Prayer request

Please pray for our daughter, Shannon. She fell Saturday night and broke her leg in three places. She will be having surgery soon. They are getting her ready for surgery even as I write this. Pray for the surgery to go well and for quick healing. Thanks.

Divine encounter

This afternoon David and I took the volunteer team to one of the oldest and biggest temples in Taiwan, Long Shan Temple. As we went inside the temple we could see and hear the sounds of lostness. People were chanting, burning incense and worshiping the gods in this temple. While we were there one of the volunteers met a girl named Laura. She was from Paris and was visiting a friend in Taiwan. She spoke to her briefly and then went on to another location. I met up with Gayle later and as we stood inside the temple talking, Laura came up. She was curious about us and we asked her if she was a Christian. She said she use to be. Gayle and I proceeded to share the gospel with her, telling her that being a Christian is about having a relationship with Jesus. We assured her that God loved her just like she was and that He died for her. We discovered that Laura was a lesbian and that one of her issues was with the church and how people automatically condemn a person such as herself. Gayle prayed for her and then went on her way, but God was leading me to talk with her further. I shared with her that God had taught me that I am not to judge other people no matter who they were or what kind of relationship they were in. I know that being in a lesbian relationship is not God's plan, but He wants me to love everyone no matter what. I also shared that Jesus wants us to examine our own lives before we point a finger at someone else. I left my name card with her. Pray for Laura that she will go back to Paris and search the Bible for the truth. Pray also that God's Spirit will reveal Himself to her and that one day she will have a relationship with God and understand God's plan for human relationships.

Volunteer team

A volunteer team from Collierville, Tenn. arrived this week. A big part of their ministry will be holidays in the Jr. High School. They will be teaching the students about American Thanksgiving. But they will also be involved in other things, such as sharing in a local church, distribution of tracts or some other media item, teaching Bible classes, sharing with university students at a local university and sharing with students at a local cram school. Please pray for this team of four adults. Pray that they will have many opportunities to share Christ. Pray for physical strength and endurance while they are here. Pray that the light of Jesus will shine through them. Pray that God's Spirit would work in the hearts of all those they share with.

New Ministries

Now that the school year is under way, so are new ministries. Last week I started teaching an English Bible class for teachers at the Jr. High School. We are studying the parables of Jesus. Today we start teaching a Bible storytelling club for Jr. high students. Both of these ministries are great ways to tell teachers and students about Jesus. Please pray for these two ministries. 1. Pray for Jasmine and her daughter, and Cynthia that God will open their hearts and truly know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. 2. Pray for God's guidance as we choose which stories to teach the students. 3. Pray for the students as they learn these Bible stories, pray that they will understand and want to know more. Pray that one day they will open their hearts to accepting Jesus as their savior.
The Hands on team is also trying to start a group at the Chihlee Institute of Commerce and Technology. Last night they met with seven students in attendance. They sang some songs, gave a testimony about why they came to Taiwan, then they closed with a couple of Christian songs and prayer. 1. Pray for the seven students that attended that they will want to continue getting together each week and even invite some friends. 2. Pray for the Hands on team as they take lead in this, that they will follow God's direction.

Sisters Part 2

Today I would like to feature my youngest sister, Angie. She lives in South Carolina and works at South of the Border. She has four children and lots of grandchildren. I would like to say more about Angie, but right now she needs your prayers. I got a call from her this morning saying that one of her grandchildren had drowned in a pool. This is not a phone call that anyone wants to get. It is a very tragic thing to happen. Please pray for Angie and the parents, Eddie and Button during this time. Miranda was one and a half years old. They also have two other children, Eddie Jr. and Jasmine. Pray for them, too, because they are going to miss their little sister.

H1N1

The H1N1 virus is already hitting Taiwan in a big way. The government is trying to do everything possible to keep it under control, but in spite of all that is being done it is still spreading. All the schools are checking the students' temperature more than once during the day and if a student has a fever they are sent home. Fever reducing medications are even being taken off the shelves at the pharmacies. When a child is sick it is an inconvenience to the parents and many times they will give the child medication and send them on to school. Taking the medications off the shelf is an attempt to keep the parents from doing this.

