Celebrations

Celebrations are important! We celebrate notable beginnings. We mark milestones.  We honor praiseworthy achievements.

On Friday, October 10, Taiwan will celebrate its National Day. The first time it was celebrated was in 1911 (According to Wikipedia). In 2025, the Taiwanese are celebrating 114 years.

As you pray for the peace of Taiwan, please also pray that the Taiwanese would have open hearts to hear and receive the gospel message.

Teachers

Confucius’ birthday has become known as “Teacher’s Day” and its status as a public holiday was restored this year. September 28 is the actual holiday, but because it falls on a Sunday this year the following day is when people will not need to work. 

So, SURPRISE! Another long weekend!

It was wonderful to see some of the students from our church return home and join us for the Joint Worship Service (September 28). Please pray for these young people as they navigate life away from home. May they be salt and light at their study locations.

Praise and Prayer

BBQ Time

The Mid-Autumn Festival is an important national holiday in Taiwan. It is also called the “Moon Festival.” This year it is on October 6.

This holiday marks the end of Summer and the beginning of the Fall season. Historically it is a time to express gratitude for the harvest. It is a time to celebrate family togetherness.

Traditions associated with the holiday include:

• eating mooncakes and other round-shaped foods (symbolic of unity and completeness).
• enjoying BBQ with family and friends. (Family members will travel home to be a part of this.)
• showing appreciation for employees. (Some employers provided cash bonuses, gift certificates, gifts, etc.)
• admiring the full moon.

This time of year is a great opportunity for the church to invite friends from the community to join us for a BBQ. This year’s church-sponsored BBQ is scheduled for September 27 so that it will not conflict with family BBQs. (The photo is the invitation card.)

At the moment, about 20 adults have indicated their intention to attend. The number of children and youth will likely cause that number to double. And, last-minute attendees are always welcome.

This is a friendship, relationship-building event. Please pray for the love of God to be communicated by the church’s generosity. Pray for conversations to reflect the peace we have with God and the unity we have with each  other.

Praise and Prayer

History

We visited the National Museum of Taiwan History. It was a fascinating experience. Among the exhibits was the photo above. We were surprised to see this reference to Christianity, as that is not a major religion in Taiwan.

The Bible is in the Taiwanese (Minnan) dialect, but is unique in that it is the “romanized version.” The Taiwanese dialect is used in daily life by a large percentage of the people in Taiwan. It is the language we hear most frequently in the area where we live.

The explanation attached to the exhibit mentions some of the historical struggles that the church had as it attempted to provide the Bible in the language of the masses.

Please pray that God will work to make His truth available to everyone in Taiwan, and that those with open hearts will be willing to bravely accept Him as Saviour.

Praise and Prayer

Facility Fund Giving

Thank-you to those of you who have prayed for the resources to make a down payment on a facility for the Baozhong Alliance Church. AND, thank-you to those who have contributed.

The project began in August 2024, and the goal was to raise CAD$23,000 each year for five years. After the administrative processing fee of 15% is deducted, this will provide a CAD$100,000 subsidy to the church for a down payment on a facility.

From August through December of 2024, more than $10,000 was contributed. (That was 43.6% of the annual goal and 8.7% of the five year goal.) We rejoiced about this earlier this year.

It is time for another update. In the first seven months of 2025, we received one-time donations, monthly donations, and a large legacy donation. Those donations totalled: $22,729.95. That brought our total donations up to 28% of our five-year goal.

Wow! Thank-you God! And a huge thank-you to everyone who has contributed.

We still have five more months of giving this year. Perhaps God will help us reach the 40%  year goal, the target for the end of this year.

Please praise God with us!
Please continue to pray for God to supply a facility that the church can own and use to share the good news about Jesus with the residents of Baozhong Township.

Anemochory

Do you know the word “anemochory”? It means ‘ the dispersal of seeds, spores, or fruit by wind.’  It is how dandelion seeds are distributed from one place to another.

