Changes to Tuesday group and others
2008/10/11
Hi, all. Here is a quick update on what is going on in
Chiayi. For various reasons mostly related to timing,
the Tuesday night group has totally disbanded, but it's
not as bad as it sounds. Just about everyone from that
group is now involved in a small group or one-on-one
discipleship. Some of them are also more closely
involved in other ministries that our team is doing
(youth ministry, prayer walking, etc.). We are still
struggling, however, with forming these folks into a
community of believers. Some of them come to the Sunday
meeting, but not all of them. Please keep these folks
in your prayers as we continue to move forward: June,
Anica, A-ka, Dong-dong, Sam, Julie and Dora. Also, keep
Dora's sister, Eva, and Anica's brother, Chun-siang, in
your prayers as they continue to reach out to them.
With school now in session, the youth ministry has slowed down a bit. However, there is still a core group of about 6 or 7 kids who consistently come to the center to hang out. Some of them are continuing with the Bible study with Seann (Danny, Bo-han, Bo-yoa, and Oliver with A-ka joining to help). Our teammate, Birgit, also meets with some of the young ladies. Friday between 5:00 and 6:00, we see the most kids as they come to eat dinner after school lets out and before they go on to cram school. Birgit prepares a simple meal, and the kids take a break to rest and relax. Pray that the contacts that are made during this time would result in more youth being interested in the Lord. Birgit will also be getting into some of the local schools starting clubs, etc. to help make more contacts with youth. Pray for the wisdom to know what schools, what kinds of clubs, etc.
Pray, also, for the noodle shop near our building. We often go there for lunch. I have been burdened to reach out to one of he ladies in particular and have had some good interactions with her. She is quite open. However, the last couple of times I've gone there, she has not been there or has been too busy to talk. Then, last week, Seann went there for lunch and she talked with him for about an hour. She told him how the Mormons were visiting her and that she couldn't really accept the things that they said. She also said that they were very different from us. She thought they were "strange". She said she told the Mormons that if she went to any church, she would go to ours! Please pray against the influence of the Mormons. They will undoubtedly continue to visit her. Pray for me, as well, as I try to visit her again. Pray that she would not only be in the shop, but would also have time to talk.
A-kiat is a believer with physical disabilities who wanders from church to church, but has a desire to grow in his faith. He has been coming to the office to talk with Seann. Seann challenged him to start reaching out to people like him, people with physical disabilities. For the first time, A-kiat seems to have a vision for how he can participate in the growth of the Kingdom. Pray for wisdom and boldness for him. Pray for Seann to know how to encourage him.
Our team continues to use this time to reform after having lost half of our teammates to other ministries or to their home country. We've had various speakers come in to help with that. We may also need to reevaluate and rethink some of our strategies. Pray for our team as we work through all of this.
With school now in session, the youth ministry has slowed down a bit. However, there is still a core group of about 6 or 7 kids who consistently come to the center to hang out. Some of them are continuing with the Bible study with Seann (Danny, Bo-han, Bo-yoa, and Oliver with A-ka joining to help). Our teammate, Birgit, also meets with some of the young ladies. Friday between 5:00 and 6:00, we see the most kids as they come to eat dinner after school lets out and before they go on to cram school. Birgit prepares a simple meal, and the kids take a break to rest and relax. Pray that the contacts that are made during this time would result in more youth being interested in the Lord. Birgit will also be getting into some of the local schools starting clubs, etc. to help make more contacts with youth. Pray for the wisdom to know what schools, what kinds of clubs, etc.
Pray, also, for the noodle shop near our building. We often go there for lunch. I have been burdened to reach out to one of he ladies in particular and have had some good interactions with her. She is quite open. However, the last couple of times I've gone there, she has not been there or has been too busy to talk. Then, last week, Seann went there for lunch and she talked with him for about an hour. She told him how the Mormons were visiting her and that she couldn't really accept the things that they said. She also said that they were very different from us. She thought they were "strange". She said she told the Mormons that if she went to any church, she would go to ours! Please pray against the influence of the Mormons. They will undoubtedly continue to visit her. Pray for me, as well, as I try to visit her again. Pray that she would not only be in the shop, but would also have time to talk.
