The Taiwan Times

by Mark Wolfram

Reporting on God’s Mission in Taiwan

February 2010

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year to all of you!  The month of February provided a time for travel and relaxation, as Taiwan celebrated its biggest holiday, Chinese New Year.  I was blessed with the opportunity to go to India on a short term mission trip, with a little extra time spent in the country for vacation.  It was an amazing experience that I am excited to tell you all about, however I think I am going to save it until next month. In this newsletter, I would like to share with you a few shorter stories that have taken place in the last month or so.

Barber Shop Ministry

While doing presentations this summer, I know that one person I specifically mentioned was my barber:  Sue Hway.  She often asks questions about church and talks about how she would like to be a Christian someday.  Her husband and relatives all practice the traditional Taiwanese folk religion.  I know that many of you have been praying for her, so I wanted to give you an update on the situation, and show the power of prayer as God continues to work in her life.

First, praise God that he puts many people in her life to witness His love to her.  About 7 or 8 weeks ago, I was in getting my hair cut, and Sue Hway commented that she has many customers who are Christians.  Two specific people she mentioned were Pastor Alex from Salvation Lutheran Church and another woman who attends Bread of Life Church in Chia-Yi.  My conversations with Sue Hway are all in Chinese, so this presents a little bit of a problem.  While I am able to use my Chinese on a functional level, I lack precision and command of the language to always be able to communicate with her in a clear way.  But praise God that he has put other Taiwanese people in her life who come as customers but also testimonies to God’s goodness.

While we were talking, she mentioned that she had began to pray.  I was very excited to hear this and inquired more about the situation.  The lady who attends the Bread of Life Church in the city talks with her about faith, and prayer while getting her hair cut.  This lady had given Sue Hwaye a prayer book, and began talking to her about prayer, and how Christians pray.  Sue Hwaye said that she had begun praying since early December.

I was very excited to hear this and asked her if she wanted to attended church.  She said that she was too busy, and that she had to have her shop open on Sunday mornings.  I then asked her if she had a Bible, which she said she did not.  As I left, I remembered that I had a Chinese-English New Testament in the trunk of my scooter.  I gave it her and suggested the Gospel of Mark as a good place to start reading about the life and work of Jesus Christ.  It was an amazing opportunity that God gave me to share God’s word with her.  I told her if she had questions about what she was reading that she could ask me, or Pastor Alex if she needs a better explanation in Chinese.

Two days ago I went back get my hair cut and asked her about how she was doing.  She said that she still prays every day, but has not had time to read the Bible.  Please continue to pray for her.  God is definitely working in her life, but pray that she will be connected with His word and will come to faith.  Your prayers have made a difference over the course of this year, so keep it up prayer warriors.

8th Grade Baptism

In early February, our 8^th Grade Bible Class curriculum began studying the life of Jesus.  The students study more Old Testament stories in 7^th grade and the first semester of 8^th grade.  However, beginning 8^th grade through 10^th grade, the focus shifts to the New Testament.  Our first lesson of the new semester was Jesus’ baptism and temptation.

After completing the lesson, one of my students, Jack, came up to me and told me that he wanted to be baptized.  I was really excited and surprised by this, as I had never had a student say this after a lesson before.  I asked him some more questions, and found out that he attends the Lan Tan Lutheran Church here in the city.  I told him about the great gift that baptism is, and encouraged him to talk to his family and pastor.

After class today, Jack came up to me again, and said that he would start school on Sundays.  I was confused by this and asked him to clarify a little bit.  Eventually, I figured out that he will start classes on Sunday in preparation for his baptism.  Praise God.  Jack didn’t know how many weeks the classes would take, but he was starting them next week.  Please praise God for Jack’s faith and pray for him as he prepares to be baptized later this year.

It’s Prayer Time!

1.     Pray for Sue Hway.  Pray that God would continue to connect her to His word and work faith in her.

2.    Praise God for Jack’s faith.  Pray for him as he takes baptism classes.

3.    Praise God for His guidance and safety on the excellent trip to India.

4.    Pray for me and the other missionaries as we start the new semester.  May God give us renewed strength and energy, and bless all of us as we work together and share the Gospel.

