Typhoon Blessings

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 another smaller typhoon, Fung-wong, swept through our area just as VBS was about to start causing us to cancel the first day. However, all the prayers and hard work were not wasted because over the next four days the building was packed to capacity. Our Olympic theme “Go for the Gold” peaked the children’s interest, and a young lady from Jong Shan Baptist Church captivated their attention with dynamic lessons that were used of the Lord to help them understand simple truths. By the end of the week, more than eighty-five different children had attended, three of these had prayed to accept Christ as Savior, a few others expressed interest but were not quite ready, and all the workers were exhausted but rejoicing in God’s blessings.
A few weeks later Lisa taught a very powerful Bible lesson to our Wednesday children’s Bible class at Lighthouse and two more children prayed to receive Christ. One was a girl who had been attending for a while and the other was a boy who started coming during VBS.

Another Addition

Maybe you remember us asking you many letters ago to pray that the teens that had been saved would be allowed to get baptized. It seemed that all of the parents were putting a major spiritual roadblock in front of these young people in hopes that they would fall away. Thank you for your fervent and effectual prayers in this area because as you may have noticed we have finally seen some teens get saved and baptized, too. We can add Daniel Huang to that list. He accepted Christ as Savior in elementary school but had to wait until he entered his last year in junior high to get baptized. (We don’t baptize minors without parental consent.) Another teen who needs your prayers regarding baptism is Gene Huang. Saved as an elementary student, he is now starting college and after youth camp this year said he believes the Lord may be calling him to full-time Christian service. Gene’s parents forbid him from being baptized until he is twenty so we pray that he will not get distracted and forget these spiritual decisions.

Finally, we realize that for many churches this is a challenging time financially. We, too, are experiencing roller coaster gas prices and ever-rising food prices. Due to this, some of our supporting churches have recently had to cutback or discontinue our missionary support. No matter what, we are thankful for each church that supports us in prayers and in finances and want you to know that we will continue to be good stewards for the Lord with all that He entrusts to us. We will continue to pray for you because we know that without “rope holders” we can’t continue the ministry in Taiwan.

For souls,

 Andy & Lisa Simpson