2004-09-25

Jackie & Fran in Taiwan
September 25, 2004 Volume 5, Number 6
In This Issue
• Nation
• Family
• Ministry
• Fellowship
• Travel
• Language
• Weird !
Links you can use
A Greeting card 4 U
Tuesday, Sept. 26 is a holiday in Taiwan. It’s called Moon Festival. Here are 3 links to sites that explain what it is all about.
Moon Festival site 1
Moon Festival site 2
Moon Festival site 3

East Asia Region
The IMBs website that tells some of what’s going on in our part of the world

Our Homepage
TheBellsite.com
We don’t update as often as we should but it is worth an occasional look
Lake Pointe Church
Our home church
If you are looking for an awesome place to worship and fellowship – go here!

What time is it?
This is a webpage that will show you what time it is where you are and where we are
FREE Bible software
I can’t believe how good this is . . . and it’s free!!!
Contact Us
Email Jackie & Fran
Nation
Since we last wrote, Taiwan has had a couple of Typhoon’s and has been hit with a lot of heavy rains. There have even been cancellations of city operations – encouraging the majority of people to stay home. Amidst the flooding, we have been safe. We know that the US and many places around the world are also facing heavy rains, however we are just reminded that we know the creator God, and we can trust Him in all things, even in severe weather.

Family
With life, we can expect changes. God has provided our son, Travis with a new job that will challenge his computer skills, and provide training for ongoing growth. We thank God for his guidance and provision in our children’s lives. As many know, for the past 10 months, Travis and our daughter Paige have been roommates in Ft. Worth and it has worked well for both of them. However, with Travis’ new job, he will be moving back to the Garland area soon. He has already secured a house and someone to help share the rent. Paige also has found her new place. She will move into an apartment complex that is closer to her office. Her room mate situation is still a matter of prayer. Pray that if she is to have a room mate that God will provide the right friend.

Jackie’s mother and brother are currently in the process of selling the house that Jackie was raised in, and purchasing a house near Lake Tawakoni so they can enjoy a quiet neighborhood near Jackie’s sister. Please pray nothing will get in the way of selling the old and closing on the new. Pray that all details will go smooth and for safe packing and moving for Paige, Travis, Mom, & Tom.

Ministry
Jackie will travel again next week. He is off to Singapore again. It looks like this will be a regular trip in the future. He helps with the technical details of getting trainees connected to a network and printers in a training center for M’s. Please pray for travel safety and stable health, as we are apart.

Both our BSF classes are off to a great start this year! Many come each week, hungry to study God’s word. The only problem we have is we do not have enough trained leaders to lead discussion groups. Unfortunately, many new registered students to our Taipei BSF Training Centers are on a “wait list???. Please pray that all 3 Taiwan classes will see God’s provision of leaders soon, so no one will be hindered from studying God’s word with us. This year’s study is in much of the New Testament. We will cover material in Acts, and 10 other books of the NT. Each week is a challenge for me as I prepare the lesson lectures. Please pray that I will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, so He can enable me to teach principles, truths, and practical applications to the students.

Fellowship
Last week about 50 missionary family members gathered for sandwiches, ice cream and worship. Those of us in the Taipei area gather a few times a year, just to have fun. We all pitch in and pull off a great feast (pot luck with a theme) without much burden on any individual. Our apartment building has a large room in the basement with kitchen facilities, table & chairs, a keyboard and hymnals. The most fun was singing the old hymns for about an hour. We just called out the page numbers and would sing one after another. I’m reminded as I study through Acts, the practices of the early church. When we gather for fellowship, share meals and worship God, he is exalted!

Travel
Jackie and I will travel together Oct 14-17 to Singapore to attend a BSF Area Retreat. It will be a great event since many of the leaders from all 3 Taipei classes will travel together. Our classes will gather with many other leaders from classes in the Northern and Central Asia Areas to meet and receive encouraging information from the San Antonio headquarters staff. It will be a blessing to hear how God’s word is being used to disciple and raise up leaders on this side of the world.

Language
Supposedly there are high peaks and low peaks in language learning. Jackie has experienced a few high peaks, but is currently in a low and discouraging valley. I am currently experiencing my first language learning peak and a few things have fallen together for me. My greatest encouragement came after lecture on Wednesday, when I had lunch with another leader and her two pre-school children. I was able to converse with bi-lingual Abbey and Jonathan – in Chinese. We discussed cars, busses, cups and ice. 5 year old Abbey is quite advanced, so I learn more from 2 year old Jonathan’s 3 & 4 word sentence phrases. I’m reminded when my children were young, and I hungered for adult conversation after spending day after day in preschool mode. It’s funny how living in another land with another language, and now I get excited over conversing with a 2 year old (fully knowing his vocabulary is much greater than mine)!

Weird
On Wednesday at 2 pm, a horn sounded around the city. I headed out to language about 2:15 to find that the streets had come to a halt. Busses, cars, scooters, & bicycles – all stopped. There were a few police scattered around at each intersection and a couple of ambulances went top speed down the street. I decided to walk to class, since the busses weren’t moving. However, I soon found out that even pedestrians were ordered to stop – I could not pass any intercessions. I asked a man what was going on, and he said it was a drill, and it should be over in a few minutes. The city of Taipei was shut down for 30 minutes for an emergency drill in case of political, war, or terrorist threats. At 2:30, the horn sounded again, and the city started moving again. Since I was already half way to language, I walked the rest of the way, arriving 15 minutes late because of the drill. Here’s a news link: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/detail.asp?ID=52660&GRP=A

Contact
Please remember, we love to hear from you, and that we love email and phone calls! Don’t forget we have a Dallas phone number: 214- 329-4296 – and remember that we are 13 hours ahead of you. (No 2am calls ??? )

Thanks
Thank you for your support through prayer and your giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It’s our joy to serve Christ in partnership with you.

Love,
Jackie & Fran
Romans 15:30