5.    Pray for me as I consider where God would want me to be next year.  I am prayerfully considering a return to Taiwan, or pursuing a teaching job in the States.

Happy Chinese New Year, and may God bless you all,

Mark

The conclusion of Mark’s 12 Days of Christmas.

Day 10

The tenth Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

10 Small Group Students

I know I have written in a previous newsletter about my small group students. They are a group of 10 eighth graders, who meet with me most Tuesdays at lunch time. We always have time to sing songs, read a little from the Bible and pray. Honestly, it’s pretty simple, yet I think they enjoy the time, and it is a chance for them to learn more about God.

On December 18th, we had a small group party to celebrate Christmas. At the party we ate pizza, sang Christmas Carols, watched Charlie Brown Christmas, and read the Christmas story. It was a nice atmosphere to relax, have fun, and remember why we celebrate Christmas.

Prayer requests:
1. Praise God for these students and their eagerness to continue to learn about God outside of the classroom.
2. Pray that God would keep working in their lives, helping the students to know who he is. Also, pray that God would use me as his instrument to help the students know more about him.

Day 11

The eleventh Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Church Kid’s Camp Party

Every Saturday at Salvation Lutheran Church, children from around Chia-Yi City come to the church’s Saturday Kids’ Camp. Here they sing songs, read Bible stories, and have specialized club activities. Also, every year the students of the kids camp have a Christmas celebration, where they perform songs or skits and get gifts from the church.

Usually the Christmas bash is done at church, however, this year the format changed. The kids went to an orphanage in the city, where they played games, sang songs and performed for and with the orphans. Also, when they received their Christmas stocking from church, children gave stockings to orphans as well.

For the party, the American teachers performed our Lost Son drama. I also, played guitar to help the Kids’ Camp English Club sing Peace Like a River. In addition I played guitar and sang with the youth group as we performed Angels We Have Heard on High using English, Chinese, piano, violin, recorders, and tambourine.

All in all it was a great celebration for the kids who attend the kids’ camp, and a good way to share the message of Christmas with the orphans.

Prayer requests:

1. Pray for Salvation Saturday Kids’ Camp, that God would bless all the preparations and hard work of the teachers who lead activities.
2. Pray for the children who attend the kids camp, that they would keep coming back and God would continue to work in their lives.
3. Pray for the students at the orphanage. Pray that they understand Jesus’ love and that they would have more chances to hear about what he has done for them.

Day 12

The twelfth Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Christmas Caroling

I know I have written about it in previous Christmas newsletters, but a highlight at Christmas time is always grabbing the guitar, and leading a group of students and teachers in Christmas caroling. This year I had the opportunity to go Christmas caroling twice, once for the Friday Night Bible Study Christmas Party, and again with students who live at school.

For the Friday Night Bible Study Christmas party, the large group of us went to a local department store and sang outside the front doors. Many people who were walking by stopped and listened or watched as they passed. After singing 3 songs there, we split into 3 groups of approximately 30 people a piece. Each group took a different path, stopping at various shops and businesses along the way. Songs that we sing for caroling include Angels We Have Heard on High, Joy to the World, Away in a Manger, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night (with a Chinese verse), and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. When I am leading groups, we usually sing two songs and then close with a verse of We Wish You A Merry Christmas. This year, caroling destinations for my group included Starbucks, 7-11, two different tea stands, and my barber’s house. My barber later commented that she loved the sound of us singing and was very glad we stopped at her house.

The second chance I had for Christmas caroling was with the students who live at school, many of whom attend OSF. We went caroling on the night of Wednesday December 23rd from 8:30-10:00pm. (This was the same day as the students’ song competition and tree decorating). For OSF Christmas Caroling, we split into two groups and went first to the business outside of our campus. Then we came back and sang to the other students and teachers who live at school. The evening always closes with us singing at the married teachers housing, where many of the families give candy and treats for the students who come out caroling.

