Mission Taiwan

The earthquakes that occurred yesterday were larger than the common weekly tremors.  Taiwan usually has several smaller earthquakes each week mostly isolated to the east near Hualien County.  Yesterday’s earthquakes were on the west side of the island which immediately draws attention due to the majority of the population resides on this western strip of land.  Thankfully there has been no deaths from the quake, but as always many people are anxious there may be another larger quake looming on the horizon.

Yahoo news report

Youtube news videos of some of the damage.

You are writing a Gospel, a chapter each day,

by the deeds that you do and the words that you say.

Men read what you write — distorted or true;

What is the Gospel according to you?

Who Are These Like Stars Appearing

Heinrich T. Schenk

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Who are these like stars appearing,
These before God’s throne who stand?
Each a golden crown is wearing;
Who are all this glorious band?
Alleluia! hark, they sing,
Praising loud their heav’nly King.

Who are these of dazzling brightness,
These in God’s own truth arrayed,
Clad in robes of purest whiteness,
Robes whose lustre ne’er shall fade,
Ne’er be touched by time’s rude hand?
Whence come all this glorious band?

These are they who have contended
For their Saviour’s honor long,
Wrestling on till life was ended,
Foll’wing not the sinful throng;
These, who well the fight sustained,
Triumph through the Lamb have gained.

These are they whose hearts were riven,
Sore with woe and anguish tried,
Who in prayer full oft have striven
With the God they glorified;
Now, their painful conflict o’er,
God has bid them weep no more.

These like priests have watched and waited,
Off’ring up to Christ their will;
Soul and body consecrated,
Day and night to serve him still:
Now in God’s most holy place
Blest they stand before his face.

Taiwan Travel

This photo album has photos selected from different locations throughout Taiwan.  I expect to have more photos as I have future opportunities to visit friends and places around the island.  Many of the photos do very little justice to the beauty of Taiwan’s scenic destinations which really need to be personally explored to fully absorb all the beauty!

God has been completely involved since the beginning as our church as now successfully found a new place to rent.  He confirmed our need to move when the landlord appeared one day at our current location to announce his desire to sell.  He guided us through the search process through difficult times of faith when it seemed impossible to find any building near the university suitable to host more than a hundred people.  He gave a location closer to the NCUE main gates than our current location.  He is now providing through people the ability to renovate a few things in the new building.  He is working in the hearts of our church members through these steps and is starting to work in the heart of our new landlord also.

Thank you everyone who has showered this impossible task and unimaginable outcome in prayer.  It has been the platform on which we have been able to see first hand God working for his name’s sake!  We are now praying forward over the next few months as we finalize lease agreements, small renovations and installations, and moving.  Our church hopes to complete the moving process and  come together to worship for the first time in the new location for Easter 2010.

134 LiSing Rd

Please continue to shower the new location in prayer that God will make it a place where many people will know his salvation and learn to follow him as disciples.

Taipei brought in the 2010 new year by lighting the 101 building off like a roman candle.  The 101 building already dominates the city’s other major high-rises, so adding the fireworks to the building makes for a spectacular show.  The theme this year was “Taiwan Up.”  In Changhua, it was a much different story… I am pretty sure there are no buildings much larger than twenty stories, although there were a lot of private fireworks being ignited around the streets and on Bagua Mountain, nothing accumulating to the millions of people around the 101.  None the less, the new year has come!  There are many things to praise God for in 2009, even through the end of the year as he provided a new location for our church to rent (even closer to the university than our current location) and life of many newborns and new believers!  As a church, we brought in the new year together with friends and in prayer for what God will bring in the coming year.  This year, we want to live “Seeking the Face of God” together in Changhua and learning to daily walk like Jesus so many more will look “Up” to the face of God and praise his name throughout Taiwan!

