Words are important.  They communicate by their nuance as well as by their meaning.  That is why we are having trouble figuring out what to call our Wednesday updates.  If you have a suggestion for us to consider, please feel free to pass it along to us.

The first word we want you to hear from us this week is THANK-YOU!  We heard that there was strong year-end giving to support the global initiatives of the C&MA in Canada.  We appreciate the efforts you make to participate financially.  Thank-you for using some of the resources God has entrusted to you to support international workers (such as us) and the costs of the ministry.

The second word that comes to mind is “prayer.” Thanks for being intentional in praying with us.  We have also been encouraging children and youth to pray about their schoolwork, relationships, etc.  Today we were encouraged when we heard that one of the fourth-graders had encouraged his Mom to pray to Jesus.  When she responded that she did not know how, he said he knew and could teach her.  Please continue to pray and join us in helping others learn to communicate with the God Who hears and answers prayer.

The third word that we want to focus on is witness.  We are going to be learning and teaching others to tell a different Bible story each month, beginning in February.  People are much more willing to listen to short stories than they are to listen to a formal presentation of the gospel.  So we want to tell them stories that will help them personally discover Who God is, how the relationship with God functions, and how they can experience a restored relationship with that God. We are hoping that will help even those who are strongly resistant to hear some truths about Jesus.  Please pray for us as we learn the story in our adopted languages (Mandarin and/or Taiwanese) and encourage local believers to join us in the adventure of telling Bible stories to those around us.

We are in the process of working as a team (Whites and Lus) to prepare a short report about our work for the month-end regional meeting in Thailand.  Please pray that the video segments that will be filmed by different people in different locations over the next few days will be successful and that Albert will be able to splice them all together without too much problem with the result being a coherent story.

Thanks for those who have written and invited us to share when we will be in Canada this Spring.  We still have some openings in the schedule April 20-22 and May 14-20.  Feel free to dialogue with us if a time on one of those days works for you.

Happy New Year!

We have seen the reports of cold snowy weather that is greeting you in this new year.  Our cold weather did not bring snow, but rather high levels of pollution.  The government warnings tell us to be careful and to wear surgical masks when outdoors.  We are spending additional time in the room with the air cleaner, and are trusting God to keep us safe and healthy.  Thanks for praying about this.

The start of the new year brings anticipated changes to our team working relationships.  We are rejoicing that Albert and Elaine have completed the full-time component of Taiwanese language study.  They will continue studying part-time and will use some of their time for greater involvement in the Baozhong ministry. The plan is for them to move to Baozhong early this summer.

The start of the new year also means that our desktop computer which was purchased in 2007 is now officially retired.  We are thankful for those who give to our work special fund to provide for computers and their upkeep.  We are thankful for our laptops that are capable of the daily tasks demanded.  Please pray that computers and technology will be tools that enhance the ministry and not something that demands major time and resources due to problems.

This week we are talking to the schools where we volunteer about our schedule for the next semester (Feb. 23-June 30) .  Because of our trip back to Canada there will be an extended time when we are not available to help.  They will discuss the situation and make decisions over the next week or so.  Please pray for God arrange our involvement so that it is best for everyone involved.  We are thankful for each opportunity we have to share life principles and helpful stories with the students.

On Saturday (Jan. 10th) there will be children and youth activities.  Volunteers from two Taipei churches will be coming to assist us.  Please pray that we will be able to contact the students and encourage them to attend.  We also want to be inviting people to join us for the small group worship time on Sunday morning.  Please pray for receptive hearts.

Thank-you to those who contacted us to arrange opportunities to share while we are back in Canada this Spring.  We will be commuting from Abbotsford during that time.  There are still some times available (daytime or evenings) if you would like connect with us.  Please write to schedule a time for you and your group.  The weeks we are available to share are:  April 16-22 and May 14-20.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thank-you for praying for us this past year, and especially this past month as we had additional outreach activities.  We are encouraged as we remember

• The involvement of the children at different activities throughout the month.  From decorating the tree, to their own pre-Christmas Weekend Happy Camp activity, carolling on the streets, and even one boy who has attended two Sunday activities.
• Telling the children in the schools that the story did not begin with the manger story, but rather with the prophecies even a few thousand years previous.  Those were new details about the Christmas story that some had not previously heard.
• Distributing candy bags in the schools where we work, and in the community.  The fact that our candy bags had a few more pieces of candy than previous years meant that many people felt that we were generous and it made them more willing to talk to us about Christmas and what it means.
• On Christmas Eve morning Lorne was requested to don the Santa suit to help our town’s largest elementary school celebrate.  It provided an opportunity to tell them about Saint Nicholas and how his worship of Jesus motivated him to be generous and give to the poor.   This meant that even the younger students whom he does not regularly teach had a chance to see and hear that Santa is only a game we play and not the true reason for Christmas.
• Receiving a gift of almost six dozen egg tarts on Christmas Day that we were able to share with neighbours and friends.  It is fun representing God by being generous.
• Opportunity to share with the youth that attended the Christmas party.