The third chapter of John describes the work of God’s Spirit as the blowing of the wind. In this case, the Holy Spirit is “blowing” Kai away from Baozhong to begin training at the Taiwan Alliance Theological College in Taipei. He has been our intern pastor for the past two years.  We will miss him. Sunday, August 31, was the day to say good-bye and to pray for him during the service.

Please join us in praying for seminary students as they begin a new year of study. May God use Kai, and others like him, to build His kingdom in Taiwan and other places.

Praise and Prayer

• The after school program for elementary students will begin on Tuesday, September 2. Please pray for Pastor Joshua as he supervises. Our prayer is that God  will lead the students to faith in Christ as they receive help with their homework.
• Please pray for wisdom as we minister to hurting people. Some of our friends are carrying heavy burdens.
• The annual “ghost month” began August 23. People who follow traditional religious practices will present food offerings to the unseen ghosts on Saturday, September 6. There are many superstitious beliefs and practices that are followed during the month. Please pray for Christian believers to be filled with Christ’s peace. May their hope and lifestyle testify for Christ.

Heartiversary

Celebrate with us!

August 25 marks the fifteenth anniversary of Kathy-Lu’s open heart surgery to repair the leaking heart valve. We praise God for the result!

Join us in giving thanks for the healing and sustaining work that the Lord has done! By His grace we have been able to continue the work of expanding God’s kingdom in Baozhong Township Taiwan.

“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Phil 4:4)

Praise and Prayer

An Exciting Sunday

There were three first-time visitors at church yesterday (Sunday, August 17).

Of the seventeen adults in attendance, seven are exploring who Jesus is and what it means to have a relationship with him. During our lunch together, one of our visitors who knows Christ as Saviour told the story of how he came to faith in Christ.

It was an encouraging day! God is at work and gave us a glimpse of what He is doing.

Thank-you for praying for God to lead people to faith in Christ.

Praise and Prayer

Ants

They came. And came. And kept coming!

The ants tried to move into our house this last week. They were not welcome guests.
Each time we repelled them, or blocked their access point, they found alternate entrances and kept coming. Using salt and some ant poison, we gained the upper hand in the battle. As the weather dries up outside, they are finding other places to live.

The question is, when the typhoon comes this week, will they return?

Sometimes we fight a similar battle with persistent invaders in our spiritual lives. Temptations, thoughts, discouragements, frustrations, etc., can all be like those ants. They just keep coming and coming and coming.

Join us in praying that we all will be filled with faith and fight the spiritual battles using the full armor of God.

“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” (Eph 6:13)

Praise and Prayer

Weather Report

We know that Noah had the best method of obtaining a weather report. He opened a window and looked out. Our mobile phones are not quite as accurate.

This past week, our phones have consistently reported the heavy rain, very heavy rain, and torrential rain warnings for southern and central Taiwan. Work and classes were cancelled for many cities and counties. BUT! We prayed, and you prayed. And the rain did not affect the camp activities that we had last week.  That is something to praise God for!

One morning, as we exited the church building to drive to the school, it was raining. But as we drove across town the rain stopped (or was not falling on that side of town). God was very gracious. And the result was a great week! The leadership team included senior high school and college aged students. They bonded and worked well as a team–and encouraged one another’s faith. The elementary students were very responsive, with a total of 26 attending on Friday. Some campers indicated they wanted to ask Jesus to be their best friend.

However, southern Taiwan has had 11 consecutive days of heavy rainfall with more in the forecast. Records have been set for the amount of rain falling in some areas on certain days. The fields around us are all flooded, preventing farmers from accessing the crops. Large pumps are running almost continuously, pumping away the rainwater. Some low level areas of our town are under flood watch. And the conditions I have just reported are better than in some other towns–especially the mountainous areas and the coastal areas.

Please join us in praying for the rain to cease. Pray for churches in affected areas to have wisdom as they interact with people who are suffering from the natural disaster.

Praise and Prayer