I don’t know what it is, but I just love being able to grab my guitar and walk with students up and down the streets, singing praises to God. It is really neat for both the singers and the listeners. It helps us build ties to the local community and provides an opportunity to share the message of Christmas with those who work and live near us. We always handout a card or paper with a Bible verse explaining why we celebrate Christmas. In addition, the people in the community near school enjoy and anticipate our visit every year. I know of three different businesses that began asking a couple of weeks before Christmas, when we would be arriving to sing. Also, one of the local tea stands recorded the caroling group with a digital camera, and they occasionally use this recording as a screensaver on their computer. Praise God for this opportunity he has given us to celebrate Christmas and share the good news.

Prayer requests:
1. Thanksgiving for the chance to sing Christmas songs in the local communities.
2. Pray that the people who heard the songs would be curious to learn more about Jesus and his love for them.
3. Thanksgiving for a wonderful Christmas season, filled with the love, peace, and hope that only comes from Jesus.

P.S…..And…if I had to do a 13th day of Christmas I feel very blessed to have both Cyclone and Hawkeye victories in their bowl games. Hooray for the state of Iowa!!!!

Day 7

The seventh Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Seventh Grade Bible Class

For our 7th grade (Junior 1) Bible class this month, we taught the students about the first Christmas. We had 3 lessons to help the students understand the first Christmas and why it is important.

The first lesson looked at Mary and Joseph’s reaction to the angel’s news about Mary having God’s son. In the second lesson, the students learned about the first Christmas, with the stable, manger, shepherds, and angels. Finally the third lesson looked at the three wise men and their journey to Bethlehem. Of course we also discussed how Jesus came to save people from their sins.

In these lessons students read a story, learned some new vocabulary, and listened to some Christmas songs. Songs they listened to include Away in a Manger, What Child Is This, The First Noel, and We Three Kings. The students really enjoy listening to the music and learning about the first Christmas. While the students might not understand all of the vocabulary in the songs, they still can get the basic Christmas story through music.

For some of these students, this was the first time they learned the details about what happened at Christmas and why we celebrate it. Many of them have heard of Santa or stockings or Christmas trees, but Bible class provides an opportunity to teach them what really happened at Christmas.

Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray that God would help the students understand the true meaning of Christmas and his love for them.

Day 8

The eighth Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Christmas Celebrations

Christmas is a time to have many celebrations or parties for the various youth ministries that I am involved with. This year is no exception and I would like to briefly talk about three Christmas parties directly connected to youth ministry here in Taiwan.

OSF Christmas Celebration:

The On-Campus Student Fellowship group meets most Thursday evenings throughout the semester and it is an outreach group for students who live at Concordia Middle School. The OSF Christmas party was held on Thursday December 17th this year, and it featured a performance of the Lost Son Skit (see Day #3), 2 rounds of Family Feud (featuring Christmas questions), singing of Christmas carols, and plenty of delicious snacks.

Friday Night Bible Study Christmas Celebration:

The FNBS Christmas party was on Friday December 18th. Friday Night Bible Study is held in Chia-Yi City and is a weekly English Bible study for Junior High students through adults. While some of the people who attend also go to Concordia, many do not. This makes it a great outreach to students who are not hearing the Gospel on a regular basis. Our FNBS party also featured Christmas songs and a performance of the Lost Son Skit. In addition we all went out to the streets near church to go Christmas caroling. We returned from caroling to read the Christmas story from Luke 2, and sing Silent Night. The evening ended with many delicious snacks being devoured by hungry youth and adults.

Salvation Lutheran Church Youth Group Christmas Celebration:

Youth Group had a Christmas Party on Sunday December 27th. For this celebration we sang Christmas songs and played a gift opening/exchanging game…(similar to White Elephant Gift Games). After playing the game we ate pizza and decorated Christmas cookies.

