Missionary life is constantly challenging, often difficult, and rarely dull.
This blog is maintained by the OMF missionaries working in Taiwan. It records our thoughts about mission work, reports news and activities, and lists our prayers and God's answers...
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A new gospel center in Taichung
Last Saturday night we opened our new gospel center in Taichung County, Taiping. Around 50 people came out for this celebration. Praise God for the 10 couples that came out along with about an additional 15/20 foreign brides without their husbands. We moved from our old center two doors down. This place is a lot cleaner and more usable. The local church we are working with is providing the...
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Investing in Taiwanese seminary students
Most Taiwanese seminary students are required to intern on weekends at a local church or ministry situation. In recent years we have had a few students work in our OMF related ministries. This has been an excellent experience. We not only have enthusiastic Taiwanese believers assisting in our ministries. It is also an opportunity to share our vision as we mentor, train and mobilise them to...
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Cosplay Evangelism
No-one is actually doing this yet. But cosplay could be a great method of getting to know Taiwanese young people who are unlikely to ever venture into a church.
Taiwanese youth love dressing up as their favourite anime and manga characters in eleborate costumes. Every year there are large conventions with 1000s of people getted dressed up, entering competitions and parading for t...
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God and the weak
We had “church” this morning with Mr Don. As the world would see him, he is not a very strategic person to be investing much time with. He has a speech problem, is poor, has a temper, etc . It is amazing though, how through the years, we have seen God change and use the weakest people.
I could share a number of stories…incredible stories. But there are also many in scripture: Mo...
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Be scaffolding
"I look upon foreign missionaries as the scaffolding around a rising building. The sooner it can be dispensed with, the better; or rather, the sooner it can be transferred to other places, to serve the same temporary use, the better." Hudson Taylor
Randy and Janet Adams, church planting in Wanhua
(Taiwan picture a day: MORE
MOREA week of idolatry
The annual Matsu procession is taking place across central Taiwan this week. From March 22-29, up to 1 million people will participate in a 300 km procession through central Taiwan, carrying and worshiping the goddess Matsu. T...
MOREThe outrage of idolatry
Have we forgotten to be offended by idolatry?
In the West we have little experience of people bowing down before physical idols of wood and stone, and we struggle to apply the Bible's teaching about idolatry. So we think of idolatry in terms of false ideas, values and desires. We define idols as the family, job, sport, entertainment, etc. This is legitimate. The Bible itself does...
Understanding cross-cultural ministry
Recently I have discovered a number of books about cross-cultural ministry that I wish were available 20 years ago. I would make all of these required reading for anyone intending to be involved in cross-cultural or multi-cultural ministry.
Duane Elmer has written MORE
MORELonely in the Midst of the Crowd
We live in an incredibly dense area population wise. In an area where 4 people would live in the USA (in a home, for example), that same area in Wanhua would have 2800 people!
A patient, we were concerned about one night told us he had no family, and no friends. Another lady called us and thanked us for being friends with her...as she presently had no friends. We see people every...
MORETo baptize or not to baptize
The lives of many of those we work amongst are "complicated" to say the least: addictions, emotional instability, entangled relationships, economic slavery, bondage to idols, various forms of immorality. But God is working amongst them and we see people coming to faith in Jesus.
But what do we do when they believe? Do we baptize them? When? Is it:
* When they...