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February 2010

CHURCH PLANTING

Donggang

February is the last month of Christine Dillon’s first year in Donggang. She praises God for the many contacts she has. She has thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of depending on Him and just getting out and talking to people. Good numbers of people have heard the complete set of Bible stories but most are fearful of people's rejection, laughter or being seen as unfilial because they no longer want to do ancestor worship. Pray that the love of Christ will so overwhelm them, to cast out all fear and that they will want to give everything to buy "the pearl of great price." Pray also that they will realize that God's way of loving family is much better than what they've done so far.

Wanhua

Christmas outreaches provided several opportunities to share the Christmas story with those who had never heard. As a result of the outreach among FuMin friends Randy & Janet Adams have seen an increase in people joining the fellowship that meets under the trees, and open doors to visit and make friends. Wisdom in follow up is needed.

God has been working through your prayers for Charissa Mak's Taiwanese teacher Ms Ang. This is the first time she's heard the Bible in her heart language, and she would like to read it in Taiwanese. Please pray that as Ms Ang and Charissa read Bible stories from the OT, she will come closer to knowing the Creator God personally. As Katherine Woo and Charissa have been visiting the Cheng Family, they have been greatly encouraged at the children's (Judy and Yu-Ting) openness to God. Pray they will continue to learn about Jesus and place their trust in Him as a whole family.

Hengchun House Church

Praise God for both parents of a church member receiving Christ and for courage to get rid of their idol shelf. It has been encouraging to see church members bringing family and friends to Christ. They are praying about starting a Junior High youth group at a local school.

Shopworkers Church

On the 24- 25 February they will have a retreat for those who attend the small groups for shopworkers and for Single Mums. Elisabeth Weinmann asks prayer that some of the newcomers from the Christmas parties will also join the retreat in the Yangming Shan National Park.

Three single girls and a Single Mum with a little daughter have moved into the dorms. May they open their hearts more and more to the gospel.

Taiping Church Planting

Robb & Holly Branch ask pray for the following ministries in Taiping:

* Sunday afternoon at a park, the team provides tea & tells Bible stories. Pray that God brings people who are open and respond to the messages.
* Friday afternoon club time at a High School. Pray that some students will join the CEF camps during winter break.
* Mr. Chen and the couple Zhang-qi & Su-Ping attend weekly Bible studies. Pray they will grow as disciples of Christ.
* Pray for the Taiwanese co-workers Gwo-Ling & Sul-Ling, that the missionaries know how to serve them and learn from them.

URBAN MARGINALIZED MINISTRY

The Pearl Family Garden

Teo Sin-Ee has started attending Truth Lutheran Church near Taiwan University. She enjoys the church service and Bible teaching but would like to meet local Christians and join a cell group. TLC is a big church with over 600 people in the service that she attends so she needs help to connect with a suitable group.

Tera Van Twillert and Sin-Ee will probably be the only workers at the regular Thursday lunch gathering for the ladies at Pearl Family Garden on 18 Feb (during Chinese New Year). Pray they will be able to cook lunch and run the program on their own.

Thank God for two ladies who come for English class on Wednesday nights. Please pray for Sin-Ee to prepare the lessons faithfully, integrating Chronological Bible Storying with useful English vocabulary and dialogue.

Praise God for the opportunities they have to share God’s Word with the ladies. They share at least once a week with Autumn, Fiona, Li-li, Shou-Hwei and Syau-Jen. A group of around 10 ladies come faithfully to the Thursday lunch meeting. Three of them go to church every Sunday. 'Sanctify them by the truth; your word is the truth'.

Taoyuan Reformatory

Praise God, Patrick (see last Tinder) turned himself in and is at the Detention Centre awaiting his sentence. Prison Fellowship is visiting him and Margret Zingg was told that he recommitted his life to Jesus. Please keep praying. The monthly church service has not yet restarted as the renovation is not finished yet. Pray that the workers do a good and speedy job.

Chinese New Year is a difficult time for youth in detention. Pray for God’s protection during this holiday season. Feb. 9 is Parents Day. Margret will be in Class 3 for those who do not have visitors. She rejoices in the good and open atmosphere in Class 3, but longs to see real change in the boys’ lives.

YOUTH & STUDENT MINISTRIES

Birgit Glaw praises God for all the youth that now coming every Friday to supper and the youth group. Pray that they will really grasp the great truth of God’s love and sacrifice.

Praise God for Renate van Til (Netherlands) and Luke Chow (USA), short-termers who have joined the ministry until June. Pray they will settle in, make friends amongst the youth and help in the work.

Pray for park ministry on Saturdays. About 8 kids aged 5-10 attend. Sam, a Taiwanese seminary intern is the leader. Pray that the kids will experience the love of Jesus. Most of them come from broken families. They need wisdom how to discipline them with love and patience. Pray also, that we will be able to reach the parents. Specially pray for the Noodle-family, Egg-family and Bag-family.

