What you see here are stories starting at #1000.  For the earlier stories, you've got to go to another place:   www.rca.org/alexander  

Our most recent "dear friends" letter can be found at     images.rca.org/docs/letters/alexander.pdf 

Story 1103 Guests at Tables (January 28)
    The dining hall at Tainan Theological College doesn't operate on weekends because most students are out 
on field-education assignments. During holidays everyone goes home. The  international students don't have
field education work and have too far to go for a homeward journey, so they're left to fend for themselves.  
Since winter vacation is so long, this has left several of them buying bread and fruit or grabbing box lunches 
at 7-Eleven (around the corner from the college). So, we invited them to dinner on Saturday evening. Nine of 
the ten showed up. 
    When they come to us for breakfast every few weeks, we set up a buffet in the kitchen and extra chairs 
in the living room, where we eat from plates on our laps. This time we set two tables for 6; one in the 
kitchen and one by the front door. It required just about every plate, glass, bowl, fork and spoon in the 
house, but we had a wonderful 3 hours together.
     Conversation was intentionally steered away from business. We learned a lot about each others' 
homes, likes and dislikes.  A world atlas that our son had given Char for Christmas was brought out and we 
looked at maps of many countries, comparing land sizes, locations, and populations.  
    The needs for fellowship and food brought the event about, but the arrangement around tables in 
different rooms really made it fly.  We've got to remember that in the future. 

Story 1102 A Trip to the Beach (January 27)
    During the New Year holidays lots of stores close, the government shuts down, and crowds are out and 
about. That was enough to keep us home and off the roads. By Friday we were suffering from cabin fever, 
so we went to the beach.  Though we had to drive through crowds at a popular tourism site on the way, the 
trip was worth the trouble. The sun was shining, and the wind was not cold. It felt good.  We wonder why, 
since it's only a 15 to 20 minute drive, we don't go there more often. This side of Taiwan is not the Pacific 
Ocean, but the straits. 100 miles away, the Chinese army has over a thousand missiles aimed at us. But, it's 
open water, you can see to the horizon, and its a great place to stroll.   
    Refreshed, we did our weekend shopping on Friday evening and came home to a relaxed evening with 
our cat.  We hope you got some rest, too. 

Story 1101 Book Fair (January 26 & 28)
    When Kate came home for Christmas we moved a book case onto the balcony to make room for her bed in our study. We emptied the books from the case and stuffed them into the remaining shelves in the room. After she left, we decided it was time to cull our shelves. On Thursday, the day arrived.
    We used 3 categories: recycles, sale to a used book store, and free books for theological students. The recycle pile, things too damaged to pass along, was the smallest. The used-book -store pile yielded $35 when they were taken in. Now the free books need to be unpacked onto a shelf by Dave's office and an announcement of their availability needs to be made. 
    The items remaining in the house, no small collection, now needs to be dusted and arranged, after which we will, no doubt, continue to acquire more things, but hopefully not so many that we have to bring that book case back in from the balcony. 

Story 1100 Temple Tour (January 25)
    The international students of Tainan Theological College have been pretty much holed up on campus for 
most of the time since arriving in the fall. Their courses are difficult, involving lots of reading, reflecting and 
writing. Though living in Taiwan, they're at a school where all students and teachers are Christians. When 
they go out it's usually to church-related activities. It hasn't been easy for many of them, coming from 
countries where Christianity is the majority religion , to get a feel for the religious context of Taiwan, where 
Christians are a very small minority. On Wednesday afternoon we escorted them to see the other side. 
    Taiwan's religious life is dominated by animistic folk religion mixed with elements of Buddhism, Taoism and 
Confucianism.  We walked for the tour, and without going much more than a mile in a circle, visited the 
Temple of the Virtuous Woman; the Temple of Tainan's city god; the Temple of the god of hell; the Temple 
of the goddess of Fertility and a Temple to the Earth god.  The first and last of these were empty, functioning
 as self-service prayer shrines. At these we pointed out some features of folk religion in general.  
    At the temples of the City god, and the fertility goddess, things were hopping. People were praying, 
burning incense, and offering sacrifices of spirit money in front of every altar. They were all ages.  Many of
Taiwan's people, though perhaps not particularly devout through the year, will make special trips to temples 
as part of their new year observances.  
    The Temple of the god of hell, where people make offerings to get family members out of perdition, is 
usually active with many visitors, shamans performing ceremonies, and evidence of people in fear. But during 
the new year it was relatively inactive because people don't like to think of death around this holiday. Even so,
 the temple's spirit-money furnace held a bright blaze of sacrificial offerings. 
    We closed the afternoon with coffee, tea and cake in our living room.  A pleasant antidote to the 
idolatrous and hellish environments where we had spent earlier hours.  We're hopeful that the exposure to 
the context of religion in Taiwan helps these students to better understand the challenge facing Taiwan's 
churches and to look more analytically at their own religious environments. 

