Andy and Lisa Simpson - BBFI Missionaries to Taiwan

March 2009
Thank you for praying for our winter youth camp. More than seventy teens and workers enjoyed three days of games, food, fellowship and preaching. Our camp was situated in a scenic valley that provided a much welcomed change from the noisy concrete urban jungle of Taichung city. Despite the fact it only snows in the highest mountains in Taiwan and most have never experienced snow, we chose “White As Snow” . . .

January 2009
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.

November 2008
We praise the Lord for allowing Lighthouse Baptist Church to celebrate ten years of ministry in Taichung city. We have included a few pictures and letters sharing some of the blessings that God has given to us and hope that you are as encouraged by them as we are.

September 2008
As we write this, we say a glad farewell to Typhoon Sinlaku. This devastating typhoon finally decided to leave us after pounding the island with heavy wind and torrential rain for more than three days. It was only a few weeks ago that . . .

July 2008
Thank you for praying for our summer youth camp. We took ten teenagers from Lighthouse and five from Faith and traveled six hours by train to Taitung on the less populated and definitely more scenic east coast of our island. Altogether there were about 100 . . .

May 2008
Using this theme, the ladies of Lighthouse Baptist held a Mother’s Day tea as an outreach into our community. Many brought their quilting and sewing projects we have made during the weekly ladies’ meeting as decorations and . . .

March 2008
Thank you for praying for our Easter services. At Dali Faith Baptist Church we had a combined English and Chinese service with several first-time visitors. With people from Russia, Romania, Italy, India, Malaysia, Thailand, the Caribbean Islands, Canada, the Philippines, Taiwan and the United States, it . . .

February 2008
The Chinese “Year of the Rat” has just begun and we are still trying to get everyone back into place at church after the seemingly never-ending New Year holiday. However, the Lord blessed us with a tremendous start that we hope is an indication of more blessings to follow. Ariel Wang began attending . . .

January 2008
Our Christmas service at Lighthouse had an international flavor this year with flags and garland hanging together in the auditorium along with a children’s presentation stressing that Jesus came to save all the people of the world. Praise the Lord that . . .

July 2006
It is with mixed emotions that we begin this letter. As you may remember from previous letters, our fellow Taiwan missionary and friend, Malcom Feistel, was diagnosed with colon cancer a year ago...

May 2006
Although still not as “popular” as Christmas, we praise the Lord that attendance at Easter services has steadily improved. This year there were a good number of first-time visitors as well as some who only show up on special days.

March 2006
After five weeks of training sessions, a special ceremony was held at Lighthouse Baptist Church on Sunday evening, March 26 as a part of our regular evening service. Six students received certificates of completion (for this phase of training) with another who was unable to attend receiving hers later...

Feburary 2006
Chinese New Year is often a joyous time with family reunions and happiness. For Christians, however, it can be a very difficult time as there are many ceremonies and events involving idol and ancestor worship. This year, it was thrilling to hear many of our folks give testimonies about standing firm and not worshiping idols as well as witnessing to family members...

January 2006
We are happy to report that the Lord blessed the Christmas services at Lighthouse and Daya Baptist Church. Once again the buildings were filled to capacity and we could still think of others who promised to attend but didn't make it. It was especially encouraging to have a good number of first time visitors including whole families and adults attend...

November 2005
This year instead of our regular church anniversary service, we decided to have “Friend Day” and challenge our people to invite as many people as possible. We also asked you to pray for this outreach and, praise the Lord, there were nine first time visitors as well as others that had not attended for a while...

October 2005
It has been several months since we have seen anyone saved in our services. This is a little discouraging and at times causes us to question our ministry...

September 2005
With VBS, youth camp and other summer activities behind us, we thank the Lord for the blessings He gave and look forward to a busy fall. In addition to our regular ministry, we also have some extra responsibilities to share with you...

August 2005
Vacation Bible School at Lighthouse Baptist is one of the highlights of our summer activities each year. Children and adults in the neighborhood look forward to it because they want to see our theme and the fun we can have in developing it for the children...

