Today (Sunday) will be the last day of the week-long lunar new year celebration across China, Taiwan, and much of Asia. Everyone will return to work tomorrow. We have also enjoyed a much slower week than normal and it felt good! In case you missed it, 2010 is the year of the Tiger.

The Chinese zodiac is a 12 year cycle.

To view an awesome photo collection of the new year’s celebration and events click HERE

Just now realizing that I  haven’t made the obligatory happy new year post.

From our house to yours – HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Weekend before last, our Sunday night Bible Study group went on an outing. It was the last gathering that Rachel would be able to attend before moving back to the US. We decided to have dinner together then send off a lantern into the heavens – sort of symbolic of sending off Rachel. There is a suburb named PingXi that is famous for the sky lanterns – especially during lantern festival. That was where we went. It was fun! See the pictures HERE.

Tonight at around 9pm we had to put the movie we were watching on hold and go stand in a doorway. The apartment was shaking so bad, and it did it for so long, we weren’t sure if it would remain standing. It was pretty scary. the AP said:

A large earthquake struck Taiwan on Saturday, rattling buildings in the capital of Taipei.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.4-magnitude quake was centered off the eastern coast of Taiwan, about 16 miles (25 kilometers) from Hualien. It struck at a depth of 28 miles (45 kilometers). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not immediately issue any warning.
Local TV reports said four minor casualties were reported in the capital. The reports said Taipei’s subways and the island’s high speed railroad were suspended.
There was some damage to property in a community near the quake’s epicenter.
Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan but most are minor and cause little or no damage.

USGS says 6.4, Taiwan says 6.8, whatever it was at the epicenter, it was strong in our apartment!

I spent one morning back in September listening to Ed Stetzer speak about the Emerging Church. Follow this link to a website where he talks about his trip to Taiwan.

Below are a couple of good videos from that trip.

The first is a great explanation of religion in Taiwan.

The second is an interview he had with a Taipei worker.

Thanks to Eric at Mission Taiwan

The past couple of weeks, and especially the last couple of days, have been awesome – weather-wise. Fall is definitely in the air in Taipei. We’ve tried to get outside every chance we get. Weekend before last we went on a bike ride. It started out to be a short outing just to get some fresh air but it turned into a 4 hour ride.
Taipei uses a fairly large river for water management and it runs close by our neighborhood. All along the river they have developed the flood plain into parks joined by a bike trail that follows the river. It was really nice. We rode the trail from our neighborhood south to the end of the trail. It was late and we were tired at the end so we pedaled to the nearest subway station and took the lazy way home

Click on the picture for a few more photos from the day.

Sunday afternoon ball game

A New Day in Taipei Franklin Graham Festival Wrap-up

More than 183,000 people in Taipei gathered over the weekend to hear the Good News proclaimed at the Franklin Graham Festival. And close to 10,000 made a commitment to Jesus Christ! Click the picture to go to the story!

We just sent out a newsletter* that talked little bit about our involvement in the Taipei Franklin Graham Festival. It also contained a few prayer requests. Since sending the newsletter Fran ran across this article. We think you’ll find it interesting.

BGEA: Our Ministries: “Decision” Magazine

*if you didn’t receive the newsletter please let us know.