Sermons:

Matthew 2:1-18 "How Will You Respond to Christ's Coming?"

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Ezekiel 8 "Turning Away from Idols to the Living God"


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Video:

Pics for the summer and fall...

THIS POST UNDER CONSTRUCTION -- MORE PICTURES TO BE ADDED...

We often host readers of Judy's infant care book. Many of them are not yet Christians. Please keep praying for God to use this outreach ministry for the Gospel.

September Trip to Korea

Preaching at Sunghyun Presbyterian Church from Acts 12:24-13:4 on Paul being sent out by the church in Antioch (My coworker Dr. Caleb Chun interpreted into Korean). 

Early morning breakfast meeting with the General Secretary of GMS, the Hapdong Presbyterian Church's mission organization.

Meeting with the principle of a Christian school in Ansan established and sponsored by Dongsan Presbyterian Church in Ansan (16,000 members) 

Meeting with the Global Ministry Pastor of Sarang Church in Seoul. (30,000 members)

 

Meeting with one of the Mission Pastors at Sarang Church in Seoul

Late-night debrief the last day of the trip...

Sermon: Dealing with Remaining Sin from Ephesians 5:1-13

June 29, 2014 -- Ephesians 5:1-13 "Dealing with Remaining Sin" Bi-lingual English-Mandarin

Spring-Summer 2014 pictures and prayer requests

Dear prayer partners,

Below are some pictures from this past spring and early summer of 2014. I hope they will give you a sampling of some of our labors.  Thank you for your prayers and support.  

In Christ,

Joel

Joshua Tân and his family. I have been mentoring Joshua for a year. He just graduated from the reformed seminary in Taipei. Please pray as he considers long term plans for church planting. 

David Li preaching at the Formosa Reformed Fellowship meeting. David and his coworker, James Chan (left) started a reformed church in Taichung, central Taiwan last summer. James also interprets for visiting American professors at China Reformed Theological Seminary. In June, he interpreted for Dr. Iain Duguid who was just hired as a professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He came out to teach a mini-course in Taipei. Not only have they begun worship services for their church plant in Taichung, but they also are starting a second church plant in Nantou County about an hour away in the mountains.  

New Hope Church in Taipei. Please pray that God will raise up Taiwanese men to be elders and that we can find a Taiwanese pastor to become the shepherd of the church. Currently my coworker, Daniel Cohee, is serving as the interim pastor of New Hope.

Here we hosted the children of another missionary family to join us in a home school biology lab that I was teaching our oldest daughter Faith.

Passing out gospel tracts to the Sunflower Student Movement rally participants.  These gospel tracts were translated into Mandarin by New Hope's pastoral intern, Tomas Wang, and then printed by one of New Hope's members. Please pray for a heart for evangelism among all of Taiwan's Christians, and particularly those in the reformed presbyterian church. Please pray for Tomas Wang who just graduated seminary as he considers his future plans.

Hosting the Formosa Reformed Presbyterian Fellowship meeting at my home. Please pray for this new fellowship as we seek to recruit more church planters and systematically plant churches all over Taiwan.

On the left is Wesley Chuang, a young church planter whom I have been mentoring. His Taipei church plant started Sunday afternoon worship services in March, and morning worship services in June. On the right is a graduate student in law. Please pray for Wesley's church plant, Ren Ai Reformed Fellowship, that God will establish it and bring it to a health, strength and maturity, and that it will be a church-planting church.

Our Tuesday men's business lunch discipleship group meeting at a coffee shop. We did not realize it was a vegan cafe, and so we all went away hungry. Please pray that God will raise up more Taiwanese men to lead the churches.

The Gospel Driven Fellowship church plant in Taipei. I have been helping this church to become organized. It has been meeting for two years. They do not have a pastor, but they do have a retired ruling elder who attended Westminster Seminary who leads them. Please pray for the Taipei church plant as they consider what to do in the near future.

With Joshua Tân outside the Gospel Driven Fellowship afternoon worship service meeting site in Taoyuan, about an hour west of Taipei. Please pray for the Taoyuan church plant as they are considering moving to a different area of Taoyuan. 

Teaching a singleness, dating and marriage seminar  in our home with people from New Hope Church in Taipei. Please pray for Taiwan's young Christians as the learn to be faithful in every area of their lives.

Preaching at a small reformed presbyterian church in Yonghe, a suburb of Taipei. Please pray for revitalization for many reformed churches that have buildings but do not have a healthy church membership or ruling elders. 

Formosa Reformed Presbyterian Fellowship church planting meeting in June. Please pray for Pastor Pak (presenting his vision) as he desires to begin a church plant in November. He is woefully short on funds and would like to find some Taiwanese coworkers.

Waiting for Judy's 100 year old grandfather to wake up to share the gospel with him. Please pray for A-kong as he is very weak. He seems receptive to hearing the Bible and he like me to pray for him each time I see him but he is not yet a Christian. He can understand me but he has trouble having enough strength to say words in reply.

