead for whatever lies ahead. 

New students are now applying for admission. If they meet the basic entrance requirements, they have to take an exam, and then are interviewed by three teachers. Pray for workers of God's choice to apply and for wisdom for all in the screening process.

Chi Pin Hoon asks prayer for her preparation for a new evening class, Old Testament Characters, in Taoyuan running from May to August. May the students fall in love with the Old Testament, understand the salvation story and imitate the saints of the old. Pray for good interaction with students and safe travel to and from Chungli to Taoyuan.

Andy Wilson, with Mei-ling, has been asked to take responsibility for the Banner Church Missionary Training program. One of the first steps is planning a major overhaul as a result of what has been learned from the first two cohorts of trainees. He is in the process of drawing up a detailed plan to be implemented with the 3rd cohort in September. He is also thinking of ways to supplement the training of the first two cohorts, currently in church planting internships. More information is available online at http://twurl.nl/h67l62 .

LANGUAGE STUDY

David & Sigrun Jansen will move to Taipei at the end of July and are trying to find an apartment. They ask for prayer in finding the right place in Wanhua. Sigrun thanks God for students opening up and sharing their burdens during the weekly Christian based Champions course she helps run at a local junior high school (the program builds up self-confidence, aids decision making, and helps in suicide prevention.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou have been developing and practicing an initial set of Chronological Bible stories. Pray for those who hear them that the word of God will touch their hearts and draw them closer to Him. Pray they can be careful in refining, memorising and responding to people. Pray for their language to continue to improve.

In the coming months Will & Edna McKelleher will be making ministry visits as they envisage completing full time language study early 2012. May God guide their steps and fulfil His plans. May they currently continue to make good strides in language learning, especially in increased fluency & remembering new vocabulary. Pray also for Mr Lin recovering from cancer surgery. May he and his family find healing and salvation.

Stephen & Megan Noble, along with their 4 kids, will take a short home assignment over the summer. They will visit 6 churches, a Bible College and small groups over seven weeks. May the Lord open people’s hearts to the work of OMF Taiwan as well as ministry with MKs. Praise for health and a good end to the Morrison year.

Phil & Miriam Snelling ask pray for a restful holiday in the south of Taiwan. They are very exhausted from caring for two young children and full time language learning, and need refreshment. They would appreciate prayers to make friends with Taiwanese people especially at their Mandarin speaking church. Ask God to protect them from discouragement and despair and to keep trusting and hoping in Him as their refuge and strength.

 OTHERS

Serve Asia: As a pilot project, OMF will host 3 short-term workers from another Asian country to look into outreach to domestic workers in Taiwan. Pray that this would not only be a worthwhile time but also a start of a new ministry if long term workers can be mobilised for this. 

Summer teams start with orientation at the end of June and much needs to be done to prepare for this including housing for the team in Wanhua. The plan is to rent an apartment where the team will live in July and which will then be the Jansen's apartment when they move here. The team members also need to do extensive preparation before they arrive. This is required if they are to run the programs effectively when they are here. Many of the team members will be doing exams just before they come. Pray for them in this.

May 2011

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:35:34 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang: Christine Dillon reports that attending the Jonathan Training (church planting) in April was perfect timing for the Donggang team. The training helped them to clarify their strategy and vision even further. Please pray that they can see the formation of several house churches in the next two months, or at least Bible storying groups which will hopefully transition into house churches.

Amanda, a new Christian living in Chao Jou (15 km away), has some seekers willing to listen to Bible stories. Pray for courage for her, as she has only been a Christian for less than a year.

Nancy Elumba has just finished fulltime language school and is now settling into Donggang. She will major on prayer and building relationships for the next few months. After a difficult search, she found an apartment. Please pray for safety and good relationships with her neighbors. She hopes that the Lord would help her take advantage of her apartment’s strategic location. The night market is just below her building.

Hengchun: Randy & Janet Adams will teach a leadership training seminar for the Hengchun church on May 5. A Christian with musical skills is volunteering to help the Junior High Band Club, so it is up and going.

Shopworkers Church: Elisabeth Weinmann reports that some new seekers have joined the outreach’s small groups. On May 18 they will hold an evangelistic meeting for those new seekers, hoping to provide them a better understanding of salvation, so that they can accept Christ.

Chris & Emily Pang will go on home assignment in June for two months. Pray for the local coworkers of the small group that they have started at the main train station. May they be able to continue meeting in the Pang’s absence and following up the seekers in the group.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood are thinking about how to apply things that they learned from the Jonathan Training. The Taiping ministry center will be called a Prayer Center. They plan that prayer will form a major part of their strategy in reaching out to local people. Because they will be away during much of July and August, they hope that the next two months will see the establishment of effective teamwork and fruitful ministry.

Stephen & Susana Gribble moved to Taiping at the end of April from Taichung, where they were in fulltime language study. They are living directly above the new ministry center. Please pray that they would get to know their neighbors and the various people who also work in the area.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams have been teaching an adult English class. It has provided opportunities to meet more people in their neighborhood. They are hoping that the contacts made will be open to hearing Bible stories, and that they would see a house church start in their neighborhood.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Audrey has three ladies in her English class on Tuesday afternoons. She reports that they are eager to learn and encourage one another. One of the ladies, Rainbow, also attends Pearl Family Garden meetings on Thursdays. Pray that Audrey would have more opportunities to pray and share God’s word with them.

Liu Nanfang and her Taiwanese opera troupe will come to the Pearl Family Garden once a month for the next three months. By setting Christian lyrics to traditional tunes familiar to the ladies, the team hopes that they will be able to feed on God’s word more easily and remember what they hear.

Prison Ministry: Teo Sin Ee is going through Chronological Bible Stories each week at the prison. She prays that the prisoners would have ears to hear. She also needs wisdom to know how to relate God’s word to the women’s lives and how to facilitate the group discussion.

Taoyuan Reformatory: Margret Zingg comments about the boys at the reformatory: “Loneliness and the inability to love are the underlying causes for both psychic and emotional disorder,” says Erich Fromm. This is obvious with many boys at the reformatory. They are not only offenders, but very often also victims. Many carry heavy burdens and many regrets with them and don’t know who to talk with others about them. Pray that the small groups and the “one to one” sessions can provide some help. Pray also for Margret’s ability to really listen to what the boys say, the wisdom to ask heart-opening questions and speak hope into their lives.

S.C. will only be released at the beginning of this month. He is quite confident that he will “make it!” If his gifts of leadership would be used in a good way, he could become a blessing to many. Margret notes that there is still an urgent need for more suitable male helpers in the reformatory ministry.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Wanhua Family Ministry: Linda McFerran gives thanks for possible new Chinese helpers for ministries at both the Dali Elementary School and the park. Pray that they can have a real input into the work. Finding places to rent is a current prayer need. Continue to pray for premises for a Community Center that OMF would like to establish in the area. There is also a need to find an apartment for the Jansen family, who hope to leave fulltime language school in Taichung and move to Wanhua at the end of July.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander faces many challenges as she seeks to set Story Seed, her Bible story telling ministry, on a solid foundation. She also requests urgent prayer for packing for home assignment, several recording projects, local ministry, several workshops, and homework for her doctor of missiology program.

Chi Pin Hoon is teaching at the Alliance for Grassroots Training Ministry Seminary in Chungli, where she has been since last September. Part of her ministry is to preach in various churches, sharing the vision of reaching the grassroots people in Taiwan. Please pray that in the midst of all this activity, God would guide her in the search for a Chungli church as a “spiritual home.”

LANGUAGE STUDY

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou feel that the Jonathan Training they received was very beneficial, both from the point of view of learning ministry skills and developing teamwork with future team members. They plan to use Chronological Bible Stories as their means of evangelism and discipleship making. This method is just telling the Bible and encouraging people to read the text. They ask prayer for their language school class time, as they construct, practice, and learn an initial set of Bible stories. They also hope that they will have the opportunities to share the Bible stories with contacts in Taichung, where they are in language study.

Will & Edna McKelleher give thanks for the opportunity to share their Christian journey to Taiwan in a radio interview with their pastor this month. It is good language practice. Pray for full recovery for Edna and Joshua from coughs/colds.

Stephen & Megan Noble give praise to God for the peace that passes all understanding when their fathers died within two weeks of each other last month. The Nobles will be on a home assignment in Australia during June and July. Please pray for them as they return to Australia to be with grieving mothers and families. Pray for opportunities to speak about the work of OMF in Taiwan and their love for MKs.

Philip & Miriam Snelling ask for patience and wisdom in loving, encouraging, and disciplining their children, and for them to find favor with their neighbors downstairs, who have complained on several occasions about the level of noise in their apartment. The Snellings also ask for perseverance and progress in their Mandarin language study, for opened ears, loosened tongues, and building relationships with those around them. Miriam has been getting to know a few mothers and is keen for more gospel opportunities with them, but doesn’t have the vocabulary to share Jesus yet. Please pray for her to witness to them with limited language.

OTHERS

Serve Asia Workers: Pray for short-term Serve Asia workers, who are arriving in the month of May: Chew Cheow Hoay from Malaysia for three weeks (helping in the shopworkers’ ministry) and Florence Lin from the UK for six months (helping in the “at risk kids” ministry).

Irene Nicholson is working on preparations for the teams coming in July and quite a number of individual short-termer placements, as well.

Linda McKerrell (Australia) and Katherine Tang (USA) have been provisionally accepted for ministry in Taiwan and are waiting for their full financial support. They need to be fully supported before they can come to Taiwan. Pray this support would come in soon.

Field Business Manager: Paul Buttrey is preparing to go on home assignment for six months. Stephen Noble will serve as the Taiwan field business manager while he is away. Paul is training Stephen for this new responsibility. May Stephen master everything that he needs to master before Paul leaves Taiwan in July. Paul has also recently started an evangelistic English Bible study at the invitation of a church on the east side of Taipei. May seekers (mostly young adults) be attracted to learn more about Jesus and follow Him!

HOME ASSIGNMENT

Birgit Glaw is on home assignment and is visiting a lot of churches. She asks prayer for German Christians. They are struggling with the issue of how to do missions in their own country. Christians in North Germany especially are losing a vision for missions. Birgit will also be visiting churches in East Germany. She prays that God would call churches to send missionaries, and that Christians who have taken a missions trip would respond to God’s voice about missions.

April 2011

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:02:00 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun: Randy & Janet Adams
The church in Hengchun is reaching out to kids in the local Junior High School. They hope to start a music club in the school where kids can learn how to play band instruments and Christian music. Band equipment has been donated for their use. They need a Christian leader for this club who has musical skills and a heart for reaching out to kids.

Chiayi: Wayne & Angela Chen, Angie Piau, Kerstin Richter

The Chens do regular prayer walking in a big wet-market and seek to share Bible stories with the people working there. Pray for:

Ms Siau to link the bible stories to her experience and through the Holy Spirit to compare the difference between her gods and our great God.
Mr. Liu to let us set a table in the corner of his stall to broadcast Christian music and to display some Christian stuff.
Mrs. Pineapple to be open to hear the stories.
Ah-cheng to be exempted for the temple duty and to be able to hear the good news freely.

Angie asks prayer for wisdom and insight as she invests more personally in each of 4 youth girls during the week and on Fridays. Pray that God would use His Word to open their hearts. Pray for a outing/spiritual retreat with graduated and current students on April 3-4. Angie gives thanks that her junior high English kids enjoy coming to the center and are opening up to each other. Pray for direction on how to pass on these students when she leaves this summer. Her current church may be interested.

Kerstin asks prayer for people at the local park: Mrs. Jiang, an elderly lady, who was hospitalized with no family willing to visit her; and Mr. Hong, a single dad, was initially open to talk about spiritual things, but has become more closed. Pray that God would help the team to connect to him better. Angie gives thanks for a spontaneous opportunity to talk about prayer with Mrs. Siau’s two young daughters and asks prayer for more such opportunities. Pray also that a Buddhist lecture group, which has moved closer and grown in size, will not be distracting to the team’s outreach. 

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Tim & Jennifer McCracken, Steve & Susana Gribble

 A priority this month is getting the new Taiping Center ready for use. The building is right at the heart of Taiping and the team hopes it will serve as a focus for outreach over the next few years. We need wisdom to know how best to use this resource to build contacts with local people. Lucy and Jennifer will attend the Jonathon Training and they hope that this will give some good input into our planning. 

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

Randy and Janet Adams have started an English class in the community behind the hospital where Randy has served as a doctor. About twenty people came to the first class. Some were Randy's former patients. They hope this class will open opportunities to share the gospel in this community and open a way to start a house church.

Zhongpu: Seann & Amy Gibson, Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre

Pray for the McIntyres’ health, physically and emotionally. Various transitions in mothering an infant have not been easy for Jennifer and she has had some post-partum anxiety. Physical discomfort can be quite a distraction, so please pray for this.

Part of their job for the next few months will be researching life in Zhongpu and understanding people’s religious beliefs. Unlike Taichung, most people here have no reaction to the words “church” and “Christianity” and one woman had never even heard of either. They will need a great deal of prayer for open hearts in order to have an impact here.

The McIntyres hope to do regular prayer walking in the area. They have gotten to know the Chius who run a breakfast shop near their home. Thomas went to a night market with Mr. Chiu (in his early 30s) once. Pray for gospel opportunities.

 The team will be attending Jonathan Training, and they are excited about planning and brainstorming for the future while there.

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

Nancy is wrapping up language study in Taichung and asks prayer for retention and continuous improvement. Pray for friends Pei Huan, Mrs. Du, and Mrs. Xiao Chen, that they will come to faith.

Nancy moves to Donggang this month. Pray that a suitable apartment can be found; one that gives her the maximum number of gospel contacts. Pray for Nancy as she gets to know locals and that she will learn and love to share Bible stories. They will attend Jonathan Training (church planting training, Mar 28-Apr 8) so pray this will help their adjustment and planning as a team.