All of these activities were such a blessing because more people attended the event than normally do the weekly gathering. Christmas activities are a great outreach tool because new students come as they are curious to learn about how people celebrate Christmas. Also, many regular attendees will invite more friends to accompany them to the Christmas parties. This provides a great opportunity to witness the love of Jesus to many new people.

Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for all of the students who attended these youth events. May they understand the true meaning of Christmas and their need for a savior.
2. Pray that God would lead the new visitors to return and continuing learning about him.

Day 9

The ninth Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Pirates of Sin Skit

Every year the students at Concordia Middle School have Christmas worship to kick off the school’s Christmas activities. The 7th graders have worship in the Luther Chapel, and the 8-12th graders meet in the gym. As part of this worship service, the school invites the American teachers who teach at the middle school to perform a skit. We perform it for the 7th graders at 8:00am and then immediately go over to the gym and perform for the rest of the school at 8:40. For worship, we create a different skit than what is used for the other Christmas activities, and this year we performed a drama called The Pirates of Sin.

The skit focused on two pirates who were slaves to Captain Sin, and worked with him to lie, cheat, and steal. Meanwhile, they continue to hear news of the legendary Treasure of Heaven. While selling stolen goods at a village, the pirates run into Jesus who decides to come aboard their ship to work.

On the boat, Jesus tells the pirates details about the Treasure of Heaven. Captain Sin overhears this and tries to end the discussion, but ultimately ends up killing Jesus with the Sword of Death. The pirates are depressed and feel the Treasure of Heaven will be gone forever. However, Jesus comes alive again and can no longer be hurt by the sword of death. He easily defeats Captain Sin and leads the pirates to the Treasure of Heaven.

In addition to the pirates, we had a parrot, a fisherman, and two wise merchants. All in all it was a very light-hearted skit, and definitely something different from our traditional Christmas dramas. Yet, the message was the same. Jesus came to free us from sin and lead us to heaven. I pray the students got the message and had a good laugh. Yargggh!!!

Prayer request:
1. Please pray the students and teachers at Christmas worship were able to understand the Gospel both through the skit and through the service.

Day 4

The fourth Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Song Competition

At Concordia Middle School, 7th grade (also known as Junior 1) through 11th grade (also known as Senior 2), have a couple of intra-grade competitions. One of these is the Christmas song contest. For this competition each classes needs to select a conductor, a pianist, and two songs to sing for the judges. One of the songs needs to be a Christmas song, and other needs to be a religious song. Everyone in the class participates, and they spend over a month preparing to sing.

This year on Wednesday December 23rd, Concordia Middle School had Christmas Worship in the morning from 8:00-9:30. Then from 10:00-12:00, the 7th grade and 9th grade students had their competitions, in the Luther Chapel and Auditorium respectively. After a break for lunch the 10th and 11th graders had their performances in the auditorium, while the 8th graders sang in the chapel.

I absolutely love to listen to their songs. While 80% of the songs are sung in Chinese, there are some English ones and even a Taiwanese song or two. Over the years I have developed several personal favorites of mine, and have even learned the words to a handful of them. It brings such joy to my heart, hearing the students sing praises to God. In addition, it is something they will always remember, and I pray God will use the words of those songs to impact their lives and help them know more about who he is.

Prayer requests:

1. Pray that God would use these songs as means to help the students of Concordia Middle School know about him.

Want to listen? Check out a video from Youtube.

Of course if you subscribe to this blog via email or RSS feed, you will have to go to the website to see the video.

Day 5

The fifth Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Bright, Glowing Trees

The second intra-grade level Christmas competition that the students have at CMS is the Christmas tree contest. This time, 7th-11th graders are each given a tree or shrub on the main part of campus. They then need to decorate their tree to show a Bible story or Biblical theme. Some of the stories created this year include Jonah, the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Prodigal Son, Noah’s Ark, Jesus Turns Water into Wine, and Revelation. The students are required to make the tree and decorations using recycled products like boxes, paper, and drink boxes or bottles. Students are judged on their creativity, content, appearance, and use of recycled goods. Like their Christmas songs, they spend weeks preparing for the contest.