On a short trip to Okinawa, my first time ever, I hiked up hill and visited a coffee shop. In God's providence, just at the right time, Mike Dewit (a P.C.A. ruling elder) and his wife Kristin happened to be there. We were able to arrange time to hang out with their family before we and they departed Okinawa.

Wesley Chuang sharing an update on his church planting work at the Taiwan Reformed Presbyterian Church presbytery meeting.

Men's Tuesday business lunch Bible study -- writing out the Ordo Salutis 

Gospel Driven Fellowship church plant in Taipei.

Some of Judy's infant care book readers coming over to ask questions. 

Formosa Reformed Presbyterian Fellowship lunch... On the left is David Li, a church planter in Taichung. On the right is Stephen Kurkinen, a English teacher considering the full-time ministry. Please pray for us as we seek to recruit more church planters and organize a funding structure for church planting works.

My daughters volunteered at the Hero Games, a special-needs sports event. I got a chance to share the Gospel with the father of these two boys while they were competing. Please pray for the non-Christian families we are befriending, that they would come to faith in Christ.

Recent Sermons that I preached in Taiwan

Acts 20:24-28 "What Kind of Leaders Does a Church Need?" - [bilingual English-Mandarin] given at the Gospel Driven Fellowship church plant in Taipei (a.m.) and in Taoyuan (p.m.) on February 23, 2014.

Exodus 12 "The Meaning of the Lunar New Year Celebrated 3000 Years Ago" - [bilingual English-Mandarin] given at the Gospel Driven Fellowship church plant in Taipei on January 26, 2014.

Acts 8:4-29 "Power and the Gospel" - [Taiwanese language] given at Gikong Presbyterian Church in Taipei on December 8, 2013.

Acts 10 "The Foundation of Your Church" - [bilingual English-Mandarin] given at New Hope Church in Taipei on November 17, 2013.

Fall update pictures

New Hope Reformed Presbyterian Church

I shared the Gospel with this bed-and-breakfast owner in Puli, central Taiwan.  He had questions about the nature of God and I was able to answer using the wording from a Taiwanese-language catechism published in 1960 by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.

Welcoming Caleb and Miyoung to Taiwan.  They will study Mandarin for two years.  But Caleb is already networking and wants to start some Bible studies for businessmen and also doctors.  He still has to knuckle down to master the language.  

Church planting committee meeting.  Wesley (on the right) is starting a reformed/presbyterian church in downtown Taipei.  Right now he hosts an outreach Bible study Friday nights.  He hopes to develop enough of a core group to start a Sunday worship service sometime in the middle of next year.  Since there are very few healthy reformed churches in Taiwan, we are trying to work out a good funding support system for church planters like Wesley.  Right now he is simply stepping out by faith.  http://rftaipei.blogspot.com

The Friday night group of the Ren Ai Reformed Fellowship church plant in downtown Taipei.  

New Hope's goodbye fellowship meeting for Jason Chen, my summer missionary intern. Everyone enjoyed an impromptu concert with Jason playing violin and Judy playing piano.  They both studied music at Indiana University.  He has one more year of seminary left.  Please pray that God will direct his steps.  We hope he will come out to Taiwan as a church planting missionary.

My men's business lunch Bible study.  We are working through the Westminster Confession of Faith and following a modified version of Dr. Joseph Pipa's study guide.  (Of course mostly discussed in Mandarin and Taiwanese)

This fall I began mentoring Joshua Tân, meeting him weekly.  Joshua will graduate seminary by next spring and desires to start a church plant in southeast Taiwan in Taidong. 

Meeting with the director of a Christian drug rehab ministry, his wife and one of the men who came through the program and now volunteers there.  They came to the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Taiwan presbytery meeting.  They are all Hakka.  Please pray that I can also recruit some missionaries to focus on learning the Hakka language and church planting in Hakka areas of Taiwan including Miaoli where this drug rehab ministry is located. http://enfu.twcom.net

Having a Monday evening discussion on the Biblical roles for men and women.  

One of our church members, Carol Vhong, with a young couple with their first baby.  Very often after church on Sunday, Taiwanese couples will come during the lunch time to ask questions from Judy or Carol about infant care.  We hope to be able to share the gospel with many Taiwanese parents through this infant care outreach.

 

Amanda sharing her testimony in the Taiwanese Bible study.  At first there were more women, but recently more men have joined.  The Bible study group is studying a Taiwanese-language catechism as well as the Gospel of John.  Tâi-bûn Sèng-keng-pan

Speaking at a youth retreat of a church from Taoyuan County

Judy's grandfather's 100-year-old birthday celebration

Hope you will get a chance to enjoy this documentary on Taiwan

However, one thing to realize is that these videos were filmed on good sunny days with clear skies.  Much of the time Taiwan is humid and cloudy -- either very hot and humid or cold and clammy in the winter.