A-kiat is a believer with physical disabilities who wanders from church to church, but has a desire to grow in his faith. He has been coming to the office to talk with Seann. Seann challenged him to start reaching out to people like him, people with physical disabilities. For the first time, A-kiat seems to have a vision for how he can participate in the growth of the Kingdom. Pray for wisdom and boldness for him. Pray for Seann to know how to encourage him.
Our team continues to use this time to reform after having lost half of our teammates to other ministries or to their home country. We've had various speakers come in to help with that. We may also need to reevaluate and rethink some of our strategies. Pray for our team as we work through all of this.
Youth Update
2008/09/25
Hi, all. There is a lot going on with the youth
ministry headed up by our co-worker, Birgit. We are
seeing lots of kids come to the drop-in times
Tues.-Thurs., Friday night hang out time, and Sunday
service. Seann now has a Bible study with 4 guys and
one new guy who will join this week. Only one guy is a
Christian. Let me tell you a little bit about some of
these guys so you can get an idea of what these kids
are like and what to pray for.
Lion is a real friendly, outgoing kind of guy. He has brought quite a few kids to our center. His parents are divorced and he lives with his grandparents. Interestingly, his grandparents live INSIDE the courtyard of one of the biggest, most active temples in the city. They run a small shop that sells the spirit money and other idol worship paraphernalia for people to use during their worship time in the temple. Lion is spiritually hungry. Unfortunately, he will be moving to Taipei next month for further schooling. Birgit has connections up there and hopes to hook him up with some Christians his age.
Bo-yo just finished high school and will begin studying at a local technical school. His grandmother is a spirit medium. Bo-yo often makes extra money by helping his grandmother with her job, in particular a thing called siu-kia*, which literally means, "take the fear". It is a ceremony performed mostly on kids in order to keep them from having nightmares, being afraid of the dark, etc.
Danny is a senior in high school this year. His dad died of an illness three years ago, making his home life very difficult. He's a gentle guy who is always willing to help. He also seems to enjoy the extra attention he gets from Seann.
Khai-yiang is a Christian, but has not gone to a church for over 3 years. He just finished high school, but has been living on his own already for quite a while. His parents kicked him out of the house. Not sure why. Now, he lives with 3 or 4 other guys who are in the same situation.
Oliver just walked off the streets into the center last week. He knew nobody when he came, but he wanted to see what all the action was. Oliver is a senior in high school this year. He lives completely on his own. His parents are divorced and don't live in the city. He rarely sees them. He will begin going to the guys Bible study this week.
There are others I could write about, but this should be enough for now. Seann is becoming somewhat of a big brother or uncle to these kids. They really seem to enjoy spending time with him studying the Bible, playing the guitar, etc. Pray for wisdom for Seann with these guys and for Birgit for the whole youth ministry. Things have moved so quickly, it has been difficult to keep up. But we do need to make some plans and set some goals. Pray for us as we talk about these things and, finally, pray for these guys. Seann has been studying the first few chapters of Genesis with them. When he began talking about a Heavenly Father who really cares for them, all of the boys sat forward, listening intently. Most of these boys have no fathers or no relationship with their fathers. So to talk about God as our Heavenly Father really strikes a cord with them.
Your Partners,
Seann and Amy
Lion is a real friendly, outgoing kind of guy. He has brought quite a few kids to our center. His parents are divorced and he lives with his grandparents. Interestingly, his grandparents live INSIDE the courtyard of one of the biggest, most active temples in the city. They run a small shop that sells the spirit money and other idol worship paraphernalia for people to use during their worship time in the temple. Lion is spiritually hungry. Unfortunately, he will be moving to Taipei next month for further schooling. Birgit has connections up there and hopes to hook him up with some Christians his age.
Bo-yo just finished high school and will begin studying at a local technical school. His grandmother is a spirit medium. Bo-yo often makes extra money by helping his grandmother with her job, in particular a thing called siu-kia*, which literally means, "take the fear". It is a ceremony performed mostly on kids in order to keep them from having nightmares, being afraid of the dark, etc.