Pray also for the local co-worker, Golden Orchid, who has struggled to have time to do storying over the last months. Pray that she will meet people who love hearing the stories.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

The team leader, Tera, has gone on home assignment for 3 months. She will be back in June. Pray for the others to rely on God for strength and wisdom as they hold down the fort in her absence. This month they embark on a new series, "Jesus' road to the cross". Pray for the ladies to understand the significance of his death and resurrection and how it relates to their lives. 

Thank you for praying for Huang Jie's sister, Mingzhen. She was baptized last month. Pray for her to experience his grace each day as she continues to receive treatment in hospital.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Beate Harr just came back from Germany and is praying that she can find the students she has ministered to before. Praise God for unexpectedly meeting the sister of a boy who was very sick with blood cancer several years ago. Nobody had any hope for him. He accepted Christ, was baptized in hospital, joined a church and joyfully gave testimony to God's grace and love. One year later he joined a group of bad friends, then disappeared. After meeting the sister, the mother phoned immediately and gave Beate her son’s phone number. Pray that Beate can contact him again and that the Holy Spirit brings Lin Ching back to himself. Pray for many other of these God's amazing arrangements which shows how much He loves His people.

Angela Symonds is reading Miroslav Volf’s book “Exclusion and Embrace” along with Taichung CEF staff. She writes: It is hard reading, but I think very necessary in our fragmented world. It encourages us as Christians be deeply different from others in how we solve conflicts, and struggles for identity between individuals, groups and peoples in our world. He encourages us ultimately to find our identity only in Christ. Every page seems to have a challenge in it. You will not agree with everything, but it will make you think hard. It is expensive, so I suggest the public library as a first option.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

God is answering prayer for Anne Alexander after a good training workshop in Wanhua teaching BibleTelling. During April besides administration for StorySeed, preparation for Home Assignment, & promoting two-day workshops in 2 cities in May, Anne is praying for grace to finish a DMin course.

Mimi Yeh asks pray for good health and to be able to keep up with regularly exercise. She has been sick since Chinese New Year for a month. Pray for the desire to walk closely with God and not be caught up in “busyness”. Pray that God will grant her friendships and meaningful networks to pray and play together.

Pray for wisdom to serve Him at the seminary and church. Her responsibilities include: preaching and full time teaching; leading a “Loss and Grief” support group and seminar at the church Counseling Center from April to May (She plans to train more leaders to do it this year.); Director of Student Counseling at the seminary overseeing the well-being of students; leading 6.30 am devotions; participate in and develop a new Master of pastoral counseling and spirituality degree for the school.  

Andy & Mei-ling Wilson serve in leadership development with Taichung Banner Church. In April the second cohort of missionary trainees will move from study to internship in church plants. Two will return to the Kaohsiung church plant the Wilsons pioneered. The plan for the others is to assist in the expansion of ministry in the Tao-Chu-Miao area (the region between Taichung and the capital Taipei), helping the 2 churches there in the goal of become three churches of over 100 attendees each. In April they will move house about one mile to a location nearer the children’s school. This hopefully will allow Mei-ling a more expanded ministry.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Stephen & Susana Gribble had hoped to move to Taiping in March. This has been delayed due to repairs that need to be done to the apartment. Pray that this problem can be resolved soon. They look forward to working in Taiping. Pray that they'll integrate well into the team and the community.

David & Sigrun Jansen express thanks for prayers about language study and recent activities. The play Sigrun directed went well. The church is working on a very powerful Easter play next. She enjoys the Champions course at a middle school. The students are opening up to the Christian moderator and Sigrun is learning a lot about counseling in schools. David’s meetings with his neighbors are going well. Pray for breakthroughs for them to accept the gospel. The Jansens will move to Taipei at the end of July.

Nathan &Tina Keller ask prayer for safe delivery of baby Gabriel. Tina has very low platelets and the doctor wants to induce and may have a blood transfusion. She is due any day now. 

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou thank God for the opportunity to have input, pray and reflect on plans for church planting in Chiayi. Pray for them to be able to discern the Spirit’s leading and have good communication with other participants and the team during Jonathon Training.

Mr Lin, a cobbler in Will & Edna McKelleher’s neighborhood started chemotherapy for terminal cancer. He was baptized as a child at a church, however, it seems that he no longer has a relationship with God. May God remove the spiritual barriers & bestow His mercy, that Mr Lin will be healed and salvation will come to the household. May He grant Will & Edna insight as to how to minister to this family.

Recently, Edna & a Taiwanese friend gave out gift bags to some women working on the streets near our church. They sensed the Father Heart of God reaching out to them. May God raise up workers to reach out to the homeless & sex workers in the area. May the women who received the gifts begin to seek the Father who loves them.

 Stephen Noble has completed the third Mandarin language book and into the fourth. Pray that not only can he recall what he has learnt but learn phrases and words to help him in the business manager role. Megan is still studying Chinese part time and gives praise that a language helper has come forward to speak Chinese to her for an hour per week. OMF Taiwan has 4 students graduating in June (Ryan, Graeme, Johanna and Joel). Pray for these TCKs as they say goodbye to friends, family and Taiwan and return to their home countries. 

Philip & Miriam Snelling give thanks that they are settling in well after 3 months in Taiwan. Pray for a language helper for Phil to practice. Give thanks for Phil's grandad's life. He went home to be with the Lord on 24 Feb at the age of 90. They got to say goodbye before they left Australia.

OTHERS

Mary Jeanne Buttrey asks prayer for the Doctors' Fellowship at Mackay Memorial Hospital. They are discussing a book on medical ethics, Matters of Life and Death. The author bases his views on a Biblical understanding of what it means to be human, in contrast to the concepts of many non-Christian bioethicists. Pray that those attending the Fellowship discussions will think carefully and prayerfully about these issues. May God help them to apply Biblical principles in their own practices and to verbalize a Christian viewpoint in the wider Taiwan medical community. 

In April a short-termer, Billy Goco, from the Philippines will join the Wanhua team. He is a physical trainer so the team is planning on using his skills while he is here. Pray that Billy himself would be challenged by the needs here and be used further in missions after his time here.

The Taiwan Field will be holding Jonathan Training Mar 28-Apr 8. About a dozen OMF members will attend along with members of other missions. This is practical training in church planting. Pray that all those who attend will benefit and be better equipped for fruitful ministry.

March 2011

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 02:58:37 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang: Christine Dillon, Nancy Elumba

A new believer, Mrs Hill, is keen for more family members to believe. Pray for time to spend with her family and that she will be keen to learn and share Bible stories herself.

Pray towards the formation of small house churches and that more people will want to receive God's gift of salvation. About another 8 will be finish hearing the basic story set around now.

Praise God for the designation of Nancy Elumba to come and join Christine in April. Pray for them to work effectively together.

Hengchun:

Thirty to forty junior high students meet with the principal of the Hengchun Junior High School for Bible study every day. Three of these students have been baptized and now attend the house church with the principal. As the church grows, the leaders need wisdom in caring for the spiritual growth of new believers. They also need a larger place to meet.

Wanhua: Randy & Janet Adams

The Adams are focusing prayer on seven areas of Wanhua for relationship building and evangelistic outreach. Pray for God's leading to the people whose hearts are prepared to hear and believe.

Taiping: David & Lucy Eastwood, Stephen & Susana Gribble, Tim & Jennifer McCracken 

Praise the Lord that a supporting church in Northern Ireland offered money to rent a ministry center in Taiping. They recently found a suitable place.

Pray that over the next few months the team may be able to start a men’s tea night, mum's and toddlers activities and perhaps evangelistic cooking classes. Pray they will see people come to know the Lord!

Zhongpu, Chiayi: Seann & Amy Gibson, Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre

Praise God that the McIntyres have finished 2 years of language studies and recently moved to Zhongpu. Pray for their adjustment to a new city and team. Pray also for the McIntyres’ daughter Ashlee to stay healthy, as she's been frequently catching the various viruses going around.

Pray the team can make good Taiwanese friends and for perseverance in the midst of various trials. Pray for them to think of creative ways to make friends. From walking around the area, it appears that many of the stores and places to eat in Zhongpu don't have a place to sit down, possibly making it more difficult to get to know people.

Dashe, Kaohsiung: David & Ruth Ullstrom

Praise God for a solid core of teenagers in the youth group which started two and a half years ago. Pray that they will continue to grow spiritually, serving and reaching out to others. Several are considering baptism.

Taipei Shopworker’s Church: Chris & Emily Pang, Elisabeth Weinmann

The future location of the Sunday night service is an urgent matter of prayer. The landlady wants to continue to rent the facilities but is under pressure from her company which would also like to use this ideal location for business.

On the March 20 they plan to start a second night service for around Taipei train station in a place provided by the YMCA. They already have three small groups in this area, so they can start with around 15 worshipers. May this small beginning be under His blessing, and that this night service will become a light for many in this area.

They are looking for a suitable flat with reasonable rent in order open a second dorm for men. Some men are already waiting to move in.

On March 24 there will be an outing for the shopworkers. May this be a good time to reach out to new friends.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

1) On March 4, Tera will introduce the ministry at the Global Day of Prayer organized by World Vision and other Christian welfare organizations in Taiwan. Thank God for this opportunity to build partnerships with other Christian agencies. May it result in an outpouring of prayer and other resources for the ladies.    

2) Continue to pray for Mingzhen, the sister of Huang Jie, a Taiwanese colleague. She is experiencing a lot of pain from cancer and the doctors fear that it has spread. Pray for the Lord's mercy and saving grace to be with her. Pray Huang Jie will trust the Lord and experience His peace and provision during this difficult time. Pray for wisdom as she breaks the news to the rest of her family.    

3) Autumn passed away peacefully on Jan 24 after a 6-month battle with lymphoma. May the Lord comfort her family members. While she was alive, many people heard about Jesus' saving power through her testimony. We trust that even though she's gone to be with the Lord, her story will continue to bear witness and give glory to His name.    4) Tera will be going on home assignment for 3 months at the end of March. Pray for an encouraging time with family, friends and prayer partners. Thank God for opportunities to mobilize more Dutch believers for cross-cultural ministry and ministry to the marginalized. 

Prison Ministry: Teo Sin Ee

1) Thank God for providing Cloud with a cleaning job. Pray for her to have energy, perseverance and good relationships with her boss and co-workers. Thank God that Cloud's 10 year-old daughter is attending Sunday school at a nearby church. Pray that her husband will be able to find a job too.  

 2) Ask the Lord to strengthen Sin Ee’s co-worker, Shuying. She hasn't been able to visit the prison for a few weeks due to various health problems.  

 3) Sin Ee has had 4 Bible storying sessions with a group of 6 women. Pray for the Holy Spirit's illumination so that they can see how God desires to bring restoration to their lives.

 Reformatory: Margret Zingg

Praise the Lord they had a very good ‘handling your temper’ camp day. Although it was challenging, the boys cooperated wonderfully. They shared openly about their struggles and said the day had been helpful to them. Pray that they practice the things they were taught, so that they can apply it outside the strict prison walls too.

 S.C. will be released this month. Will he go to a church? And if so, will he fit there? How can we help him? Pray!

There is still an urgent need for more male helpers.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Pray for Jeannie Newquist as she is starting her first semester (February 21) as a full-time staff worker with university students in Changhua. Pray that events and activities this semester will be encouraging to the students and provide a safe place for them to grow together spiritually. Pray for the students to adjust well to new staff members, and for good communication and routines to be set at the beginning of the semester.

Martin & Angela Symonds’ students keep them busy as usual. This second semester is split into two halves by Grave Sweeping festival, immediately followed by mid-term exams. The three week break in regular meetings includes Easter so they have decided to hold Easter activities a week later. Angela's regular Bible study groups will cover the last part of Acts, and Life of Joseph, and Hosea.

On March 3 Martin returns home from two weeks in Singapore where he teaches language and culture learning to new OMFers.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Taichung Banner Church: Andy & Mei-ling Wilson

 This month Martin Symonds joins Andy in teaching Cross Cultural issues to the second cohort of missionary trainees at Banner Church. Andy also hopes to develop mentoring relationships with the men on the course and to be able to visit the first cohort who are doing internships at a new church plant in Tainan. Mei-ling will continue to study to prepare further for developing family counseling and support ministries.

StorySeed Bible Storying: Anne Alexander

Anne is rejoicing in recent interest in Bible storytelling from people in north & central Taiwan. A Bible Telling trainer is coming in May, so pray for plans to be finalized. Meanwhile, course work and exams await. Continue to pray for good working relationships between local members of the StorySeed board, as Anne prepares for a year in the US beginning in July.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nancy Elumba praises God for amply meeting her needs in Taichung; for faithful prayer partners and supporters; for sustenance, recall and wisdom in language study and being able to receive a "well done" in assessment. Praise God for patient and loving teachers and encouraging schoolmates. She praises God for the decision that she will be assigned to serve in Donggang with Christine Dillon. Her Mandarin language study will end March 25. She will the Chiayi team (Feb. 25-28), then join the Jonathan Training (March 28-April8), before moving to Donngang.

Pray for strength, wisdom, good health and safety in the preparations, being able to do well in the final language lessons and exams; saying goodbye to friends; finding a suitable home in Donggang; meeting new friends; and adjusting to work with Christine.

This month Stephen & Susana Gribble make the transition from full-time language students into ministry. Give thanks that a suitable apartment has been found directly above the new OMF ministry centre. Prayer that Stephen's language skills will cope outside of the classroom. Pray that they will settle quickly into a new routine as a family.

David & Sigrun Jansen express their thanks for praying for their Mandarin study. Recently, they have experienced a rapid growth in progress. David has started learning Christian vocabulary while Sigrun has finished up lessons in counseling. They praise God for being officially told that they will start ministry in Wanhua (Taipei) in August or September. They ask for prayers for wisdom in finding a home in Taipei and a suitable Taiwanese school for their sons Nathan and Emmanuel. David also asks for prayers for Holy Spirit empowerment as he meets weekly with 2 different neighbors, both of whom are very interested in Christianity. Sigrun's drama training of church members from their Taichung church is going along very well. Their first production is in 1½ weeks. She will also be attending a Champions ministry training course this Saturday. Pray for discernment in how to use the training for future ministry in Wanhua.

