Yikes! How can it be the middle of 2009 already!

Actually, I do know how 6 months could pass by and hardly be noticed....at least from the perspective of blogging. January and February were devoted to preparations for TEAM's Annual Conference and my upcoming Home Assignment. On March 10 I departed Taiwan for 4 months in the US.

This time away has been a very rich time for me. I am so thankful for the many connections with long-time friends and supporters as well as many new ones. A holiday trip to N. Ireland gave me wonderful rest and spiritual uplift as well as just the pure joy of being in a lovely place with some of my favorite people.

The missions conference at my home church (Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church) was a wonderful experience for me. I got to interact with old and new friends and also to experience first-hand the transition to a new pastor along with the merger of his former church members into our congregation. It is proving to be a historic event (process) and one that is extremely encouraging to watch, as the Spirit of God blends two congregations into one....the truth of "one Spirit, one Body, one Lord" is illustrated beautifully. I feel privileged to be a part of it.

Having all of my siblings gather with my mom to celebrate her life of 90 years and counting was so much fun! I can't even begin to say how blessed I am to have such a family!

God has given me precious time with all of my siblings and I am very thankful for that. Everytime I leave them, I am aware that we don't know when and where we will next meet. As I said to Mom....I hate goodbyes and am just looking forward to the eternal "hello" of heaven.

May 23-June 3 I was in the Adirondacks, getting to know the wonderful folks at Adirondack Bible Chapel. That church is such an example to me of body life and just being in their midst was an amazing encouragement to my spirit.

Now, as I write, I am in Dallas, TX visiting a longtime friend/supporter as well as connecting with a family, newly appointed to serve as missionaries in TEAM Taiwan and also a sister who may join us in ministry in Taiwan in the future.

This time in the US can be described as one "God orchestrated event after another".

An Answer to Many Years of Prayer

We were so thrilled to hear that Wang Mama (Ashley's mom) had trusted Christ as her Saviour on Thursday afternoon when Barbara was visiting her. Pastor Peter Hwang came over to the hospital Friday night to baptize her and to anoint her with oil and pray for her.

After she was baptized, everyone there spoke a personal word of blessing to her, beginning with her son Ashley (charter member of the Hsinchu TEAM church). It is hard to express the joy of seeing a soul you have prayed for over so many years, finally come to salvation!

Dai is offering words of blessing and joy....and telling Wang Mama how blessed she is to be united with her whole family in a common faith. We are all looking forward to being together forever!

The whole family gathers around Wang Mama, and Lyou Mama, and Pastor Hwang...rejoicing that Wang Mama has put her faith in Christ and is baptized into the body of Christ. No need to fear...!

A Sad and Joyful Celebration

Jodee had a nice talk with Uncle Gerry (Dad's younger brother). Uncle Gerry's son was kind enough to fly Uncle Gerry and Aunt Louise down from Raleigh in his plane. So we got to see cousins Doug and Barbara, as well.
Sisters Sue and Sharon enjoyed visiting and catching up an the latest on both sets of grandchildren. They each have three! Sharon has two grandsons and one granddaughter and Sue has two granddaughters (twins) and one grandson.
I think brother Jim was talking to Uncle Eldon about clarinet reeds. That is one thing they have had in common for many years....playing the clarinet! By the way, I think Uncle Eldon is about 94 years old. His hearing doesn't allow him to play the clarinet anymore, but he did for many, many years.
I enjoyed catching up with niece Heather.(Sharon's daughter) We have a special bond because of the year she and Sharon lived with us while Phil was stationed in Thailand during the Viet Nam conflict. She is now mommy to three delightful children.
Mom and Aunt Wilma had a nice visit. Aunt Wilma is Dad's younger sister. We were very thankful that she and her husband Eldon were able to join us for Dad's funeral. Wilma and Eldon were both in Mom and Dad's wedding party 68 years ago!

Our New Office Location

The office of Precept Taiwan is the first section of the 2nd floor. The director's office is the half toward the back.

Stepping into Glory!

Today is a day with many mixed up emotions....grief is one, but at the same time there is joy, thanksgiving, relief, excitement, and even anticipation. My father turned 92 on Saturday. I don't know if he was aware of it or not, because his body has been slowly shutting down over the last week or so.

At 1:50 a.m. this morning (EDST), Dad breathed his last breath in the body that had held him captive for the last few years. That statement makes me sad, because I miss him and it is hard to say goodbye. But, realizing that he is released to enjoy Jesus' presence and we will see him again there when we leave this world....glory!

