October 2005 Newsletter

Hello everyone!

Ps 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

詩 篇127:1 若 不 是 耶 和 華 建 造 房 屋 、 建 造 的 人 就 枉 然 勞 力 ． 若 不 是 耶 和 華 看 守 城 池 、 看 守 的 人 就 枉 然 儆 醒 。


We are continually reminded of this scripture as we work among the Hakka Chinese people in Taiwan where worship and sacrificial offerings to numerous idols, gods and ancestors are practiced in almost every home; where there is virtually no concept of the One True creator God; where people live in dread that the ghosts of the dead will bring misfortune to the entire household if not honored and appeased; and where commitment to Christ and baptism means exposing family members to the wrath of demonic spirits. As we continue to work in this environment, we thank you for your continuing prayers. We also rejoice that every week we have the privilege of preaching the gospel to precious adults and young people in our church services, youth group and English classes and evangelistic concerts.

We are grateful to God that Barth was able to baptize one of the members of our youth group. Although Yuping was raised in a Christian home, she was ambivalent toward the Lord until she started attending youth group regularly this year. We have seen a real improvement in Yuping’s maturity and relationship with the Lord in recent months. Her testimony at the Baptism service spoke of how God helps and supports her while working at her job. We rejoice in the Lord!

The last time we wrote we asked for prayer for specific needs. We would like to explain to you the status of some of those prayer requests and then ask you to pray for our current needs. We had asked you to pray:

1) That God would continue to work in the lives of young people in the Toufen area.

We thank God that the youth ministry still continues to attract many unsaved young people from the community, and they keep coming back. Some of the kids travel a considerable distance, sometimes in the rain or wind, to attend. And we share with them that there is one true God and His Son Jesus Christ. Yuping is an example of God working in this meeting. Please continue to pray for our ministry to young people.

2) For wisdom in discerning God’s will for future musical performances.

Barth is currently planning to sponsor a church piano clinic in Taichung. He is also organizing and performing in three Christmas concerts. On December 19 Barth will conduct the Ming Dao Seminary Choir for their Christmas concert. On December 22 and 23 Barth will perform two Christmas saxophone concerts. Pray that God would prepare the hearts of all those who will attend to experience God’s spirit and to receive God’s word.

3) That Janine’s Chinese studies would be fruitful.

Janine attended an eight-week intensive intermediate level Chinese studies program held at the National Taiwan University over the summer. She found it necessary to rent a room in Taipei rather than commute, since the commute time actually turned out to be about three and a half hours/one way. What did she learn? “Chinese is not a language that you learn by osmosis. I had no idea that the Chinese language contains so many grammatical rules.” We feel this class was helpful in improving Janine’s sentence structure, in helping her to read better and also in helping her to write Chinese characters. She is now planning to regularly teach in Chinese. Please pray that Janine’s fluency will continue to improve.

In conclusion, we would also ask you to pray with us for one of our most faithful church workers. Brother Zhu is a young married man with two children. He is a member of our worship team and has helped with special youth activities. He recently suffered a debilitating back injury causing him severe constant pain and making it impossible for him to work. Last Sunday morning (October 16), our church offered special prayer for him while he was at home. He reports that since that time his pain has gradually decreased. Praise God with us and pray that his healing would be completed.

You are in our thoughts and prayers as well.

Your co-workers in Christ,

Barth and Janine Chapman