This week we have time off from teaching in the schools as people have holidays on January 1-2.  This will provide us an opportunity to do the year-end bookkeeping and statistical reports.  It should provide us a chance to catch our breath after a month with a number of extra activities.  We will also have the opportunity to work on some long-term projects that had been set aside for a few weeks.

Family News:  Our son Ethan asked Jill Shipley and she said “Yes!” that she would marry him.  So there is extra happiness in the Taiwan White House as we anticipate this event and their future life together.  Please pray for them as they plan for a summer 2015 wedding.  They will both be studying for the next four months.  Ethan will be at Ambrose University, in what is hopefully a final semester of study in the business program.  Jill will be in Quebec doing an internship.

We (Lorne and Kathy-Lu) are planning a Spring 2015 trip back to western Canada for vacation and ministry.  We will be based out of Abbotsford and are already scheduling times to connect with supporting churches April 16-22 and May 14-20.  If you, or your group, would like to connect with us during one of those two weeks, please contact us so that we can put you on the schedule.  We are excited for this opportunity to meet with those on mission together with us.

These are busy weeks for us.  We apologize that last week’s update did not get sent out.  We trust that you have not forgotten to pray for us.

Last Saturday, our house was filled with happiness as children attended the Weekend Happy Camp activity.  In addition to singing songs, playing games, and hearing the Christmas Story, everyone wrapped dumplings together.  These were then boiled and eaten.  They tasted good!  It was a great fun activity for everybody.  We appreciate the team of workers who came from Simpson Alliance Church in Taichung that made this happen.

That evening a number of youth joined us to prepare the Christmas candy bags that will be given away in the schools and at the various church activities.  This year more than 1300 bags are ready, each one with candies and a tract.  Please pray that receiving this small treat will be an “experiencing God” moment for at least one recipient.

This week began with a Monday morning prayer meeting with as many of the C&MA international workers as possible attending.  Lorne made what was to be a quick stop on the way home, but it took a little longer because of a burst water pipe at the home of a friend.  Thankfully the water had been turned off so no major flooding occurred.  It was easily repaired and the house is ready to be short term team lodging next weekend.

Plans for the rest of the week include

• Inviting, inviting, and more inviting of people to come to next weekend’s Celebrating Christmas events.
• Prayer walking and visiting with people we meet.
• Preparing our home to host those who will stay over after Friday evening’s caroling.
• Preparing and teaching English classes on Thursday and Friday afternoons.
• Telling the Christmas Story to four classes of third graders on Friday morning.
• Christmas carolling on Friday evening.  We will be joined by a few Songshan Alliance Church members.  Albert will be leading the singing, using his guitar and the new portable sound system.  We want the local residents to hear the good news about Jesus loving us all.  We are hoping that some of the children from the community who are excited about the event will be permitted to attend. (See additional request below.)
• Saturday morning the team from Songshan Alliance Church will visit in the market, talking with and blessing people.
• Saturday afternoon we will be providing support for the Christmas celebrations happening at Amazing Grace Alliance Church in Yuanchang.  We will be encouraging the youth that we know to be involved in the program being led by the Alliance Church from Taitung.
• Sunday morning we will have our church’s Christmas Celebration. We are hoping that more Taiwanese can be used during the singing and sharing.  We have invited a local Taiwanese pastor, Rev. Simon Chang, to assist us that morning.

Please pray for strength and endurance for the above and the many other small things that happen throughout the week.  According to the weather forecast, Monday is supposed to be the warmest day of the week.  A cold front is moving in and the temperature is supposed to hover between 12 and 16 degrees Celsius.  (Temperatures in the low teens and below are considered to be extremely cold by Taiwan standards because people do not have heaters in their homes.)  We ask that you join us in praying that the weather will not be too cold and windy for carolling.

Kathy-Lu continues to struggle with cold symptoms.  At the moment she whispers more than she talks.  We would love for her to be healed of this persistent cold and also to have enough voice to be able to participate in the carolling activities.  Please pray that God will heal her.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends and those who join them with thankful hearts this week!  We are planning to attend the celebration with our American co-workers on Thursday prior to afternoon classes at Fuhsing Elementary School.