Story 1099 The Year of the Dragon (January 23)
    After an eerily quiet Sunday afternoon on the 22nd, there were lots of firecrackers around midnight and 
the year of the dragon began. Much is made of the significance of this, the most auspicious of the 12 years 
in the cycle. Dragon-year children are said to be more blessed, more clever, and have more potential than 
those born under the other 11 animals in the Chinese zodiac. To have a dragon child is so desirable that, in 
China, where families may only have one child, some couples time their fertility to favor this year. In a 
television interview last week, a Chinese woman enthused about the possibility that her as yet unborn 
dragon baby might become the head of a large corporation!  In Taiwan, where births are not 
government-limited, there's also rise in births every dragon year. Schools plan for a bumper crop of students
 every time around. Since Taiwan now has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, all babies born this year 
will be very welcome. 
    The day dawned cold and rainy in Tainan. Though we usually walk to church, we took the car. Because of 
the weather, because people go “home” for the holiday, and because we'd all been in church the day before, 
attendance on Monday morning's new year service was half of the usual crowd. Dr. Lin preached on a 
combination of texts, “vanity of vanities” from Ecclesiastes and “If anyone be in Christ, they are a new 
creation” from II Corinthians. He hit the occasion exactly right.     
    Whatever the positive or negative aspects of the year, there's a lot of word play in Taiwanese this year. 
"Dragon" sounds just like "all". Even the written word looks similar.  So an expression like, “everyone's 
coming” sounds just like “there's a dragon on the way.” We've enjoyed a week of down time to relax, 
attend to things otherwise left for “later”, and to reflect on our own situations.

Story 1098 Eerily Quiet for New Year's Eve (January 22)

    As we write on Sunday afternoon it is New Year's Eve. Families are headed home for the holidays. Last- minute preparations for this evenings' feasts are being made. It's quiet in the city. At midnight it will roar with firecrackers, but, for now, all is still.  Happy New Year, one and all.

Story 1097 Why We Post Things on the Fridge (January 20)
    For all the years we've been in Taiwan, except for school concerts in which our children were performing, we rarely went to musical performances. When we moved onto campus at Tainan Theological College in 2008 we started attending things put on by the music department. Then, a year ago, we began going to some community choir concerts. On Friday night three choirs did a joint performance. We'd had the notice up on the 'fridge for long enough to forget it was there. Char noticed and remembered just in time.
    Though not a church-related concert, it was held at Westview Avanue Church, which has a barrel ceiling and wonderful acoustics. The choirs, one of children, one of high school students and one of adults, sang separately and then offered a joint encore.  All three groups are directed by Liou Yu-chin, a member of Dongning Presbyterian Church. She's a music teacher at the high school, where there's been a choir for over 20 years. The "boys-soon-to-be-men" sing beautifully under her leadership. Though the school is public, and not at all affiliated with a church, their repertoire is mainly sacred, principally in Latin and English.
    Three years ago the "Seeds of Hope" children's choir was started. A community group, it uses Dong-ning Church as a rehearsal hall. From the look of the children, resplendent in hot pink T-shirts, the ages run from about 4 to 14. They sing beautifully, sacredly, and also in many languages. We heard Latin, English and Spanish. The adult choir has only been working together for a little over a year, but includes several members of Dong-ning Presbyterian Church, which is how we learned about the event. They sang difficult pieces, but got to look at their music (rather than memorizing it, as the younger singers had done).
    Taiwan is a very secular society, but most of the music of these three groups was honoring God. Ms. Liou manages to be a professional, faith-filled and a loving presence to the many people whom she directs and trains.  Holding the concert in a church also brings people who normally don't darken such doors into a sanctuary, where they encounter the kind of atmosphere that would greet them should they ever come in for a Sunday service.  Evangelism takes many forms. Some of them are set to music.

