Happy Birthday Nate

Today is the birthday of my brother-in-law Nate.





Happy Birthday Nate!

Happy Birthday Jason

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Jason.

The best cornhole player that I know.

Taiwan Times - May 2009 Issue

The Taiwan Times
By Mark Wolfram
Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan
May 2009

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15

Every Tuesday night we have Bible Study in English for the missionaries that serve here in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. Recently we have been going through the book of 1 Peter. A couple of weeks ago, we were discussing 1 Peter 3:15. As a missionary, I have learned that this verse is very important for our lives. I am often surprised at how God presents opportunities to share Christ, at times when I don’t expect it. I would like to share a couple of quick ways that God has presented for me to witness in every day parts of my life.

Hair Cuts

I get my hair cut from a lady who lives a couple of houses down from Salvation Lutheran Church. She runs the place out of her home, and is a very nice lady. Her hair cuts are cheap ($6.00, including a hair wash after the hair cut). She does not speak much English, so our conversations take place in Chinese, but she is always asking about church. She talks about how she does not like the traditional Taiwanese religions and would like to be a Christian some day. I am always glad to hear this, and invite her to church. She has yet to come because she always cuts hair on Sunday morning. However, we recently talked about Salvation’s new Pastor (Pastor Alex). The lady said she had the chance to meet him, and thought he and his wife were nice. I pray God will continue to open doors and help me to continually be a witness to her as she cuts my hair.

Chinese Lessons

A second example is in my Chinese lessons. This semester I began studying Chinese on Monday nights at church. One of the church members organizes teachers to come in and teach a couple of the American teachers. I have had 4 or 5 different teachers this semester who are not Christians. As part of the lesson I always ask to include 15-20 minutes of Bible reading. This is great because it helps me increase my vocabulary and acquisition of Bible words, but it also gives the non-Christians teachers a chance to read the Bible. Just this past week at Chinese class, another missionary and I were able to have a conversation with a high school girl (Ginny) about why we believe in God and what she believes. She comes from a Buddhist family, but her parents have given her freedom to believe what she wants. The conversation was a great chance to let her ask questions and understand more about what Christians believe and why we believe it.

These are just two examples of ways that God presents opportunities to share Jesus outside of worship or the classroom. As a missionary, I feel this is what God has called me to do. I have life, hope, and peace in Christ, and I need to let that overflow into all parts of my lif. I need to always be ready to be a witness of God’s faithfulness.

God Calls You!

I think this is idea is true for you as well. Really, we are all missionaries for Christ. I happen to be a teacher in Taiwan, but maybe you work at a bank, in a business, a school, or are retired. The apostle Paul made tents. Regardless of what you do, Peter’s words are the same for all of us. “Always be prepared to give the reason for your hope.” What ways and areas of your life is God presenting for you to be a witness in your community? People all over the world need God’s message of hope and life in Christ, even where you are. Can you be a missionary to them?

It’s Prayer Time!

1. Pray for me as I finish school year here at Concordia Middle School. My last day of classes is June 19th. Pray for God to give me focus, patience, and a heart overflowing with his love to share with students.

2. Pray for the school as they consider changes for next year’s teaching school. I am truly blessed that I work at a school which is committed to share Christ with the students, teachers, and those outside of the campus. Pray that whatever changes that will work for God’s glory.

3. Pray for my barber, that God would work in her life and continue to use me as a witness to her.

4. Pray for the people who have taught me Chinese over the past semester. Pray especially for Ginny that God would continue to help her know Him more.

5. Praise God for the support He has provided through people like you. I have raised over $2,000 toward my goal for next year. Pray that God would also continue to provide the remaining $7,000 to raise.

If you feel called to support the mission work here in Taiwan, you can send a check to the following address:

Missionary Support
LCMS World Mission
1333 S. Kirkwood Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63122

On the memo line for the check please write “Mark Wolfram account #50152”. Even if you cannot support financially, prayer support is important as well.

