Hello everyone! We are still alive and well. It’s been a while since we last wrote to you. We wanted to give you this update, so you could continue to pray for us and the people we minister to here in Toufen, Taiwan.
As we have shared with you before, we work in the Hakka city of Toufen in a church formed by Hakka Christians about five years ago. The Hakka community is closed to most outsiders by language and tradition. They are viewed by many missionaries as the hardest group to evangelize among the various Chinese peoples. (There are approximately 5 million Hakka Chinese in Taiwan of which only .3% - 3 in every 1,000 - identify themselves as Christian.) Because the Toufen church governed by the Hakka people themselves, it has very close ties to the community. As a result, the church is extremely effective in reaching into the community through weekly visitation, house meetings and personal evangelism. We are grateful to God that He, through the Toufen church, has provided a way for us to become part of the Hakka community.
Most of the members of the Toufen church are new believers. Many of them come into the church with a history of emotional problems. Some face opposition from family members for their Christian beliefs. To help address these problems, the church often asks us to share our experience as mature Christians and experienced church workers. We do this through formal teaching and practical advice.
We also continue to minister to the youth in our weekly youth meetings. We deliver a salvation message to the young people almost every week. Even though most of them have not accepted the Lord yet, they do enjoy the meetings. We try to show our love to them by visiting them from time to time, taking them out to eat or calling them on the telephone to find out how they are doing. The lives of young people here are more closely controlled by their parents than they are in the United States. A visit to a young person’s house is actually a visit to his or her whole family. This may include grandparents also. Everyone feels free to join in the discussion. Thus, the ministry to young people, at times, becomes a ministry to the whole family.
Barth just finished teaching a course on worship at a Bible Seminary located in Zhunan, Taiwan. It was a special night course and most of those in attendance were Christian workers who lead worship or play instruments in their own churches. The class was a combination of Bible teaching on the nature and importance of worship, as well as some practical teaching on music itself. Barth was joined in one of the sessions by Christian musician, Mr. Francis Kam. He is a Chinese Canadian drummer who has performed twice in the Taipei National Concert Hall. The course included praise and worship sessions where the students put into practice what they had learned. We thank God for His presence which was felt in a wonderful way as we worshipped together.
Our second coffeehouse was held in February. Once again, it was well-received. The coffeehouse features "open mike" performances by the young people who attend our youth group and others. This time the coffeehouse attracted an accomplished classical musician from Taipei who assisted student performers. We also perform at the coffeehouses, singing and playing our own instruments. Barth is the master of ceremonies. We use the coffeehouse as an opportunity for “lite” evangelism in a warm Christian environment.
In our own church services, the music we play is a combination of traditional Chinese music, contemporary Chinese praise music and translations of Western worship songs. On Good Friday, Barth arranged organ accompaniments for a traditional service that emphasized the seven last words of Christ. For Easter, Janine prepared a special video with Chinese subtitles and Barth put on a musical recording to introduce the church to song unfamiliar to our people: “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” Everyone loved it. They stood up, clapped their hands and asked that we play it over again. We have included some pictures from the Easter video.
Thank you for all your prayers for the work here in Toufen.
In closing, we want you all to know that we think of you often. We pray for all those who support us in prayer and financially. We pray that God will bless you in your ministries which are so important in Binghamton, Buffalo, Fredonia and elsewhere. Thank you for being our friends in the Lord’s work!
Barth and Janine
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