Guogou Center Visit – February 2 through February 5, 2010
Routines were back on Tuesday (2/2), most of which were after-school tutoring. Pastor Shulin and I went to Budai Fishing Market to buy goods for gifts. Along the way, we shared on the visions of Gospel in the countryside. (more…)
Guogou Center Visit – January 29 through January 31, 2010
In the morning of January 29 (Friday), members from Budai Presbyterian church joined us in the weekly Bible study. We studied the Gospel of Luke, Chapters 7 and 8. In the studies, the sisters shared many stories of the villagers who suffered “depressions.” We felt a strong need of taking care of these people and also to bring in helps from the outsides.
Guogou Center Visit – January 26 through January 28, 2010
On Tuesday (1/26), Ruth and I visited Tai-Si Christian Church and observed their tutoring program. Tai-Si is in 雲林 County, about half an hour’s drive from Guogou. We drove along highway 61 which is the high speed route near the west coast. These areas are among the poorest region in Taiwan. Along the road, we saw wind turbines for generating electricity (not in operation yet). Then, there are so many fish farms besides vegetable fields. (more…)
Guogou Center Visit – January 23 through January 25, 2010
I had an ear-infection. In the morning of January 23 (Saturday), Ruth took me to Chang-Gung (長庚) Hospital for treatment on the way to pick up Ms. Liao (Yichia) at HSR station. I was very impressed with the buildings/facilities of the hospital. The doctor and nurse were very kindly and professional. (more…)
Gougou Center Visit — January 19 through January 22
I spent time to prepare lectures and teaching materials on Tuesday (1/19). In the morning, I walked around the neighborhood farmland. There are many kinds of vegetables and crops. Birds rested on the trees, plants and fields. Groundwater was pumped to irrigate the field. (more…)
Guogou Center Visit — January 15 through January 17
To follow up the previous Saddleback mission trip to Gougou, I requested another visit at the center to learn more about the missionary works here. I arrived at the center in the afternoon of January 15 and received a warm welcome from Ruth and her coworkers. At 4:00 pm, Ruth arranged a meeting for me with Mr. Liu, the Principal and Ms. Lin the Counselor of Guogou High School. They invited me to present a lecture on chemistry related topic on January 22 and another lecture on my life story on January 26. (more…)
Village Gospel Mission — 11/14/09 to 11/15/09
Mature Camp (From November 10 to November 15, 2009)
This Saturday morning, Pastor Chen continued discussion on the Spiritual aspects of Village Gospel Mission. He pointed out that the villagers have different concept on “decision” prayer in accepting Jesus. Their concept is that he will do it this time but he may change later. Therefore, the conversion process is not a one time event. This behavior may be deeply rooted in the ways of traditional temple worship. (more…)
Village Gospel Mission — 11/12/09 to 11/13/09
Mature Camp (From November 10 to November 15, 2009)
Last night, I used ear plugs and slept better. This morning after breakfast and before 9:30, we had the same activities as yesterday — Bible study and prayer. (more…)
Village Gospel Mission — 11/10/09 to 11/11/09
Mature Camp (From November 10 to November 15, 2009)
This week from November 10 to 15, I attended the Mature Camp held by Village Gospel Mission (VGM) at Tongshih village, Chiayi County, Taiwan. The purpose of this training camp is to get familiar with the missionary works of VGM, tour four other centers besides Tongshih and propose personal mission. (more…)
Visit Songshan Presbyterian Church
October 25, 2009
This morning, I went to visit Songshan Presbyterian Church by the invitation of Elder Hsu (Steven). Instead of boarding a bus, I took a taxi there. Traffic in Sunday morning was light. I found the church inside the Jiaoher street night market. The street is very narrow and the buildings are very old since this is a community with more than 150 years history. From outside, I could not see a beautiful church until I entered the four stories high church inside.
Taiwan Mission Trip — Dongong 2
October 21, 2009
On October 21, the team split into two groups to visit families. After the visitation of families, the team helped to deliver and distribute the lunch to the local residents that affected by the flood. (more…)
Taiwan Mission Trip — Dongang 1
October 20, 2009
The original scheduled KSCC mission trip was six days, from October 17 through October 22. Due to the unexpected events, KSCC requested the starting date be changed to October 19 and hoped us to stay until October 25. Because most of our members could not change their original schedule, the mission trip was reduced to four days. (more…)
Taiwan Mission Trip — Guogou 4
October 18, 2009
We attended the Sunday worship this morning. The worship was traditional Presbyterian style liturgy that included hymns, reading of scripture, the creed, special music, the offering, the benediction, etc. and used piano. For the special music, the two school girls joined Annie and Ching-Ya in singing a quartet on “The Invisible Hands” which is the theme song of “6 – Kameyama to orphanages” Youth Children’s Choir. We heard that the two school girls are orphans. One even witnessed her mother’s suicide in very young age. The song was very moving and many were in tears. (more…)
Taiwan Mission Trip — Guogou 3
As usual, John and I took a morning walk after breakfast. Walking along the neighborhood, we saw people working on opening oyster shells. This work provides the supplemental income for the family. It starts early in the morning around 4 a.m. when the truck delivers the buckets of oyster to the family. Oyster farming is one of the major business in this coastal area. Unfortunately, I left my camera at Taichung and was not able to take more pictures.
Taiwan Mission Trip — Guogou 2
October 16, 2009
This morning, John and I got up early and took a morning walk. Not far away from the center, we found a breakfast stand and ate breakfast. The fresh air and quiet countryside roads were very attractive for our city dwellers.
Around 7:45 a.m. Annie and Ching-Ya went with Ruth to the elementary school for the class of “Rainbow Life Education” (彩虹生命教育). The class combined singing, playing and teachings of moral behaviors and Religious (Christian) values. (more…)
Taiwan Mission Trip — Guogou 1
October 15,2009
Taiwan Mission Trip — Nantou 2
Taiwan Mission Trip — Nantou 1
Last night, John and I went to VGM’s prayer meeting at China Evangelical Seminary (華神). We met Pastor Chen and students from 華神. Pastor Chen gave a briefing of VGM’s missionary work. (more…)
Taiwan Mission Trip
Respect the History of Christian Tradition and Doctrine
J.P. Moreland’s article “What, Exactly, Is An Evangelical?” pointed out that frequently, the media labeled Evangelicals as Fundamentalists and the Religious Right. He further pointed out that this identification is false and harmful to the spirit of civil public discourse. Evangelicals are neither the Fundamentalists nor the Religious Right. Evangelicalism is not primarily a social, political, or cultural movement. At its core, it is to be defined theologically. The need to define Evangelical is elaborated in more details in “An Evangelical Manifesto”. (more…)
Music Education in Taiwan
I was fortunate to learn violin playing in private lessons 50 years ago when this considered being the privilege of the elites and the rich class. Today, I am asking the same question “Is playing violin only the rights of the elite and the rich?” (more…)
Visit Village Gospel Center – Guogou, Chiayi, Taiwan
After years of planning to visit Taiwan Village Gospel centers, I had the opportunity to travel to Guogou village (Chiayi county) this June. It is both an exciting event and an eye-opening experience. The mission is not only to proclaim the Gospel but also to serve the local village. (more…)