Mark

Memorial Day Backyard

I have a bush in my backyard. In fact, I have several bushes in my backyard. But one of those bushes is special. That one bush holds a nest.

Recently the eggs in the nest started to hatch. Out of those eggs came baby grackles.

I'm a long time hater of the grackle. Of course, you are all familiar with my landmark paper "Hey Mr. Grackle, Why You Gotta Be a Dick?" that was published in a 2002 edition of Ornithology Reader.

However, I have to admit, that while I was hanging around in my backyard on Memorial Day, I actually thought that the baby rabbits and grackles hanging out in my yard were cute.

Later that night I went over to Jen and Derrick's house for a barbecue. As I sat at the table with Jen, Shannon and Derrick I began to regale them with my tale of cute baby creatures in my back yard.

Because there were 2 chicks at the table, I was expecting to hear at least one "Ahhh.."

Instead, what came out of there mouths, (almost at the exact same time) was, "You should buy a cat to kill those."

I will not buy a cat, but I will publish some photos of the potential cat food.

Heartless, heartless people.

Shindy

On May 23, I had my housewarming party. I would consider it a success on some level. 10-15 showed up for it.

I would like to thank everybody that made an appearance:

Baier, Jason
Bardole, Shannon
Bennett, Charlotte
Brannen, Suzie
Daniel, Jeff
Derner, Geri
Degeneffe, Scott
Gorshe, Derrick
Gorshe, Jen
Gorshe, Jill
Henning, Monica
Hiatt, Eric
Howard, Jesse
Howard, Kalista
Howard, Kelly
Howard, Saydie
Howard, Taylan
Janson, Jay
Jauhari, Andree
Jenson, Terra
Johnstone, Jason
Junck, Sara
Kahler, Brandon
Kahler, Logan
Kahler, Russ
Kahler, Teresa
Kewer, Jeff
McAlpine, Willy
Meiners, Alex
Meiners, Barb
Meiners, Frank
Meiners, Trevor
Miller, Bethany
Miller, Jim
Miller, Nate
Mubaidin, Shadi
Parsaei, Nader
Perkovich, Becky
Peterson, Tim
Redd, Ernie
Roberts, Lori
Roberts, Sam
Roberts, Steve
Schmidt, Amy
Schmidt, Corey
Schmidt, Izzy
Strachota, James
Stensland, Alexis
Stensland, Carla
Stensland, Elainie
Stensland, Jason
Stensland, Johnathan
Ungs, Casy
Venema, Barb
Yin, Amy

Of course, some special thanks are in order for some special people.

Thanks to Logan for manning the grill so I could engage in hosting duties.
Thanks to Johnathan for helping Logan out.
Thanks to Shannon for bringing Oatmeal Cake.
Thanks to Terra for bringing taco dip.
Thanks to Jay for bring rhubarb crunch and blackberry buckle.
Thanks to Jen for bringing brownies.
Thanks to Monica for bringing taco dip.
Thanks to Steve for bring homegrown salsa and rhubarb crisp.
Thanks to Becky for bringing mint fudge cheesecake.
Thanks to Jesse for bringing ice, a canopy and running to get more firewood.
Thanks to Sara, whom I think might have brought some vegetables.

I did not really get out my camera for this occasion, but Sara took some pictures with her camera. Below are a few pictures from Sara's camera.

Admittedly these pictures only include a small spectrum of the party people, but it will have to suffice, it is all that I got.



Monica and I



Monica and Jen



Sara and Jen



Sara, Jen and I



Sara, Jill and Jen



Jen, Derrick and Shannon (Shadi in the background)



I and James



Jesse, I and Sara



Logan, I and Jesse



Logan, Sara and Jen



I and Jesse



I and Jill



Jason, I and Jesse



Jen



Jen and Derrick


I guess now that the house is sufficiently warmed, I won't have to do that again.

But on the positive side, I think almost everybody who came to the party will leave with at least one memory of my neighbor, Mr. Jason Johnstone. My Kramer.