June/July 2005
We have just returned from a fun and blessing-filled week at youth camp. We praise the Lord for the teens that were able to attend this year. We had fifteen from Lighthouse and thirteen from Daya go for a total of about eighty campers from six churches...

May 2005
In Taiwan , Mother's Day is a very important holiday. Taking advantage of this, Lisa and the ladies at Lighthouse hosted several activities. The first was a special afternoon tea held during our Wednesday Bible club time. It was well attended by kids, moms and even a grandmother...

April 2005
After several years without any contact from Lighthouse Baptist Church 's landlord, he suddenly contacted us for a meeting. We thought it would be to discuss raising the rent since it had gone unchanged for nearly five years. However, much to our surprise, he announced that he would be selling the building...

March 2005
Much has happened since our last prayer letter. First, Andy had to return to the US quickly because his mom had emergency open hert surgery. We thank everyone who prayed as she went through the quadruple bypass operation successfully and is now at home recovering...

February 2005
One of our girls at Lighthouse Baptist Church wrote the following article about New Life in Christ recently. We've tried to translate it the best we could without losing some of her “flavor.”...

January 2005
Thank you for your prayers for our short trip to the US . Our main purpose was to attend a wedding and take care of some needed business, but it was also good to see family and friends and to visit a few of our supporting churches. We were encouraged and refreshed by those who not only have been praying and giving but also faithfully serving the Lord while we do the same in Taiwan...

December 2004
While preparing for this year's Christmas services, we reflected on Christmas when we first came to Taiwan . Eleven years ago celebrations were sparse and you had to search hard to find anything suitable - unless you were into shiny purple trees and decorations that didn't seem to match...

November 2004
Thank you for praying for our sixth anniversary service at Lighthouse Baptist. More than eighty-five people attended including a group from a sister church and several unsaved students from our adult English outreach and ladies' meeting. The Lord even provided a special speaker as Bill and Dorothy Merritt, former missionaries in the Philippines now working with SMORS...

October 2004
We are preparing to celebrate the sixth anniversary of Lighthouse Baptist Church next month. As we look back over the years, it is a bittersweet reflection. Our database of names in categories of adult, teen, and children exceeds 800. What a thought to think that many people have walked through the doors and heard the gospel!...

September 2004
In order to reach those who are afraid of Christians and church, we have an Adult English Class at both Daya and Lighthouse. The Lord has blessed these outreaches and a few at Daya have already been saved and one baptized through this ministry. Recently, Judy, a lady at Lighthouse asked where she would go when she died...

August 2004
After many hours of hard work by many of our people, both Lighthouse and Daya Baptist Church were transformed into “castles” complete with drawbridges and ready for an assault by a horde of excited children. It was a fun and challenging week with VBS in the morning and also in the afternoon, but we are glad that the Lord blessed and gave us good and encouraging results...

July 2004
We also thank you for praying for our youth camp. The tragic death of fellow missionary Malcom Feistel’s daughter left us unexpectedly heading up the camp. This, coupled with Andy’s accident, caused some changes in the original plan; but we didn’t know that the Lord had even greater alterations in store. With camp less than a week away, a typhoon headed toward Taiwan...

June 2004
On June 12 while attending a college graduation service for a church teenager, we received a phone message that fellow Taiwan missionary Malcom Feistel’s daughter, Susan Mallett, had tragically drowned in waters off the southern coast of the island...

May 2004
This Mother’s Day we decided to try something new at Lighthouse Baptist Church. Since our children’s Bible class is on a Wednesday afternoon, we invited the mothers to come and attend a special program. We did not really know how this idea would go over, but prepared some games, a craft and a special snack that the moms and children could do together.

April 2004
This spring has been filled with activities. The Lighthouse Baptist Church hosted two teacher training sessions on Sundays before the evening service. Five area churches sent teachers and potential workers. Emily Lwo, a single missionary from southern Taiwan; and BBFI missionary wife Carol Feistel were our guest teachers.

