Following another scrumptious meal from the fantastic cooks at Truth, the main part of the evening kicked off with a highly amusing game, originally brought to Taiwan by the lovely Alicia (now living back in the States). Something between charades and music chairs, the game involved forming groups of various numbers and acting/dancing out interesting scenarios such as “KTV”, “baseball home run” and my personal favourite the “Chinese Dragon”.

Following Rick’s skit, in which our friend Jim (aka Eric) hits someone else’s car, and is reluctant to follow Su’s (Julianne’s) wise words of instruction, John Carlson gave a basic introduction to the Bible, addressing its purpose, the many kinds of literature and writings contained within it, and ways in which we can apply its words to our lives. John aptly illustrated the concept of “one author, many scribes”  by comparing its compilation to the construction of Taipei 101, our city’s tallest skyscraper. Just as Taipei 101 has a single architect, or group of architects behind it, so the Bible has a single overall author – God. But in fact Taipei 101 was built by many hands, just as the Bible was written by many different people, following the perfect leading of the Holy Spirit.

I’m constantly struck by the openness and honesty of those who attend the course (and of Taiwanese people in general), and tonight was no exception. One girl said she had no idea the Bible contained so many different kinds of literature – she had assumed it was simply a book of instructions – and is very keen to come back next week to find out more. She also asked me lots of questions about what it’s like to be a Christian, and I really appreciated being able to talk frankly and directly about my day to day experience of living with Jesus.

This week there won’t be a Friday night meeting, as we’re all off to the seaside bright and early for the Alpha weekend. It’ll be so much fun to spend a whole weekend with our new friends – all of us co-workers are getting very excited about it already! Please pray that we’d really stay focused on God this week, and that we’d prepare our hearts for what could be quite an intense and emotional weekend. Please pray that many of those who attend meet with God for the first time, and enter into a relationship with him. Please also pray for protection against illness or attack, since Satan often tries particularly hard to discourage us before major events such as this one.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support – we really appreciate them, knowing that we can do nothing good in our own strength, and everything in His strength! Praise God!