Danny is a senior in high school this year. His dad died of an illness three years ago, making his home life very difficult. He's a gentle guy who is always willing to help. He also seems to enjoy the extra attention he gets from Seann.
Khai-yiang is a Christian, but has not gone to a church for over 3 years. He just finished high school, but has been living on his own already for quite a while. His parents kicked him out of the house. Not sure why. Now, he lives with 3 or 4 other guys who are in the same situation.
Oliver just walked off the streets into the center last week. He knew nobody when he came, but he wanted to see what all the action was. Oliver is a senior in high school this year. He lives completely on his own. His parents are divorced and don't live in the city. He rarely sees them. He will begin going to the guys Bible study this week.
There are others I could write about, but this should be enough for now. Seann is becoming somewhat of a big brother or uncle to these kids. They really seem to enjoy spending time with him studying the Bible, playing the guitar, etc. Pray for wisdom for Seann with these guys and for Birgit for the whole youth ministry. Things have moved so quickly, it has been difficult to keep up. But we do need to make some plans and set some goals. Pray for us as we talk about these things and, finally, pray for these guys. Seann has been studying the first few chapters of Genesis with them. When he began talking about a Heavenly Father who really cares for them, all of the boys sat forward, listening intently. Most of these boys have no fathers or no relationship with their fathers. So to talk about God as our Heavenly Father really strikes a cord with them.
Your Partners,
Seann and Amy
A lot is happening, and we really need your prayers.
2008/09/10
YOUTH MINISTRY
The short-term team really helped kick things off in terms of the youth ministry that our teammate, Birgit, is heading up with us helping out wherever we can. We have made many new contacts over the last few weeks, youth and adults. It's almost overwhelming, but we are praising God and trusting in Him! After the short-term team left, Birgit began her first official youth time on Friday, August 1st. Ironically, it was the first day of Ghost Month as well! The beginnings are very simple--playing games, eating, and getting to know the kids. Our whole family as well as a short-term intern were there to help. We had a pretty good turn out, about 10 kids came. This past Friday, just the second time we've done this, 25 kids came! WOW! We really need your prayers, especially for Birgit, to know who is open and who to spend more time with.
Lion and Danny are two teenagers who have come to just about every single thing we've had these past couple of weeks. If there is someone at the office, they always come in and play ping-pong. Both of them were raised in single parent homes by their moms, so I think they enjoy getting attention, especially from Seann. Lion will be leaving Chiayi for further education in just a few weeks, but Danny will still be around. Please keep these guys in your prayers. We've also met Lion's mom and would like to continue further contact with her after Lion leaves.
Ting-ling and Siau-seng are two young ladies that Dong-dong brought to our Sunday meeting two weeks ago. Siau-seng had been struggling with some issues and was ready to accept Jesus. She also wants to get baptized! Ting-ling has just gone along to support her friend, but is curious. Birgit and the intern are meeting with these two ladies once a week over the next few weeks to study the Bible and help them understand what believing in Jesus means. Please pray for these ladies as well as Birgit and Rebecca, that they would have wisdom during these meetings together.
Michael is another new contact from Orchid St., where Kerstin does her prayer walking and reaching out to the community. Michael's two sons have come to the youth drop-in times as well as participated in the kids' camp at the park. Michael often comes to the office himself to play ping-pong and joined our church last week as we all went bowling. Pray for Seann as he follows up on Michael and for his boys as they continue coming to various events.
SUNDAY MEETING
We are implementing some new ideas into the Sunday meeting. Once a month, we will have an activity in place of the meeting in order to promote fellowship among believers as well as have something that people can invite their friends to. Last week, we went bowling. We had 18 adultS and 5 kids. Half of those people were brand new contacts! Praise God! Seann and I planned the first outing and will probably plan next month's outing, but we would eventually like to see our believers step up to the plate and take turns with the planning. Pray for this.
