Thank you for your faithfulness in your place of service and for your faithful prayers and support for us! Many of the things that we are seeing and have seen in America in recent days can be traced, I believe, to China and an effort to push Communism and destroy America. There is even evidence that seems to support this. However, God has been so good to us! While we can look at many of the events taking place around us, we must remember that our trust is in the Lord. He never changes, is always the same, and is coming back so soon! May we be diligent about His work.
Praise the Lord! The Lord seems to be directing us to have the goal of leaving mid-November of this year for Taiwan. As I mentioned before, we were able to secure a sponsor to give us a missionary visa into Taiwan. The paperwork, at this writing, should be arriving in the mail from Taiwan soon, and we are also awaiting some paperwork from physical checkups and the like. Timing is important because there are many pieces that need to fall together before they expire. We are also expecting a baby boy, due January 20, 2021. With passports supposedly processing more slowly and flights usually not allowing pregnant women to fly when they are a month or less from their due date, that limits the window of time we have. We have been told that we will need to quarantine for 14 days after arrival. We are hoping to ship a container ($6,500) of the household things that have been sitting in storage in China, with the hopes that we will be able to settle into our new home during that quarantine time. We also need to pick out a house over the Internet. Our sponsor said that they could go look at it for us, so it wouldn’t be totally blind faith! Pray for the Lord to give us wisdom and help in each step and that He would get the honor and glory for it!
The cost of living is higher in Taiwan, so with the increased Target Support Level, we are at about 88 percent. I had a few men suggest to me the idea of asking our supporting churches if they would be willing to increase their support $10 a month ($2.50 a week). Some may be able to do more, and some will not be able to do it at all—we understand. If you are willing and able to give those additional monies, it would be a great blessing and help!
One Sunday morning, we did not have a scheduled meeting, so we stopped in at a church. The pastor was one of my teachers from college. During Sunday school, he said there was a Chinese lady who would probably come later that morning, and she did not speak much English. They had tried to talk to her and had given her a Chinese Bible. The lady and her husband came that morning. I translated for them during the preaching. At the end of the service, I gave her the Gospel. She asked me in Chinese, “How do I get that gift?” After thoroughly going through the Gospel, she accepted Jesus into her heart and excitedly shared what happened with the pastor! It was neat to see how God worked it out! We were glad to be an answer to prayer.
While out soul winning with our family one Saturday, the Holy Spirit impressed on me to go and talk with a man by a red truck. “But, Lord,” I argued, “we need to get the kids back home, and besides, we have family coming to visit before too long.” I disobediently went home, but the Lord wouldn’t leave me alone about it. So, I took a couple of the kids, and we walked over. We found Chris out at his red truck. He didn’t live there but was visiting a coworker who did. The coworker wasn’t interested, but Chris said that just a few days before, he had told his wife that he was wondering about all of this. He had been trusting in works, but he very soon understood the difference in trusting Christ alone for salvation. He basically asked me toward the end, “What do I need to do to get it?” He, on his own, knelt by the front-passenger tire and sweetly called on Christ alone to save him. An added bonus was the fact that while I was witnessing to Chris, a church we had presented in called me, and later the next week, they told us that they had voted to take us on for support! Praise the Lord!
God bless you all, and keep up the great work! Thank you for your faithful prayers and support! You’re the best, and we couldn’t get to do what we get to without you!!!
In His service joyfully,
Missionary #6011 and Family
Drafted September 25, 2020
Prayer Requests
• Pregnancy and finding a good hospital in Taiwan
• Transition
• Finances for remaining support
• Needs for the transition:
– Container ($6,500)
– Used vehicle (I was told a minimum of $20,000 for a used one, and with a family our size, probably more)
– Airline tickets—we praise the Lord that $5,000 has already been committed.
• Clear guidance and wisdom going forward
• Our fellow believers in China and Taiwan
– The meeting in Wenzhou seems to be continuing well, praise the Lord!
