Dear Friends,

This is just to let you know that our latest prayer update is online. You can access it by clicking here: http://www.crossing7.com/reachtaiwan/content/schindler-update-20120516

Also, feel free to browse our past updates by clicking on the following link: Past Updates.

Thanks so much for your interest and support for our ministry here in Taipei!

Erich and Kelley

Early this week I watched a YouTube video my friend posted called "100 First World Problems". As the title suggests, this video names 100 of the most common 'problems' experienced by people living in first world countries. As I watched it, I found it eye-opening and disheartening at the same time. Eye-opening in the sense of just how fortunate I am that these are the kinds of problems I have, and disheartening to think just how often we live in our little bubbles and become consumed in our 'problems', when in comparison to a large majority of our world, they aren't problems at all. 

After watching this video, every time myself, Erich, Niall, or Hannah (our housemates) complained about something, one of us would say "first world problem" and we'd regain a proper perspective on the situation. Well, I definitely think God has a sense of humor as we are in the process of learning things. Two days ago, as I was wrapping up a session at a shelter for teenage girls, my iPhone dropped out of my bag and onto the floor smashing the screen (here I might inject that this is the 2nd time this has happened to me). As I stared at it lying on the ground my immediate thought was, "Again?! You've got to be kidding me. I have the worst luck." But, no more than 2 minutes past until I heard a little voice inside my head saying "first world problem". Here I was, at a shelter for teenage girls who have suffered lives of abuse, abandonment, pain, and hurt, and I'm upset about my iPhone breaking. Unfortunate? Yes. A problem? I don't think so. 

Dear Friends,

This is just to let you know that our latest prayer update is online. You can access it by clicking here: http://www.crossing7.com/reachtaiwan/content/schindler-update-20120419

Also, feel free to browse our past updates by clicking on the following link: Past Updates.

Thanks so much for your interest and support for our ministry here in Taipei!

Erich and Kelley

Things we are grateful for #11-#20

1. Bicycles that work! Erich's bike had just about reached its last leg when he was given another bike for free from a church friend. Kelley's was also broken last week, but is now fixed and running well.

2. Worship music. As we spend a lot of time on buses, MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), etc. traveling to different places, to be able to listen to music is such a blessing as it encourages and speaks truth.

3. Chinese cell groups. We both now attend 2 Chinese cell groups. One is for leaders and is led by our Pastor and his wife, and in the other ones we are attenders. Each serve to challenge, grow, and help us in our Christian walk.

4. Fresh fruit drinks. On the little streets surrounding our apartment are several places to buy fresh fruit drinks, which are always a welcome treat. They're healthy, refreshing, and delicious!

5. Cards from 'home'. Email and Facebook are great tools for keeping in touch with family and friends around the world, but nothing beats a hand-written card from home (espcially when it's handmade from your 8 year-old niece)!

6. A doctors visit is only $4 USD (including medicine!). With the weather changing drastically lately, it's easy to catch colds. We're so thankful for the good medical care in this country, and that it is cheap!

7. Family that is supportive and encouraging. Living so far away from family is hard, but we're so thankful for our families who write, call, and pray for us. We couldn't do this without their support!

8. Meals with old friends. Last Sunday we had dinner with two of our previous Chinese teachers. It was great to catch up with them, and be encouraged to hear from 'the teacher's mouth' that our Chinese has greatly improved!

9. Nearby parks. Close to our apartment are two parks. They are a wonderful 'escape' from the busyness of city life.

10. A Taiwanese man riding pass us on his bicycle a couple times, each time yelling "Happy New Year!", "Happy Birthday!", most likely because that's all he knew how to say in English :)

Dear Friends,

Just a quick note letting you know that we've switched this site's commenting system over to Disqus. This will make it much easier for our readers to leave comments on content we post. Disqus supports a variety of social networking logins, which should make commenting on our blog even smoother.

Since this is a new feature there might be some minor glitches though (older comments might not display 100% correctly).

Cheers,
  Erich and Kelley 

Dear Praying Friends,

Truth Church's head pastor, Pastor Yang, just finished attending Taiwan-wide church leadership meetings, which have produced the following ambitious goals: 

By 2015 the Taiwan Church prayerfully commits to…

…raise the rate of Christians from the current 10(!) to 15% Taiwan-wide*

…send out 1,500 missionaries

…establish 1,500 church-to-church prayer networks

…raise birth and marriage rates island-wide

…lower abortion and divorce rates island-wide

What's even more amazing is that these goals were formed across denominational lines. No longer do Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Independent, or other denominational distinctives divide the Church - the Taiwanese church is unified and carrying the Blessing to Abraham to the whole of the island and beyond!

