Andy and Lisa Simpson - BBFI Missionaries to Taiwan

Christmas Past
We praise the Lord for great Christmas services at both churches! When we first came to Taiwan, Christmas was only celebrated in churches; but now we have a lot of “competition” from secular groups with all kinds of “holiday” activities. So it was a blessing to have over one hundred people including several first time guests at Lighthouse as the church presented “The Gift of Christmas” featuring special songs, skits, poems and a gospel message. Oh, and there was plenty of good food and fellowship afterwards as well as gifts for the children.

At Faith Baptist Church, we had a “Birthday Celebration for Jesus” on the Saturday afternoon before Christmas. We weren’t sure what response we would receive since most people in Taiwan think a Christmas service should be in the evening. However, folks slowly drifted in and by the time we were done there were about forty-five in the congregation including some of the children’s parents and a few visitors.

Happy New Years
One of the special things about ministering in Taiwan is that we have two new years – January 1 and the Chinese New Year based on the lunar calendar. This year “The Year of the OX” starts on Monday, January 26. The advantage with two new years is that if we didn’t get off to a good start in January we can “restart” a month later. The disadvantage is that there seems to be a never-ending “holiday” atmosphere that can make it hard to get people focused and going in the right direction. We ask you to pray that we can get our folks moving forward to face some challenges and reach some goals during this time. At Faith Baptist Church, Pastor Thomas Yu of Jong Shan Baptist Church has committed his people to help reinvigorate the Chinese ministry. Jong Shan is the mother church that seven years ago helped missionary Malcom Feistel start the mission. We hope to have a greater outreach in the community and see souls saved in 2009.

At Lighthouse, as the deadline set by the landlord draws nearer, we have located a few possible buildings for rent. Due to the economic situation, some owners that wanted to sell are now willing to rent. Please join us in prayer as we consider the one that the Lord would have the church rent. We are concerned about the affect that the change of location will have, especially on the children who now walk to Bible class. Please also pray that the members will have a greater sense of responsibility as we continue helping them understand the principle of an indigenous and autonomous church. On February 2-4 we will hold a winter youth camp with other Baptist churches around the island. We hope to see many teens saved and those who made commitments during the summer camp encouraged in keeping them.

Finally, we ask for your continued prayers that the Lord would provide someone to take our works so that we can go on a much overdue furlough. We have had a few new missionaries come to Taiwan, but they are either in language school learning Chinese or have already committed to help in other works. We continue to trust that the Lord will provide for His work.

Thank you for continued faithfulness in supporting us. We know that for many churches this is a challenging time due to the economic situation. We will continue to pray for you and assure you that we will be wise and faithful with the support you entrust us with.