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August 2009

CHURCH PLANTING

Wanhua

Randy & Janet Adams are thankful for good attendance at the Fu Min English camp and for the short term team who made it possible. They need wisdom to follow up the adults they met.

Hengchun House Church

The Adams are thankful for spiritual growth and maturity in house church leaders and members. Their willingness to submit to the authority of Scripture helped to resolve a potentially divisive issue. Church members continue to make Christ known in their work places and community.
Jr-Ping, a newly baptized young man with a brain tumor needs prayer for his illness. He stays with his non-Christian mother near Taipei and met a doctor at the hospital Randy serves. This doctor invited Jr-Ping and his mother to visit his church.

Donggang

Christine Dillon will face the challenge of preaching her first ever Taiwanese sermon to 200 people on August 16th or 23rd. As she speaks on the Pharisee and the tax collector, pray that she will be clear, an encouragement to the Christians and help those listeners who may realize that they aren't Christians yet.

Christine will start a new series at the Presbyterian church Bible study. They will look at an OT book to follow on from an 8 week Bible overview (using Chronological storying). The group is keen, varied and has settled at about 15 people.

Pray God will continue to lead Christine to people with prepared hearts so she can start storying with them. May those who have heard seriously consider Jesus' claims on their lives and may she have wisdom to follow them up. Pray in particular that the two men hearing the stories will believe.

Shopworkers

Elisabeth Weimann reports that many new people joined the outing in July. Pray the coworkers can follow them up and start 1-to-1 Bible studies with those who are interested in the gospel. This has to happen after 10.00 pm when they finish work.

A team from Singapore were here for 3 weeks. They did a great job amongst the youth in the church dorms and their friends. May the "fire" the youth have for the Lord and one another during this time continue to burn so they will be a bright light for other youth from broken backgrounds.

Taiping (Taichung County)

David & Lucy Eastwood have moved into Taiping. In August they hope to get a clearer picture of what their ministry in Taiping will involve. They have already begun to befriend local people and hope to gain opportunities to share the gospel. Pray Naomi will settle well in her new class at Morrison Academy. David will preach at the Taiping Formosa Evangelical church on the 23rd and they hope this will be the first of many opportunities to develop relationships with local churches there.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

In July a team from the UK helped Birgit Glaw with her youth ministry. Pray God will open up homes so they can do follow up and see families come to know God. They hope to start a youth group. Pray for the youth that came to the events, that they want to attend regularly and to also read the Bible at home. In August, a lot of students don't have school. Many live in Chiayi County so it is not as convenient to come. Pray the missionaries can find a way to meet with them. May God’s word move in to the working class families and also in to the countryside.

Birgit needs special strength as she will be leading this team. Pray also that the Chiayi missionary team will have enough energy to work along with the SAW team. Pray also that the new believers will be passionate about helping to reach the working class youth and families.

Beate Harr reports that the CEF discipleship camp with over 1,500 people was excellent and nobody’s heart was untouched. The last evening closed with a time of surrendering their whole lives to the Lord. “Fight for Jesus” was the final call as the students left the meeting hall. They are now at home again. Will they be able to stand firm in temptations, to press on in their walk with the Lord when things get difficult and to continue to read their Bible and pray? Pray the Holy Spirits who worked so mightily at the camp will continue to do so in their lives.

Angela Symonds has returned from a Village Gospel Mission camp with her university students, and a team from the UK. They had an amazing time with 60+ middle schoolers from Fen Yuan. The Taiwanese team did an excellent job, and the UK team fitted in well. She was proud that they were all bold in talking about Jesus. Many had only become Christians in the last two years. They have opened a new blog for the kids to communicate with them, and many have already left messages.

Angela will speak at a teacher's conference Aug. 8-10, has three days in Hengchun for a student committee retreat and then help lead the student discipleship training camp beginning Aug. 21.

David & Judy Newquist ask prayer for a retreat for special-needs children and their parents on Aug 3-8. Judy has a part in it. Most parents are not Christians, and are burdened by their children's difficulties and the Buddhist concept that this is a punishment for sins in a previous life. They are liberated when they accept the truth of God's grace.

The Tunghai University student fellowship leaders are already planning the coming semester, which begins in mid-September. Their welcome retreat for incoming students is the last weekend of August. They invest a tremendous amount of energy and creativity in this. May the Lord honor their efforts by drawing many unchurched students to attend the retreat, and then continue to attend fellowship activities when school starts. Many in the past have come to know the Lord in this way.

Veronika Rieben reports the summer outreach with an international team in Dali Elementary school went well. They mostly only saw happy faces and the kids enjoyed the attention they've received from the teachers. They had lots of fun together and many challenging conversations about friendship with people and Jesus. Pray that the planted seeds will continue to grow. Pray for wisdom and God's leading in doing follow up.