Housewarming Invites

I had a housewarming/birthday shindig on May 23. I made individual invitations for those that were invited. I'd like to share some of them.



Willy



The Kahlers



Nader



Sara



Shannon



The Roberts Family



The Hiatts



The Howards



Jay



Jeff and Yin



The Gorshes



The Baiers



Bethany and Rebecca



Casy



The Degeneffes



Geri


Geri requested a new picture of us be taken because she wanted a picture where she wasn't looking at me as if I was the smartest person in the world. I guess I never noticed her having an expression different than what I'm used to seeing by the majority of people in my life...

The Fruit of the Mystery Trees

The cherries on my cherry trees are starting to come in!

Now I just need to devise a way to protect these cherries from the birds.

Mr. Bunyan

A couple Saturdays back, Teresa rented a lift and Ernie cut down some limbs. I went over to play with the lift a little bit.



Ernie



Ernie



Ernie



View



Playing



More Playing



Ernie



Random Logan Photo




But perhaps the best part of the tree trimming, is the fact that I got to realize a life long dream of having a woodpile.





After that stuff dries out, I'm going to have some serious fires!

Keep Your Tweets to Yourself

For full disclosure - I have a Facebook account. I have a MySpace Page. I have a YouTube Channel. I have a Twitter Page. With all that being said, something I heard on the radio the other day struck me as borderline profound.

Keep Your Tweets to Yourself
by John Ridley

At the risk of sounding like that old guy in Gran Torino telling those "young punks" to "get off my lawn," it's gotten to the point that whenever I hear somebody talking about Twitter or twittering or tweeting it just makes my little tummy want to hurl.

I haven't tweeted once in my life, but I'm sick of hearing about it already. What once may have been the cool way of letting a hundred people know that you're about to go mow your lawn now has the feel of a used-to-be-fresh means of communicating. So yesterday, like two-way pagers. And AOL.

To be honest, I think tweeting jumped the shark long before ultrahip CNN got into a Twitter match against superdown Ashton Kutcher. Back when politicians started live-tweeting responses to the president's demi-State of the Union address, Twitter had already taken on all the cool of your mom getting a tattoo.

I imagine, I hope, twitterers are ultimately headed for the social networking retirement home that's the current residence of Second Life and MySpace.

But my real issue with social networking sites isn't their faddishness.

It's the hypocrisy that goes with them.

We claim to be a nation of people who take our privacy very seriously. Just mention the idea of warrantless wiretaps and expect to get hit up with a congressional investigation.

But give somebody an avatar and a URL, and he can't tweet, post or hyperlink enough personal information about himself to as many people as possible.

Seriously, does valuable broadband space need to be taken up with announcements in that creepy Facebook third-person-ese that "John is enjoying two-for-one margaritas with the rest of the IT Team at T.G.I. Fridays"?

Where is the expectation of privacy anymore? Or, more correctly, where is the expectation that people will keep their private nonsense to themselves so that those of us who still like to communicate personal information with one person at a time don't have to get caught up in somebody else's e-mail circles or listen to their one-sided cell phone conversations?

No, I don't know what's hipper; to Facebook or to Twitter. I just know for me, personally, discretion never went out of style.

I do endorse all these forms of communication, but it is the last line that I find particularly profound. It is called discretion people. Not everything you do needs to be put on the internet.

Yes I realize that sound hypocritical coming via blog.

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, I hosted the first family event at the new house. I learned the following things.

1. My mom, despite literally knowing me my entire life, will takes something out of my fridge and eat it without looking at the expiration date.
2. If you ask Elainie to get mayonnaise out of the fridge, she will tell you that you don't have mayonnaise, you only have Miracle Whip.
3. If I have popped a blister and am bleeding from my foot, I can talk Alexis into taking, not 1, but 2 pictures of my bloody foot.

Here are a couple of pictures from Mother's Day. I will spare you the blood foot picture, unless you explicitly email me at bennett@photography139.com requesting the picture.











