2001-02-06
Greetings From the Bell’s in Taiwan Feb. 6, 2001
We hope you are beginning to thaw from your record-breaking lows. We didn’t think it felt cold here until we returned from Thailand (80-90’s daily), and now we are bundling up with the rest of them. Brrrrrrrh! Winter has finally arrived for us and we are reaching for our sweat pants and sweaters. It rains nearly everyday, ranging from 55-64 F. Before you give us the thumbs down, realize that the dampness chills us to the bone since we live in an all cement apartment with tile floors and no central heating.
We had ten full days in Thailand at one of the largest resorts in the world, a three-hour bus ride south of Bangkok. We gathered with nearly 800 missionaries for AGM (Area General Meeting) from China, Mongolia/Tibet, Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (this was the first time people from all of these areas had met together in one spot). A team from First Baptist Euless, Texas (and some from a church in Tenn.) came to lead in worship, charge us up through the written word, provide childcare and provide training and activities for the youth. The mission board gathered us all together for a time when we could worship together, receive information & materials, and meet other needs, thus strengthening those who work in the East Asian region.
Jackie and I loved seeing many of the folks that we met during our training at the Missionary Learning Center this past summer and we were able to give hugs to a few of Paige’s friends who are also serving in our area. (That did my “mother heart??? a lot of good.) One of the things that we enjoyed most was to experience corporate worship with our fellow believers. We realize that as Americans, and now as residents of Taiwan, how we take for granted the freedom of worship. Many of the folks who attended the meeting have been unable to experience corporate worship since their arrival in this part of the world due to the political conditions and religious persecution. Jackie and I realized how much we miss our church home. The team from Euless ministered to our hearts greatly, refueling our spirit. We think about how hungry we were for spirit filled corporate worship after being away from it for only four months. We shutter to think about it being possibly another year until we can experience it again. We understand that Saddleback Church will provide a team for the meeting next year.
We enjoyed sitting with a different group of people at each meal, learning about other ministries and how the Lord is at work. We wish we could tell some of the many testimonies we heard, but for security reasons we shouldn’t. God is working a great work through many servants and many mission organizations to spread the gospel and to plant churches in lands that are hostile towards Christianity. We are living in exciting times and it was an honor to have the opportunity to listen to powerful testimonies that glorify God.
Although most days were packed full of meetings, we were able to have a couple of afternoons off to swim, walk on the beach and take a taxi ride into the city of Pattaya. The taxis are compact trucks with benches in the bed (no seat belts) and a simple cover for shade. They fly down the highway doing about 80 miles and hour and you pray for safety the whole way. The streets of Pattaya buzz with merchants as they barter with tourist over their goods, which costs about half what it would cost in Taiwan. Sadly, the side streets were full of houses of ill repute, bars and open expressions of homosexuality. We understand that this city was a place of night life for soldiers during the Viet Nam war, and hasn’t changed much since those days.
The highlight of the trip was to visit a three-story shopping mall that had western shops and restaurants. (How excited do you get over a blizzard from Dairy Queen?) We set a date with a couple of friends from MLC (they now live in China) to dine at Sizzler Steak house again next year. Although we miss western foods, we do have a few restaurants here in Taiwan, and dining with our friends that evening, we realized how good we have it here. Our last evening in Thailand, we sat on a wall overlooking the ocean, sipped the milk from chilled coconuts and watched a beautiful sunset (see website photos). We both agree that we are very thankful that God called us to Taiwan. It was good for us to see the many missionaries and their teams that Jackie’s work and the administrative office impacts.
God moved a couple of personal mountains for me this past week. One I can openly share, for many of you have been in prayer that the Lord would reveal a ministry for me. Sally, one of the discussion leader’s in BSF, invited me to meet and consider teaching the bible to her and her colleagues. I told her I would pray about it and would let her know when I returned from Thailand. On Thursday, we dined for two and a half hours at a vegetarian restaurant (another tasty first) getting acquainted. These ladies are all Chinese – High School English teachers and Sally is the only strong Christian. Although only two other ladies could join us on Thursday, there will be two more for sure who have committed to join us. They are currently on winter break and we will begin our bible study later in the month on Thursday afternoons during their free period at the school. The chemistry between these ladies is great. We laughed a lot, and I walked away from there realizing it was the most fun I have had since arriving here and I feel very confirmed and honored at the opportunity to open the Bible with these precious women. Please pray for Lisa, who needs assurance of God’s personal love for her and pray for Eleanor, who claims to be an atheist but is open to reading the Bible. Pray also that the Lord will lead me to which book of the Bible we should study together or if we should do a topical study.
Since Jackie and I missed a BSF Saturday leaders meeting, we attended a Tuesday morning leaders meeting with the ladies daytime class so we would both be prepared to lead our classes last Tuesday night. Of course Jackie was the only man, but he held his own, even during the hymn time. Please pray for all three of the BSF classes, that they will grow and that many Chinese will accept Christ as their Savior and Lord through the gospel study of Matthew.
Praise God, our son helped us find a buyer and we were able to sell our car last month to a single mom at his office who was in need of a good reliable car!
Please pray the elements of Colossians 4:2-6 for us. Thanks!
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
NIV
Our web site is down due to a hard drive problem on our server. We have put up a temporary one that has pictures from Thailand on it. Give it a look!
http://communities.msn.com/JackFran