OTHER

Pray for the Ladies' retreat (March 6-9) and Men’s Retreat (March 14-17 for the purposes of building up relationships and unity among field members. Pray for a good time and for the logistics of these events.

February 2011

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:45:03 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

In February Christine Dillon plans to tell the death and resurrection stories to 5 workers in the local 7-11 store and 2 men at the swimming pool (plus the wife of one who sells vegetables in the market). Pray they may be cut to the heart and want to follow Jesus. Christine also needs to spend time preparing to teach the first week of a training course on personal evangelism/discipleship. The first group of participants will be representatives from many OMF fields. This preparation is harder than if everyone works in the same religious/cultural context.

Hengchun:

The church has moved again and now meets in a Senior Citizen center, for free. Praise God for 6 baptisms before Christmas, including the nurse (Dec. Tinder) from the hospital and her son. The former kindergarten teacher of the son of Randy & Janet Adams, whom they’ve known for 20 years, also has decided to believe and be baptized. Church members have ministered to her during a time of illness. She is well known and loved by people in Hengchun. Pray that her witness will lead her husband, family and many friends to Christ.

Wanhua:

Randy & Janet Adams are back from home assignment and have joined Lucy at the Fumin gathering under the tree. At their first gathering on a very chilly Sunday morning, their hearts were warmed to see the love and appreciation for Lucy as well as the enthusiastic welcome back from Fumin friends. The Adams hope to be able to spend more time with Lucy in Bible study.

Chiayi:

A new church-planting team is being formed in Zhongpu, Chiayi county. Pray for clear direction and open doors. Pray also for unity among the team members, the Gibsons and McIntyres.

Pray for the young adult group that meets at the Chiayi Gospel Center on Sundays. Pray for the spiritual growth of the believers and that non-believers in the group would put their faith in Jesus. Pray for leaders to emerge from this group.

Taiping: Eastwoods, Gribbles, McCrackens

The house church has continued to go well, with members coming regularly and some seekers being involved, asking great questions. Pray for the Te family in particular. Sunday afternoon park outreach has been hampered by the cold weather, but they have still had some great opportunities to share the gospel. Some of the new believers in that group face some significant obstacles to their growth and need much prayer. Also pray for outreach efforts at the local hospital, and prayer walking in the market.

This month Stephen & Susana Gribble finish full-time language study and move to Taiping. Pray for the move and that they'll settle into their new location, team and ministries well.

David & Lucy Eastwood have Eunice Chen staying with them for this semester. Pray that both the Eastwoods and the Chen family adjust well to this arrangement.

Shopworker Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

A prayer and Bible study day will be held on February 24 for the shop workers who attend small groups. May the Lord speak to them. Pray that seekers who attended Christmas parties will join regular one-to-one Bible study and also get used to our small group meetings.

They are considering whether to open a second Men's Dorm because the first one is full. It is not easy to find a suitable, cheap flat near to the Shopworkers' Centre.

The future location of the Sunday night service is still in question. The landlady will allow the to use the present facilities until March. Pray she will change her plans and let them continue there, or that the Lord would provide another place.

Kaohsiung:

There is a need for afterschool care for latchkey kids in David & Ruth Ullstrom’s community. The church has space and classrooms, but will need a committed teacher and volunteers if they start an afterschool care program. Pray for a suitable teacher. Pray that the Lord will show other ways they can share His love to those in the community.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

1) Thank God for a local volunteer, Mrs Li, who comes every Thursday. All 3 OMFers serving in PFG are taking turns to go on home assignment this year so they are grateful for an extra helper.

2) They will open the Pearl Family Garden on the first day of Chinese New Year. Pray that the gathering might be a source of warmth and comfort to those ladies who spend this festive season alone.

3) Pray for Huang Jie's (Taiwanese co-worker) health. The demands of ministry take a toll on her health and she often doesn't feel up to the task. Pray the Lord will lift her spirits and encourage her to persevere day by day.

4) Pray they will have wisdom and love in all interactions with the women, especially when there's conflict with regard to resource allocation. It's not easy (or possible) to "be fair" and please everyone.

Prison Ministry: Teo Sin Ee

1) A new group of women is coming to the Bible study. Most of them are in their 30s, have children, and their spouses are also in prison for drug use. Pray for hearts that are open to the gospel. The salvation offered by the Lord Jesus is the only thing that can save them from the power of sin.

2) Pray for Shan, who's coming out of prison in a few months. She's a single mom with no family and no place to stay. Ask the Lord to prepare a home for her. She needs the support of a loving community to put her life back together and be reunited with her child (currently in the care of Social Services).

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

A one day camp at the Reformatory for Class 3 will be held on Feb 12. Miss Chang, a gifted lady who will assist in different OMF UMP ministries from February, will lead a program on ‘handling your temper’. Bad temper is a big problem for most of the boys and they pray that this day will help them to get some helpful tools for controlling their tempers. There will be a follow-up on Saturday Feb 26.

Pray on for S.C. in his young faith. (See Jan. Tinder)

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Wanhua Kids Club will begin again in Dali Primary School at end of February. There is also an opportunity to go into Dali Junior/Senior High. Pray for wisdom in planning these programs, in building good relationships with teachers and students. The team continues to pray for suitable premises to use as a youth centre in the area. Pray for Linda McFerran who has returned from Home Assignment and now joined the team.

High school students have intense exams before winter break and less time to come to the Chiayi Center. Angie Piau asks prayer for her students to do well on their exams. She gives thanks for the small set of students that are coming regularly. Pray that God would give them a hunger to know Him and for a spirit of fellowship among the students so they can learn to love and care for one another.

The shopworkers loved receiving a packet of candy from Angie during Christmas along with the Dandelion magazine. Pray that Angie can meet some ready to hear the gospel.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander requests urgent prayer for the StorySeed administrator, board relationships & planning for this year's BibleTelling workshops. Praise God, a large gift at the end of the year made it possible to finish in the black. Challenges abound, as Anne will go on Home Assignment in summer, & wants to leave StorySeed in a good situation. Pray also for her studies & research on adapting Bible storytelling methods to Taiwan's cultures.

For many students, February marks the beginning of the final term for many of Andrew and Ruth Butler’s students at China Evangelical Seminary. Some know exactly what they will be doing, but others are still waiting to know. Pray especially for those who want to serve in cross-cultural missions, that they will have prayer support and other the resources they need.

Chi Pin Hoon teaches at the AGTM Bible school. On Jan 10 they were suddenly asked to move to another block on the campus by the Christian college where the lease their office. Pray for grace to settle well in the new office. The floors are wet all the time when the weather is bad due to humidity. They have heard it will be worse in the summer.

Pray for Pin Hoon as she prepares for 2 new courses for next semester: OT Historical books and I and II Corinthians. She hopes to finish preparations before going back to Singapore for Chinese New Year to spend time with family and church.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nancy Elumba praises God for a ministry visit to Donggang over the Christmas break. Then after a restful Christmas at the Oasis retreat center, she was blessed to join Finish missionary friends at their place in Fangliao; to participate in their different fellowships in Pingtung; to visit some Filipinas at their workplaces where she shared the gospel and her testimony. Two Filipinas prayed with Nancy to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.

She praises God for safe travel to the Philippines and the time to be with her mother, siblings and their children, for comfortable weather and for time to attend to important concerns. Pray for a smooth trip back to Taiwan on Jan 24, and that she can adjust to the cold weather

Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre are wrapping up things in Taichung and excited about moving to Zhongpu. Pray for their transition with a 3-month old baby, getting settled in, making friends, starting ministry, finding a way to continue language studies, etc. Praise God for allowing them to persevere and finish the 2 years of language studies.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou are now learning Christian vocab and beginning to read the Bible in Chinese. Pray they can pick up the nuances of words so that we can communicate the gospel to entirely “unchurched” people who do not know anything of the gospel. The Bible translation often used is older Chinese and so as they acquire the words to talk about the gospel they want to have a good grasp of those words and ways to explain the concepts in everyday Mandarin as well. Pray that they will not be overwhelmed but patiently persevere in memorizing and learning.

David & Sigrun Jansen had a wonderful Christmas vacation with Sigrun's parents visiting from Germany. The past 2 weeks, they have been getting back into language study and catching up with neighbors and friends. They pray that they will be able to be filled with the Holy Spirit so they can pour Christ's love into their relationships with Taiwanese friends and the community. They thank God for the Christmas outreach at a church in Jhuo-Lan town. They ask for prayer that this church and their Taichung church will continue their fruitful evangelism. Sigrun will be helping them with some basic drama training every month or so.

Over Christmas Will & Edna McKelleher gave homemade cakes & Christian magazines to twenty people in their neighborhood. Each person’s eyes lit up & this simple act of giving has helped them to build relationships with them. Give thanks for a delightful couple who run a breakfast shop. Edna was able to share in more detail why they have come to Taiwan. Pray for this couple and the others, that they could share with them more about God's love.

They give thanks:
* to have joined a Bible study group recently.
* that Joshua is thriving in school. He has learnt to sing in Taiwanese.

Please pray for:
* More local Christians to join in their prayer walk
* Strong progress in language study
* Spiritual protection & greater faith for loved ones & themselves.

Stephen Noble has been heading up to Taipei to see the workings of the Business Manager role whilst continuing his language learning. Pray for travelling mercies and concentration as he learns the ropes. Please uphold Stephen and others in the office (Paul, Kate and Joyce) as they work together for clear communication. Megan is still enjoying her language study and the library at Morrison continues to be a joy to work in. OMF KOFFEE KLUB and the YMG are going well with new kids coming and having lots of fun. Pray for the OMF MKs that they know the love of Jesus in their lives and for those who struggle a fresh touch from Him.

Nathan & Tina Keller ask prayer for their language study, that it will be fruitful and that they will have opportunity to practice and use Taiwanese outside of class. Pray also for Tina's pregnancy as she has less than three months to go. Pray for the transition in the next several weeks.

Philip & Miriam Snelling ask prayer for wisdom as they settle in a local church that will help them grow in Christ through fellowship and encouragement. They are having a difficult time making a final decision on a church that will be suitable for them as language learners, but also for their son who, at 2 years old, is too young for 'regular' Sunday school.

Studying is difficult with two young children! Pray for strength and perseverance as they have long days and late nights learning language and caring for children.

The Snelling’s neighbours appear to be a part of a dangerous cult that is disguised as 'Christian'. Pray for their witness (with little language this is very difficult!) and their freedom in Christ.

HOME ASSIGNMENT

In March Clara Cheng will teach an intensive course in Chinese to a group of students in a diploma program offered by a Chinese missions organization in Southern California, sponsored by a Chinese seminary. Most of the students are originally from Taiwan. The course is on Cultural Adjustment and Interpersonal relationship. Clara has not taught such subject in Chinese before. Since her role on Home Assignment is not being a professor, Clara needs wisdom in preparing the lectures in the Chinese language (especially in typing), so that it will not consume most of her time. Pray that the students will be teachable when they have different motivations and attitudes in taking the program.

Birgit Glaw is traveling a lot and visiting churches in the north of Germany. Pray for the young German Christians who are seeking to know God’s will for their life. May they hear His calling and follow His steps. Pray also for safety as she travels in cold weather and on icy roads. Praise God that her father, is feeling much better after an operation and chemotherapy.

OTHER MATTERS:

Although Mary Jeanne Buttrey doesn't generally agree to English conversation practice (if one starts with one person, there may be no end of others requesting it!), God prompted her to accept the request of a young faculty doctor at Mackay Hospital. The only condition was that she could tell him Bible stories. They both enjoy it, and he's asking great questions. May God use this unexpected opportunity to draw this man to Jesus.

Irene Nicholson asks prayer for short-term workers coming in the next few months. A Singaporean short-termer, Felicia Ang, will come to help in Wanhua with the At-Risk Kids ministry for 2 months. She has had some experience with difficult kids. Pray for her adjustment and an effective ministry here.

Pray for Markus & Annie Laurinkari as they will soon leave Finland to attend the OMF orientation course, and then travel to Taiwan in March. Pray for their transition from life in Finland to life in Taiwan with their year-old daughter Johanna. Pray for finding suitable housing and other practical needs as well.

The Taiwan Field Council will meet on Feb 7-9 to discuss personnel and ministry matters. Pray for wisdom for this leadership team as they consider the needs and challenges of ministry in Taiwan.

January 2011

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 04:51:50 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

Praise God that Christine Dillon has had many opportunities lately to tell Bible stories to new contacts. Pray particularly for the five people in her local 7-11. The couple in charge are listening themselves and allowing all their workers to listen. Pray that this might become a little house church.

Also pray for the opportunities opening up through people at her swimming pool. Four men and a woman have been listening to Bible stories there.

Many people in Donggang have heard Bible stories for up to eighteen months. Pray that God would raise some to new life soon and that the first house churches could start forming. Christine is especially concerned that men would have the courage to believe and lead the way.

Hengchun:

Six people were baptized this past month in the Hengchun church. New people have joined the fellowship which now meets at the government hospital. May God be praised for His work through the faithful witness of church members!

Wanhua:

Randy and Janet Adams will be returning from home assignment to continue church planting in Wanhua in early January. Pray for a smooth transition and wisdom as they continue ministry there. Also pray for an opening at the Wanhua Hospital for Randy to be able to continue serving as a doctor in the community.
Dashe:
This year David and Ruth Ullstrom are challenging everyone in their church to read one chapter a day in a new simple Chinese Bible translation. Pray that both old and new Christians will be gripped by God’s Story and want to share it with others.
Taipei Shopworker Church: Elisabeth Weinmann, Chris & Emily Pang

The team thanks the Lord that they were able to hold Christmas parties in seven shopping areas of Taipei. May many of the new friends they made be willing to join the regular small group meetings. Their prayer is that this year the witness of each of the small groups can lead at least two people to Christ.