Story 1096 Mark 'em and Strike 'em (January 20)
    Since mid-September Char has been grinding. She has ground out lesson plans and quizzes, ground out corrections and ground out scores. Last week she ground out final grades. On Friday she opened her class files on the university website and reported the grades to the dean's office. Having told the university's computer that her decision was final, she printed off copies, stamped them with her seal and marched them over to the post office.  Done, with about 8 hours to spare before the deadline.  Winter vacation can now begin.

Story 1095 Entrance Exam Design (January 20)
    In December the Academic Committee of Tainan Theological College assigned Dave to prepare an English Language Evaluation section for the college's 2012 entrance examinations. This year the traditional July examination will be supplemented by one given in April for university seniors who want to know if they are admitted here or if they should look for jobs instead.
    The English Evaluation will come in 2 parts. One tests for ability to learn English and the other the ability to use English in the kinds of uses it will be put to at a theological college, specifically, the Bible in English. Traditionally both tests required applicants to memorize stuff for just long enough to put it onto the exam. Dave's orientation is along the lines of, "Can a student use English to benefit from books in the library that may be needed for research?" So memorization doesn't rank high with him.
    For the Bible exam he plans to ask the students to make a theological argument based on paired texts, one from Genesis and one from Luke. These will be on the exam page in English along with a question. The sample that he's distributing has Abraham bargaining with God over the fate of Sodom paired with Luke 13:1-9. The question asks a student to write a 1000 word essay in Chinese about God's Judgment. In the essay, only material from the two given texts can be used, and quotations have to be given in English. The idea is to see if a person can use the English text, and if he or she can make an argument. We'll see how it works. Besides the sample question, Dave has prepared four more pairs of texts, each with a writing assignment. 
    The part of the exam that assesses a student's ability in general has been drafted but not yet written. It does include some memorization, but this year instead of having to give the meaning of an English word using other English words, a student will need to know the Chinese equivalent of the English word. There are 500 words on the list. Alongside that, students will have to translate sentences which use those words from English into Chinese. The first part of the test, knowing the meanings, satisfies the need to demonstrate ability at memorization (a traditional stalwart of Asian education). The second satisfies Dave's personal desire that students demonstrate ability to do something with the information they've memorized.

Story 1094 BFF (January 19 & 21)
    On Saturday, the 21st, Char's  BFF (best friend forever), Peggy, left for a year's home assignment in the USA. The two women spent Thursday together: a little shopping, a leisurely lunch and a walk on the beach. Peggy and her husband, Barry, are missionaries with the World Venture organization. In 1988 they arrived in Taiwan and moved into an apartment upstairs from us in Kaohsiung. In the years since then they've been involved in church planting and evangelistic work. We seem to alternate years of home assignment. Char and Peggy sometimes don't see each other for more than a year at a time, but for the past 30 months they've only been one town away, so visits are not rare, and telephone conversations are frequent.
    Peggy will be in Denver for several months and then in New Jersey. We hope that during our own home assignment, to be spent in Michigan starting in August, there will be an opportunity for a visit.  Until then it will be e-mail, less frequent phone calls, and a lot of loneliness.