Unfortunately the virus is already starting to affect ministry. September 28 is teacher's day and we were asked to put on the program for this year. That is quite an honor considering the Buddhists have done the program in the past. But we got word today that the teacher's day program is canceled because of the H1N1 virus. The principal decided it was too many students in a room at one time. This is just the beginning. Fall is approaching and cooler weather is on the way and the possibility of the H1N1 virus spreading even more. Pray with us.....1) that God would protect us from this virus, 2) that people will take the necessary precautions, such as washing hands frequently, wearing a mask if sick, etc. 3) that we will be able to continue to do ministry or if our ministry is affected that God will help us find creative ways to share the gospel.

Signs of Lostness

We are one week into the 30-day "ghost" month. It is believed that gates of hell are opened and all spirits are turned loose to roam the world. If they have not been treated well during the previous year (lots of sacrifices) they may choose to wreck havoc. It is a time of fear. Many sacrifices will be offered, especially on the 1st, 15th, and 30th days. People may be more involved this year because of the recent typhoon destruction. Please pray for Christians in non-Christian families who will be pressured to participate in these events. Pray that God's peace will begin to overcome the lack of peace throughout this land. Pray that the fear that binds people to continued appeasement of the spirits will be cast out by God's love and presence. Pray that Christians in Taiwan will demonstrate God's peace and hope during these days. The pictures below show people offering sacrifices to the spirits that are roaming the earth.

Camp results

Thank you all for praying for the Jr. high camp. We had a total of 55 students and 8 practice teachers. Each day the students learned how to play the harmonica and sing English songs. They played games and learned how to juggle. But most of all they learned about God and how He created the world and wants them to have a relationship with Him. The character trait for the last day was forgiveness. Teacher Jessica presented the gospel to them in Chinese and many indicated that they wanted to receive God's blessing. One student that we know of did pray to receive Christ as her savior. There may be others. During the closing activity all the students played and sang "Jesus Loves Me". What a blessing that was!! A video is posted for you to hear. All the students received a DVD of the Jesus story and a Chinese Bible. As a follow up activity we invited them to McDonald's for ice cream the day after the camp. This was a chance for them to hear The Long Run Players play again and it was a time for us to interact with the students. At least 30 students attended that event. After the time at McDonald's there were two teams that went to the homes of 4 of the students for a home visit. Those visits opened up more opportunities for sharing the gospel.
Pray: 1. Pray for these students. The seed has been planted. Pray that there will be a harvest among these students. 2. Pray that God would give us wisdom to know how to get a group started. 3. Pray that God would provide a co-worker that can lead these students in Bible study and worship.

Music
Recreation

Character and Bible

Jr. High Camp

Monday through Thursday of this week we have the opportunity to have an "English" camp at the Jr. high school. There will be 55 students and 8 practice teachers participating. The camp includes recreation, music and character/Bible. The Long Run Players are doing most of the leading. David and I will be there to assist as needed. Tonight we went to the school to decorate. Everyone was getting excited after wards. We are using 4 character traits. Orderly, attentiveness, obedience and forgiveness. A story from the Bible will be told to go along with each character trait. The gospel will be shared in some way each day. Please pray for this camp. 1. Pray for the ones that will be leading and teaching the students. 2. Pray that God will work in the hearts of each one of the students. That they will understand that Jesus is real and He loves them. 3. Communication...all this is done in English. Some of the students will understand without any problems, but there are others that will struggle. Thank you for your prayers.

