Dear Friends and Family,
The Christmas rush is over in the United States. We hope you all can rest a bit with fond memories of happy times with family and friends. In Taiwan, everyone is gearing up for the biggest holiday of the year, Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar and is celebrated much the same as Christmas. Families and friends feast together. Companies and schools go on vacation. As they say here, “xi qi yang yang” which means “merriment fills the air.” Everyone greets each other by saying, “gong xi, gong xi”, meaning “Congratulations!” Now that our own Christmas activities have subsided, we wanted to send you this newsletter to update you on the work here, so you could see the results of your prayers and continue in praying with us for the people in the Toufen area of Taiwan.
Two performances of the Christmas play were held on December 19th and 20th . The play was
written by Janine (and translated into Mandarin) with original music and video written and produced by Barth. The main character is a drunk, a proud and boastful man who meets an angel in a restaurant. The angel explains to him through music and video segments how God created the world, how Jesus came to earth to heal and help humanity, and how Jesus was eventually crucified and resurrected. (See the photos below of the play and the fellowship afterwards.) In attendance were many non-believers, friends and family members, some of whom had never attended a church service. Since the performance of the play, new doors have opened for the church members to visit and continue to share the good news of Jesus with those who came. A tremendous amount of work went into the play. So we are extremely grateful to the people in the church who worked so hard to bring it about.
We have already reported that our first coffeehouse was well-attended and well-received. The coffeehouse featured "open mike" performances by the young people who attend our youth group and their friends. It was basically a form of "lite" evangelism, mixing the Christian message with popular music. As soon as the coffeehouse concluded, the consensus was that we should have another one. We expect the next coffeehouse to be held around the beginning of February, during winter vacation.
Barth continues to play the piano, lead worship and preach at various services throughout the week. He is preparing to conduct an eight week seminar on praise and worship at the Ming Dao Bible Seminary starting in February. Janine is now turning her attention to writing skits to be performed in the church as part of the services. She has also had the opportunity to lead worship (in Chinese) at two house meetings.
We both continue to lead Saturday night youth meetings in our home. Attendance varies widely from week to week. The Taiwan educational system is one of the most demanding in the world. Competition for entrance into the universities is fierce. At the senior high school level, students are subjected to constant testing. A typical high school student rises at around 6:30 a.m. the
n rides for an hour to school on a train or bus. After attending school all day, they often attend a second school known as “cram school.” Then they do homework until 11:30 or 12 midnight. They are required to study all weekend as well. It is not uncommon for our young people to have tests every day including Saturdays and Sundays and during vacations. All of this study is supervised closely by their parents. Any activity, other than studying, is viewed as a distraction. Those who regularly attend our youth group risk lower performance in school, since it takes away valuable study time. Please pray that God gives us wisdom on how to effectively reach young people amidst the constant pressures they face.
n rides for an hour to school on a train or bus. After attending school all day, they often attend a second school known as “cram school.” Then they do homework until 11:30 or 12 midnight. They are required to study all weekend as well. It is not uncommon for our young people to have tests every day including Saturdays and Sundays and during vacations. All of this study is supervised closely by their parents. Any activity, other than studying, is viewed as a distraction. Those who regularly attend our youth group risk lower performance in school, since it takes away valuable study time. Please pray that God gives us wisdom on how to effectively reach young people amidst the constant pressures they face.
In conclusion, we want to emphasize how much your prayers mean to us. We are living among the Hakka people where only .3% (3 in one thousand) are Christian, so these inroads into people's lives are really miracles from God. We thank you for your faithfulness in prayer and support.
God's blessings on you all!
Barth and Janine
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