January 2012

Thank you for praying for our Christmas services and outreach activities. We chose the wise men's search for the Savior and Herod's opposition as the theme for our teen and children's plays. (I joked with our folks that actually we weren't doing a Christmas play since the wise men came maybe a year or so after Jesus' birth in the manger...no wonder Lisa tells me to just stick to preaching!) Everyone worked hard preparing the props, backgrounds and practicing their parts and despite some challenges and obstacles the Lord blessed with good attendance and several visitors at each service. However, the greatest blessing came when one of our teenagers at Dali Faith Baptist Church, Lio Shr-jie (Jeff), raised his hand during the invitation. Some were surprised because he had previously made a profession of faith, however, in talking to him he said that he realized he had been playing a game and wanted to make sure of his salvation. In the following service, he gave public testimony of his decision. This was an encouragement to us because he had been displaying a very rebellious attitude at church and now we know the cause. Please pray for Jeff's Christian growth and for his younger brother and father's salvation. (His mother is one of our children's workers and his older brother has made a profession of salvation.)

In The New Year

According to the Chinese lunar calendar the "Year of the Dragon" starts on January 22. However, we have already been battling that "Old Dragon" - Satan in Taiwan and sadly his influence through materialism and idol worship has been very strong here and we have seen many even in recent days fall prey to his attacks. Please pray for the Winter Youth Camp in late January, for Christians, especially men, to surrender to serve the Lord because we have a great need for national pastors and workers, and for the Lord to provide a couple proficient in Mandarin Chinese to help us in the work so we can take a furlough.