Typhoon Marakot

A week ago, Taiwan was in a drought condition, with several areas facing critical water rationing in the near future. Typhoon Marakot, 1,600km (@1,000miles) in diameter changed that. By landfall (Friday midnight), the drought was over and most of the water reservoirs were full. Although it is now in China, and no longer a typhoon, it is still dropping huge amounts of rain in central and southern Taiwan, due to its enormous size. In the south there was a 1-day record rainfall of 1.4 m (@56in). At this point (Mon AM), we have experienced about 3 m (@119in) of rainfall in some central-southern counties, and the rain keeps coming. The least amt of rainfall, in the north is almost 1.5m (@60in). 58 bridges are closed due to damage, partial collapse, one bridge in the south collapsed in the middle of the bridge. Rail transportation and high speed rail is still blocked south of Taichung (central TW); 519 potential landslide locations; 91 roads damaged/cut-off; 10,000 people cut off from assistance; over 10,000 evacuated, but many cannot be evacuated; an entire hotel collapsed into a river on the SE coast; military assistance has continued 24hrs/day, non-stop for almost 3 days; utilities in the south may take up to 7 days to be working. Amazingly, only 31 people are missing and only 3 confirmed deaths. All this occurred on 8/8 (Father’s Day in TW). It is now being called the 8-8 evil rain day. Undoubtedly, this will be attributed to angry gods, not just bad weather. Temple parades are likely to begin springing up throughout the especially the hardest hit areas. There is a lot of work to do here….. Please pray for churches and the Taiwan Christian Relief org which will be trying to give assistance to those in need. Pray for the families of the missing or dead; for those who have lost everything; for those still needing to be evacuated. Pray that through this extraordinary weekend, people will come to know Jesus in the midst of destruction. Pray that God’s mercies and love will overcome the fears and anguish; that His Truth will become known in areas that have not heard of Jesus.

On the Plaza

Thank you all for praying for our outreach on the plaza. The rain stopped long enough for The Long Run Players to play several songs. There were several people that stopped to hear them play. David and I handed out DVDs to people who were watching. The team made contact with a Christian family and a young couple that studies at the University of Michigan. Then it started to rain, so they packed up their instruments and went to MOS Burger. Our plans were to eat there, but God apparently wanted us at McDonald's because there was no place to sit at MOS Burger. My friend, June came to McDonald's just to meet the team and hear them play. Playing at McDonald's was not exactly on the agenda, but God opened up the opportunity. Tomorrow (Sunday afternoon) they will be playing in front of the Far Eastern Department Store from 3:00-4:00 pm. We will also be passing out tracts and DVDs. Pray for this outreach event that God will give us opportunities to share the gospel and make new friends.

The Long Run Players

Here is a video of The Long Run Players. They have done a great job and have already had a few opportunities to sing. They have even learned a simple song in Chinese. Continue to pray for them as they study Chinese and also pray that they will have many opportunities to meet non-Christians and share the gospel with them. This coming Saturday they are suppose to be playing at an outside plaza. There is also a typhoon on the way. We need good weather, but we also need the rain. Pray that God will give us a plan B in case it is still raining.

Hands On Team

On Wednesday afternoon four young men and one young lady arrived in Taiwan to work with our team for five months. They are a music group that plays Bluegrass music. They are called The Long Run Players. They are very talented in many ways and play a variety of instruments. They are from Southern Seminary in Kentucky. Matt, Jeff, Sarah, Cameron and Paul will be using their gifts and talents to share the gospel with the people of Banqiao and Taipei. We are very excited about them being here and look forward to seeing how God is going to use them. God has already opened up an opportunity for this coming Sunday evening. Pray for that event. Here are some other ways you can pray for this team.
1. Pray for their adjustment while in Taiwan.
2. Pray for strength and energy because it is very hot here and they hit the ground running.
3. Pray that they will learn Chinese quickly.... especially learn to share the gospel in Chinese.
4. Pray that they will be bold in their witness.

A short video of their performance will come later.

Update on Sandra

I would like to thank all of you that prayed for my sister, Sandra. She came through the surgery, however there was a problem along the way that will cause the recovery process to be much longer. While the Dr. was performing the operation, the tibia (shin bone) cracked and a piece even broke off. The Dr. said her bones were very hard. He cemented the piece of bone back in place. The Dr. said she cannot put weight on that leg for four months. She has to stay in the hospital for six weeks of therapy. That is a blessing in a way because with her being at the hospital she will get the treatment and therapy that she needs. Please continue to pray for her because this is going to be a long road to recovery.