The thing that I kept hearing about Dad in the last little while was how peaceful he was. That was a specific answer to prayer. Especially in the last hours as it became more difficult for him to breathe....he still remained calm and quiet. He didn't seem to have any pain.

There are so many things that I am thankful for right now....can I share a few?

* I am thankful for my Dad's life and the example he gave all of us of what it means to live your life for God. He was faithful to God, to Mom and to all of us--a truly godly man.
* I am thankful for God's provision for my parents to live in a place that has offered them the care they have needed at different stages--particularly the good care that Dad had in the health center for the last three years.
* I am thankful for the hospice group that provided extra care for Mom and Dad over the last 6 months
* I am thankful for my siblings who have selflessly gone to be with Mom an Dad at various times to give added support--it was so comforting to know that even though I couldn't go, Mom and Dad were not left alone. (and we know that even when WE couldn't be there, God NEVER left them alone)

The memorial service has not been scheduled yet, as Monday morning has barely started in the US ....but I already have reservations to arrive on Friday evening and hopefully all my other siblings will be able to gather by then as well. Thanks for your prayers for our family at this time. We really appreciate you.

A Moving Experience

The China Lutheran Seminary here in Hsinchu just completed a new building last year and after remodeling their old dormitory, they invited several Christian organizations to move their offices into the newly envisioned "Christian Park". By locating our offices all in the same place we have the possibility of sharing many resources as well as networking. We are delighted with the move.


As the date for the movers to arrive drew near, we put everything we could into boxes.


Its amazing how much can be accumulated over 10 years in one location!


I now have a bright (I didn't even turn on the lights all day today!) and spacious office all to myself!


Joy and Dai share this space. I will post a photo later after everything finds a home!

Our Trip to Manila!

Joy, Dai Eve and I set out from home on a 4-day adventure to Manila. We had several purposes for the trip: renew Eve's visa for Taiwan, visit our colleagues in Manila, take a few days out for fun, and for me, to reconnect with a good friend from college.


Precept Manila is overseen by Ann Dy and Natalie Tan. Ann (seated with me) treated us all to a wonderful Filipino dinner in the restaurant at her bank (where she is a director). Natalie (2nd from r. in front) served as our airport transportation, tour guide, hostess and all around wonderful companion for our first day and a half.


We enjoyed seeing the suite of office, classrooms and storage that serve Precept Manila. This suite is located in one of the bank buildings. What a wonderful provision from God!


Scott and Cindy (my college friend) run a medical clinic which focuses on training people to do jungle medicine. They have a combination of local people and missionaries coming to them for 4 months at a time. They also offer a free clinic three times every week.


I thought Taiwan traffic was chaotic until I visited Manila!

January Prayer Updates

Thank You for your Prayers!
January 2008
Precept Ministries
1. Praise God for the good turnout for the classes that have just started this month. There are a total of 25 students divided between three different locations, this semester. That doesn't seem like a lot, but many of them are keen to become leaders and that is an answer to prayer.
2. We are rejoicing that the first 2 children’s inductive study workbooks have been published. Now we are really concentrating a lot of effort on promoting these books. Dai will be giving her first demo/training next week. I know she would appreciate your prayers.
3. We are working on producing more promotional materials for Precept including a three-minute promotional video. We are far from professional video makers and need lots of help. Pray that we will be able to find the help we need, at a price we can afford (free would be good!)
Hsinchu TEAM Church
1. Please pray for more spiritual vitality in the individual church members and a growing understanding of what a church is meant to be—with an increased burden for the lost.
2. While there has been some evidence of spiritual growth in the fellowship, a recent incident has caused distraction and mistrust to spring up. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would work in hearts to bring a godly resolution to this situation resulting in even greater unity in the body.
Trailblazer Camps
1. When I finish typing this, I will be on my way to a Trailblazer Camps board meeting. We have had real growth in programming and camp participation over the last couple of years. Please continue to pray for the new camp development process. There is still no new land realistically in sight.
2. We are especially in need of two personnel positions…..a national director for our missionary director to mentor and eventually take over, and a PR/Promotional person to work on fundraising. Please pray for God’s provision of just the right person or people. This need could be filled by one person, if we found the RIGHT one.
Nancy's Personal requests
1. I am praying about attending a couple of training sessions—one for TEAM and one for Precept—this July. Pray for God’s direction and provision for this.
2. Please pray for balance in my life as I travel more and teach more classes in more locations. I am in need of more physical exercise, but the busier I am, the harder it is to make myself squeeze this in. And the lack of exercise makes me even more tired.
3. Please pray for continued spiritual growth for me….to walk in intimacy with God.
4. Please pray for some new supporting churches and God's plan for my Home Assignment planning for 2009. I would really like to develop close ties to a few more churches, including some Chinese congregations in the US.

