2004-11-20

Jackie & Fran in Taiwan
November 2?, 2004 Volume 5, Number 7
In This Issue
• Nation
• Family
• Ministry
• Prayer Requests
Links you can use
A Greeting card 4 U

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

Our Homepage
TheBellsite.com
It has a new starting page Let us know what you think
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
Thanksgivings from Taiwan!

We know this is a busy time of year for all, but we would like to take a moment to say Happy Thanksgiving! May you have a blessed time as you gather with family and friends to celebrate a day of Thanks, and may you recall all the wonderful ways to say “Thank You??? to the Lord for his goodness to you.

It’s been two months since we last wrote and a lot has happened.

Nation
There have been several pretty strong earthquakes lately. No damage in Taipei but we sure did feel them. One was after the lights were out but we were not asleep. Now that’s a weird feeling – total darkness and the bed is shaking like crazy. You really feel helpless.
Taiwan is about to have an important election. They evidently have elections every year instead of consolidating like we do in the USA. This year it is for quite a few seats in the legislature. Locals say it is important because it will have an effect on the next presidential election

Family
Our family has gone through significant changes. My Mom was in the hospital again this week, this time with pneumonia. My sister Brenda was in a tragic accident that took the life of a child. Brenda is fine, but hurting emotionally for the family. My brother Scotty had nose surgery and is recovering well. Jackie’s Mom and brother Tom moved to Lake Tawakoni. Travis moved back to Garland and started a new job. His 2 dogs like their new home much better than the apartment he and Paige used to share. He really likes his new job and each day is like an adventure to him; however he is working a lot of hours and had to drop out of BSF for now. Paige moved into a different apartment, closer to work and closer to her new ministry in the Young Adult BSF class. She is serving as a discussion leader this year and is enjoying meeting many new friends.

Ministry
Jackie has traveled twice with work in the last two months twice (three times counting the BSF retreat explained below). First was a trip to Singapore to offer technical assistance for the training session there. Next was a trip to Thailand to do a site survey for next year’s Annual General Meeting. This is the fourth year running he is responsible for the seminar training rooms. The Big event is early February.
Jackie & I attended our Regional BSF Retreat in Singapore last month and it was great fun! It brought me much joy as 13 of our 17 women leaders experienced this retreat together. It strengthened their faith through the teaching in Daniel, and grew their bond through an extended time of fellowship as we all traveled together. BSF reported that their greatest percentage of growth has been in the Asia classes. There were 1,000 leaders representing 42 classes, in 11 nations. The Saturday night dinner was very colorful as most wore native dress, representing China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. No, we didn’t dress in cowboy boots and cowboy hats, we dressed in Asian native dress also (see pics).

Our Day Women’s BSF class is growing both spiritually and in numbers. We currently have 30 women on the wait list, which we hope to be able to place in about 3 weeks after we get 2-3 new leaders trained. Weekly, we receive God sized reports how He is transforming lives and strengthening the faith of those who come each week applying the study to their personal lives. Our Children’s Program is effectively teaching the word of God, and hymns to the children. One child recently asked his Grandmother when will she stop going to the temple to make sacrifices to false gods, and then he invited her to go to church with him. Another told the entire bible story to God as she said her bedtime prayers with her mommy. The leaders make me smile, as I observe them soak in the training and then serve the children and ladies in our class each week.

Prayer Requests:
• Paige and Travis are coming to visit Dec 24 – Jan3! Please pray for them as the time draws near, that all details wall fall in place so they can come have a great time with us.
• A new language study semester begins Nov 29! Jackie will continue to take 6 hours a week and I am cutting back to 4 hours a week. Pray that the new vocabulary that is being introduced to us will stick. We plan to learn some Bible terms in Mandarin during this next semester.
• Pray for complete recovery for my mom Bobbie from pneumonia and from a severe muscle strain.
• Pray for my sister Brenda that the accident will be removed from her daily memories.
• Pray for Jackie’s mom and brother as they adjust to a new home (after 50 years in the old one).
• Please pray that Travis’s hours in his new job will settle down so he can return to the Dallas BSF class soon. It means a lot to us that we have a common bible study to discuss with both Paige and Travis, knowing they are getting good solid teaching.

Thanks
In all things we give Thanks.
We thank God for you always!
Love,
Jackie and Fran

Romans 15:30
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-xxxx – and we are now 14 hours ahead of you. (No 2am calls ??? )

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