Sisters

I have four sisters that are very special to me. Today I would like to talk about one of those sisters. Sandra is one of my older sisters and lives in Mooreland, OK. She has been an LPN for several years. She has a very compassionate heart. She also loves animals....cats, dogs, birds, squirrels....you name it. She loves them all. She is married to Bob and has two grown children, Dianne and Eric and one grandson, Caylin. Over the past several years she has had some health issues that has limited some of her activities. One of those health issues was a knee replacement. She has recovered from that surgery, but now is about to have another knee replacement surgery on Monday, July 27th. There has been lots of swelling in both of her legs. Here are some ways that you can pray for Sandra.
1. Pray that the swelling in her legs will go down enough so that the Dr. can perform the surgery on Monday.
2. Pray that God will calm her heart as she anticipates this surgery. (The last one was very painful.)
3. Pray for the Dr. that God will give him wisdom and guide his hands as he performs the surgery.
4. Pray that God will be with Sandra and strengthen her body.
5. Pray for her family.

Mountain trip

Recently I had the opportunity to go on a trip with a teacher friend. I have known Irene for several years now. She is a wonderful person....very sweet and kind, but she doesn't know Jesus. I took every opportunity to share God's love with her while we were together. She lives with her husband's family and his parents worship their ancestors. I believe her commitment to her husband and his family is keeping her from believing in Jesus. Pray for Irene that God's Spirit will continue to work in her heart and she will one day know God and His love.

Jr. High Students

This summer an opportunity opened up for us to teach a Jr. high class. David and another missionary named Karen are teaching this class. David teaches for two hours on Tuesday and Karen teaches for two hours on Friday. The wonderful part about teaching this class is that they are able to teach the Bible. David is teaching Proverbs and Karen is using the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia" for her class. This week was the first week and it will continue on through the middle of August. Please pray for David and Karen as they teach these students, that God will give them wisdom as they prepare each week for the class. Pray also for the students that they will understand what is being taught. They are teaching in English and for some of the students understanding the English is a challenge. Pray that God's Spirit will work in the hearts of the students.

Friends

We have had the opportunity to make many new friends since we moved to Banqiao. There are two young ladies that I would like to introduce to you. I wish I had pictures to go with this, but I don't. One day I will update you on their progress and then I can include a picture.
June is a young lady that I met at Curves one day while I was exercising. She spoke English very well, so we immediately started talking and getting to know each other. I invited her to study the Bible with me in English and she immediately said yes. We meet together every week and she always has so many questions. She works at a Giraffe English School. We frequently have volunteers that come to Taiwan to do ministry. There was a team of university students coming so I asked June if these students could come and "play" with the students at her school. She was really excited about that. It was a great experience for everyone and June even got to translate some Bible stories and testimonies and she isn't even a Christian. I found out recently that she works at another Giraffe School in another location. We have another volunteer group coming and they are going to this school for two hours to talk to the students. Here are some ways that you can pray for June.
1. Pray that God will work in her heart as she reads the Bible and hears the teachings from the Bible. She is not a Christian and comes from a Buddist family.
2. This volunteer group will be visiting her school on July 24th. Pray for meaningful conversations that will lead to spiritual topics.
3. Pray that God will open up more opportunities to go into this school.
Mandy is the other young lady that I would like to introduce to you. One day I was on my way to a Dr.'s appointment. Suddenly this young lady walks up to me and asks me if I could help her with her English. I said yes and gave her my name and phone number. I never expected to hear anything from her, but one day she called me and we agreed to me. After meeting with Mandy one time I could see that she has a very low self-esteem and lacked confidence in herself. She is studying to take to take an English proficiency test on Saturday, July 11. While meeting with her I have had the opportunity to encourage her and tell her that she is a special person. Last night when I met with her I prayed for her. I also wanted to give her a hug and she was not sure about that at all. One day I asked God why He allowed me to meet her and after meeting with her several times I have my answer. She really needs to know that God loves and cares for her. She does go to church, but I don't think that she is a Christian. Please pray for Mandy.
1. Pray for her as she takes her test on Saturday morning (people in American this would be your Friday night). Pray that she will do her best and have confidence in her ability to speak.
2. Pray that she will discover that God loves her and has a wonderful plan for her life. 3. Pray that one day she will give her life to Christ and discover that her confidence is in Him.