On the day of the Christmas song competition the students go outside and decorate in the morning or afternoon, depending when their grade is singing. At night all of the trees are lit, and students are able to stay at school until evening to finish decorating, eat dinner as a class, and see the trees at night. The school leaves the trees decorated on campus for a couple of days and lights them for a few hours every evening. Each Christmas I take a little time to walk around the trees at night. I take in the beautiful scenery, appreciate my students’ hard work and pray for them.

Prayer requests:

1. Please pray that the students understand the message in their Bible stories, and that God would use these stories and trees to help the students know more about him.

Day 6

The sixth Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

6 Former Students

In the previous two updates, I shared the joy of students decorating trees and singing songs. I know I touched on it a little bit, but it is something the students really cherish and enjoy. Over the years teaching, I have had many students write about how Christmas is their favorite time of year here at CMS.

This even carries over past their graduation, into their college years. This year, I was blessed to see 6 of my former students at CMS during the Christmas celebration. Two of them attended the Senior High Song Competition, and the other four I saw while I was watching students setting up their Christmas trees.

For all of the students I was able to quickly catch-up with them about how their college experiences are going. We also talked about Christmas here at CMS, and they all reflected how important it was for them and how they wanted to return to see trees or listen to songs.

One of the students, Jason, even came all the way from Taipei just for the afternoon. He had one class on that Wednesday, and decided to skip it at travel down to Chia-Yi. The trip is 3 hours by bus or 1 hour by bullet train. He arrived in the afternoon then had to get up the next morning to return for his Thursday classes, but he talked about how this was the way he wanted to celebrate Christmas.

This really touched me, and helped reinforce the impact of Christmas celebration here in Taiwan. What a blessing it is that Jason wanted to continue celebrating Christmas into college, and that he wanted to do so with the Christmas Trees that show Bible stories, and songs that praise Jesus.

Prayer requests:

1. Pray that God will continue to work in the lives of all of these students: Jenny, Sam, Terry, Jackal, Peter, and Jason. That the message of Christmas will sink into their hearts and create faith in the Savior.
2. Praise God that they were able to make it back to CMS and that I was able to see them, if even for a brief amount of time.

I’m trying to figure out a good way to post Mark’s most recent newsletter. He has what I think is a most ingenious idea. He is posting a new thing that he is thankful for on the 12 days of Christmas.

It has come to my attention that most people seem to think the 12 days of Christmas starts 12 days before Christmas and ends on Christmas Day. When in actuality, Christmas is the first day of Christmas and it lasts until Epiphany. Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Magi: Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar.

Rather than publishing them 1 at a time, or all together, I’ve decided to publish 3 at a time.

Enjoy Mark’s first 3 days of Christmas:

Day 1

1st Day of Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

When I was in my teacher education courses at Iowa State I remember getting many pieces of advice, but one particular piece sticks out that I learned in many courses. The advice was that a teacher needs to be a thief. It is absolutely important, to borrow, steal, use and modify ideas from other teachers. I should never think I have all the ideas I need, but should rather be continually learning from others. Well I am glad I listened because as it turns out this piece of advice is definitely true. And for my upcoming newsletters, I am borrowing an idea from Ben and Amy Riley, who are missionaries with me here in Taiwan.

The Christmas season is such a busy and joyful time, with a plethora of activities. Honestly, it is very difficult to put all of these into a newsletter (or two), so instead I am going to give you the 12 Days of Christmas as a substitute for December and January Newsletters. For the next 12 days, I will give you a short update, highlighting an aspect of the ministry here in Taiwan, most of which will focus on the Christmas season.

Let me know if you like this or regular newsletters, but I thought it would be fun to try something new. So without further delay…

The Twelve Christmas Blessings that My Lord Gave to Me:

1. Messiah in Church on Christmas Eve

The most important blessing is the gift of Jesus, our savior and king. On Christmas night, Salvation Lutheran Church had a Christmas service, featuring selection’s from Handel’s Messiah. These selections were performed by many of our very talented members at church. With the church was filled with both members and non-members alike, all of whom were able to hear about God sending a savior to the world.