The future location of the Sunday night service is still in question. The current landlord will allow them to use the present facilities, which are in an ideal location near a main subway station, until the end of January. They pray that he will change his plans and let them continue there, or that the Lord would provide another place.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Pray that the Lord would extend the boundaries of the team. They would like to reach out to ladies from Mainland China and also those who work late at night. Pray for open doors so that they can visit other teashops and make new contacts.

Thank God that Jyun has started attending church with them. Pray that she would enjoy the Sunday services and grow in her understanding of His word. Pray for Autumn (one of the first fruits of the ministry) and a co-worker’s sister, Ming Jen. Both of them are fighting cancer. Please ask the Lord to enable Autumn to stand firm in her faith and for Ming Jen to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Please remember Syau Jen as she prepares for baptism.

Prison Ministry: Teo Sin Ee

Sin Ee has finished the Christianity Explained course with one group. Pray that she might be able to follow up with some of the group members through writing letters.

Pray that Sin Ee and her co-worker Shuying would have wisdom to know what to do with the next small group e.g. teaching about God and his salvation plan using Bible storying. They need much wisdom and practical assistance from other Christians as they seek to care for the families of the ladies, especially those with young children.

Continue to pray for Cloud to stay away from drugs and find a day job so that she can take care of her children.

Reformatory: Margret Zingg

“Lord, give me the courage to trust you,” prayed 18-year old S.C. Two weeks later Margret had a chance for a longer talk with him. It turned out that his grandfather used to run a temple, and his father is a medium. S.C. himself says that he was asked by some god to become a medium. He refused. He was warned that he would get into trouble if he did not comply. And sure enough, he got into trouble and is now locked up. “The more we did for the gods, the less peace we had in the family,” he told Margret. All that he has heard about Jesus in the reformatory has brought him to the conclusion that he wants to follow Jesus as Lord whatever it costs. He has an aunt who is a Christian and he has seen how she had to suffer for her faith, but also how God gave her the strength to stand firm and even become a peacemaker in the family. Pray for Christ’s protection for S.C., his spiritual growth, and his ability to be a testimony to the other boys and his family.

The team can only run a one-day camp for Chinese New Year, most probably on February 12. Pray for good ideas as they plan it and for the recruitment of helpers.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Martin & Angela Symonds will be small group leaders at the Campus Evangelical Fellowship student winter Bible conferences (January 16-23 and 23-30) – Angela doing Romans and Martin doing Acts. They find it stimulating being with several hundred college students studying the Bible together for a week. Pray that they would help the students to not only understand the Bible better, but to also have a deeper love for God’s Word.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Great opportunities await Anne Alexander in the new year for telling and teaching Bible stories. Anne is asking prayer for production of three special sets of DVDs – a brief promotional DVD, two introductions to Bible Telling for children’s ministry and adult ministry, and a set of DVDs for interactive Bible Telling. In addition, plans are in place to translate and record 108 Mandarin audio Bible stories for evangelism/discipleship. Dates and plans are not yet in place for this year’s workshops featuring John Walsh and his team. Pray that God would supply wisdom, resources, sponsors in different cities, and appropriate co-workers.

Thank God for helping Chi Pin Hoon to adjust to the new work situation at the Alliance For Grassroots Training Ministry (AGTM) seminary. Pray too for God’s grace for her to overcome the cold weather in northern Taiwan’s winter months. Pin Hoon’s role in the seminary includes teaching the full-time students during the day, teaching night classes, and sharing the vision of reaching grassroots people with Taiwan’s churches. Pray for Pin Hoon as she prepares to teach three courses in the next semester – OT Characters (January to March), OT Historical books, and I and II Corinthians (Feb to June). She will also preach on January 9 and 16.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nancy Elumba praises God for His provisions, health, and sustenance in studies during this year. In January Nancy will take a short trip to the Philippines to see her mother. Pray for traveling mercies, safety, good weather, and strength. She also asks for wise use of time, that she would be able to boldly share the gospel to people around her.

Stephen & Susana Gribble will move to Taiping in February. Pray for a suitable place to live. They will finish full-time language learning at the end of February and join the Taiping ministry team. Pray for a good transition into ministry, and that they’ll learn to serve the working-class Taiwanese with humility. They thank God for the many blessings they have received in the past year.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou thank God that they have had good opportunities to use Mandarin to interact with local people. They report that two friends from the market came for a cooking lesson exchange. Bronwyn taught them how to cook Western cake and they taught her how to cook three-cups chicken – a traditional Taiwanese dish. This was three intense hours of speaking Mandarin, but also a great opportunity to get to know these women in another context. They know that in the first term of missionary service they not only need to learn language and understand culture, but also to build significant relationships. Please pray that they would have good friendships that grow in depth and that these people will be open to the gospel.

Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre give praise that their new baby Ashlee’s colic is gone, and that she’s only getting up once every night. Her parents are very happy. They also give praise that they are nearing the end of their language studies. Only eight weeks to go! They request prayer for suitable housing in Zhongpu (their first ministry location after language school), and for God to prepare hearts to receive the gospel in this unreached area of Taiwan.

Will & Edna McKelleher thank God that:

• Will had the opportunity to share about the origins of Thanksgiving at an outreach held at a hair salon. It was a great success.
• They are feeling more settled living in Taiwan.
• God has provided them a good Home Ministry Team - a group of close friends in Australia who provide them with practical and emotional support.
• They have a great group of supporting churches.

They are praying for:

• developing contacts with the people they blessed in their neighborhood with homemade cakes and Christmas gospel magazines. They include an electrician, market sellers, and their language teachers.

Philip & Miriam Snelling arrived in Taiwan on December 6. They thank God for bringing them to Taiwan. They pray that He would use them for His glory here. They especially pray that they might be a good witness for the Lord Jesus amongst their neighbors.

They ask for prayer for language study, especially for the ability to juggle studying Chinese and caring for two young children. They pray for patience as they work hard to learn the language, hear and produce the correct tones, and build friends. They are praying for a sense of contentment and a view of things from God’s perspective during this time of transition as they face culture shock.

They now have a car and a scooter. They pray for courage and God’s protection as they drive on Taiwan’s roads, which are said to have some of the craziest traffic in the world. They ask for prayer for their two young children to be content and settle into a routine, especially while one parent stays at home while the other attends language school in the mornings and then swaps around in the afternoons.

December 2010

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:44:02 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

In early December three prayer partners will visit Christine Dillon. One young couple are at Bible college and considering about whether to join the Taiwan OMF team. The pastor of a supporting church will also visit. Pray they get a good glimpse of life in Taiwan so they can pray more effectively and be guided to their future involvement.

Christine continues to pray that some men will make a clear decision to follow Jesus. Pray for some baptisms and that God will grow his church. Pray also for some people to follow up from contacts made by a short-termer from Malaysia.

Hengchun:

The house church is now meeting in an unused area of the government hospital where Randy Adams used to work. The administrative nurse is a house church member and well loved and respected by the hospital staff. Her boss welcomed her to use the hospital facilities for church meetings. Her testimony for Christ has borne fruit among her co-workers. Recently one nurse has begun coming to the church meetings. Pray that this new location will provide more opportunities to minister to the Hengchun community, especially in the hospital.

Wanhua:

In the absence of Randy & Janet Adams, Lucy (Liok-Keng) continues to lead the gathering under the trees at Fumin. She invites a piano teacher friend to help her. Her schedule is lighter now that she is stopping one of her two jobs. Pray that she will continue to grow in love for and faith in God.

Taiping:

David & Lucy Eastwood and Tim & Jennifer McCracken ask prayer for the growth of the church in their house. A few families and individuals have been attending. They have been encouraging members to assist in leading discussion.

Pray for opportunities to share the gospel around Christmas in the neighbourhood, at a local hospital and in the park. Pray for the work with a team from HK, Dec. 14-20.

Praise the Lord! Mr. Cheng and his Indonesian wife are willing to let them use their new home and shop (4 floor building) for meetings or activities.

Shopworkers Church:

There will be 10 Christmas parties held on Dec 21, 22 and 25. Nine are for shopworkers, held in different shopping areas at 10 pm after the department stores close. They will be in places like McDonald or coffee shops, which stay open until midnight. The other party is for the Dorm Fellowship, especially for single parents and youth. May the Lord bring seekers to these meetings.

From beginning of January the shopworkers can't use the current place for their night worship service. Pray that the Lord move the landlord's heart to find a way that they can continue to use the place. Because of the late hours of the meetings it seems almost impossible to find another suitable facility.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Thank God for the SAW team that will be serving at the Pearl Family Garden, the Spring and with Wanhua kids' ministry from 18-26 Dec. They have prepared a nativity play. Pray that there will be opportunities to act out the story of Jesus' birth and for meaningful conversations with people about the meaning of Christmas.
Jyun has been coming to the Pearl Family Garden faithfully to cook lunch on Thursdays. She was curious about baptism after watching the Jesus film. Pray that she understands the meaning of baptism and is willing to make this commitment to the Lord.

Prison Ministry:

Teo Sin-Ee thanks God for the good conversations about who Jesus is, his crucifixion and resurrection. Pray for wisdom as Sin Ee thinks of ways to help the women see that the Bible is trustworthy and how the Christian faith is different from other religions.

Cloud finished her prison sentence about 3 months ago. She lives in Wanhua with her husband and 2 children. Pray that Cloud and her husband will find jobs, stay away from drugs and for Sin Ee to have opportunities to share the gospel with them.

Reformatory:

Margret Zingg asks prayer that the Reformatory would agree to the team restarting ‘2 days camps’. Pray also for good helpers.

During Christmas lots of Christian groups visit the Reformatory. Pray that the message of Christmas comes through clearly and that some boys will give their lives to Jesus.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Tim Ho praises the Lord for bringing good closure to his 1-year internship in Wanhua. He is thankful for gospel opportunities with Peter, Mike, and Shen Jie. Pray that gospel seeds sown will continue to be nurtured. Pray for wisdom, guidance, and vision from above as the Wanhua team will go through changes in coming months.

Tim will start the MA in Intercultural Studies program at Singapore Bible College in January. Pray his that studies will not only equip Tim with Bible knowledge, but also provide practical training and most importantly facilitate spiritual maturity.

The Wanhua team already had the first two social clubs at Dali Junior/Senior high school. They were happy events and since then lots of students talk to team members when they are outside the school prayer walking. Pray for good ideas to reach out to these teenagers.

Christmas brings many good opportunities to share the gospel. Events in Wanhua include: Dec 15 Kid’s Club; Dec. 24 Fumin Social apartments; Dec. 25 park outreach. Thank God, a short term team from Singapore help in these outreaches.

On Nov 12, Angie Piau and the Chiayi team held a Thanksgiving Dinner for high school students with a tremendous turnout (~40 new students). None of the same students came the following week because of exams; but 5 new students came as friends of regular students. Angie asks prayer for more students and for wisdom and peace in creating flexible and fun programs. Pray that in the impossibility of designing a perfect program, Angie will trust that God is at work. Pray as well for wisdom in shepherding 6 junior high kids from the English class.

Neither of the two colleges where Angela Symonds is involved have yet decided what they are going to do for Christmas activities this year. Pray for this. Angela’s sister broke her ankle when she was in Taiwan last month. She seems to be coping pretty well. Pray for her full recovery.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Spring brings Anne Alexander much anticipated interaction with those who have learned Bible stories and are teaching others. Pray many have taught those who will teach others, so they can discover what kind of teaching works best here. In addition, there will be opportunities to train new learners, both Christians and non-Christians. At the moment opportunities exceed time and energy, so pray others who have been trained will also be active in training.

Andrew & Ruth Butler report that many of the China Evangelical Seminary students will be helping to organize special Christmas evangelistic programs in their churches. Amid all the busy-ness, may they have time to reflect on and then celebrate the mysterious wonder of the Word made flesh.

While on Home Assignment, Clara Cheng would like to finish writing a training manual in missionary wholeness for trainers of missionary students. Pray for wisdom and guidance from the Lord in searching for a publisher. Clara is also reading books on counseling, so that she can develop her counseling skills further. Please pray that she will learn it well.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Stephen & Susana Gribble thank God for providing for them over the past year. Pray for perseverance and good time management in the remaining 3 months of full-time language study. As they look to moving to Taiping early 2011, and joining the team there, pray for good physical, emotional and spiritual preparation for the ministry and a good transition for them and Xiang Yi. Continue to pray for growing understanding and love for the working class people and the diversity amongst those they will minister to in Taiping.

Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre ask prayer for Ashlee's colic to get better so they can rest some. Praise God they will move to Zhōngpǔ in March to begin ministry with Seann & Amy Gibson. Pray for the remaining months in language study to be fruitful.

Nancy Elumba praises God for strength, health, memory, steady progress in Mandarin lessons with good weekly test scores, and for His faithful provision through generous supporters. She is glad to be able to buy a handy Chinese-English Bible. Praise God for open door to share the gospel to Pei Huan, her friend and neighbour who insisted she is a Buddhist but stressed that Christians' love is different. Pray that she experiences conviction from the Holy Spirit. Praise God for new friends in church, specially the 5 month old Christian parents of her English Bible class student, Lydia.

David & Sigrun Jansen continue to enjoy language study, and deepening relationships with their neighbors. These are a mixture of educated and working class people, which gives them a chance to get to know the cultural differences among people groups and to learn how to communicate the gospel to each differently. They are helping a small country church in Jo-Lan prepare a Christmas play as an outreach event and will be perform a short play as well for this church and their Shuinan church. They are concerned that they have been unable to have regular contact with Vicky or Joe since their acceptance of Christ. The spiritual oppression they felt last month has reduced, although they still see long long parades for one of the Taiwan "gods" from time to time. Sigrun has been suffering migraines more than usual, and they wonder if these may have spiritual roots.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou are most thankful for the independent language assessment. This has provided us with a sound concept of their level of language acquisition and some ideas for improvement. It has also helped them recognise that they may need about another year of full-time study. Pray that we can sustain a positive and motivated approach to language learning, and for patience. Give thanks for supporters who enable them to really get good language. And pray for the relationships they are building with locals as they practice speaking and listening that these people will see past the flawed language to their love for Christ and them. Pray they can be bold in using Mandarin.