Story 1093 New Ventures (January 17-18)
    With the fall term now finished, Dave is looking ahead to the spring at both Tainan Theological College and Chin-li University. He will likely be teaching 6 courses, four of which are totally new. One of his new university courses comes with an excellent assigned textbook so that he'll only have to follow what's there. Two of his other courses there continue what he taught in the fall, so he just has to stay the course. The remaining course is totally new, and has no set textbook. So Dave wrote one over the past few weeks. He used articles about environmental subjects that he gleaned from several places,including the United Methodist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. The course will be for a group of seniors in a department of the University's Management College. After sending the not-yet-edited files to the department chairman he got back a note of appreciation and the news that not only seniors, for whom the class is designed, will be attending, but handful of auditors from younger classes.
     At Tainan Theological College Dave's courses are for the extension division (similar to the "Journey" program of Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI). The students are generally lay leaders of churches rather than persons preparing for full-time ministry. His first course is "The Contents, History and Usefulness of Catechisms." He's designed it to help participants look at and compare catechisms, including one written in Taiwan about 15 years ago. Catechisms never caught on in Taiwan, and as a result clear and well thought through statements regarding the Christian faith are rare in the religious world here. The second course "Public Prayer" is offered because worship in most churches here is led by lay leaders. Ordained ministers do the preaching and the benediction. Oftentimes, prayers offered spontaneously can be rather cliche-ridden. So the course will help people to plan their prayers before leading a congregation. Then, no matter whether the prayer is read off the page or delivered without notes, the Holy Spirit will have been given time to work with the leader.

Story 1092 One to Canaan (January 15)
    Because they are without a pastor, and because someone gave Dave's phone number to the elders, another invitation to preach at Canaan Presbyterian Church came last month. Originally for January 8th, it was shifted back a week to the 15th. No problem... he hadn't started working on a sermon yet.  Last time he went (the end of October), four of the international students of Tainan Theological College went along.  This time, only one, Lova Rakotoarisoa from Madagascar, joined the trip.
    Besides having a good time with a lively and loving congregation, Dave and Lova had a wonderful couple of hours in the car on the way to and from, and a pleasant meal together.  The international students of Tainan Theological College are now on winter break, but since they are all in a program for which they must do heavy reading and lots of writing, there will be little rest.  Dave is glad that Lova carved out the hours they spent together today.

Story 1091  Election, Blues (January 14)
    The two main political parties in Taiwan have names, but generally go by colors, green and blue.  In the presidential and legislative election that was held yesterday the blues retained the presidency, with a majority of 51.6%. They also held onto their majority in the legislature. Though the portion of the vote that went to this party was less than in similar elections 4 years ago, it still leaves the same bunch in power.
    The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, to which we belong as missionaries of the Reformed Church in America, generally leans "green" in political matters. Nothing in Taiwan history and politics is simple to explain, but the difference between the parties is mainly about commitment to Taiwan and an independent future over against a commitment to forging closer economic ties to China for the sake of business and making money. Those with the strong commitment to Taiwan fear this is a dangerous game that could eventually threaten the nominal independence Taiwan has enjoyed from China for 116 years. Almost NO ONE (acutally, only about 10% of the population) favors political unification with China. In the meantime, China continues to claim Taiwan as a break-away province and has around 1600 missiles aimed at our heads.
    So, today all around this nation, where the election went to the blues, there are many people suffering from post-election blues.