How neat that we can be a part of this revival, and thanks for partnering with us and the Taiwanese church in prayerfully reaching these goals by 2015!

Blessings,
  Erich and Kelley 

* Only 3-4 years ago the official percentage of Christians in Taiwan was under 5% - Revival is truly happening, and the country is turning to Christ!

Dear Friends,

This is just to let you know that our latest prayer update is online. You can access it by clicking here: http://www.crossing7.com/reachtaiwan/content/schindler-update-20120315

Also, feel free to browse our past updates by clicking on the following link: Past Updates.

Thanks so much for your interest and support for our ministry here in Taipei!

Erich and Kelley

The Garden of Hope is an organization offering help, care, and hope for women and girls who are under-privileged, who are victims of abuse, who have been trafficked, and/or who have been abandoned. It's here where God has opened up many doors for me (Kelley) to serve through Bible studies, shelter ministry, teaching, and translation. Our church, Taipei Truth Church, has had a relationship with the Garden of Hope for some time, as others from the congregation have served there before, or are currently serving there. I feel extremely blessed to have been led here, and can already see myself growing as I get to serve, minister to, and love these needing people. Last week as I was visiting one of the shelters set up for teens coming from domestic violence, abuse, and abandoned backgrounds, I had the chance to talk one-on-one with a 17 year old girl, and share with her about the gift of prayer. I shared how God is listening to her too, and wants to be her help. At the end, I got to pray for her as well. It was a sweet time, and I trust the Lord is going to keep working not only in her heart, but the others as well. 

Thanks be to God, for He is our Hope and ever present help in times of trouble! May these precious ones know that truth as well!

The Garden of Hope

Dear Friends,

Here's a short video showing some less-known facts about Taiwan - enjoy!

Dear Friends,

This is just to let you know that our latest prayer update is online. You can access it by clicking here: http://www.crossing7.com/reachtaiwan/content/schindler-update-20120215

Also, feel free to browse our past updates by clicking on the following link: Past Updates.

Thanks so much for your interest and support for our ministry here in Taipei!

Erich and Kelley

We wanted to share an evening shot we recently took of a temple in the northern part of Taipei. This is a common sight in Taiwan, and you can see several idols illuminated inside. 
Please pray for the people of Taiwan to be freed from the binding superstitions of idol worship that control much of their daily lives, and for the light of the Gospel to illuminate more and more people's lives here in Taiwan!

Dear Friends,

For Chinese New Year this year we got invited to our friend Robin's family. We met up with him and then drove to his grandma's apartment on the north side of Taipei (close to the National Palace Museum, if you've ever been there :). Robin's whole family is Christian, which is very unusual for Taiwanese families. We celebrated the new year with a big feast, prepared by his grandma and aunties. After dinner we played Mahjong and watched TV until we left for home after midnight.

The whole night was marked by God's love and Christian family harmony. Please pray with us for more Taiwanese families to know our God, who is the truest source of all family peace! The video below shows a neat part of Taiwanese family tradition, in which the children bless their elders, and then receive red envelopes stuffed with money in return! Even us guests received several red envelopes - how kind!

The video is in High Definition quality, so you might need to let them load for a little while before playing, depending on your internet speed. But then you can play them on "full screen" mode!
 

Blessings,
  Erich and Kelley

Many of our friends who write blog posts dedicate one day a week to writing out a list of things they are thankful for. It's always an encouragement to read and a good reminder to take a step back and reflect on God's goodness. So, we're going to follow in their footsteps and have a blog post on 'thankfulness' each week. Enjoy!

Things we're grateful for #1-#10

1. Family who travels countless hours and miles to visit us (thanks Jan and Lukas!)
2. Familiarity of our neighborhood and 'friends' (street vendors, tea shop workers, etc.) that we see every day
3. Our Taiwanese brothers and sisters who accept us as one of their own
4. Housemates who are like family
5. Prayer partners
6. Speaking Chinese becomes easier and more fluent each day
7. Skype to keep in touch with friends and family 
8. A laundromat 5 minutes away so we can have dry jeans in January (in January and February it can take days for clothes to dry outside!)
9. A special sheet and mattress cover that have helped our allergies immensely
10. The fact that today is January 19th and it's almost 70 degress outside (unusal for sure, but so welcomed!)

Dear Friends,

This is just to let you know that our latest prayer update is online. You can access it by clicking here: http://www.crossing7.com/reachtaiwan/content/schindler-update-20120118

Also, feel free to browse our past updates by clicking on the following link: Past Updates.

Thanks so much for your interest and support for our ministry here in Taipei!

Erich and Kelley