January 2003

Tragedy and Blessings

Last November we shared the salvation of John (HuYau-li) with you. He felt that because of his psychological problems God would not accept him. We are glad to report that since his salvation, John has been faithful in attending regular services and discipleship classes as well as helping at Lighthouse Baptist Church. However, recently John’s older brother, after dropping out of college and disappearing, committed suicide. We were extremely concerned about how John would react to this, but due to the prayers of Christians and the grace of the Lord he continues to be faithful and is still making spiritual progress. Another blessing that came out of this tragedy was that John’s dad requested that we handle the funeral. He said he did not want a long, drawn out traditional (Buddhist or Taoist) funeral. This gave us the opportunity to share the gospel with Mr. Hu and his oldest daughter who are both unsaved. Please continue to pray for John and his family.

We also had two more follow the Lord in baptism at Lighthouse. One lady came from a church that had some doctrinal problems. After counseling with her, we were confident of her salvation but told her that she would need to be scripturally baptized. So as the new year began Satina (Lee Han) followed the Lord in baptism. Following this, an older lady from Mainland China, who has been attending, came and said that she was saved but had not been immersed. The following week we had the privilege of baptizing Jang Yien-mei. Pray for these two ladies as they begin a discipleship course to help instruct them in the Word of God. Also, please pray for several others who also need to obey the Lord in baptism.

Finally, we request your prayers for young believers at both Taya and Lighthouse during the Chinese New Year in early February. This will be a time of extra pressure and temptations from society and family members to worship idols and ancestors. Unfortunately, many Christians in Taiwan live weak and defeated spiritual lives because they succumb to these attacks. We also ask you to pray that the Lord will give us wisdom and patience to help these spiritual babies grow and follow Him.