Happy Lunar New Year!

More than two million cars travelled the freeways on Tuesday evening/night as people travel home to spend New Year’s Eve (Wednesday) and New Year’s Day with their families.  Predictions are that on Friday and Saturday the number will likely exceed three million.  (The 23.37 million people that live on this island own more than 15 million motorcycles, including scooters, and about 7.5 million cars.)   Many couples will visit first with the husband’s side of the family, and then travel to be with the wife’s parents on the day after New Year’s Day.  With all those cars on the road, and the traffic restrictions enforcing the number of passengers in a car during peak times, we are choosing to stay close to home.  We will have some friends stop in and we will see some people when we go out in the community. The Spring Holiday will last until next Monday or Tuesday, when people return to work or school.

The Chinese culture designates each year according to the Chinese Zodiac.  The new year will be the Year of the Sheep.  Because the same Chinese word is used for both sheep and goats, it is also referred to as the Year of the Goat or Ram.  Aside from loving to eat lamb, we are reminded that sheep, lambs, and goats are frequently mentioned in the Bible.  They are used for sacrifice, as a scapegoat, for the Passover meal, and even to describe Jesus as He came to earth to rescue mankind.  In written Chinese, the character used for righteousness is the character for the sheep or “lamb” above the character for “me.”  The Lamb of God covers us and makes us righteous in God’s sight.  May the mention of “Chinese New Year” or “Year of the Sheep” remind each of us that we are special to God and made perfect in Christ Jesus.

Please pray for those who are the only Christian believer in their families to be compassionately bold in their witness to family and friends during these days.

Please pray for many people worldwide to hear and understand that Jesus, the Lamb of God, loves them enough to be sacrificed for them. Pray for the seeds of the gospel to bear fruit in their lives.

Thank-you for praying for us during our team strategy discussions last week.  We ask you to join us in asking God to answer our team’s Vision Prayer:  “O LORD, for Your glory, grow reproducing communities of disciples, transformed by Christ, transforming working-class Taiwan, and the world.”

Please pray for H and J who came over today and prayed to receive Christ as their Saviour.  Please pray that these elementary aged children will grow in their new faith.