2001-03-12

Hi from Taiwan! Mar 12, 2001

Dear Family and Friends,
Realizing it’s been a month since our last prayer letter, we have many things to rejoice over and to share with you, as we remember you and thank our God for you and your ministry of prayer for us.

We rejoice in the celebration of our 28th wedding anniversary together on March 9th. As we dined over southwestern chicken sandwiches and golden fries last night, we reminisced how our last anniversary dinner was at our traditional old favorite, Steak and Ale, back in Garland. What a contrast in celebrations! We rode a taxi to dinner and jostled on a bus back to our neighborhood. The bus stop is right in front of our neighborhood McDonald’s where we treated ourselves to a soft serve ice cream cone. Just around the corner is the concession stand where we picked up a new favorite- sugar-glazed strawberries (strawberries dipped in hot melted sugar – creating a glass-like glaze – 5 per skewer). We had a double fisted pig-out while walking back to our apartment. We rejoice and thank our Heavenly Father for all the many blessings we have received on our journey together, especially for Paige and Travis as they continue to do well in school and in the work place.

Since we last wrote, Jackie returned to Thailand for a week of more computer training. This was our first time apart since we’ve moved over seas and the Lord was faithful to keep us both safe and busy while apart. Jackie suffered from a severe case of the flu a couple of weeks prior to his Thailand trip and we are very thankful that I never came down with the fever and chills that put him to bed for four days. Please pray Jackie can remember the details from the training and how he might also apply it to his administrative responsibilities in the East Asia Mission office. The training concerns data being accumulated for the un-reached people groups in China. Pray that Jackie’s knowledge will compliment Jim (a fellow missionary who is doing the actual research) and that the information and entries will be accurate in hopes that many individual souls will one day be affected into eternity.

Since the mission conference in January, our fellow missionaries have experienced much victory in their ministries and I have had the privilege of being involved in the weekly worship and prayer meetings where we all come together and share how God is answering many specific prayers. God is moving in Taiwan in some neat ways. For instance, one couple rejoiced over an islander who they had been witnessing to, phoned them one Sunday morning and asked to go to church with them. Being faithful church planters, they invited her over to their apartment where they sang hymns, read the Bible and prayed together. Now this was obviously the Lord at work, fulfilling the mission’s vision for church planting. The very next week, the lady wanted them to come to her home for church again and the numbers grew. Wow. Another team is rejoicing over the Lord’s swift reply to add a veteran Chinese speaking, missionary couple to help their team meet growing needs. That same team is currently planning a strategic prayer walk for short-term missionaries scheduled to come this spring. Please pray for this very strategic ministry as they work to locate the many temples in Taipei for the prayer teams to prayer-walk around, as they ask the Lord to remove, replace or close them all down. We share these reports from our fellow missionaries because their work encourages us as we seek to do our part here in Taiwan.

The past few weeks have picked up for me. I’m no longer a substitute discussion leader in BSF but have begun shepherding a group for the remainder of this year’s study that finishes in May. Please pray for quick bonding and for lively discussions among this group of single ladies. Additionally, the Lord has gifted me with a weekly prayer partner since our return from Thailand. Karen is one of our fellow missionaries who once served in Australia and has now served here for three years. Not only does she pray with me, but she also stretches me to practice my Chinese.

In our last prayer letter, I wrote about the Chinese/English teachers who desire to study the Bible together. This past week we began a study on the Holy Spirit. I was introduced and welcomed by the High School’s principle as she thanked me for committing to teach the bible to the teachers. To my surprise, we had nine (one young single man) and supposedly at least three more ladies have committed to join us next week. Sally and Jack are the only confessing Christians and have a strong witness among their colleagues. One young lady named Heather shared that she is seeking peace and clarity in her religious confusion. Please pray that I would be sensitive to the Lord’s leading, and that each lesson will clearly introduce the Lord Jesus Christ, supplying His truth for their daily living. Also, pray for an extra measure of strength for me – especially for Thursdays.

In closing, we would both like to thank you for your many prayers during our first six months in Taipei. We have not only settled into ministries here, but we both feel a little more confident in our language studies. Even our answering machine recording is in Chinese! We would appreciate your continued prayers for language retention and quick learning as we continue to attend language study classes. Jackie has cut back to three hours a week (M-W-F) and I am currently studying 5 hours a week (M/W/F). Thank you all, for your love, emails, phone calls, letters and cards.

May the Lord Bless you, enlarge your influence for Christ, keep His hand upon you and keep all evil away from you and your family (The Jabez prayer – 1 Chronicles 4:9-10).

Love Eternally,
The TEX-ASIAN Bell’s

http://communities.msn.com/JackFran

P.S. If you get some time, visit our new web site. We finally loaded some different photos.