Taiwanese fellow-laborers in God's Harvest Field

Last week we had a guest come to our church: a young Taiwanese man named David Ông. He just graduated from seminary. He's from Tainan in the south. And he plans to become a pastor here. We are so happy to meet young men like him.

David wrote about his visit to our church and home in his blog. He posted a lot of pictures.

For the past few weeks another young man has been coming to our church. His name is Eric Yu. He is a Taiwanese from I-Lan City. A 30-year-old, he just graduated from Christ's College because he had worked and then gone to do military service after high school. Eric is fluent in Taiwanese and Mandarin and has a good command of English. I was introduced to him by Dr. Quentin Nantz, the current acting president of Christ's College and an MTW missionary. After I met him at Christ's College, he began to attend a Thursday men's discipleship group led by one of New Hope Church's new elders. He also began attending our churches service. Please pray for him as he decides whether or not to go into the ministry. He'll have to find a way to support himself while he goes through seminary.

I also want to mention my Taiwanese pastoral intern, Caleb Tian, who is now a licentiate in the Reformed Presbyterian Church. He and his wife just had a baby son. Already having a Bachelor of Divinity, he has one more year to finish an M.Div. at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Taipei before taking his ordination exams. Please pray for Caleb this year as he tries to provide for his family while finishing up seminary. His wife just this week decided to quit her job in order to take care of her newborn, and so their income will be drastically reduced. It was a hard decision for them that went against the cultural grain of contemporary Taiwan, but it was a good principled decision.

Thanks for your prayers. In Christ,

Joel

Sharing the Gospel in Taiwanese with the Older Generation

Please pray for Mr. Tiuⁿ. He is 89 years old and lives in Tamsui, north of Taipei on the coast. We met him and his son's family at the Taiwan National History Museum last Saturday. His grandson was pushing him in a wheel chair and I got into a conversation with them in Taiwanese about Taiwan's history. After giving him my church business card, I invited him to come visit. This morning he came to my home and we drank tea and talked in Taiwanese. He is not a Christian but seems open. Since he grew up in the Japanese colonial era of Taiwan, he speaks and reads Japanese well. I have one Gospel message sermon that has been translated into Japanese, so I gave it to him. He seems interested in going to a Japanese-Taiwanese language fellowship in Taipei where I spoke last year. Most of the members are over 80 years old.

His eyes are not very good, so I plan to send him some audio sermon CD's and also audio selections from the Taiwanese Bible. Please pray that he will listen and hear the Gospel and come to faith even in his old age. He turns 90 in September of this year.



At the Taiwan National History Museum in Taipei. (April 4, 2009)

Gospel Joy

Psalm 66 - "How to Enjoy Your Life as a Christian"


(A typical sermon at New Hope Christian Fellowship, Taipei, TAIWAN
English-Mandarin bi-lingual)

Green Shoots of Spring

Planning a Taiwanese pastors' church planting fellowship and potential target areas for church planting in city-center Taipei
(L-R Rev. Dennis Brown (Friendship Presbyterian - Taipei); Rev. Joel H. Linton (New Hope Church, Team-leader Taiwanese Church Planting, MTW); Rev. Jay Kyle (Redeemer Presbyterian - New York City); Rev. Dr. Peter Yao (Grace Church - Chungli, Adjunct Professor - Reformed Theological Seminary in Taipei) March 19, 2009 - Chungli City, TAIWAN
Note: You can view the Taiwan church distribution map online.



New Hope Church -- and guests for the baptisms
That day we actually ran out of chairs and had to borrow
some from the building management's office cubicles.
(March 8, 2009, Taipei, TAIWAN)




(March 8, 2009 at New Hope Church -- the Taipei church plant recently particularlized and member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.)

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In the mountains of Gī-lân (I-Lan) on February 28th remembering Judy's sisters and grandmother who were murdered in a February 28, 1980 political assassination in Taiwan.

I think at the time the picture was taken we are singing "Verdant Taiwan" the unofficial Taiwan National Anthem.

Learning the Language

Joel continues his Taiwanese language study attending two-hour classes three days a week.

Do you know what the sign above says?

The Christmas story throughout the Bible

Faith (8 yrs old) and Charis (6 yrs old) are reading through New Hope's Christmas through the Bible reading list. This list contains many Old Testament passages that look forward to Jesus Christ's coming and what he would do. It also contains some New Testament passages that look back to Christ's coming.


After the worship service on the Sunday before Christmas, New Hope members go to Taipei's biggest park in the middle of the city -- Da An Park -- and sing Christmas carols to the crowds. As people walk by, the children hand out Christmas cookie packets. On the card is a verse about Christmas on one side and information about the church on the other side.