December was busy!!

As I am preparing to post prayer updates for January, I realize that I totally missed posting in December! Christmas and all the special activities that come with it always adds a busyness to the month of Dec. but this year was especially busy because of a special teaching opportunity that came our way. Every Sunday in Dec. I traveled to Taipei to lead a Precept class in the 5th course of the Genesis series, which focuses on the life of Joseph. It was a great class and there were a couple very keen students in the class. One that is especially notable is a middle aged man who announced as he joined us that he is not yet a Christian (meaning that he has not yet been baptized). But I rarely see this kind of fervor and commitment to study in any student! He also has joined the regular Taipei class which meets every other Tuesday night. Pray for Mr. Kao when you think of him, that he would soon grow to have confidence that he is saved by faith, and take the step of baptism.

November Prayer Updates

Thank You for your Prayers!

November 2007

Precept Ministries
1. Please continue to pray for any fruit from Dorie’s visit—to be nurtured and to be guided into God’s word.
2. Please pray for the students who have been part of our classes in Taipei and Taichung,to have the desire to continue in the study of the Word, and to bring others.
3. I have been invited to teach a Precept Upon Precept study at the largest Baptist church in Taipei—four Sundays in December starting 12/9. This will be a combination of Bible study and also training for those who desire to lead Bible studies. Pray for a good turnout, for those burdened to lead and for this church to continue to offer Precept Bible studies as part of their educational program.
4. Please pray for the seminary class that will have its final meeting (with exam) on December 8. Pray that these students will have experienced discovering truth for themselves to the extent that they are hungry and comitted to getting more. Please pray for God's direction and more open doors for us in the south of Taiwan.
5. Our board is meeting on Saturday, Dec. 1. Pray for our deliberations, particularly regarding pay raise and retirement plan for the paid staff. We don't want to be guilty of cutting corners because we lack faith to believe that God can provide for the financial needs of our ministry.

Hsinchu TEAM Church
1. Please pray for more spiritual vitality in the individual church members and a growing understanding of what a church is meant to be—with an increased burden for the lost.
2. Pray for the church members as they each pray for one seeker, for building relationships, and introducing them to the Lord and to the church fellowship.

Trailblazer Camps
1. The search goes on (neverendingly, it seems) for the right land. Pray with us for wisdom about when to pursue the seemingly impossible and when to give up. The piece we really like has so many owners it seems impossible, but nothing is impossible to God.
2. We have more than one buyer for our old piece. Pray for wisdom for us in this process, and for the camp staff as they plan how to run camp programs at rented facilities.

Nancy's Personal Requests
1. Please pray for balance in my life as I travel more and teach more classes in more locations. I am in need of more physical exercise, but the busier I am, the harder it is to make myself squeeze this in. And the lack of exercise makes me even more tired.
2. Please pray for continues spiritual growth for me….to walk in intimacy with God.
3. Please pray for some new supporting churches and God's plan for my Home Assignment planned for 2009. I would really like to develop close ties to a few more churches, including some Chinese congregations.

Thank you for your partnership with me!

A Great Song!

Dorie's Visit

Since McDonald's has the cheapest and best coffee, and the most accessible restrooms in Taiwan, we visited quite of few of them in our travels with Dorie, from city to city.

One of the events during Dorie's time in Taiwan that thrilled her most, was getting to record her story to be used by "The Voice of Salvation", both in their English teaching evangelistic radio broadcasts, and in their evangelistic testimony CD series, "A Cloud of Witnesses".

At the Taoyuan Women's prison, Dorie shared her story with 60 AIDS victims in a special section of that facility. They seemed very appreciative of our visit--they were very enthusiastic singers!

October Prayer Requests

Thank You for your Prayers!
October 2007
Precept Ministries
1. During Dorie's visit to Taiwan she shared her testimony with eight young women wanting to leave a lesbian lifestyle, 20 teenagers from abusive backgrounds, 60 AIDS victims in a nearby women's prison, and 4 larger open meetings in churches in different cities. Everywhere we went, people were encouraged and touched, We also shared in the larger meetings, the basic principles of inductive Bible study. We challenged everyone to follow Dorie's example, of growing into an intimate walk with God through studying His word. It is difficult to measure spiritual fruit, but it was amazing to hear people share how they had been spiritually revived or helped through the meetings.
2. We are very excited that the woman who designed our website and the poster for Dorie's meetings has been attending a Bible study at our office and has decided to start attending church and get baptized. When we met her, she said she already believed, but now she has begun to really seek to know God more deeply.
3. The rural outreach to the town of Tou Wu has resulted in a commitment to studying the word of God by the pastor. I will be going at least two more times to lead them in practicing the method a little more so that they are confident to lead their own group.
4. The month of November and half of December, I will travel to the south of Taiwan (3 1/2 hours one way) to teach a Precept course in the extension program of the China Lutheran Seminary. We are praying that each student will take away an understanding of how to study the word on their own, as well as a hunger after truth. May each of them become a living advertisement for inductive Bible Study.