Family Part 2

Our youngest daughter, Kara is married to Carey Westbrook and they live in Pineville, La. Kara and Carey are both graduates of Louisiana College. Carey is presently working as Assistant Manager of Capitol One Bank. Kara has her teaching degree in elementary education and hopes to get a teaching job in the fall.
Kara and Carey have only been married two months. On May 9, 2009, Kara graduated from Louisiana College and got married to Carey Westbrook. Yes, all on the same day. It was a crazy day, but a good one. It was a great time to be back in the states. Saw lots of family and friends and of course, I got to play with my grandson.
Pray for Kara and Carey as they begin their lives together and also that God will provide just the right job for Kara.

Languages

How many different languages can you sing in? This afternoon we had the opportunity to sing a very simple song in Chinese, English, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Tagalog. Here is the song.
Thank you thank you Jesus
Thank you thank you Jesus
Thank you thank you Jesus
In my heart.
It was wonderful and our God understands them all and many more. The occasion was a baptism at Linda's house. A while back a Vietnamese lady named Esther made a profession of faith and decided to be baptized this Sunday. Praise God for this new sister. Pray that she will continue to grow in her faith.

Family

This will be just the first of several posts about our family. I wanted to post this one now because there will be several prayer requests attached.
Our oldest daughter Shannon is married to Nathan Clifton and they gave us our first grandchild on December 23, 2008. Josiah Nathan Clifton is now six months old. Nathan just completed Talbot Seminary and has been serving as youth pastor at Green Hills Baptist Church in La Habra, CA. Shannon, of course, is enjoying being a stay home mom. They are about to go through some major changes in their lives. This coming Sunday, July 5, is their last Sunday at Green Hills Baptist Church. God has called them to be a part of the organization called SALT (Systematic Asian Leadership Training). They will relocate to Ohio for a while and begin raising support for their new ministry. Please pray for them as they begin this new adventure. Here's how you can pray:
1. Shannon has been sick for about a week now. Pray that God will heal her body.
2. Pray for them as they say good-bye to a church family they have been a part of for almost 5 years.
3. Safe travels. Nathan plans to drive to Ohio on July 16th and Shannon and Josiah will fly July 20th.
4. That God will lead them to the right churches and individuals as they begin raising support. for their ministry.

Volunteers

We love for volunteers to come to Taiwan. Right now we have a team of 10 volunteers working with us. They are young and energetic and ready to do ministry. The nice thing about this team is they already have the language, so no problem communicating. Please pray for them while they are here. 1. Pray for safety as they travel around Banqiao 2. Pray that they will be bold and be ready to share the hope that is in them 3. Pray that God will provide opportunities for them to share the gospel.

Transitions

A new term sometimes means new transitions. David and I came back from stateside assignment in August of 2008. It was then that we decided to join another missionary and begin a subteam in Banqiao City. We call ourselves the Bridge Builders, thus the title of the blog. Since our work is focusing on this city of a half million people, we thought it best to move there and live among the people. So, in November we moved into a wonderful apartment that had never been lived in. It has proven to be a good location because God has given us many opportunities to meet people and start building relationships.
We are starting this blog in an attempt to reconnect with our friends and family in the states. We will be sharing about our family and our ministry here in Taiwan. We also want this to be the beginning of a prayer network. As we share prayer requests we ask that you join us in praying for each one of these needs.