Flexibility is something we must have.  We learned that the Taiwan government has declared January 2, 2015 a holiday, giving people an extra long weekend. BUT in order to maintain productivity, citizens of Taiwan will work and go to school on December 27th (in in lieu of doing so on the above mentioned holiday).  This means that the elementary students will be in class on that day and unable to come to our originally planned activity.  This also means that Lorne will be telling Bible stories in the elementary school on that Saturday morning.

Saturday, November 29th is the Municipal Election Day for all cities, counties, and towns in Taiwan.  Because our town is located in a county, voters must cast ballots for both the county and local leadership positions.  In addition to mayors and councils, neighbourhood chiefs will be elected on that day too.  Loud campaigning is typical of rural areas such as ours, with broadcast trucks playing their messages from early morning until night, fireworks at all times of the day or night, parades through the streets, and door-to-door campaigning.  Our ears are ready for a rest from such activity. Please pray for the people of Taiwan as they elect all of their civic leaders on Saturday.

We are thankful to report that Kathy-Lu’s recovery from her cold has continued, and Lorne has been protected from sickness.  Thanks for your ongoing prayers for this.

We proceeding with our preparations for the Christmas activities mentioned in last week’s update.  Please pray that we will have many opportunities to talk about Jesus during this Christmas season.

I was driving into a construction zone when Kathy-Lu suddenly exclaimed “Oh!” or “Ah!”  I don’t remember her exact expression, only that I came close to using my head to open the sun roof in my friend’s car.  It took a moment to determine that there was not a problem.  She was seeing a brilliant rainbow, visible only from her side of the car.  My focus was elsewhere (like it should be) so I did not see that.  A few minutes later when driving the car back toward my friend’s house, I looked for the rainbow which would have been on my side of the car, but it was no where to be seen.  Disappointment welled up in my heart.  I wanted to see it too.  And then, after driving for about another ten minutes, just before arriving at my destination, I saw a spectacular long bright rainbow in the sky. Then, as I drove my own car back toward home, there was a sun spot rainbow, brightly displayed ahead of me for most of the trip.  I cannot explain why seeing the rainbow was so important to me yesterday.  I did not stop and take a photo using my mobile phone.  The scene was only captured by my eye and stored in my heart.  It was one of those sacred moments that seemed to be God affirming that He loved and cared about me.  He even created a rainbow when my heart yearned to see one.  Reflection and talking to God made an ordinary happening, become an extraordinary moment.

Have you recently had a moment when you particularly sensed God’s love for you?  Feel free to write and tell us about it.  And, may we encourage you to take time to look this week for the special moments when God is telling you He loves you and cares about you.

This past week Lorne was able to be with the students of Fuhsing Elementary School when they saw the short 3D film “美力台灣” (“Beautiful Taiwan”)  The link is of just one of the clips that was used to make the film.  For many of the students it was the first time they had seen a film with 3D technology.  They have a specially equipped truck that is being used to take the film to rural schools.  They are hoping it will motivate some students to use their creativity to do something special with their lives.

Kathy-Lu missed the above opportunity, and many other happenings, because she has been sick with the flu this past week.  Her health is slowly improving and she is looking forward to involvement in a number of activities this week—including going on an outing with the Baozhong Primary School teaching staff on Wednesday afternoon.  We appreciate prayer for her recovery and that Lorne will not get sick.  (He historically gets a nasty cold in November.)

In addition to our regular activities, we are gearing up for Christmas.  That is a special opportunity to share with people about Jesus.  We ask that you will join in praying for the following planned events:

• Saturday, December 6 Decorating the Tree:  Elementary students come and help decorate the tree as we talk about why Christmas is celebrated and the the meaning of some of the symbols of Christmas.
• Saturday, December 13 Kids’ Weekend Happy Camp:  Elementary students will hear the story of the announcements about Jesus birth to Mary and Joseph.
• Saturday, December 13 Youth Candy Bagging: Youth will help to prepare goody bags for distribution in the schools, community, and at church Christmas events.  Each will contain a tract.  They youth will continue to see and discuss segments of the Hope Project.
• Sunday, December 14 Small Group Worship followed by Candy Bagging:  Completing the task of preparing the goody bags.
• Friday, December 19 Christmas Carolling in the Community:   We will be inviting people we know to join us in singing.  This will be an opportunity to invite people to the Sunday morning Christmas celebration.  Please pray that it does not rain and that it will not be too cold.
• Sunday, December 21 Christmas Celebration:  Singing, Cake, Sharing by Rev. Simon Zhang. (Rev. Zhang will share in Taiwanese.)  Please pray that some of those invited will come and be a part of the celebration.
• Saturday, December 27 Kids’ Weekend Happy Camp:  Elementary students will hear the story of the birth of Jesus being announced to the shepherds.  This will be the children’s Christmas party.
• Saturday, December 27 Youth Christmas Party.

