Cactus Flowers

The cactus is flowering!

We thought is was a Christmas Cactus, but then last year it bloomed at Easter. And this year, it has chosen to bloom at Lunar New Year!

In case your are wondering, Lunar New Year’s Day is on February 17th this year. Most Taiwanese will enjoy a vacation from February 14-22. However, those in the hospitality and service industries will be very busy and will likely choose another time to have some days off work. (We will take one day of that as a holiday, and will work from our home office the other days.)

Like many other traditions, the manner of celebrating the Lunar New Year has changed since we first arrived in Taiwan. In those early days, people dressed up in their best clothes and often wore the colour red. The desire to continue that tradition has slowly changed over the years. For example, at this year’s denominational Lunar New Year Banquet, most were dressed very casually. Of course, we dressed like everyone else and fit right in.

At that banquet, we were honored for our years of service in Taiwan and given a special memorial plaque. It is pictured here. We are thankful to God for His enabling to reach this milestone.

Praise and Prayer

• We are thankful for safe travel and for fellowship at the Pastors’ Family Retreat.
• During the Lunar New Year holidays, Taiwanese families will spend time together and sometimes travel.  Please pray for Christ-followers to have opportunities to testify to the hope that Christ provides.
• Winter this year is warmer. When colder weather blows in, it is easy to catch colds. Please pray for protection from sickness.
• We were thankful to worship with the Sihhu Alliance Church in their new church building on February 8. Please pray that God will help them to make good use of the building to share God’s truth with those around them.