Praise the Lord we are winning the battle with jet-lag.  We are beginning to feel as if we have some energy for tackling the tasks at hand.

Praise the Lord that KC plans to be baptized on Sunday morning August 23.  This will be the first baptismal service for the Baozhong Alliance Church.  Please pray for him as he prepares his heart for this step of commitment.  Pray that the family and friends he invites will be willing to attend and witness his step of faith.  Please pray for God’s protection on him and his family.

Praise the Lord that the church sign was able to be repaired and it only cost CAD$1.25.  That’s right!  The shop that sews canvas awnings was able to fold and sew along the sides and put in new grommets.  The sign is already back hanging in its rightful place (photo).  We do have a decision to make though, whether or not to take it down and protect it when the next typhoon (tropical storm) arrives in about a week’s time.

Over the next two weeks many important decisions will be made about Fall ministry.  Please pray that we will know God’s will regarding the frequency of youth and children’s meetings, and our Sunday events.  Along with this we need to make decisions regarding whom on our ministry team will give leadership to the different aspects of the ministry.  Alliance Churches in Taiwan who have been involved in the past are deciding whether they will be able to continue to do so for another semester.

We are being asked to respond to invitations to tell Bible stories and teach English in the local elementary schools.  All three schools that we worked in last year have indicated that they would like us to continue.  We wish we had  an additional native English-speaker who could take on this responsibility.  Because we do not yet have such a person, we are trying to clarify whether we can continue the previous time commitment or will need to cut back.  Church ministry programs also are demanding out time.  Please pray for needed wisdom as we make these decisions.

John and Bev Tolbert will be visiting us for a few days this week.  They are working with our Canadian C&MA team reaching out to Vietnamese speaking people residing in Taiwan.  We would like for them to be able to make contact with some Vietnamese labourers in a local Baozhong factory.  Please pray that God will help us to make the necessary connections.