Ed Stetzer and the Lifeway Research team visited Taiwan a few months ago to ask questions and observe the religious climate of the island.  He explains the religious culture he was confronted with is far from what is usually published in almanacs.  The Buddhism and Taoism are more like umbrella to some of the deeply underlying animistic and ancestral worship characteristics of the people.  Check out his video in front of the Long Shan Temple in Taipei.  He also reviews many of the highlights of the trip here: Taiwan Vision Trip Recap.

The need in Taiwan is apparent in only viewing the people worshipping at one temple in Taipei, but throughout the island there are thousands of other temples people are fearfully worshipping ancestors and gods.  Ed interviews a church planter about his heart and call about sharing making the name of Jesus know in Taipei.

He was also able to interview several other pastors and missionaries while visiting Taipei.  Check out some of the links below to connect to his website and view the videos.

Meeting Pastor Chen

Ancestor Worship

Knowing Taiwan

Taxi Interview with Ray

Mission Strateges

Over the past weekend, the Taiwan Navigator staff and close ministry partners, about 60 people, met for a weekend seminar about Biblical relational healing.  In hopes of building stronger Biblical relationships so we can all better live in a “discipling from the inside out” way.

The seminar concentrated on our relationships with God, others, and how Satan may attempt to disrupt relationships.  Some of the key points I took home from the weekend focused on our responsibility as Christians to go and try to make a relationship that is hurting or in conflict better.  The responsibility is not only for the person who committed a wrong to forgive, but also the person that was wronged to go share how they were hurt (Matthew 5:23-24 and Matthew 18:15).  This is also above and beyond the commandment by God to make every effort to keep unity in relationships (Ephesians 4:3).   I think this generally is a very unnatural approach to dealing with hurt relationships; most people commonly run away, try to ignore, or assign blame when confronted with hurt and conflict.  The true Biblical approach is to see the conflict as an opportunity and assignment from God which can produce spiritual growth through the discovery of sinful attitudes and practices.

Ultimately, the only answer for relational healing is through forgiveness.  Forgiveness involves releasing another of a liability, canceling a debt, offering a pardon without resentment or desire for revenge.  Completely reflecting what Jesus did in love for every sinner by dying on the cross.  I pray that I can continue to learn how to apply this throughout my life since it is impossible to live life without relationships!

John 13:34-35  ”A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Bill thinking over an inquiry during the Q&A time.

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American and Taiwanese Eric with a student from Taiwan University.

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Navigator staff from around the island and US at lunch.

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‘Sisters’ from Taichung, Changhua, and Jhongli.

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Bill, Cathy, Terri, and Dave receiving a thank you from Terry (co-president of the Taiwan Navigators).

This is a prayer request from the OMF Facebook page sharing about Taiwan and asking God prepare new workers to go to Taiwan:

Religion in Taiwan is extremely complex. it is a mixture of folk religion and traditional Chinese religion.

Folk religion in Taiwan may be described as animistic, polytheistic and syncretistic. It is animistic because Taiwanese people firmly believe that spiritual forces have power over their daily lives. It is polytheistic because people believe in and worship multiple gods. It is syncretistic because Taiwanese have blended many varied and even contradictory religions and folk beliefs.

Various occult practices like fengshui, fortune telling, buying amulets, conversing with spirits, and spirit possession are extremely common.

Traditional Chinese religion is a combination of ancestor worship, Taoism, and Buddhism. Although each religion has its own deities and teachings, they are often mixed so thoroughly that it becomes impossible to determine what is Taoist and what is Buddhist. For example, the Taiwan folk deity, Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) and the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Kuanyin, are frequently worshipped in the same temple.

More than 16,000 registered temples cater to the spiritual needs of Taiwan’s people. In fact, Taiwan has more temples per capita than any other country in the world.

The Taiwanese working class also believe in ghosts. They believe that every person who dies becomes a ghost. There are happy ghosts and hungry ghosts. Happy ghosts are those who are “fed” or worshipped with offerings of incense, food, and “spirit money”. Hungry ghosts are those who are not worshipped. Hungry ghosts bring havoc upon an individual or family in the form of sickness, family relationship trouble, or financial loss. These hungry ghosts are often believed to be deceased family members who are not being worshipped properly or those who have died under tragic circumstances, such as drowning.