URBAN MARGINALIZED MINISTRY

The Spring

Recently the Lighthouse Church started to minister to marginalized people in the area. They offer free meals every weekday evening followed by a service with singing and prayer. Many of the homeless friends and some of the ladies go. Pray that they will be strengthened in their faith and walk with the Lord wherever they go. Churches in Wanhua meet for prayer twice a month. Pray for unity, mutual support and understanding. Pray that the spiritual darkness in Wanhua may be broken and people be freed from the bondage of sin and the evil one.

The Pearl Family Garden

Tera van Twillert will have a seminary student , Chwun-Mei, start working with her this month for one year. She will help two days a week. Pray that she will feel at home in the team and with the women and that the gifts God has given her will become a blessing to the ladies. One of her gifts is music. They are considering starting a guitar class.

Taoyuan Reformatory

Ming, 16, is a new boy in Class 3. He is disturbed, depressed, confused and lonely. He has had all kinds of experiences with the powers of darkness that bother him even at the Reformatory. Margret Zingg asks prayer that in calling on the name of Jesus and reading the Bible he would experience inner breakthrough and know Jesus as his Savior.

Training for reformatory camp helpers will be held on Aug. 5-6 and the camp with Classes 1 & 5 is on Aug. 7–9. They will look at the life of Joseph. Margret will speak each day. Pray for help, guidance and protection in all the aspects of the camp. Many boys listen well to what is shared, but when questioned, give blank looks and respond with ‘I don’t know’. Pray the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Andrew and Ruth Butler said goodbye to over sixty graduates who left China Evangelical Seminary in June. 72 new students will enter CES in September. It will be a big adjustment, especially for those with families. Until the new campus is built, conditions are crowded and the timetable is full. May the community life bring glory to God and enrichment to all who live and work there.

David & Ruth Ullstrom report the short term team did a great job running a 2 week English camp and visiting families. They had 36 students aged 6 to 33 years old! Pray for continued contact with the students and their families. The church has special youth events this month. Pray for the church youth to bring their friends and for students from the English camp to attend. May God help them understand and believe the gospel.

Chi Pin Hoon will be starting 2 new classes in Aug in her church: Numbers on Tues night and Spiritual Friendship on Sunday morning. She will teach a 12 week course on NT heroes (focusing on Jesus and His disciples) in a church in Kaoshiung starting Sept. May the Lord direct her as she prepares and draw people to Himself.

Clara Cheng will finish revising her Spiritual Formation lesson plans in the summer. She will also prepare a new course, Church Growth and Church Planting, for Spring. She has not taught this before. Pray for wisdom and guidance in her research for Chinese books and preparation. There will be personnel changes in leadership of Logos Evangelical Seminary. Clara wishes to clarify her role in chaplaincy with the new leaders so that she will know how to function in this aspect.

Andy & Mei-ling Wilson continue to follow up the 70 at Banner Church considering long-term cross cultural ministry. Around 25 of them have a strong sense of calling to particular ministries. Pray for wisdom as they counsel, encourage and screen them.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Charissa Mak gives thanks for the discipleship camp in July. The students were keen to learn about God and to grow. They were deeply impacted by the talks and activities. Praise God for the privilege to journey with the students, and pray He will to place other Christians in their lives. Pray she will continue to study Taiwanese faithfully.
Stephen & Susana Gribble are thankful that they see a gradual improvement in their language and are starting to form relationships with local people. Pray for the bicycle repair man (Rick) who is spiritually hungry. He is searching for answers in the Bible amongst a myriad of other sources. Pray God will convict him of the truth. Thank God for the family who own the noodle house downstairs from their apartment. They are happy for the Gribbles to spend time with them. Pray that Stephen and Susana will work hard in acquiring language and for perseverance and humility as they learn to serve.
Allan & Bronwyn Lihou study at Taichung Language Centre (TLC). They ask prayer for the teachers who are all Christians and are patient and caring. With the influx of new workers there will be much work for them in the future. Pray that they can grow in their maturity, can be patient and clear as they explain the culture and that the school can continue in this valuable ministry. Pray that the Lihous can be diligent in learning and brave in using their language. Pray that God will use this time to teach them valuable lessons.
Teo Sin Ee asks prayer for: energy and enthusiasm to study Taiwanese during the summer; suitable language partners; initiative to build relationships in the community; discipline in writing up observations of Taiwanese culture and lifestyle for an OMF blog.

HOME ASSIGNMENT

Robb & Holly Branch return from a short HA at the end of July. Pray that through churches and individuals God will provide funds and support. Pray for God's direction, wisdom, and protection for their coworkers in the Taiping ministry: the McCrackens, Guo-Ling, and Su-Ling. Also thank God for their diligent work.