March 2005

“March Madness”
Much has happened since our last prayer letter. First, Andy had to return to the US quickly because his mom had emergency open hert surgery. We thank everyone who prayed as she went through the quadruple bypass operation successfully and is now at home recovering.

After returning to Taiwan and still in a state of jet lag, Andy preached the first Sunday night back at Lighthouse. Afterwards, a couple that had been attending regularly for several months expressed interest in salvation. With tears of joy they both prayed to accept Christ as Savior. Not only was this a blessing, but the next week they both followed the Lord in baptism! Please pray for the Lin family – husband, Lin Yu-ren (Tommy), and wife, Lin Hsyao-yun (Vanessa), and their two young boys. Vanessa especially needs our prayers because her parents are more traditional Buddhists and she knows that pressure will be put on her to worship the family ancestors especially at the upcoming Tomb Sweeping Holiday in April.

An added blessing to Vanessa and Tommy's salvation is that they started attending as a result of an invitation by Pamela Chen. Our theme last year was “Each One Reach One” and we had been a little disappointed that it didn't seem like anyone had been successful. However, Pamela was very excited after hearing about the Lin's decision, not only because they accepted Christ but also because she had reached the goal of reaching not one but two people for the Lord! Afterwards we told her that she would have to keep it up in this year – and we hope she does!

Also, one of our teenagers Peter Chang was baptized at the same time as the Lins. He was saved two years ago, but his parents wanted him to wait until he was older to be baptized. Now that he is in college he was allowed to make this decision for himself, and we are glad he chose to obey the Lord. Two other teenagers, Hannah and Gene Huang, watched on symbolizing the other teens who are saved but their parents forbid them to be baptized. Please pray that they will stay close to the Lord.

Finally, Easter services at both Daya and Lighthouse were a blessing. Attendance was good and we were encouraged to see several first-time visitors in attendance. Even though there was no direct response to the invitations afterwards a few people asked questions and others seemed encouraged and challenged.

The Lord is good and we are glad that we can continue to share the message that He is “the Resurrection and the Life” together!