Hsinchu TEAM Church
1. We praise God for the growing sense of community among church members. We have seen some individual revival taking place among some members and we continu to pray that it will spread and touch the lives of many others.
2. Pray for the church members as they each pray for one seeker, for building relationships and introducing them to the Lord and to the church fellowship.

Trailblazer Camps
1. We have found a piece of land on which we will begin government studies and negotiations for purchase. Continue to pray for God's timing and direction.
2. We have a couple buyers for our old piece of land, and negotiations are in progress for that as well. Pray for wisdom for us in this process, to know how long to wait on a certain price and when would be the most optimal time to make the transition.

Nancy's Personal requests
1. Praise God for His faithfulness and kindness in letting me be home Oct. 14-22 to have some unexpected time with Mom, Dad and Jodee.
2. Please pray for me to continue to grow spiritually and in intimacy with God.
3. Please pray for some new supporting churches. I want to develop close ties with a few more churches, including some overseas Chinese congregations, if possible.
4. Please pray for the long-term planning of Precept Taiwan and for me as I lead this process.

A Great Day!

My favorite occasion in the life of the church family is baptism day. It is such a joyful thing to see people sure of their faith and what Jesus has done for them, and desiring to make a public profession of that faith and a commitment to the local church body. Today's baptism was especially sweet because it was bearing the fruit of Dai's four years as youth counselor and our 10+ years of bringing her nephew Kevin to church every weekend and living the Christian life before him. I can't tell you how thrilled we are that he has chosen to take this step in following Jesus.






Besides the four young men from the youth group, the fifth person to be baptised is the mother of a man in our church. She is the one who removed the idols from her home in early June. God is at work! May He continue to show Himself powerful in our midst, and may we live lives that reflect His glory!

"The Thoughts of God"

by Francis Ridley Havergal

They say there is a hollow, safe and still,
A point of coolness and repose
Within the centre of the flame, where life might dwell
Unharmed and unconsumed, as in a luminous shell,
Which the bright walls of fire enclosed
In breachless splendour, barrier that no foes
Could pass at will.
There is a point of rest
At the great centre of the cyclone's force
A silence at its secret source:
A child might slumber undistressed,
Without the ruffle of one fairy curl,
In that strange central calm amid the mighty whirl.
So in the centre of these thoughts of God,
Cyclones of power, consuming glory fire.
As we fall overawed
Upon our faces, and are lifted higher
By His great gentleness, and carried nigher
Than unredeemed angels, till we stand
Even in the hollow of His hand
Nay more - we lean upon His breast-
There, there we find a point of perfect rest
And glorious safety. There we see
His thoughts to us-ward, thoughts of peace
That stoop to tenderest love; that still increase
With increase of our need; that never change.
That never fail, or falter, or forget.
O pity infinite!
O royal mercy free!
O gentle climax of the depth and height
Of God's most precious thoughts, most wonderful, most strange!
For I am poor and needy, yet
The Lord Himself, Jehovah, thinketh upon me.

Shared Birthday Celebration

I have always enjoyed sharing my birthday with sister Sue (i was born on her 7th birthday). It was especially fun to be together with sister Jodee and Sue's daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren for our celebration this year!

Touching Home Base

I arrived in Florida on June 21 and had a great week with Mom and Dad. They are in the midst of a very challenging time in their lives, but God's grace and strength are very evident as they trust Him day by day. A great blessing to me during that time was fellowship with Nancy's Team--my prayer partners who have met monthly to pray for me for about 20 years.

"The Cracked Pot"

A dear friend recently passed along this parable. It is a great expression of an important lesson I have been relearning lately. Let me share it with you!