Will & Edna McKelleher previously mentioned that God is leading them to pray more. They have started prayer walking in the neighbourhood weekly and are excited that Jian Wen, a friend from church has joined them! They are encouraged by his desire to come during his lunch every Wednesday. They also have opportunities to give out Christian magazines. May God be powerfully present, to teach them to pray & minister to all they will meet.

They thank God for: a restful holiday in Southern Taiwan; progress in language (Will in Mandarin; Edna in Taiwanese; Joshua in English & Mandarin); Jian Wen joining on the prayer walks.

Pray for: a Christmas outreach organised later in December; greater faith, boldness & wisdom.

Jeannie Newquist requests prayer for a good transition between now and February into ministry to students at the National Changhua University of Education. Pray these last three months of official language study will be used well, and for weekend visits to the university fellowship. Pray for strength and a clear mind to make prayer time a priority as she makes plans and prepares to move again.

Stephen Noble’s Mandarin exams went well. Praise the Lord for gracious teachers and opportunities to interact with local people. He looking ahead to next year when he hopes to begin training in the OMF finances with Paul Buttrey. The logistics are yet to be worked out but it will mean regular travel to Taipei. Megan is thankful for colleagues in the library that are supportive and encouraging and for interaction with the students at Morrison. Pray for language study for Megan as she desires to communicate with the local people. KOFFEE KLUB and the young men’s group are great!

OTHER MATTERS:

In his work as the Field Business Manager, because of Taiwan tax regulations, Paul Buttrey has had to spend a lot of time in re-structuring the way in which field members are paid and how money received is accounted for. The Finance Policy Committee has had extended conversations about these matters. As the accountant, Joyce Hu, and Paul implement the decisions made, they need God’s wisdom to protect them from doing things that violate Taiwan government regulations or are impractical. They especially need wisdom as they finalize a lot of details at the end of 2010, which will be new policies and procedures starting in 2011.

November 2010

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 01:43:25 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

Christine Dillon asks prayer that God would direct her to seekers, and that those who have heard many stories would become hungry for truth and decide to follow Jesus soon. Mostly they fear opposition from family and ridicule from their friends. Pray for courage.

Gracia, a short-termer from Malaysia, arrives on Oct. 6 and will stay a month. She speaks both Mandarin and Hokkien. Pray that she will be used by God to find new seekers and that she will be part of the process in helping locals come to Christ.

Hengchun:

Randy and Janet Adams praise God for two husbands and a young man joining the fellowship! Pray that these men will grow spiritually and decide to put their faith totally in Christ and be baptized.

Wanhua:

Lucy (Liok-Keng), a Taiwanese volunteer coworker, is working two jobs and is extremely busy. She wants to invite a non-Christian friend who has shown interest in Christianity to join her at Fumin on Sunday mornings. Pray that she will continue to grow spiritually despite her busy work schedule and will be able to balance work and ministry in Wanhua. Charissa Mak has returned to Australia and will be greatly missed.

Chiayi:

Angie Piau asks prayer for wisdom in planning teaching and activities for the Friday night youth group when student numbers are still low (1-3). Angie prays that God would bring more students so they can hear the gospel. FuN EnGlish has started! Praise God for a good start, one girl has even come through the Saturday park ministry. Pray that the students would enjoy the class.

Continue to pray for the ~80 shopworkers on Wenhua Road receiving the Dandelion magazine each month. Pray the magazine would open their hearts and minds to know Jesus.

Five weeks ago Seann and Amy Gibson split the weekly fellowship meeting into two groups. One group consists of young, single adults in their late 20's to early 30's, all of them Christians. The other group is older people with families, most of whom are illiterate and so they use a Bible-storying approach. With the young adults, they use new material in which each member of the group takes turn leading the group. They started in Genesis 1 and will continue through Genesis, Exodus, and into the Gospels and letters. Since beginning this group, they have seen two non-Christians join the group. Pray for the continued growth of the believers as well as the conversions of the non-believers. Pray also that from this group, leaders will arise.

Shopworkers Church (Taipei):

The shopworkers ministry needs to move the Sunday night service to new location from November. Pray they can find a place which can be used for the night service, a midweek small group and the coworkers meeting. All these meetings are after 10 pm. It is not easy to find a church near a downtown MRT station which is willing to let them use their facilities and host late night meetings.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

Pray that the women will be renewed by God’s word and learn to be more considerate towards one another as they are taught God's commands about love and godly living,
Pray for Autumn, one of the first fruits of the ministry. She's going through chemotherapy. Thank God that she is upbeat and standing firm in the faith.
SY is considering baptism but feels that she needs to keep worshiping the ancestral spirits. Pray that the Lord will remove this fear so that she can make a full commitment to Him.
Fiona lost her job after one month and went back to the "tea shop". Pray that she won't be discouraged but will continue to look for work outside Wanhua. May His grace be sufficient for her during this time.

Prison Ministry: Teo Sin-Ee

Pray that the door for ministry in the women’s prison will stay open.
FJ had multiple abortions and is thinking of giving up her 1 year-old daughter for adoption. Pray for wisdom as Taiwanese co-worker, Shuying, counsels her. Pray for FJ to be saved and experience the healing power of God's love.
YR is a natural leader who would be a great worker for the kingdom. Pray that the Holy Spirit will illuminate her mind when she reads the Bible and convict her that it is the only Truth that brings eternal life.

Reformatory:

Margaret Zingg gives thanks for all the helpers in the outreach at the Reformatory. Some faithfully serving for years there. Lately in Class 3 there is a lot of turnover with helpers. Pray for new, suitable people to join the team, especially men who can be good role models for these boys who often just don’t know how to live what we would call a ‘normal life’! Keep praying that the team are filled and led by the Holy Spirit in all they do and say.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Wanhua:

Benson and Michael are both ex-kids club teenagers from difficult family backgrounds. Lately they often show up during Saturday park outreach. They seek attention but at the same time are careful not to be involved in too deep conversations.

A large Junior/Senior high school has asked if the team members would introduce their different countries in one of the school social clubs on a regular basis. The school has said, ‘You can’t preach, but you could just say a little bit about your faith’. Pray for wisdom, good ideas, but also for the time to take up this unique opportunity. They are very limited with personnel at the moment.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander thanks all who prayed for the Bible telling workshops held around the island during October. This ministry of StorySeed BibleTelling is flourishing. A total of around 2000 attended 8 meetings and workshops to learn and enjoy Bible stories taught by John Walsh and colleagues Steve and Shannon Stewart. Several influential churches have caught the vision for equipping people to use Bible stories for evangelism, discipleship and cross-cultural outreach. Experience is showing that highly educated people like them as much as those with lesser education, making the method fairly universal. Pray for follow-up and wisdom in developing the ministry.

Andrew and Ruth Butler’s mission class at China Evangelical Seminary this semester has 54 students. While they rejoice in the students' enthusiasm and willingness to learn about and participate in mission, it is a large number. They have formed 10 small groups to help with interaction and learning. This semester goes until 21 January.

Paul Buttrey will be one of the plenary speakers at an annual missions conference held by an important group of Taiwan churches on Nov. 13. The church group has its own agency for sending out missionaries. May his words stimulate the participants to greater energy in the proclamation of the gospel and wisdom as they recruit, commission, and support Taiwan missionaries in other countries.

Please pray for guidance for Clara Cheng as she looks for a mother church in the US to be her sending church.

Like churches in many other countries, churches in Taiwan typically have many more women than men. To encourage the men in the church to grow in their walk with God and reach out to other men David and Ruth Ullstrom’s church are starting a men’s small group. Pray for a good start as a small core group prays for and invites other men to join.

Mimi Yeh asks prayer for prayer partners and mentors to build up her social base and support. She will be traveling to the US on 10/27-11/5 to attend an annual woman minister’s retreat and board meeting. Pray for a safe trip and meaningful time to meet with people. Pray for Mimi’s preparation of teaching materials for a new class. Pray also for good interaction with the students.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nancy Elumba praises God for sustenance and encouragement in Mandarin study. She is glad to be able to join in singing the Chinese songs at church as she can read more characters now. The lady pastor has been thinking of ways to integrate her into the church & help her practice Mandarin. She has invited Nancy to teach English bible stories to children on Saturdays. Parents and church leaders were all eager when the pastor informed them on Sunday at church. Pray for wisdom in this area.

The Jansens (David, Sigrun, Emmanuel, and Nathan) give thanks for:

Joe & Vicky – 2 neighbors/friends who recently decided to accept Christ!
God opening many opportunities to talk about Him with neighbors.
Language study progressing well.
Your prayer support.
Shuinan Presbyterian Church – Every week they are feeling more a part of this church.
Taiping church planting team – They have started a regular house church in addition to the open air park outreach.
Jessie – A Christian friend who, after a long time, has just now come back to church.
A wonderful field conference.

We lift up:

Joe & Vicky – Growth in their faith and a fellowship where they can be discipled.
Spiritual darkness in small towns in Taiwan.
God continuing to touch the lives of our neighbors and open their hearts.
Retaining all the vocabulary and grammar we learn.
Spiritual oppression is weighing heavy.

Thomas and Jennifer McIntyre praise God for the birth of their daughter, Ashlee Grace McIntyre, on Oct. 11. Pray for a good transition into life as parents and for their continued commitment to Taiwanese studies and building relationships in the neighborhood. They give praise for the traffic policeman near their house who read some of a gospel tract they gave him. Pray for good follow-up conversations, especially a time to chat with him since he is so busy at work when they see him.

Will and Edna McKelleher thank God for their new church here in Taichung. They are challenged by its focus on prayer and outreach. They realize a strong foundation for ministry needs to be grounded in prayer. Recently, they sense God’s leading to pray more now themselves. Please partner with them in prayer for their neighborhood, (inc. Taichung city), Taiwan & future ministry. They thank God for our good health, and for time to network and learn at the OMF conference.

They ask prayer for:

Safety driving on the roads
Spiritual alertness, vitality & protection
Ongoing cultural adjustments for themselves & loved ones.

Megan Noble attended the OMF TCK (Third Culture Kid) conference mid October and found it very helpful in her role as TCK advisor. OMF KOFFEE KLUB may have some more members as OMF Partners’ children are added to the list. The young men’s group is meeting weekly to discuss their progress of a ‘media fast’. Please pray for wisdom for Stephen and Megan as they have fun and mentor these groups. Praise for Stephen’s progress in Mandarin language study, he needs stamina and concentration.

OTHER MATTERS:

Pray for the following Serve Asia Workers who will arrive in Taiwan soon.

Esther Ng, a Bible college student from Singapore, who will come for 2 weeks in Nov-Dec for her cross cultural placement. She will be working with children in Wanhua.
Lim Kim Yet, from Malaysia, will come for one month, and is designated to be with Christine Dillon in Donggang.

October 2010

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 05:28:47 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Hengchun:

A recently baptized Junior High student was healed from a physical ailment through prayer and intervention of a doctor. Her family does not oppose her faith in Christ. Pray that her whole family will put their trust in Christ as well. The church has been encouraged by God's work among them, but individuals deal daily with health and family problems and need prayer to stand firm in their faith and witness.

Wanhua:

God has provided helpers for Liok Keng and Charissa Mak in the outreach in Fumin while Randy and Janet Adams are on HA. Audrey Lin has joined the team and shares her musical talents at the gathering under the trees (now on Saturdays). Stella, a Taiwanese Christian, has also been helping. Pray for love, perseverance, unity and wisdom for the team. Charissa will return to Australia in October. Pray for her as she seeks God's direction for her future. Pray for Liok Keng as she faces more changes in her work, and for Audrey to know how to support her in the next few months.

Chiayi:

Angie Piau continues to visit shopworkers Nana, Jenny, and ShouRu on Wenhua Road and thanks God for the trust being built. Pray for opportunities to sow seeds and wisdom in planning a possible morning English/tea for the ladies.

This fall, the youth numbers have diminished with many students leaving for college. Give thanks for those remaining (mostly girls) and pray for new students through an English class Angie will teach starting October 13. Pray for her as she learns to lead the ministry.  

Mrs. Huang sells noodles in the market near the Saturday park ministry. While Angie teaches English to one of her daughters, Mrs. Huang enjoys the environment of the center, shows interest in knowing Jesus, and has been having good conversations with Amy Gibson. Pray for Mrs. Huang and for future leadership of this ministry.

Taiping:

David & Lucy Eastwood hope to have the first meeting of a new church in their home in August. After Field Conference they will work hard to establish this small gathering on Sunday mornings as well as continue afternoon park outreach. David's commitments preaching at three Taiping churches make for busy weekends. Pray the Eastwoods and Tim & Jennifer McCracken will see a working class church meeting established and flourishing this month.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden: Audrey Lin, Teo Sin Ee, Tera Van Twillert

An outing to Danshui is planned for 28 Oct. Pray for good weather and fellowship. They will visit a Christian women's development centre where the ladies will have a chance to try some DIY craft.  
Thank God for giving Fiona, a job outside Wanhua. Pray she will settle into a routine and enjoy her work and new friends. Pray for an alternative time to continue doing Bible study with her. 
Autumn is the first baptised believer from the ministry. She has been having some health issues. Pray that she will not be anxious or fearful but trust the Lord to watch over her. 
Jessica has been coming to the Pearl for several weeks. Each time, she talks about how she is tired of living and wants to end her life. Pray the Lord will soften her heart so that she will not resist the good news but instead, come to know the eternal hope we have in Christ.

Prison Ministry:

JL is 27 years old and in prison the second time for drug offences. She has a one year-old daughter who is looked after by JL's grandmother. JL's mother and uncle are also addicts. Pray for wisdom for Teo Sin-Ee as she discerns how best to encourage JL and help her family. Pray that the Lord will rescue them from this vicious cycle of addiction and broken family relationships. Pray that the 7 women in Sin Ee’s Friday small group, will understand more about God, what He has done for us through his Son and experience his healing in their lives.

Margret Zingg reports that another request for permission to resume a monthly worship service at the Reformatory has been rejected. They do not want boys from different classes to be together any more.  

