2000-08-18

August 18, 2000

Rejoice! We have Visas & Plane Tickets!
Yes, having our visas and airline tickets makes all this reality!

Dear Friends,

We have had a very good week. On Saturday, we went with a group of 20 on a picnic to Maymount, a park similar (but MUCH larger) to the Arboretum in Dallas. We walked along beautiful grounds full of waterfalls, flowers and animals. A group of maintenance workers seemed stumped over a broken water fountain as they scratched their head over the equipment. Of course, Jackie stopped and trouble shot the problem, and with his advice they decided to close the hatch and wait on their regular repairman. (I guess we can’t take the swimming pool repairman anywhere without it dripping out of him!) We walked the grounds with a sweet Korean couple that love Jackie – their computer teacher. They call him Gheekie and me, Flann. I’ve really seen the Lord give us a love for the Asian people through them, especially as I’ve seen Jackie patiently communicate with them.

After getting away alone for some playtime on Sunday, we attended a wonderful worship service here at the MLC that evening. As we sang hymns and praise songs, some of the verses were sung in different languages (several returning missionaries speak them fluently). As we sang Psalms 136, we heard “His love endures forever,??? sung in Swahili, French, Korean, Chinese, Russian and a few other languages. Each time the Asian voices sang, our hearts swelled with the love God is placing there. Tears flowed as two Korean couples and an English-Chinese student sang “Amazing Grace??? in Chinese. The offering was done in a typical African worship style (line-dancing by the offering plate to the beat of bongos). Not your typical church service! Tradition is thrown out with the wash water when you go to minister in other lands. Cool! Then Avery Willis spoke to us again. I just love that guy. He can open the Bible and encourage anyone from one simple verse (1 Chronicles 4:10).

We’ve been challenged to be honest with our feelings concerning hard “good-byes??? before our departures to the field. Grief is often associated with a major change in life. So please pray for a sweet departure, especially with our family and that we will be sensitive to those who struggle in their expressions of love. We are so blessed to not be facing any persecution as some here are facing. Following the road of the Lord Jesus Christ is not promised to be a smooth journey. We praise God for the support we have from all our loved ones.

We received three more shots on Friday and feeling like human pincushions about now. We will still need to get another series of shots after we’ve been in Taipei a while. We also received some good jump-start information on how to be actively involved in the learning process of a second language. It helped knock off a little chunk of fear from our mental block about learning Mandarin.

On Tuesday we will be bused to a large church in Richmond for the Commissioning Ceremony. Many relatives and friends will be here with those who live within driving distance. We would love to have you here too, but Texas is way too far away. If you will lift us up in prayer that morning, we will be content. We arrive back in Dallas Wednesday evening and will depart for Taiwan September 7th. Please pray that we will remain focused, be good stewards of the time while home, and above all for rich times with our loved ones.

Please continue to pray for: the sale of our house (as of today, the buyers have backed out), that our car will sell soon, and for continued healing of my eye condition.

Our next letter may not go out until after out arrival in Taipei, but feel free to contact us by e-mail any time.

Love,
Jackie & Fran