Story 1090  Small World (January 13)
    Having spent the day evaluating final interview forms while seated at the living room couch, Char was ready for a break and some time outdoors.  She needed some things from a grocery store a couple of blocks from home, so walked over there with a canvas bag in her hand.  The grocery is in the basement of a nearby department store. You enter it after walking through the food court. 
    On her way out, she ran into Carrie, a student in her freshman English course at Chang Jung Christian University. They were both surprised.  Carrie was working at a food court restaurant. She took a minute to chat with Char about her job and about how worried she was about the exams she had just finished and her grades at university. Already, in her first semester of her first year, she has a part-time job off campus, which is subtracts from her study hours(and she's often falling asleep in Char's class).  Carrie told Char that she is working and saving her pay in order to buy her own motor scooter.
    How different things are now from when we began in mission work in 1976. Back then we rarely met a university student who had done anything but study.  Resumes generally included things about how the student's  father works hard and mother makes good meals. Students had no experience outside of the classroom or the home.   Nowadays many have part-time jobs and all manner of real-world experiences before they complete their studies.  On the one hand, this is constructive, but on the other, one might wonder whether the loss of study time to fund a motor scooter is the best investment of oneself.

Story 1089 The Midnight Rambler (January 12)
    After four weeks at home, Grant took a midnight bus out of Tainan on Wednesday to connect with flights that would have him back in Chicago the next day.  He left here in cool weather (50s and 60s), and arrived there in a snowstorm. We heard that his flight, coming in from Hong Kong, was the last one allowed to land.  He has more than jet-lag to get through. A flip of the weather, and the onset of a new semester as a chemistry major, are in the cards. 

Story 1088  Off the Street (January 11)
    Last semester during a free-talk session with a group of students, Char noted that one guy introduced himself as a Christian and distributed tracts to the others, a rather unusual event. This week, in her interview with him, she learned much more about John (as he calls himself in English).
    John was a bad kid. As a teenager, he fought with others and started taking drugs. It got so bad that his parents gave up on him and threw him out of the house. For a while he was homeless and said, "I felt like trash." One day, wandering the streets, he was approached by a person who began to talk about Jesus and invited him to church for a worship service. His heart was moved by what he heard there. Jesus met with him, and John knew himself as saved.  Since then he has returned home, testified to his family, demonstrated his changed life, and both his mother and sister have come to faith in Christ (his father is not yet decided). 
    Though he's not the most diligent of students, John is quite ardent about the Savior who found him and the faith that he has found.  This kind of zeal is to be encouraged, and it encouraging to see.

Story 1087  Examination Week (January 9-13)
    Both of us were busy with examinations this week: writing them, giving them and scoring them. Monday found Dave giving the final to his class at Tainan Theological College.  Though he had written the examination last spring, when he wrote the textbook and teachers' materials for the course, he modified it a couple of weeks ago and didn't get it printed until the morning of the day it was given.
    Monday had Char still busily writing an exam to give to one class the following day  (She had finished  another class's test on Sunday). Those written tests are easier to give, but require much more preparation and scoring work.  Dave also gave exams on Tuesday to a couple of university classes. One test was written, but the other was taped. He'll have to listen to those 22 individual tapes, each about 10 minutes, to know how his students have performed.
    On Wednesday Char made an extra trip to Chang Jung Christian University to interview students during their lunch hour.  The following day she interviewed all morning and into the afternoon.  This process for final exams gives her a very good indication of whether or not the students are learning anything while helping her to learn about them, too.
    Now all that remains for both of us is to finish scoring exams, computing grades, and turning them in.  Then the winter vacation and preparation for the term that starts on February 13th can begin.

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ENGLISH VERSION OF THE SERMON DAVE PREACHED, In Taiwanese ON JANUARY 15 At Canaan Presbyterian Church

DATE: 15 January 2012 at Canaan Presbyterian Church in Taiwanese

TOPIC: Listening for God among the Voices

TEXT: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

TITLE: Speak Lord, for your servant is listening

OBJECTIVES: To unpack Samuel’s story in the Taiwan Context, To see ourselves in Samuel’s situation, To tune listeners’ ears to the call of God amid the noise of Taiwan life

PROPOSITION: Hearing GOD’S voice requires us to listen intentionally

PRAY: Ps 19:14

GREET: “Peace”

INTRODUCTION

When I was a teenager I begin to drive a car. My brother had gone to be a soldier, so I got “his car”. An important part of that car for me was the radio. The car had no air conditioner, so I drove with the windows open. I heard music, the other cars around me, and lots of other sounds.

