February 2003

The Year of THE LAMB

According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, February 1, 2003 marked the beginning of the Year of the Lamb. Prior to this, we held a special Chinese New Year service at Lighthouse which was well attended by teens, children and adults. We had a traditional “hot pot” meal consisting of a boiling pot of chicken broth to which all sorts of meats and vegetables are added and then slowly consumed as everyone at the table picks out what they want to eat. Prior to this Andy shared a brief message to encourage the people to remember to honor and proclaim Jesus, the Lamb of God, during the Year of the Lamb. Please pray that our people will be encouraged to live for the Lord and share the message of salvation during this new year.

Winter Break

As would be expected most students look forward to the four week winter vacation that occurs during Chinese New Year. This and the short summer vacation are the only times we can have extra activities for them. Because of this, we planned several events with other churches. We first went ice skating at the only ice rink in central Taiwan. Over sixty teens attended, and we were especially glad to have had several first time visitors. Additionally, a joint youth rally was held at Taya with fellow missionary Dave Green’s son, a missionary intern in the US preparing to serve in Taiwan, as the main speaker. These as well as other activities gave us more opportunities to present the gospel to the unsaved. They also were an encouragement to our teens and gave them a much needed opportunity to meet and fellowship with other saved young people. This is extremely important in Taiwan because there are so few Christians and even fewer opportunities for joint fellowship. Please pray for wisdom to reach these young people before they become too busy or interested in other things.

Finally, we encourage you to pray that we can get our members and other attendees at both Taya and Lighthouse back into a more regular routine after the Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, every year at this time some folks seem to fall away for at least a while, and so they need your prayers as do we for wisdom in shepherding them. May this truly be – “The Year of THE LAMB”!