The Cracked Pot
(author unknown)

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house. But the other pot had a crack in it and always arrived only half full. Of course the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments but the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfections and miserable that it was only able to accomplish half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer, by the stream, one day. “I am ashamed of myself and I want to apologise to you” said the pot. “Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?” “Well” said the pot, “For these past two years, I have only been able to deliver half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. You do all this work and because of my flaws, you don’t get full value for your efforts.” The water carrier felt sorry for the old cracked pot and so he said “Don’t worry about it. Just look at the flowers on the way back to the master’s house and enjoy them” So, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers at the side of the path, and this cheered it up a little. But at the end of the trail it still felt bad because, again half the load had leaked out, . and so once more it apologised to the bearer for its failure. The bearer replied “Didn’t you notice that there were only flowers at your side of the path and not at he other side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path and every day while we walked back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I’ve been able to pick beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being the way you are, he would not have had this beauty to grace his house.”

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But if we give our weaknesses to the Lord, He will use even them, to grace His Father’s table. In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste. So as we seek to minister together and as God calls you to the task He has appointed for you, let’s not be afraid of our weaknesses for God can use them to His Honour and Glory. As He says in 2Cor 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness”

Turn to God from Idols

When a person turns from idol worship to love and serve the one true God, the creator of the universe, it is a wonderful thing. Many times I have seen individuals make that choice. But it is always challenging for them to live out their faith in the shadow of the idol worship of their families. The thing we pray for is that the head of the household will come to Christ and decide to cleanse his home from idols. This is of course a huge decision. Many are fearful of retribution from the gods they no longer serve. Many believe that the spirits of their ancestors reside in the ancestral tablets on the god-shelf and if they are not worshiped, they will haunt the family. A brother in our church has been a believer for about 5 or 6 years. Just this week, his parents decided to remove the idols from their home. His father is not yet a believer in Jesus, but he has become much softer and open and he has lost faith in the other gods. His mother has more faith and seems to have really trusted Christ. Yesterday, Rev. Pan led a group of us from our church in the idol cleansing ceremony.



We sang, prayed, listened to a brief sermon and then the pastor removed the idols, took down the shelf and it was all carried away to be burned!




May this beginning of turning to God from idols continue and bear fruit in the life of this family, and also as a powerful testimony to their extended family, friends and neighbors. The power of the message is demonstrated in changed lives! Praise God for his mighty work in our lives! May there be many more such public demonstrations of love for Him.

Prayer Requests for May 2007
Precept Ministries
1. On June 9 we are holding a meeting in Taichung for our constituents. This is with the same purpose as the meetings we held in Hsinchu and Taipei in March and April. We already have 25-30 positive RSVPs so we are excited to see how God will use this in the Taichung area. Please pray especially that God will raise up churches who are willing to support the ministry of Precept and establish a partnership relationship with us.
2. Our Taipei classes started as scheduled on May 15. Dai led the first session for both of these classes since I was only 10 days post-op. She did a great job and we are using the remaining classes to continue to give her more opportunities to lead, without having to bear total responsibility for the classes (I am sharing it with her)
3. The most recent phase of our rural outreach will be completed on June 9. Pray for us as we consider what our next step should be. We are looking for more volunteers who are willing to be sent out.
4. Please continue to pray for the special meetings we will have with Dorie the last two weeks in September. We are working now on arrangements with various churches and organizations as well as some Christian Radio stations. We will have large meetings in 4 cities with some smaller scaled meetings with various groups who minister specifically to more severely wounded individuals. Pray that these meetings not only minister to the immediate needs of the attendees, but also lead them into more long-term Bible study.

Hsinchu TEAM Church
1. The parents of a man in our church have decided that they want to remove the objects of idol worship from their home. It appears that this is a first step in the direction of putting their faith in Christ. Please pray for the Wu family to make a clear decision to “turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (I Thess. 1:9)
2. Please continue to pray for the spiritual growth and commitment of the individual members of the congregation.

Trailblazer Camps
1. Continue to pray for the process of acquiring the new land and the transition period from the old camp to rented facilities to a new location.
2. As we enter into the summer camping season, please pray for the spiritual effectiveness of the camp programs as well as for the safety and protection of all those who work with us and who come as campers.

Nancy's Personal requests
1. Thank you for your prayers regarding my surgery and recovery. I am doing very well. I am pretty much pain free at this point with the only evidence of having had surgery being a lower energy level than usual. And even that improves week by week.
2. I am looking forward to my week in Florida June 21-28 when I hope to touch bases with folks at Coral Ridge as well as being with Mom and Dad.
3. June 28-July 24 I will be in upstate NY at Camp of the Woods sharing about my ministry. Pray that these times of interaction will be a source of spiritual encouragement to people, as well as a challenge to be more personally involved in mission.