After asking the boys from Class 3 challenging questions concerning their lives, Margret was surprised how many approached her with their concerns: ‘Is there really a living God?’, ‘I have received Jesus but I don’t feel his presence’, ‘I have been in different churches, I would like to follow Christ, but I always fail’, ‘How can I change my father, who is an alcoholic?’ Many of the boys have been involved in temple activities, have been used as spirit mediums. Pray the team can share Jesus as Saviour and Lord in a way the boys understand.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Angela Symonds and her students are busy contacting new Christian university students. It is hard work, and varies from quite rewarding to pretty depressing depending on how many are contacted, whether they come to the meetings, or are willing to attend small groups, and Bible studies. Persistence and prayer are the main requirements, along with a willingness to use your cell phone with abandon.

Tim Ho asks prayer for the 20 students signed up for Kids Club. 14 are boys. Kids Club has had a good start. Pray for wisdom, creativity, patience, and unity for the teachers as they teach and relate to the students. Youth Club has also started with a handful of girls participating. Pray the activities will facilitate relationship building and interest in knowing more about the gospel. Pray for attentive students and opportunities to share Bible stories at the English classes at Fumin community. Tim is still looking to share Bible stories with Shen Jie during his afternoon breaks, and to relate to Mike through basketball. Pray for guidance for Tim's next steps after his internship finishes in November.

 Since school started, it has been hard for Charissa Mak to contact Fumin teenagers, Helen and Sally, who were keen to study the Bible during the summer. Pray for wisdom for intern Jennie Rawlings and shot-termer Erene as they follow up the girls, and that they will seek God in the busyness of school, homework and tutoring.

David and Judy Newquist retire to ministry in the U.S in October. They are reminded that "The flowers fall, but the Word of our God abides forever." They pray that the Word planted in hearts since they came 34 years ago will abide and bear fruit in the hearts of those they leave behind. Pray as Jesus prayed, that His disciples would be protected from the evil one, and that their unity would attract others into the family. Pray that God will encourage the university student groups that were meeting in their home, as they transfer to the care of others.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander asks prayer for those who sponsor, assist and attend the Bible story workshops to catch the vision and use God's stories in ministry. Pray for all the details involved to go smoothly, and for a clear video record to be made to assist in vision casting for the future. May Jehovah-Jireh supply finances for the many expenses that will be incurred. Pray for US speakers and guests to experience the hospitality of Taiwan's lovely people, be warmed and encouraged, and have a safe and healthy trip. Pray for the research into what forms of Bible storytelling are best accepted, remembered, and passed on here in Taiwan.

Andrew & Ruth Butler report that seminary students get academic credit for much of their work done here, but also spend a considerable amount of time on practical ministry assignments in churches and Christian organizations. These are supervised by an experienced Christian worker, but not graded. Then students also attend small groups for pastoral care, prayer meetings and chapel services and help with cleaning and kitchen chores. None of these learning opportunities get official grades or credits, but this semester may these routines be a channel of God's grace, and an opportunity to grow in servant leadership - an offering to God.

Pray for the Lord's guidance for Clara Cheng for time use on HA. She is auditing two seminary courses, may she be refreshed academically. She will also try to finish writing a training manual on “person formation of missionaries” for trainers. Praise God her ankle is gaining some stability and strength. She will only get to see a specialist in November. May the Lord heal her and help her be disciplined in doing her physical therapy at home.

Chi Pin Hoon has moved to Chungli to begin ministry with Alliance for Grassroots Training Ministry (AGTM). Thank God for a smooth move in spite of the heavy rain. She lives on campus and the office and classroom are in another block. Pray as she adjusts to a new environment, for good preparation and interaction with students and 5 other colleagues. She will be teaching the Pentateuch and will be in charge of the 6 students staying in the dormitory. The new school year begins on 20 Sep.

David & Ruth Ullstrom ask prayer for a church retreat on Oct. 23-24. May there be good attendance and may God draw them closer together as a church family so that they might support each other in reaching out to the community.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nancy Elumba praises God for His provision, for faithful partners and for strength and progress in Mandarin. Pray she will learn how to share the gospel with her friends, upstairs (Pei Huan, age 60) and in the market (Miss. Du). Pei Huan is from Lugang where many people come to worship during ghost month. She often shares food with Nancy. Pray for Nancy to have for love and patience as Pei Huan often comes to look for her. Praise God for a restful vacation. She revisited Taipei was encouraged to see some of the shy Filipina girls she used to lead in Bible study now taking active part in the Filipino fellowship. Pray they remain steadfast and empowered to be a blessing to their Taiwanese employers and families back home.

Pray that Stephen & Susana Gribble will remain focused in the remaining 6 months of their full-time language study in Taichung before joining the Taiping team early 2011. Praise God for a smooth transition for 1 year-old Xiang Yi who joined their family on the 19th August. Pray for energy to care for him and for wisdom to train him in God's way.

Nathan & Tina Keller ask prayer that we will study hard and well in order to communicate the gospel to the Taiwanese people. Pray for opportunities to build relationships with local people around the neighborhood. Pray for Tina’s pregnancy, that she and the baby will both be healthy. Pray for our continued spiritual, physical, and mental health. Pray for good use of our time among the different responsibilities that we have.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou praise God that they are moving to the next stage in language and facing an increase of vocabulary and biblical material. Pray they can retain and grasp new words quickly and remain motivated. Also pray for opportunities to use new words and develop skills in speaking and listening with. Praise God for the friendships they have and pray that with even limited language these friends will be able to see the love of Jesus and be drawn to him. 

Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre have 6 months of Taiwanese study to go. They are exciting about the progress that God has given them in learning the language, and are eager to begin ministry in the Spring. Praise God for Jerry, a wonderful language partner for Thomas. But pray that their meeting times will stay consistent as Jerry has been very busy with work. They eagerly anticipate the arrival of their first child - a girl - on October 11. Pray for them in this exciting time.

Will & Edna McKelleher are enjoying language study. The teachers have shown much love & support. They are learning about the local culture, inc. tips about shopping at the local market. Praise God Joshua has settled into his kindergarten quickly. They thank God for the fellowship they have with the other OMFers. Pray for ongoing adjustment to living in Taiwan, friendships with the locals (inc. a few close friends), spiritual vitality & alertness, protection for loved ones.

Stephen & Megan Noble rejoice in good health and steady routine. Pray for continuing Chinese study and for relationship building with the OMF kids through KOFFEE KLUB and the young men’s group (YMG). Stephen is progressing well in his study; pray for confidence and opportunities to use his Chinese. KK is still a hit with the young OMFers – this month will be a movie night. The YMG are looking at how to get the most out of reading the Bible. Praise that Megan not only enjoys her job at Morrison but delights in her colleagues and students at the library. Megan, in her capacity as TCK advisor, will be going to Singapore next month for a TCK conference. Pray that she will gain deeper understanding in this role.

OTHER MATTERS:

Christine Dillon will be participating in the Lausanne Convention in Cape Town, 16-25 Oct. She has been asked to give a seminar on evangelism and story telling. Pray that she will present well and that she will have a fruitful time networking and encouraging others.

At this time of year, Paul Buttrey, as the Taiwan Field Business Manager works together with the field members to estimate financial needs for next year. May the Lord grant wisdom as we seek to identify our needs in a realistic way, not budgeting too conservatively and not over-estimating! 

Irene Nicholson is organizing the Taiwan OMF Field conference to be held Oct 3-7 and a Preparing for Retirement Seminar on Oct 2. Pray that these would be helpful to all and a time to bond together. Pray for the speakers Michael and LeMei Littlefield and JoLene Grauberger (US homeside). Pray for those who have heavy responsibilities at conference organising food and kids' programs. There will be a focus on prayer and fasting - pray these will enable to focus more on God and His plans for us as a field. Pray for the 8 short-termers and visitors who have come to help with the kids' program. Pray they will have energy and time to get to know the field and members.

September 2010

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:43:07 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

Christine Dillon is seeking to encourage local believers in evangelism. She would like to see all the Christians out telling Bible stories to their friends and family. There is a long way to go before this becomes a reality. She has had opportunities with those who attend a Bible study group at Donggang and another group at a Presbyterian church 10 km away. On Sept 18 & 25 she will share with a group at the church at Ju Tyan (20 km away). May they be excited about what they learn and for more training opportunities to follow.
Pray that these groups will be motivated by the Spirit to share stories and be excited by people's response. Fear is a huge issue despite talking and praying this through. Storytellers must be multiplied if the people in this area are to be reached.
Hengchun:

Sheah Fang has been greatly encouraged by her sister-in-law's interest in Christianity. Attendance at meetings has been down lately and some members are struggling with health and job related stress. Leaders need wisdom and strength to encourage fellow members through difficult times.

Wanhua:

While Randy and Janet Adams are away on a six month home assignment, the Wanhua hospital Bible study continues each Friday at noon. Liok-Keng is also reaching out to Wanhua friends she grew up with, sharing her testimony and Christian literature.

The Sunday gathering street side gathering in Fumin is continuing on under the leadership of Liok-Keng, and Charissa Mak. The Fumin residents are happy to sing songs and hear stories from the Bible and are growing in their understanding of God, yet they still continue in their worship of ancestors and family gods. Pray that they will see God as He is and put their trust in Jesus. Pray also for wisdom for the leaders to know how to address their questions.   Two of the teenage girls from Fumin Sally and Helen have started meeting for Bible study with Charissa and two other coworkers. Pray they will grow in their understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.

Pray also God's work in the lives of Mrs Lin & Linda who have been meeting with Charissa to listen to Bible stories. May others continue to meet with them after she leaves Taiwan in October. Pray that she can keep drawing close to God as she prepares for the transition home to Sydney, and for gospel opportunities as she says goodbye.

Tim Ho asks prayer for wisdom, inspiration, and leadership as he oversees children's and youth ministries in Wanhua while Veronika Rieben is on home assignment. Ministries will restart in late August when the school year begins. Pray for the young people God will bring into these ministries, and for provision of volunteers to serve in the ministries. Pray specifically for Mike, Shen Jie, and Peter as Tim continues to deepen the relationships with them. Mike has reconnected with Tim and is keen on continuing to relate through basketball. Shen Jie has heard the gospel explained a couple times, and is open to going through Bible stories together. Peter is keen on spending time over playing billiards and continuing to participate in Youth Club. Pray for opportunities to show Christian care and concern while sowing gospel seeds in these relationships.

Shopworkers Church:

Elisabeth Weinmann is thankful quite a few new seekers have been joined small group meetings and night services in the last few months. On Sept 8 there will be an evangelistic meeting. Pray these new friends will come, understand the gospel and make a decision for Jesus.

Kaiyuan, a local coworker, graduated from Bible college in June. In September he will go to Canada for half a year to improve his English, learn from other churches, and see his mother. Pray that this time overseas will be helpful and valuable for him and also pray for wisdom to fill the ministry gaps during the time he is away.

Chiayi:

Angie Piau thanks God for good partnership in the shopworkers and youth ministry with 6 week short-termer, Frankie (UK). Praise God for two youth, Frances and Lemon, becoming more earnest in Christianity. Pray for them and other graduating seniors to find good spiritual homes after they leave Chiayi. Pray for encouragement and perseverance for Angie in the shopworkers ministry. Shou Ru, Nana, and Jenny are always happy to see Angie when she visits. May she have opportunities to share the gospel with them. Angie thanks God for a chance to rest at the end of August. She is thankful for fun times with the youth over summer, but anxious about a fall in numbers when the seniors leave. Pray God will guide her in balancing time between youth and shopworkers ministry this Fall.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden:

Teo Sin Ee thanks God for opportunities to mobilize support for the Pearl Family Garden ministry. She will take a short trip home to Singapore (27 Aug to 6 Sept) and will give updates at church and her home church's missions retreat (80 participants signed up).

Audrey Lin thanks God for sweet and meaningful farewells in Taichung, as well as a grace-filled transition to Wanhua. It has been a joy to get to know the neighborhood and to begin work at the Pearl. Pray for a suitable apartment, for guidance and grace in building relationships with the women and with others outside of the ministry and for settling into life in Wanhua.

Pray especially for one woman at the Pearl who may be ready to consider baptism, and for the Pearl team as they follow-up with her.

Prison Ministry:

Sin-Ee prays for wisdom as, along with her local co-worker, Shuying, she works out the material for the small group they lead at Longtan Women's Prison. The women have been very open in sharing their thoughts and feelings e.g. when they visited the week after Father's Day, they talked about the positive influence that our earthly fathers have on us. Pray that they will come to know the Heavenly Father.

Margret Zingg is concerned that many different Christian groups come to the Reformatory, share the gospel and give the boys a chance to rise their hands, showing that they want to receive Jesus. Some boys rise their hand at every opportunity. In this way many get ‘converted’, but there is hardly ever a change of life. How can they help these ‘converts’ to become disciples? There are more than 50 boys in a class, some very ‘anti-gospel’, others indifferent, some seekers and then the ‘converts’! Pray for spiritual wisdom and insight and the Holy Spirits mighty work in the boys and the team!

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

David and Judy Newquist report that the Tunghai University Christian fellowship has been given the unprecedented opportunity and responsibility to host the entire incoming freshmen class of over 2000 students on Sept. 9. This is a huge undertaking, and requires wisdom and grace to work together successfully. The Christian students have amazing talents, and should be able to use this occasion to attract many new students to the fellowship activities and to the Lord.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander is back from a study & family trip to the US and heavily involved in promotion and admin for 5 storytelling workshops in 3 cities for October. Pray that God will bring many to register early, attend, then use Bible storytelling in their own ministry effectively. Finances are a concern. Pray for Anne as she balances ministry needs and her studies, to maintain health and enthusiasm.

Andrew and Ruth Butler begin a new academic year at China Evangelical Seminary on Sept. 20. Pray for the new students, many of whom are come with their families. Pray too for the returning students. They all need God's help as staff and students together to live lives worthy of the gospel.