We are also going to do something different in terms of group prayer. I think it may be hard to understand, but people who come from an animistic culture really don't know how to pray for others. All their worship revolves around themselves and their own needs. Even for us, unless someone is sick or going through a difficult time, we often don't really know how to intercede for our fellow believers or what to pray for. So, we have taken prayers directly out of the Bible, word for word. They will be cut up into slips of paper. Then, people will grab one and pray that prayer for one of the people in the group. It will require some very clear explanation and might take a while to get going, but we think it will really be helpful in 2 ways: 1. getting people even more exposed to the Word, and 2. getting people more outward focused. June will probably be the one to introduce this and explain. Pray for her as she and I prepare for this. We will probably introduce it in a couple of weeks.
We really want to see the Sunday meeting move more and more towards every member contributing to the meeting (I Corinthians 14:26) and ministering to one another. Pray for this as we take steps in that direction.
TUESDAY GROUP FOLKS
Starting this week, June and I will meet with Dora on Fridays and with Anica on Saturdays. I've developed some material on basic doctrine to use with these ladies, so we will use those materials first. June will lead the groups and I will help her prepare for it and just be there for support.
Everybody wants to learn how to play guitar! This is what Seann is finding with a lot of the guys, youth and adults. It's a great opportunity, but he's not sure how to handle all the requests. He will definitely be teaching guitar and spending time with A-ka, Sam and Dong-dong, but what about all the others who want to learn? Pray for Seann as he tries to figure out who to invest in in this regard. A-ka in particular is quick to pick up on playing the guitar and plays on Sundays when he doesn't have to work. It's a great ministry for him.
Seann is continuing his evangelistic Bible study with A-sui who recently told him that he believes in the Creator God! This is a huge step! Pray for wisdom for Seann and continued openness for A-sui. If/when A-sui becomes a believer, Seann would like to start another meeting with him because he is so well connected.
A-kiat is a believer but seems to 'church hop' quite a bit. He has some physical disabilities and really struggles with his faith because of them. Recently, he stopped by the office to talk with Seann and they had a very long talk. A-kiat has a few things he wants from God, but Seann confronted Him with the question of, "If Jesus doesn't give you those things, are you still willing to follow Him?" After some thought and soul searching, A-kiat's answer was, "Yes, because I know He is the Creator and he created me." Pray for Seann as he tries to find time soon to follow up on his talk with A-kiat.
This week, I will go to visit the ladies at the noodle shop by our office. I haven't been there for quite a while, but one of the ladies seems very open. Pray for the timing of this visit, that it wouldn't be too busy that we can't chat.
Finally, it is Sunday (hopefully some of you are still up!) and we are expecting at least four brand new people to come to the meeting. Pray for Seann as he prepares to share out of Acts 12.
I could write so much more, but I think this will suffice for now! I will send an update on Sunday's meeting as well as some pictures in the next few days.
Your Partners in the Gospel,
Seann and Amy
The short-term team really helped kick things off in terms of the youth ministry that our teammate, Birgit, is heading up with us helping out wherever we can. We have made many new contacts over the last few weeks, youth and adults. It's almost overwhelming, but we are praising God and trusting in Him! After the short-term team left, Birgit began her first official youth time on Friday, August 1st. Ironically, it was the first day of Ghost Month as well! The beginnings are very simple--playing games, eating, and getting to know the kids. Our whole family as well as a short-term intern were there to help. We had a pretty good turn out, about 10 kids came. This past Friday, just the second time we've done this, 25 kids came! WOW! We really need your prayers, especially for Birgit, to know who is open and who to spend more time with.
Lion and Danny are two teenagers who have come to just about every single thing we've had these past couple of weeks. If there is someone at the office, they always come in and play ping-pong. Both of them were raised in single parent homes by their moms, so I think they enjoy getting attention, especially from Seann. Lion will be leaving Chiayi for further education in just a few weeks, but Danny will still be around. Please keep these guys in your prayers. We've also met Lion's mom and would like to continue further contact with her after Lion leaves.