We are also looking to make some facility improvements over the next couple of months.  We need wisdom and good advice from local partners about purchasing a portable PA system for use at various activities, installing a sign so that people can find us more easily, a bulletin board, etc.  Please pray that God will lead us to make wise choices that will serve the church well over the next number of years.

Communication with someone else needs both a desired message (the content) as well as a way to send and receive the message..  We are reminded of this when we drive past a field just north of the centre of our town.  There are a number of transmission towers capable of sending radio signals.  We have been told that they were used to send radio messages to the residents of Mainland China, especially when the military situation was much more tense (during the middle of the last century).  They may still be used, but we are not the intended recipients and do not have the proper receiving apparatus.  Another local communication system is the seldom used and occasionally tested emergency broadcast system designed to alert residents of a military-related emergency.  When the sirens are tested, we all hear them.  More frequently we hear the neighbourhood public address system, used to inform residents of community happenings and other government-related announcements.  Recently we have been hearing loudspeakers mounted on broadcast vehicles (trucks, cars, motorcycles, bicycles).  These specially equipped vehicles have both advertising boards and loudspeakers to communicate the advertisements (political, stores, schools, etc.).  In these last few weeks leading up to the municipal elections, this is a favorite method being used by the various candidates. Last, but not least, is the relational communication system also known as the neighbourhood grapevine.  We are thankful for neighbours and friends who help to keep us informed about local happenings.

Most of these methods can be chosen to tell people about the church and about God’s love.  Our prayer is that wherever we go, and whatever we do, we will communicate in a positive way about Jesus and His church.  We want to be following the leading of our Saviour, and want people to be attracted to Jesus as 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 (NLT) describes:

But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this? You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.

Please pray that we will consistently be a positive witness for Christ in what we say and do.

Recently we find ourselves providing spiritual and emotional support to people going though difficult struggles.  Please pray that God will be both a Fortress and a Comfort during this time.

This past week we were reminded of the differences between rural Taiwanese culture and the one in which we grew up.  Our neighbour was injured in an accident near our house.  We joined other neighbours and onlookers in providing assistance at the time (directing traffic, insuring that emergency services was called, etc.)  Thankfully their injuries that needed immediate medical care and ongoing follow-up are not considered to be life-threatening, nor extremely serious.  A few days later, our neighbour made a tasty meal for neighbours who assisted her, bringing it to our homes.  She explained that although it was coming from her heart, she also feels a sense of cultural obligation to express gratitude in this way.  Through this experience we are reminded that there are different ways to express gratitude.  Some take more effort than others.  I am not sure had I been the one recovering that I would have been as willing to make the effort to go to the extent she did to express thanks.  I would have been tempted to only use my words.

The Bible talks about demonstrating gratitude at different times and in different ways.  Some verses that will help to shape our expression of thanksgiving include:

• Be thankful in all circumstances……(1 Thess 5;18)
• Give thanks to the Lord….Let the whole world know what He has done…….. (1 Chron 16:8)
• The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to give thanks to the Lord……(2 Chron 5:13)
• It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High……..(Ps 92:1)
• …give repeated thanks to the Lord, praising him to everyone……(Ps 109:30)
• The joyful voices … of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord. They will sing,……..(Jer 33:11)
• Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving…..(Amos 4:5)
• …give thanks to God before eating……(Rom 14:6)
• Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God…..(Phil 1:3)
• …pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them……(1 Tim 2:1)

This week’s Praise and Prayer focus:

• We are thankful for safety and health as we are involved in a variety of activities each week.  Please join us in praising God for this, and ask for His continued blessing in these areas.
• We are thankful that God has provided our daughter, Elyssa, part-time work that will fit around her university class schedule.  Thank you to all who have prayed for this over the past number of months.
• We are thankful for Chinese-speaking church members in Canada, who are using graphic arts to produce Christmas and Chinese New Year publications to be distributed here in Taiwan.
• We are thankful for Taiwanese church members who teach at our church’s Children’s Weekend Happy Camp twice each month.  This week there will be people travelling from Taipei Alliance Church to help us (November 8).
• We are thankful that a short-term team is coming from a church in Calgary to lead a youth camp in July 2015.  The local junior high school has already agreed to the dates.
• We are thankful that planning for a number of Christmas related activities has begun.  Please pray for additional singers and suitable weather for the community carolling on December 19.  (We will provide a complete list of the activities in one of our next updates.)
• We are thankful for people like you, who faithfully partner with us by praying.