March 2004
After the Chinese New Year, it is always a struggle to get back to a more normal routine. This year was no exception and unfortunately some at both Lighthouse and Daya have fallen away. Despite this, the Lord also gave us some new “fruit”...

February 2004
Before the Taya Bible Baptist Church actually started holding services, we held a summer VBS in our apartment complex. Steven Lin (Lin Pei-hsuan), one of the children saved that week, has been faithful in attending church since that time nine years ago. This month we were excited to see him follow the Lord in baptism...

January 2004
“The Reason for the Season” was not only the title of this year’s children’s Christmas play, but also the theme for the month at Lighthouse Baptist Church. The majority of those that attend the children’s Bible club, youth meeting, and ladies’ meeting are unsaved...

November 2003
Celebrating God’s Blessings - This was the theme for the fifth anniversary service at Lighthouse Baptist Church. With great anticipation all the members worked together to decorate, prepare music and food, and invite friends and family to attend...

October 2003
Earlier this year we told you about Diane Wang, a member of Lighthouse Baptist from Xi An in Mainland China, who had us call long distance to witness to her mother and younger brother. She had a real burden for them to hear the gospel and be saved...

September 2003
Most of the members at Lighthouse have been through a basic ten-week discipleship program. However, last year we introduced a more intensive thirty-week course and several volunteered for it. It has been exciting to see them ask spiritual questions and grow even more in the Lord...

August 2003
This year’s teen camp was held in Taitung on the east coast of the island. After a five hour train ride, we arrived at the camp site and were treated to clean, fresh air and beautiful scenery. This was far different from what we normally experience in crowded and polluted Taichung City...

July 2003
This year Vacation Bible School was a great blessing and encouragement to everyone involved. We shared with you last month the struggles we were experiencing because of SARS; but praise the Lord, that cleared up just in time for VBS. God’s timing is perfect!...

May 2003
...Everyday the news in Taiwan is filled with reports about the spread and fight against this deadly sickness. With more than forty deaths and 345 possible cases, what once seemed like a distant problem has recently closed in on Taiwan and spread a cloud of fear over the island...

April 2003
In our last prayer letter we told you that Jang Yien-mei, a member at Lighthouse, had to return to Mainland China. We were sad to see her go after only a brief time at our church; however, just before she left she did something that revealed her heart’s desire...

March 2003
This month at Lighthouse has been a time of mission’s emphasis with the theme “Send the Light”. Two special speakers brought challenging and instructional messages along these lines. Currently, the church supports one missionary couple in Thailand...

February 2003
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...

January 2003
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...

December 2002
There are several things that make Christmas in Taiwan different from the US. One is that there is not a great emphasis on gift–giving because their traditional time for this, Chinese New Year, comes only a few weeks later. Also, it’s school and work as usual because Christmas is not an observed holiday...

November 2002
John (HuYau-li), a young man in his mid-twenties, has been attending our services for quite a while. We have talked to him several times about his spiritual condition; and even though he said he had been baptized, we could tell he was lost....

October 2002
This summer we started an adult English class on Tuesday evening at Lighthouse Baptist Church with the goal of befriending and reaching unsaved adults. After a few weeks, one of the teens that attends our youth meeting came and brought four classmates.

August 2002
This year six brothers and sisters from Lighthouse Baptist Church in Hong Kong came to help with our “Adventure Ship” theme VBS. We kept them busy with a morning VBS at Taya and an afternoon one at Lighthouse...

July 2002
The week following VBS is our summer youth camp. The Lord has blessed us with above average attendance at youth meetings so far this summer and several have signed up for camp. Please pray for good weather conditions (we have almost decided to call it “typhoon week” instead of “camp week”)

June 2002
In the immediate area of Lighthouse Baptist Church, there are two junior high schools and a new high school. After two years of trying to get into the older junior high, the Lord opened the door this month through one of our teens...

May 2002
Taiwan is experiencing its worst drought in twenty-two years. Water shut-offs for twenty-four and thirty-six hours have already gone into effect in the capital, Taipei, and surrounding areas. Although the area we live in has not done this yet, we are conserving water because our reservoir is also getting low...