Ting-ling and Siau-seng are two young ladies that Dong-dong brought to our Sunday meeting two weeks ago. Siau-seng had been struggling with some issues and was ready to accept Jesus. She also wants to get baptized! Ting-ling has just gone along to support her friend, but is curious. Birgit and the intern are meeting with these two ladies once a week over the next few weeks to study the Bible and help them understand what believing in Jesus means. Please pray for these ladies as well as Birgit and Rebecca, that they would have wisdom during these meetings together.
Michael is another new contact from Orchid St., where Kerstin does her prayer walking and reaching out to the community. Michael's two sons have come to the youth drop-in times as well as participated in the kids' camp at the park. Michael often comes to the office himself to play ping-pong and joined our church last week as we all went bowling. Pray for Seann as he follows up on Michael and for his boys as they continue coming to various events.
SUNDAY MEETING
We are implementing some new ideas into the Sunday meeting. Once a month, we will have an activity in place of the meeting in order to promote fellowship among believers as well as have something that people can invite their friends to. Last week, we went bowling. We had 18 adultS and 5 kids. Half of those people were brand new contacts! Praise God! Seann and I planned the first outing and will probably plan next month's outing, but we would eventually like to see our believers step up to the plate and take turns with the planning. Pray for this.
We are also going to do something different in terms of group prayer. I think it may be hard to understand, but people who come from an animistic culture really don't know how to pray for others. All their worship revolves around themselves and their own needs. Even for us, unless someone is sick or going through a difficult time, we often don't really know how to intercede for our fellow believers or what to pray for. So, we have taken prayers directly out of the Bible, word for word. They will be cut up into slips of paper. Then, people will grab one and pray that prayer for one of the people in the group. It will require some very clear explanation and might take a while to get going, but we think it will really be helpful in 2 ways: 1. getting people even more exposed to the Word, and 2. getting people more outward focused. June will probably be the one to introduce this and explain. Pray for her as she and I prepare for this. We will probably introduce it in a couple of weeks.
We really want to see the Sunday meeting move more and more towards every member contributing to the meeting (I Corinthians 14:26) and ministering to one another. Pray for this as we take steps in that direction.
TUESDAY GROUP FOLKS
Starting this week, June and I will meet with Dora on Fridays and with Anica on Saturdays. I've developed some material on basic doctrine to use with these ladies, so we will use those materials first. June will lead the groups and I will help her prepare for it and just be there for support.
Everybody wants to learn how to play guitar! This is what Seann is finding with a lot of the guys, youth and adults. It's a great opportunity, but he's not sure how to handle all the requests. He will definitely be teaching guitar and spending time with A-ka, Sam and Dong-dong, but what about all the others who want to learn? Pray for Seann as he tries to figure out who to invest in in this regard. A-ka in particular is quick to pick up on playing the guitar and plays on Sundays when he doesn't have to work. It's a great ministry for him.
Seann is continuing his evangelistic Bible study with A-sui who recently told him that he believes in the Creator God! This is a huge step! Pray for wisdom for Seann and continued openness for A-sui. If/when A-sui becomes a believer, Seann would like to start another meeting with him because he is so well connected.
A-kiat is a believer but seems to 'church hop' quite a bit. He has some physical disabilities and really struggles with his faith because of them. Recently, he stopped by the office to talk with Seann and they had a very long talk. A-kiat has a few things he wants from God, but Seann confronted Him with the question of, "If Jesus doesn't give you those things, are you still willing to follow Him?" After some thought and soul searching, A-kiat's answer was, "Yes, because I know He is the Creator and he created me." Pray for Seann as he tries to find time soon to follow up on his talk with A-kiat.
This week, I will go to visit the ladies at the noodle shop by our office. I haven't been there for quite a while, but one of the ladies seems very open. Pray for the timing of this visit, that it wouldn't be too busy that we can't chat.
Finally, it is Sunday (hopefully some of you are still up!) and we are expecting at least four brand new people to come to the meeting. Pray for Seann as he prepares to share out of Acts 12.
I could write so much more, but I think this will suffice for now! I will send an update on Sunday's meeting as well as some pictures in the next few days.
Your Partners in the Gospel,
Seann and Amy