No one wants to be a hungry ghost. Therefore, ancestor worship has two main purposes. One is to ensure that one’s ancestors do not wreck havoc on one’s life. The other is to set a strong example to one’s own children so that they will worship their parents after their death. As a result, worship of ancestors is considered extremely important. So important, in fact, that children (especially oldest sons) are told by their parents not to become Christians because then “you will not be able to worship me after I am dead, and I will become a hungry ghost.”

Worship of gods is slightly different from that of ancestors. Taiwanese appease ghosts/ancestors but make deals with gods. Usually, a person provides a god with worship, incense, and food in exchange for protection, assistance, or blessing. The most desired type of blessing is generally related to money.

Taiwanese people are very religious. But all this religious activity provides no assurance for a happy life, both now and beyond the grave. Rather, it leaves people in fear and uncertainty.

Only about 2% of the Taiwanese are Christian. Half of these regularly attend church. The majority of Taiwan’s Christians come from the more highly educated and western-influenced middle class.

Changhua Buddha

Pray
An ongoing need is for more workers in the harvest fields of Taiwan. We desire is to establish new ministry teams and consolidate and expand our current ministries. In order to do this we are praying for at least 25 new workers (20 front-line & 5 support personnel) over the next five years. Join with us in prayer that the Lord will send these workers into the working-class harvest fields of Taiwan.

The Lord has sent us 9 new workers in the last 12 months and others are planning to come to Taiwan in the next couple of years. Most face significant challenegs in preparing to arrive here. Please pray for the preparation, health, financial support and visas for those preparing to join our teams.

Thank you for your partnership with us in serving the gospel in Taiwan.

After meeting in one location near the National Changhua University of Education (NCUE) for more than 10 years, our church is looking for a new place to meet.  God has blessed our small church for several years with a great location to be able to reach out to the surrounding community and university.  Over the years, hundreds of students have passed through the doors of the church, many hearing the story of Christ and his salvation for the first time, while others have grown closer to their savior Jesus through Bible study, prayer, and fellowship!  Eventually graduating, many as teachers, and moving throughout Taiwan and surrounding countries to be able to share the life of Jesus with their students in the classroom.

In many ways moving out is an answer to prayer.  Over the past few years as a church body, we have been continually approaching God in prayer about the right time to purchase the church or find a new place to rent to meet the needs of the growing weekly attendance.  There has not been any definite answers to this point until recently a couple months ago when the landlord of the building returned from abroad to share his desire to sell the property.  A big answers to prayer! Really? God truly is answering our prayer by showing he is preparing the way for our church to continue to be a growing example of Christ in the university area.  Especially recently, in guiding our church through more advanced Bible studies to help prepare each person to share Christ and lead others to maturity in faith.

God is now leading our church in an adventure of faith as we seek him for a suitable place before the sale of our current location in early 2010.  We are hoping to find a somewhere to rent near the university campus (so students would still have easy access) that would accommodate more than 150 people each Sunday.  This seems impossible right now on such a short notice since the land near the university is very scarce and mostly divided into small living units for students.

John 4:21-23

We can pray for all this without any anxiety!  It is already very clear God has been at work in the lives of our church and he will provide for us.  It is exciting to live in the hope God is giving! Please join our church in prayer to continue to follow him and prepare ourselves as a body of believers so we can allow him to work through us in the salvation of many more people in Changhua.  Also pray for the best and most suitable location (that would give praise to God and show his infinite grace and blessings) so we can meet and share his love in Changhua for many more years!

The front of the church in Changhua.

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Lydia leading worship in the Sunday morning service.

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Dennis sharing the morning announcements.

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GuanU leading worship at the student fellowship night on the second floor of church.

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Jerry sharing about how to be a disciple of Jesus at the student fellowship night.