Praise God for his love and pray for those who came to church but do not yet know him.

Day 2

The Second Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to Me:

Water and Word

Baptism is a wonderful gift that God has given us. This past December we had our Fall Missionary Retreat in Sun Moon Lake. The focus of this retreat was our baptism and the faith and confidence that we have because of God’s work in this way. The retreat was a relaxing time to get away for a weekend, build-up our team, and refocus on God’s word.

Baptism was also part of our worship service this morning. This morning at Salvation Lutheran Church, God brought Erin Shu into his family through water and the word. Erin is a Senior in High School at Chia-Yi Girls school, and has been attending Youth Group and Friday Night Bible Study over the last few years.

Prayer requests
1. Praise God for a great retreat in early December.
2. Praise God for his work in Erin’s life, and for her baptism this morning.
3. Pray that Erin will grow in faith and that God will use the members of Salvation Lutheran church to encourage and support her in Christian love.

The 12 Christmas blessings that my Lord gave to me:

-Water and Word
and
-Messiah on Christmas Eve

Day 3

The third Christmas blessing that my Lord gave to me:

Lost Son Skit

Every Christmas season is busy with practices and preparations for our annual Christmas dramas. One of the dramas that I helped to write this year was a drama about the Prodigal Son. This drama was a modern re-telling of the parable, and was a wordless production with the action driven by a musical soundtrack.

16 people participated in the skit, and it featured roles such as the father, sons, servants, wild livers (that is people who live wildly), gangsters, and a pig farmer with pigs. My role was to be one of the gangsters who stole from and beat up the wasteful son. The soundtrack included songs such as Whistle While You Work, My Heart Will Go On (from Titanic), ABAA’s “Money, Money, Money”, and a song from the West Side Story.

The skit was really funny and overly dramatic, but afterwards we connected the skit to Christmas. We are all like that son who leaves the father and wants to live for himself. But God loves us, and accepts us even though we sin and fall short of his law of love. He forgives us through his son Jesus Christ, who was born as a baby on the first Christmas.

We performed the Lost Son drama four times. The performances were for the On-Campus Student Fellowship Christmas party, the Friday Night Bible Study Christmas party, the Saturday School Orphanage Christmas Celebration (I’ll write more about this at another time), and on Sunday morning worship. Praise God for the chance to share the message of his love through this entertaining method.

Prayer requests:

1. Pray for those who watched the drama, that they may understand and believe in God’s love for them.
2. Pray for this Thursday morning when we will perform the skit one last time for the 7th grade students at the weekly chapel service. Pray that God would help them to understand the message and pray for us teachers as we prepare to do the skit and lead songs.

The 12 Christmas blessings that my Lord gave to me:

-Lost Son Skit
-Water and Word
and
-Messiah on Christmas Eve

Mark’s monthly newsletter from Taiwan.

Hey everyone. This is more of a November email, than newsletter. My apologies for not getting a full blown newsletter, and for not sending this in a more timely manner.

I wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going in Taiwan. November was another great month of teaching English and Bible classes. My 7th graders wrapped up a unit on Abraham and began to look at three lessons about the first Christmas. My 8th graders completed their unit on Moses, watched the Prince of Egypt and learned about the 10 commandments. My 10th graders completed a video news project, and my 11th graders wrote compositions focusing on the city of Chia Yi.

Right now, I am fully immersed in Christmas preparations. In fact I will be participating in activities to celebrate Christmas tonight. Christmas is a busy time of year, however the preparations and the activities are a great opportunity that God has given us. Christmas time opens many doors to share the Gospel with those who have not heard it.

Prayer requests:

-Praise God for the opportunities he has given for us to share about Christ at Christmas.
-Pray for energy, patience, and guidance as the other American teachers and I prepare and hold our Christmas activities.
-Pray also for the message that God would use the activities at church and school to bring faith and new life to those that hear it.

God’s peace,
Mark