Chi Pin Hoon requests prayer for adjustment to a new environment, to colleagues and students. She will move from Kaohsiung to Chungli on Aug. 30 to a new ministry with AGTM (Alliance for Grassroots Training Ministry). Pray for preparation of a new course on the Pentateuch. The school term starts on 20th Sep. She will also be representing AGTM at a church on Sept. 26, seeking to mobilize them for mission to the working class. Pin Hoon needs to write an article for her home church about her ministry in Taiwan by 15 Sep.

David & Ruth Ullstrom report that the summer youth outreach led by a short-term team went very well, with a very moving time of prayer for each person on the last day of the 2 week program. A number of youth indicated for the first time that they want to trust in Christ. A follow up Coffee House the next Friday saw many of them bringing their friends to the church. There was a 2 day youth retreat at the end of August. Up to now the youth have been meeting after the Sunday morning worship service. Starting this month there will be a youth group on Saturday nights. Pray for a good start and for many of the youth contacted over the summer to come and bring their friends.

Mimi Yeh asks pray for recovery from hand surgery done on Aug. 12. and for preparation of teaching materials for next semester which starts on Sept. 21.

LANGUAGE STUDY

David and Sigrun Jansen give thanks for:

their church, Shuinan Presbyterian church
for God moving in the hearts of their neighbors
that language study is progressing well
for "Vicky" attending church and being touched by the experience
for "Joe" actively pursuing Christianity and bringing his family slowly along
for David’s sister Lauren receiving relief from her back pains
for a relaxing vacation
for the opportunity to play Cajon (a wooden box drum) with the worship team (this is a fun outlet for David).

They ask prayer for:

future decisions for the education of their boys, Emmanuel and Nathan
healing for David’s sister Christine, who is suffering from MS
for the struggling country churches of Jhou-Lan which are surrounded by spiritual darkness
for focus on language and prayer life. (It is easy to be distracted by the smallest things)
for God continuing to transform the lives of Grace, Duff, Tony, Joe, Mr. Liu, their families, and the staff at kindergarten
for a difficult situation in Sigrun's and David's extended families.

Stephen & Susana Gribble are thankful for God's wonderful provision for the harvest field in Taiwan through the arrival of new works, as well as His provisions for all their daily needs. Xiang Yi, the 11 month year old boy that they hope to adopt is now living with them. The Children's Welfare League Foundation will complete the legal formalities after 6 months. Please pray for Xiang Yi's separation anxiety, that he will be settle will into the family and his new environment. Also pray that Steve and Susana will adjust to looking after a small child and for fitting language study around this.
Nathan & Tina Keller ask prayer for their study of Taiwanese. Nathan is slowly working his way through the lessons and is excited about putting into practice what he is learning everyday. Tina is going though the lessons much faster and is seeking many opportunities to practice what she is learning.

 Pray for their adjustment to living in Taiwan. They arrived at the end of July and have been adjusting well to life here so far. Pray for safety and health for the whole family (Nathan, Tina, and Timothy) as we go about their everyday lives.  Pray for wise use of their time as they juggle language learning, family responsibilities, spiritual disciplines, and recreation. Pray that they would glorify God by enjoying Him, showing Christ's love to each other, and building His church.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou’s home is full of study. Johanna is approaching final exams from Australia, the boys have returned to school and parents are slogging away at language. Their household is very busy and it is easy to get discouraged and distracted. Pray for them to be diligent in their studies and that God will give them quick recall. Pray for courage to use their language.

In their busyness may they not ignore spiritual disciplines but be disciplined in the reading of scripture and prayer. These are essential for all Christians and missionaries are not exempted from finding it difficult to maintain this routine.

 Give thanks that Bronwyn unexpectedly met the husband and children of one of her contacts at the market. This is a good step forward in getting to know them well. Pray for relationships with locals to be deepening and that as they gain language they can be more effective in communicating.

Will & Edna McKelleher praise God for a good kindergarten for Joshua and for a new home & a new season. They ask prayer for:

Joshua to thrive in his school
Spiritual vitality, alertness & protection
the Spirit's leading to the right church and to people to build relationships with.

Jeannie Newquist arrived in Taiwan at the end of July and praises the Lord for a smooth transition thus far to the city where she grew up. There are a lot of new challenges, however, living here as an adult and re-adjusting after ten years in the US! She is enjoying connecting with old friends as well as making new acquaintances in her neighborhood, and getting places on her bicycle (please pray for safety) and buses. She has begun full-time language school, and is patching up her rusty Mandarin. Since there are quite a few foreigners in the neighborhood where she lives, the local people are used to seeing them around and like to ask questions about their lives. Pray for the people in this area to see Christ in their speech and actions. Pray for the owner of the corner tea shop who has kept a sign that says "Christ is the head of this house", but quickly explains that it was left by the previous owner.

Pray for Jeannie's family as her parents (David and Judy Newquist) prepare to move back to the US in October after over thirty years in Taiwan, and as her brother and sister-in-law visit them from mid-August through mid-September. Pray for good time together as a family, as well as with many close family friends who also feel the deep loss as their career in Taiwan comes to a close. They pray for encouragement and joy as they look forward to the things that God is also calling them to do next.

Stephen & Megan Noble are back in full swing at Morrison and OMF KOFFEE KLUB. Pray that the MKs will be blessed by the time together. Stephen continues on full time Mandarin learning whilst Megan and the children study part time. Thank you for praying about whether to form a group for the older MKs - a decision will hopefully be made soon. Conrad and Isaac have had a significant increase in homework, pray for self-discipline. Praise for continued health for all and for Megan’s successful trip back to Australia. Pray too for Megan’s role as TCK advisor and Stephen’s added role of ‘10 seconds for Taiwan’ co-ordinator. Uphold them as they make local friends with limited Chinese so they can build relationships, invite them to church and for them to hear the Good News!

OTHER MATTERS:

Mary Jean Buttrey is a member of the Music Fellowship, a Taipei-based Christian organization with a vision for evangelism. They are sponsoring a seminar Sept. 4 on “Using the Arts in Evangelism”. Pray for the participants as they consider what the Bible has to say about creative arts and how Christians can make strategic use of their God-given creativity in sharing the gospel.

August 2010

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:52:31 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

Christine Dillon finds that August is never an easy month to get through physically, especially as many of those she visits have to be visited in their quieter times around midday. Please pray for good story opportunities despite the heat.

Mrs. Hill is reading the Bible now and doesn’t like to miss a day. Pray for her and her family to trust Jesus. Christine also hopes that over the summer she once again can have opportunities with her daughter (in her late 20’s). Please pray for several others to read the Bible too – the Kao family, and Mr. Lin. May they want to follow Jesus!

Please pray too for Christine’s local co-worker, Golden Orchid, a 60-year old retired history teacher. Christine and Golden are working on vision, mission, and values and becoming excited by what God has laid on their hearts. Please ask that Golden will seize story opportunities and see people come to Jesus.

Hengchun

Randy and Janet Adams report that the house church joyfully baptized two junior high students this past month. They have been meeting with the principal of the junior high school, who is a church member. House church leaders are encouraging members to read through the Bible on their own.

Wanhua

Randy and Janet Adams are away for a 6-month Home Assignment. Their co-worker Liok-Keng will continue to minister in the Fumin community together with OMFers Charissa Mak and Tim Ho, leading the gathering under the tree, as well as meeting for Bible study with the staff at the Wanhua Hospital.

Liok-Keng has had a rough past few months, first breaking her foot then losing her job. She is in training for a new job. Randy and Janet have been encouraged to see her spiritual growth through these trials. Please pray that she will grow strong in faith and obedience to God.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

The Pearl Family Garden

Teo Sin Ee thanks God for the orders that they have received for gospel beads. Pray that Spring Lotus will keep coming to the center to make beads and hear God’s word. The Pearl Family Garden team would like to find someone who can cook for Thursday lunch meetings, leaving them more time to talk to the ladies when they come.

Prison Ministry

Teo Sin-Ee thanks God for sending her a new co-worker, Shuying. Pray for these two co–workers: that they will complement one other in this ministry; that they will have wisdom and unity as they plan the teaching material; that they will have safety in their travels to the prison, which is in Taoyuan County, some distance away from where they live.

In August they will be assigned a new group of eight women to teach. Ask the Lord to give them empathy, love, and compassion as they seek to connect with these women. Pray for openness to the gospel.

Audrey Lin is scheduled to move to Wanhua on August 7. She praises God for rich friendships in Taichung, and for His work through the joys and difficulties of the past year. She also thanks God for great language teachers and how much she’s enjoyed language study. She is looking forward to starting work with The Pearl Family Garden. If the schedule works out, she will also help with music for the gathering under the tree while Randy and Janet Adams are on home assignment.

Please pray for:

Her transition from language study to active ministry as she gets to know the new people and neighborhood, seeing and loving as God sees and loves.
Encouragement and strengthening of the team as she joins them
Fruitfulness in work and witness
Spiritual protection
Continued part-time Mandarin language study (All the co-worker meetings at the Pearl Family Garden are held in Mandarin.)

Troubled Boys Ministry

Margret Zingg will return from home assignment on August 21. She prays for a clear head and a sensitive heart as she takes part in the Taiwan field council meetings on August 23-25. Margret also is praying that the reformatory officials will permit the team to hold a monthly Christian church service in the reformatory again.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Birgit Glaw is concerned about the life changes of the young people in Chiayi. In August most of the young people she is in touch with youth start a new phase in life as university students. Pray that they will find Christian clubs in their schools and also join a church. Most of them have to move to other cities.

Beate Harr Praises God for three exciting summer camps – one for junior high schoolers, an evangelistic camp for senior high schoolers, and a discipleship camp for senior high schoolers. May the churches be able to continue to do follow-up work, but above all may the Holy Spirit continue to do the good work He has started and bring it to completion!

The Campus Evangelical Fellowship Youth Missions Conference was very challenging. Many of the 1,600 attendees gave their lives to the Lord and to Christian service. They returned home with their heads full of information about mission in Taiwan and overseas. During the conference Beate was very busy talking to individuals who are struggling through the issues of God’s call on their lives. Family, relationships, education, their churches, and many other things may test their calling. May they have the faith, grace, and strength to continue to follow the One who has bought their lives with a high price, and may they get to the place where God wants them to be, whether in Taiwan or in cross-cultural mission.

David and Judy Newquist report that on August 4, fifty Christian young people will gather in northern Taiwan to be counselors at this year’s camp for special needs children. They will spend their first three and a half days in training about how to handle the children with skill and love. Pray that they and the teachers will have God’s special grace and wisdom for working with these children and their families. From August 7 to 10, thirty families will be at the campground, each with at least one special needs child in the family. Most of these families do not know Jesus. In this culture a handicapped child is considered a curse on the parents for something they did in a previous life. Please pray that through separate programs for the children and parents they will recognize that there is a God who loves and cares for them, and thus be freed from the burden of their traditional outlook. Judy will speak at one session for the counselors and three sessions for the parents. Dave will also take part in the final session, which will finish with an invitation to trust the Lord.

David and Ruth Ullstrom report that the Youth Alpha outreach led by a Summer Student Gospel Team in Dashe in July was a great success with thirty young people participating. Pray for the leaders and the young people as they take part in a follow-up retreat held on August 27-29.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander reports a very busy and demanding schedule in the upcoming months. She is looking forward to taking three graduate school classes this fall. She is also urgently working on the planning and promotion of five Bible Telling workshops in four cities in October. Pray for her stamina, wisdom, health, and walk with God.

Clara Cheng is seconded by OMF-Taiwan to teach at the Taiwan Logos Seminary. She is going on home assignment in August for about a year. This summer the seminary will add two new incoming professors and a new vice president (a professor from the Logos mother seminary in the United States). Pray that together with the current academic dean, the new faculty and staff will be dynamic, providing spiritual leadership/formation for the students and the staff team. Please pray for Clara on home assignment, as she receives therapy on a damaged ankle that affects her mobility. Please pray for healing from the Lord. Please also pray for a home assignment car and all the other things that are needed when people are on home assignment.

Chin Pin Hoon, who has been doing Bible teaching in the southern city of Kaohsiung, will move to a new ministry with Alliance For Grassroots Training Ministry (AGTM) in late August. AGTM is an organization which reaches out to the working class of Taiwan. It has a Bible Training Institute in the northern city of Taoyuan, which trains full time students who are burdened to reach out to the working class. Her role is to teach in the institute and to mentor the full time students. The school term starts in mid-September. In her first term she will teach a course in the Pentateuch. Please pray for her class preparation, integration into the faculty and student body, and adjustment to AGTM. She is also concerned that God would give her the grace to adjust to the not-so-friendly weather of northern Taiwan.

Pin Hoon will finish teaching two Bible classes at the Chung Yi Free Methodist Church in late August, a few days before she moves. Please pray for wisdom to pack, and get the right moving company to help move from southern Taiwan to northern Taiwan, where AGTM is located. She finds that it is not easy to say goodbye to church and friends in Kaohsiung. She has lived and served in Kaohsiung for seventeen years.

Mimi Yeh is teaching at the Bread of Life Seminary in the Taipei area. She is praying for:

God’s provision of prayer partners and good friends to support one another.
God’s healing of carpal tunnel syndrome on her right hand before classes start in September. This may have been caused by her typing and playing tennis. The doctor has recommended a two-week total rest.
Wisdom to understand her students’ needs and to prepare her classes to meet those needs.
A close walk with the Lord and humility in serving Him.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nancy Elumba praises the Lord for a growing friendship with her upstairs neighbor Ms. Pei Huan Huang. She is a kind person, taking Nancy around Taichung on her motorbike, introducing her to her relatives, stopping by Nancy’s place almost every day, sharing her food, asking Nancy to water her plants when she is out, inquiring about English vocabulary, etc. Please pray for wisdom for Nancy as she relates to her. She seems to know some Christian vocabulary/jargon, but is also into the new age movement. Nancy prays for complete healing of a rash, that affects her off and on. She is looking forward to a new OMF housemate – Jeannie Newquist, a new missionary coming from the Orientation Course in Singapore. Pray for their adjustment to each other. Nancy feels the need for strength and endurance in learning Mandarin.