Beate Harr reports that they had great Christmas outreaches at different schools. May God protect the seed of the gospel sown in their hearts and may they not forget the God they have just started to trust, especially over Chinese New Year. It should be a happy family time, but very often it is filled with tensions between family members. Some young people tend to withdraw into their own world of computer games whether at home or in the internet-cafes. Hanging out with friends is nice but can be a time of temptation as well. It is hard to follow them up during holidays. May they not get lost in their temptations and addictions and may God bring them into contact with friends and Christians with whom they can do meaningful things.

Tim Ho asks prayer for the Holy Spirit to work in the heart of Mr. Chen who runs a Vietnamese restaurant. They have had deep engaging spiritual conversations showing the breadth of Mr. Chen's knowledge. He thinks all religions point to the same moral basis and have similar hope for a better after-life. These conversations provided inroads to share about an all-powerful yet personal Creator God who loves us and God's plan of redemption through Jesus which gives hope for a better future.

Pray for opportunities for Tim to spend time with his neighbor Rock, and to be able to mentor Michael, who used to participate in children's ministries, but could easily be led astray by negative influences.

Lin comes regularly to David & Judy Newquist’s home. Several months ago she made a clear decision to accept Christ, and has shown evidence of growth and love for Jesus. But recently they discovered that her roots are deep into Yi Guan Dao, a syncretistic religion that worships many different gods including Jesus. They have provided her a home and sense of family, since her own family members have either passed away or rejected her. They need great wisdom as to when and how to help her see that this group is not pleasing to the Lord she loves. Pray God will provide an alternative to meet her deep personal needs. Their university church is not suitable or near her home.

Veronika Rieben and Katherine Woo are seeking God's leading in reaching out to the many young people that He has been putting in their way and hearts. Pray for wisdom and creative ideas and for open hearts among the youth. They are very thankful for Monica, a Taiwanese helper, who has taken over leadership of kids club. She is a young and gifted Christian and motivated to serve the Lord in Wanhua. Pray that the Lord may give her the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that she may know him better.

CHURCH & LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Chinese New Year brings Anne Alexander 'family time' with neighbors of many years, traveling, relaxing & gossiping the gospel. Pray it also brings them closer to Jesus. Anne is continuing to plan & prepare for the October StorySeed BibleTelling workshop & to promote, encourage & administrate the growing group of people wanting to use Bible stories in evangelism & discipleship. Her courses empower this work, but require research & writing.

Paul Buttrey and a Taiwanese colleague will facilitate an intensive Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills workshop at Christ’s Disciples Training Institute on February 1-5. This is the first time that the workshop, which trains Christian workers in relationship skills needed in ministry, has been given at his seminary. May the students experience significant life transformation.

Clara Cheng thanks God for effective counseling with several students last semester. Pray for personal counseling with three students this semester. The seminary has moved to Taipei County this month. Pray for quick adjustment for staff, faculty and students their new work, study, and living environment. Clara will stay half the week in the dormitory. Pray she will not get lost driving as she commutes. She will teach an intensive course on Missionary Life & Spirituality in Hong Kong. Pray for her preparation on top of her normal load. May the students benefit from this course.

LANGUAGE STUDY

Allan & Bronwyn Lihou praise God for Allan being motivated in his language learning. Pray for fresh enthusiasm for Bronwyn, and for them both in disciplined memorizing, writing and persistence in taking opportunities to speak and listen. Pray they will absorb the cultural learning around Chinese New Year. Give thanks for quality time with their son Tim, who is now back in Australia and about to commence university. Pray he will find suitable accommodation and establish a good base. Pray they can be constantly strengthened in the Spirit to be obedient, holy, learning patience and humility.

Thomas & Jennifer McIntyre are happy to report that their Taiwanese friends, the Phoas, are seriously considering a longer-term partnership with them in the future. They are close to retirement age and are considering how to transition into full-time ministry.

Also, one of their new contacts, Kevin, has asked to be baptized. Kevin is a relative of Jennifer's language partner, Claudia. Pray that their whole family comes to know the Lord.

Angie Piau will finish full-time language study and move to Chiayi at the end of February. She asks prayer for a ready heart to leave her “home” of 6 months. And prayer for patience, humility, flexibility and trust in God during the transition to a new lifestyle of ministry at the gospel center, new teammates, and a new housing situation. Pray about how best to continue in part-time language study. She gives praise that she and Jessica, a high school student in Chiayi, have started to exchange letters. Jessica comes from a single-parent home and is keen to practice English with Angie. Pray for this friendship and that Jessica may come to know Jesus.

HOME ASSIGNMENT

Chi Pin-Hoon asks prayer for good health. In just the first week of HA she had shoulder pain, a nail infection and a tooth ache leading to a root canal operation! Pray as she teaches a course on Proverbs on Sundays and “How to lead Bible studies” on Saturdays in her home church. She also needs guidance for what to preach on in her home church on Feb. 7. and in speaking to various groups in the church in the 2 months of HA. Pray for her parents' health. Her father has been in and out of hospital the last few months.

OTHER MATTERS

Pray for planning for a team from Sydney Missionary & Bible College in March. Pray for their preparation and for receptive hearts in the 2 rural areas of Xikou and Donggang where they will serve.