Summer 2017

BBQ with neighbors

Hello everyone, it is unbelievable that it has been a year since we saw most of you last. This past year has gone by so fast. Since our last update we have hosted a few outreach teams from different parts of the world and a God did a lot of cool things. It is really encouraging to see young people praying and seeking God, then walking in faith and obedience to do what they believe God is telling them. We saw healings, people saved and encouraged, and some returning back to the Lord after years away. God is good and faithful!

I will share a few of those stories.

BBQ with neighbors

One of the outreach teams were walking around to do evangelism and prayed for God to provide a translator for them. Within 5 minutes a local friend of ours drove by, saw them, and stopped to ask what they were doing. They told him they were doing evangelism and he offered to accompany them and translate. Shortly after, they met a homeless man with an injured leg. They talked to him and prayed for healing. He stood up and was able to move his leg again and walk. The homeless man said he used to go to church, but has not gone in a long time. He praised God and said he would return back to church that week. The man left them and they were talking to our friend that was translating for them. He then said, "Wow, I also need to return to church. I think God is wanting me to change."

A different team was also asking God who He wanted them to share with. Nearby the Rock Cafe there are some karaoke shops that are actually used for prostitution. Some girls on this team, felt like God was asking them to go into one of these businesses and talk to the women there. One of our Taiwanese church friends was willing to go with them and translate. After going there a few times and talking with the women, they found out that the owners , two women from mainland China, would like to get out of this business. They would like to move to Europe and start a restaurant, but in order to do this, they need to learn English. The girls on this team formed  relationship with these women shortly before the team left Taiwan. Now Magan and some other local missionary women are in the process to start an English class for them and hopefully help them get out of this business. Please pray that they will be able to build relationship with these women and that they will all come to know Jesus in the process. Pray for protection for Magan and everyone helping and also for the women involved in this business.

One night at the Rock, Magan was able to lead a girl named Zoe to the Lord!  Magan had never actually talked to her before, but she was an English teacher at one of the high schools in our city.  One of our teams had met her several months earlier and she had invited them into her English classes to practice with her students. They had hung out with her and shared the gospel with her. She came back to the Rock to talk with us because she was planning to move to another city nearby.  As she and Magan were talking, she started sharing about her time with the team and how, since the team had left, she'd started praying to God and she really felt like He'd been answering her prayers.  Magan was able to share more with her and pray for her to receive Jesus! The following Sunday she came to church with us and was worshipping her new Savior freely with hands in the air and tears in her eyes! It was really cool to see God working in her life. He is so faithful!

First day of school!

Family:
Ezra just started kindergarten this year and he is really loving it. For a while he has been asking when it was his turn to go to school. Ezra is so extroverted that he was pretty miserable at home before school started. When he arrived back home that first day, he was a totally different person. He was cheerful and he couldn't wait to tell us about all the things he did at school that day. It was really cute.

Elliot with his teacher

Can I go?

One of the things about living in a different culture is there are often things that we misunderstand or may be totally different from what we were expecting. A good example of this happened on Elliot's first day of 1st grade. We received a schedule and it seemed like we would be meeting the teacher and listening to the principal tell us about what to expect at this school. That day Keith was busy because he volunteers at a hospital for visa purposes. That meant Magan would need to take Maelynn to do all these things. It turned out that it was a pretty big deal and there was a big ceremony in front of the whole school for all the kids entering 1st grade. Haha, we have been here many years but are still learning new things.

Elliot is loving first grade and is learning to read in Chinese, which means we struggle to help him with his homework every day!  :) We are coping.










 We started the boys in Taekwondo so that they could get some energy out :)

Exciting things are happening!

Hello from Taiwan!

This is far overdue, but we will recap the last several months.

Jan/Feb
We had a DTS outreach team here for two months. It was the longest amount of time that we have ever hosted an outreach team and they were a huge blessing to our ministry. Because they were here longer, they were able to build deeper relationships with the same people. They had a huge heart for evangelism and because of this, they led 7 people to the Lord! Since they have left we have been plugging these people into Taiwanese churches and getting to do discipleship with them.

March- June
We hosted 3 more teams during this time. They spent the majority of their time doing evangelism out in the city and going into high schools to do English activities. Because of this, many new students are coming to our Rock Cafe to hang out.We've been able to share the gospel with a lot of new people.

In May we attended our yearly YWAM national staff conference.  It was a much needed time of renewal and reconnecting with our mother base that sent us out two years ago.  Unfortunately, on our way home, our van broke down on the highway, due to a tire blowout.  It caused a few extra problems with the van and it was in the shop for two weeks.  We stayed overnight in the city where we broke down and rode the train home the next day.  We were thankful for God's protection during the incident.

As far as our team, one of our members, Biggie from Zambia, returned home to get married. We are excited for him and this new chapter in his life, but we are also sad to see a good friend and co-worker leave. Another member of our team, Erin from New Zealand, also left for home. She grew up in missions because her parents are missionaries and now she is going back to university.  She is excited but the uncertainty of this transition is also hard for her. We are also sad to see her go. Right now we still don't have any hope of new staff joining our team, so that means the responsibility will be falling on Angwar and us. We pray that more help will be coming.

Family
Elliot will graduate kindergarten next week! It's been a challenge learning how the school system works in another country, but we really like his school.  When he started, he didn't know any Chinese at all and it was a tough transition for him. He is now speaking Chinese all the time and loves going to school!  Ezra will start in the same kindergarten in the fall.  He is very excited and wants to start right away.  Maelynn is 19 months old and is mostly very sweet, but she is entering the stage of throwing tantrums when things don't go her way.  She understands almost everything we say to her, although she isn't speaking much.  She uses baby sign language well to communicate.  In May, we celebrated the boys' birthdays with a scooby doo party. They turned 4 and 6.

Easter Sunday

riding the train when our van broke down

special mother's day ceremony at Elliot's school

Elliot and his friend Abigail at the birthday party

Maelynn and her baby doll

Keith took this picture while hiking with an outreach team

Hanging out at the Rock Cafe