Stephen & Susana Gribble thank God for Sunday afternoons with OMFers David and Lucy Eastwood and locals at the 921 Earthquake Park in Taiping during the month of July. It has given a better appreciation of the cultural diversity of the residents in the area. Please pray that they’ll continue to progress both in their language and in cultural understanding for the ministry there in 2011. Please continue to pray for the adoption process that they are going through with CWLF. The little one needs some medical tests to be cleared before the Gribbles can proceed. Please pray that they’ll trust God in the waiting.

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou report that they are persevering with language study. They are becoming more able to speak with the people they meet and are building relationships with some of their daily contacts. However, they still feel really limited in sharing the gospel in word. Pray for them to keep building relationships. Pray that as they are able to share the words of life, people will be ready to hear. Especially pray for the apple stand lady, the grape stand lady, the stationery shop family, and the tea stand family.

Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre are pleased that things are gearing up for them in preparation for their new baby, as Jennifer has entered her third trimester. They’re set to deliver sometime during the first half of October. Please pray for the health of both of them at this time. Please also pray for them as they transition into new roles as parents. (Jennifer has had to slow down a great deal.) Pray also that Thomas would be able to still make good improvements in his language study. Praise God for the provision of a young language partner and friend for him (named Jerry).

Stephen & Megan Noble give praise to the Father for a safe journey back to Australia for Megan. Please pray for opportunities while she is there to encourage others to think of mission generally and for OMF-Taiwan specifically. Please pray for Stephen while Megan is away until mid-August, as he is still in language school, helping in the Morrison library and looking after the four children! Pray too for Megan’s strength to complete her practicum and for energy. She will arrive back in Taiwan the day before Morrison Academy resumes and will need to be able to organize her classes quickly. Praise for a relaxing holiday for the children and for quality family time. They would appreciate prayer for their language learning and the chance to meet and build relationships with the local Taiwanese. Continue to pray for friendships at church that they may be able to support each other in the Lord.

Will & Edna McKelleher are new workers from Australia, who just arrived in July from the Orientation Course in Singapore. They thank God for an insightful and challenging orientation program in Singapore and meeting the other new missionaries heading to Taiwan. They are also grateful for the opportunities to share their faith with Edna’s family and friends in Singapore. As they start out as new OMF missionaries in Taiwan, they ask:

That their family and loved ones would rise above the stress experienced during transition.
That the Lord would clearly lead them to a local church to participate in and a pre-school for their son Joshua.
That they would have perseverance and anointing in language study.

July 2010

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:59:33 GMT

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang:

Christine Dillon reports that several people are teetering on the edge of a decision to follow Jesus (after between 6-15 months of Bible storying). Please pray that they will know that Jesus is worth any ridicule or difficulties that they might face. Pray especially for Mr. and Mrs. Kao and Mr. Lin, who sell on the roadside and are already a little group. May they be transformed and so attract others to hear the good news! Also pray for Mrs. Hill who told Christine, “I’ll be a good co-worker for you because I know so many people and can speak the languages better than you!” May a church form in her furniture shop!

Please also pray for two church groups who are being trained in storying and for various individuals.

Christine really longs to see the church she attends get as excited about storying as the other church. May God introduce her to many potential story tellers from this town and surrounding areas! The only way this area will be reached is if there are many Bible story tellers.

Hengchun

Randy and Janet Adams report that house church leaders are encouraging members to meet together for Bible study and prayer during the week. Several are doing this and are greatly encouraged. One church member is meeting with a friend on Skype to do Bible study! However, on the other hand, a few members have stopped coming to meetings and need prayer.

Wanhua

In the next half year there will be some changes in part of the Wanhua district outreach. A key couple, Randy and Janet Adams, are heading back to the USA for a 6-month home assignment. Local co-worker Liok-Keng, along with OMFers Charissa Mak and Audrey Lin will continue to meet with Fumin friends to sing and tell Bible stories. Liok-Keng especially needs prayer for courage, wisdom and strength to prepare and share Bible stories. She has been telling Bible stories this past month in Fumin and does a great job. The weekly hospital Bible study group, which Randy has been leading, will be led by local hospital staff.

Tim Ho praises God for good closure to the kids club, youth club, and Fumin English tutoring, as the school year just drew to a close. Pray that the students’ experience would draw them to know a mighty and loving God who cares for them personally. Please continue to pray for opportunities for Tim to talk to and spend time with Jing Yao, Shen Jieh, Peter, and Xin Rong.

Shopworkers Church

Elisabeth Weinmann reports that there will be an outing for shopworkers on July 1. Quite a few people will take part in this outreach activity for the first time. In July there will also be a short-term missionary team from Singapore helping out for three weeks. They will help with the program of a camp from July 6 to 9, and youth activities after that. May the Lord use these activities and the team to “catch men” for Him.

Chiayi

Angie Piau asks prayer for a new outreach to shopworkers on Wanhua and Renai Road. Pray for wisdom in using magazine distribution, relationship building, and Bible storytelling. Pray for opportunities to share Bible stories with Elva, Shou Ru, Nana, and Wawa (all girls working in clothing and shoe stores). Angie thanks God for a recent trip to Donggang to learn Bible storytelling from OMFer Christine Dillon. She already had a chance to share the creation story with Ms. Cai, the slipper seller. Pray that God would open her heart to hear more.

Angie requests prayer that God would help and direct the small Chiayi team of two (plus a summer SAW and Taiwanese intern, Sam) with the changes they expect to see in their youth and adult contacts over the summer.

MARGINALIZED PEOPLE MINISTRIES

Prison Ministry

Teo Sin-Ee reports that after praying for some time for a co-worker to take Ina van der Schyff’s place after her retirement, someone has come forward. The problem is that the prison administrators are not giving the green light. It is unclear if it’s because this new co-worker is visually handicapped or because the prison is restricting the number of volunteers. Pray for good communication with the prison administrators and for a way to do long-term follow up with the inmates.

Charissa Mak is taking part in the weekly lunch meeting at the Pearl Family Garden, and asks prayer for wisdom and compassion as she and her coworkers interact with the ladies. Pray that the ladies would see and experience Christ’s transforming love and hope through the team.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Youth Missions Conference

On July 11 to 17 the Campus Evangelical Fellowship is sponsoring their triennial Taiwan student missions conference (called Ching Xuan青宣). Expected attendance is about 1,600 students. May all who attend grow in their understanding and burden for mission. Some of the students feel led by the Lord to become cross-cultural missionaries, and want to do so, but they face many practical obstacles from family opposition, even from Christian families, and lack of support from their churches if they have one. Pray for strength and grace for the CEF staff as they manage this massive project, for special anointing for the speakers, and for the Lord’s guidance and provision for these young people in their service for the Lord. They have the potential to change Taiwan and the world. This year church representatives have also been invited to attend meetings together with mission agencies and missionaries. Please pray for a good time of discussion, increased awareness of the issues and nature of support needed for involvement in mission work, and a willingness to respond practically as God leads. Several OMF missionaries will help staff the conference:

David and Judy Newquist request prayer for about fifty Tunghai University students who are expected to attend. The Newquists will be at the conference for one day interacting with the students.
Angela Symonds will be running a workshop on “Women In Mission” at the conference.
Teo Sin-Ee will lead a vision trip for conference participants to see the spiritual needs of Wanhua. She asks for prayer that she will be able to mobilize effectively for OMF’s working class ministries. She asks for special protection as she leads a prayer walk near Wanhua’s Longshan Temple.

 Summer Student Camps

Summer is a key time for student camps for evangelism and discipleship. Beate Harr asks for prayer that the Holy Spirit would open the hearts of those who are at camps and that there will be many who would invite Jesus to come into their lives for the first time and that others who already know him might be strengthened and come to know Jesus better.
Melanie Bister asks for prayer for the students attending the Vocational School’s Gospel Camp (July 2-5), especially for those who do not yet know Christ.
Martin and Angela Symonds ask for prayer for CEF’s discipleship camp on August 20-28. Angela will be the main speaker, and Martin will be a small group leader.

Summer Student Gospel Teams

Summer is also a key time for gospel teams. A short-term missionary team will work together with Veronika Rieben, Charissa Mak, and Tim Ho in Taipei’s Wanhua district in July. This SAW team will work alongside a local church group reaching out to students from the Dali Elementary School and families in the Fumin community. They will hold a week’s activity in each location, followed by a week of follow-up activities. Please pray that their testimonies, presentations, and interactions with the students and families will have an impact in sharing the love of Jesus. May the gospel team activities create more contacts for future ministry! May the two groups (foreign and local Taiwan Christians) work well together! May the team members have energy and stamina in the hot and humid summer! Please also pray for Tim as he leads and cares for the team. 

Another short-term missionary team will work together with the Jiacheng Church, where David and Ruth Ullstrom have been serving. Pray for at least thirty young people to attend the Youth Alpha outreach being run from July 5 to 16. Pray for the team running the daily sessions and for God to draw many young people to Himself. Several team members will be staying on for three weeks to keep hanging out with the young people and hopefully start discipling some new believers!

Other Summer Student Ministries

Beate Harr reports that summer holiday is not necessarily a happy time for the students. There are four weeks of classes for everybody and cram school for a good number of the students. Others need to work; many are bored; and some participate in Christian church camps or CEF camps. Please pray that these young people will have time for rest and recreation. The graduates from senior high school will start a new phase in their life. Going into college or university is a big change. Please pray especially for those who didn’t make it into university. They need to find work and probably need to face very unhappy and disappointed parents. May they remember that they are precious and special in God’s eyes and continue to seek Him.
Angela and Martin Symonds both have very busy summers. They are involved in village evangelism with different groups of students. They hope to attend a marriage seminar, which they will later use with the young adults that they spend time with. One of the professors wants Angela’s help with an international seminar for agricultural students for ten days.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Anne Alexander is working to establish a non-profit Christian organization called the StorySeed Association. It is off to a good start, but there are many things remaining to be done to prepare for some October BibleTelling workshops. Anne feels under pressure because she will also have to be away from Taiwan for an extended time this summer. Pray for translation of material, promotion, early registrations, cooperation with sponsoring churches, and smooth coworker relationships, as well as support for administrative expenses. Anne appreciates prayer for travel, classes at Biola, family reunions, interactions with friends, family, and supporters, both old and new.
Clara Cheng, who is teaching at the Logos Theological Seminary, thanks the Lord for progress in some significant medical concerns that she has. The Lord has arranged a post-polio specialist for her to see. The specialist suggested a recovery plan for her ankle. Please pray that she would be able to follow the plan, and ultimately, that the Lord would bring healing and recovery. The seminary is praying for at least fifteen new students to enroll in the fall semester. Clara will be one of the two professors interviewing the students. Please pray for the Lord’s calling on prospective candidates and for His guidance in the recruiting and processing process.
Serving in cooperation with the Banner Church in Taichung, Andy & Mei-ling Wilson are preparing to head off on 6-month home assignment in the UK. The first cohort of missionary trainees in the Banner Church missionary training program will soon begin a 2-3 year internship in on-island church planting. They are currently involved in team building with the couple from the church staff who will lead them next year in a church planting project that is planned for the city of Tainan.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Nancy Elumba praises God for His love, protection, provision, and wisdom. She has been in Taiwan for three months. She finds that she can recall a lot of Mandarin that she learned five to seven years ago, giving her progress in her language classes beyond what she expected. She asks prayer for continued sustenance in studies, health, and relationship-building.
David and Sigrun Jansen give thanks for:

Many opportunities provided and taken to know their neighbors.
Mrs. Chen, their Christian neighbor, who has been so loving.
Feeling “integrated” into Taiwan life.
Seeing God changing things through prayer.
OMF ministries in Taiwan continuing to bear fruit. Several recent conversions, discipling, ministry training, and social uplift ministries.
Seeing some Taiwanese churches actively evangelizing.
Language study still progressing well.
Wonderful marriage and family life!
Children adjusting very well to Chinese kindergarten.

They ask prayer for:

The spiritual strongholds of animism to be brought down in Jesus’ name.
Revival in Taiwan for the Christians and mass conversion of the not-yet-Christians.
Continued fruit from the missionaries who have been working here for many years.
The Taiping church planting team.

Susana Gribble has started formal Mandarin Chinese studies this term. Her husband Stephen is progressing in his Mandarin Bible vocabulary as he learns Bible stories in language classes. Please pray for perseverance and energy to concentrate as they study in the heat of summer. They thank God for guiding them over the last few months as they apply to adopt a little boy through CWLF, a government endorsed child welfare organization. Please pray for Li Ching, the social worker from CWLF with whom they’ve been able to talk about God. Stephen’s father has recently had a hernia operation. Please pray for a complete recovery. Please pray for continued health for their parents.

Audrey Lin thanks God for a good start in reviewing Mandarin. Please continue to pray for depth and fluency in both languages (Mandarin and Taiwanese) as she studies them concurrently in this last month of full-time study. Please pray for much grace in the transition as she prepares to move to Wanhua on August 7.

MK EDUCATION
Stephen and Megan Noble give thanks to the Father for a great first year in Taiwan! Thanks to Him for His faithfulness and grace. They are grateful for a quick settling into life in Taiwan and Morrison Academy (where Megan is a school librarian), as well as language study and church. Stephen continues to enjoy the challenge of full-time Mandarin study, while Megan and each of the children have the opportunity to learn Mandarin part time. Please pray for their MK get-together, OMF KOFFEE KLUB, and whether or not to try and have a teen group as well next year. Also please remember their daughter Faith, as they work with her each day on reading and special lessons designed to help her with spelling, etc. Megan will fly to Australia on July 16 to complete the last practicum for her Masters degree. She will be gone for one month. Uphold Stephen as he holds the fort back in Taichung with four kids on holidays!

OTHER MATTERS:

July sees the advent of a new crop of resident physicians at the hospital where Mary Jeanne Buttrey teaches. Most are here for at least three to five years. There may be a few believers among them to encourage, but the majority will not know the Lord. Pray for believers on the staff as we seek to build relationships and introduce them to Jesus.