There are about 30 other Mother's Day pictures in the Family Photo Album. Just click on the link below:

Mother's Day

Happy Birthday Rebecca

Read this like it was published on May 10.

Happy Birthday Rebecca!

Taiwan Times - April 2009 Issue

Mark's April Newsletter.

The Taiwan Times
By Mark Wolfram
Reporting on God's mission in Taiwan
April 2009

Daddy Doug and the Boyz...

Greetings to all of you, in the love of Christ. The title of this was the name given to a group of Americans who invaded a public school here in Taiwan this past month. April was full of excitement, as I had visitors from America come to help serve in the ministry here in Taiwan. Doug Larson, my friend and co-worker from Camp Okoboji, came to Taiwan with two of his sons, Jacob and Caleb. They came to perform music ministry and relationship building at one of the public high schools in the city. In addition, they helped at several of the ministries already set up at Concordia Middle School and Salvation Lutheran Church. The last several weeks have been extremely busy as I prepared schedules, transportation, activities and coordinated with teachers for Doug’s arrival. Then when he and his sons were here, we were continually on the go between ministry and social events.

The primary goal of their mission trip was to build relationships with the students of Chia-Yi Girls High School. They visited 10th and 11th grade classrooms and played songs and shared about their faith in Jesus. They were immensely popular with the students, and had wonderful opportunities to share Jesus both through their words and actions. This in itself is such a great ministry because it took place at the public school. Many students there do not have much interaction with Christians or the message of Jesus.


Doug’s visit also proved to be a great help for our on-going ministry here in Chia-Yi. Doug and his sons invited the girls to come to our Bible studies and church. The girls responded in a big way. Our Friday night Bible study had over 120 students, including a large showing from the Chia-Yi Girls school.

Our Saturday youth group normally has 4 or 5 students, but we had over 50 the day that Daddy Doug and the Boyz were there. I lead one of the small group discussions for that day’s Bible Study. We were discussing the 10 Commandments, and over half of my 12 students said they had not read the 10 commandments before. While we did discuss the law, we also talked about Jesus’ fulfillment of the law and how he took our punishment.

We even had 8 or 9 students attend church on Sunday morning. This was especially exciting as they had the chance to worship and hear the message in Chinese. These and all the other students also had the chance to meet our new Pastor and his wife, in addition to the other foreign missionaries. This was such an energy boost for our ministry, and a great way to build some new connections with students who had not been to Bible study or church before. I am so thankful to Doug for all of the help he provided to reach out to more students with our current ministries.

It's Prayer Time!

1. Please pray that God will continue to bring these girls back to Bible study or church. Pray that the seeds that were planted and the relationships that were built will continue to grow.

2. Please pray for me as I enter the final months of the school year. Pray that God would give me energy and focus to finish up the semester.

3. Pray for CMS as the school is considering changes to the teaching schedule for next year. Pray that God would be working in the process and whatever the result would be for his glory.

4. Pray for my continued language study. I have not been very focused the last couple of weeks and pray that God would continue to bless my efforts. Some of the teachers I study with are not Christians. Please pray that God would use these lessons as an opportunity to witness to those teachers.

I am still fundraising for next year’s mission work. If you feel called to support the mission work here in Taiwan, you can send a check to the following address:

Missionary Support
LCMS World Mission
1333 S. Kirkwood Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63122

On the memo line for the check please write “Mark Wolfram account #50152”.

Even if you cannot support financially, prayer support is always important. I appreciate everything that you all do for me as I am serving overseas. I could not ask for a better support system.

Mark

State of Enlightenment

On April 3, I got a text message as I was driving to work. I dug my phone out of my pocket and was surprised to see that it was a message from James.

I read the message:





Wow! I thought. It is pretty darn cool to live in a state that recognizes equal rights for all people.

A couple weeks later I got an exciting email from James.

James is engaged and will be getting married next fall. Very exciting news! I look forward to the wedding.

Congratulations to James and Jesse!