Now, driving with the Air conditioner on, the windows closed, and listening to music, I don’t hear much else, so when an ambulance comes, I’m often surprised.

I teach at the night school of Chin-li University in Moa-tao. After class, going to my car, I notice students preparing ride motorbikes. Most put on their safety helmets but many also put in earphones to be able to listen to music when they ride. Good earphones cut out all sound of the music, so they may be surprised not only by ambulance, but also by big truck, bus, or very fast car.

TRANSITION

Hearing the sounds that we NEED to hear, like ambulance sirens, requires that those sounds be loud and that we not put other sounds between us and the ones we need.

There’s a story in the Bible of a prophet who was discouraged. He wanted strong encouragement from God, but when it came, God did not speak loudly, in earthquake, wind or fire. God’s powerful encouragement came in a small voice.(I Kings 19:11-12)

I: Samuel’s Situation

The story of the boy Samuel is a popular one to tell in Sunday School because it is about a child who served God in the tabernacle. Much is made of how he was born to Hannah, a “second wife” who had been barren and dedicated to God before he was born. In I Samuel 2 there’s the story of how, after his mother and father had left him in the tabernacle as a very young boy, they would visit one time every year, and his mother would make him a robe to wear. After he was weaned, he saw his parents only one time per year. (There are pastors in Taiwan churches today who tell the story of how their parents dedicated them to the Lord to be pastors when they were young. Aren’t we glad that they weren’t left at the church without parents to care for them?)

When Samuel was a boy, the Israelite people’s faith in God was not strong. The high priest, Eli, was a very old man. Nothing wrong with That! But his sons, who were to inherit the job from him, were corrupt. They would not listen to their father or to God. They only wanted what they desired for their comfort and pleasure.

Samuel’s life was surrounded by the noise of faithlessness, and the noise of the folk religion that the people practiced when the priests ignored the true religion of God. He served the old man, Eli, doing “non-priest” jobs in the tabernacle make the old man comfortable and keep the place.

Did you notice verse 7? Samuel was living in the tabernacle, ministering to the Lord under Eli, but “he did not yet know the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” Neither Eli nor his sons (the priests at the tabernacle) considered Samuel worthy of being taught. These men failed. But God accepted this service, as we read in verse 1 “Samuel was ministering to the Lord”.

At that time, we read, “The word of the Lord was rare, visions were not widespread, and even Eli was dim.” But, “the lamp of the Lord had not gone out”. Nothing, not even unbelief, neither then in that place nor now in our Taiwan, can stand against the power and glory of God.

As the story goes, God spoke to Samuel. God called him by name, “Samuel, Samuel”. The boy didn’t know who was calling, so he didn’t understand what he was hearing. He thought this was part of the background noise of his life, so he went to the man he served, Eli. He went three times, seeking the answer to his confusion in the wrong place. Finally, the wrong place (Eli) figured out what was happening, and told Samuel what to do, to intentionally listen to the voice, because it was from God.

The fourth time God called, Samuel’s response was, “Speak, for your servant is listening”

TRANSITION

Samuel’s life was filled with noise, so much noise that NOBODY was hearing from the Lord. What about our lives in contemporary Taiwan?

II: Taiwan Situation

In recent months our lives in Taiwan have been made much, much noisier by the election that ended yesterday. Prayers were raised to heaven from temples, churches and homes regarding this election, asking that this one would win, that that one would lose. Even the candidates, people not known for their religious connections, prayed. Our Presbyterian Church in Taiwan asked that we pray that a government supportive of Taiwan would be put into office.

Identity in Taiwan is confused, because different groups in power have historically attempted to make Taiwan’s people be one thing or another. Loyal subjects of the Japanese Empire, good citizens of the Republic of China, sons of the Yellow emperor, producers for the economy. Lately many people want nothing of any of it, and choose to care only about whether or not they have money in their pockets. Before the election there was an article in an American newspaper. A Taiwanese business person in China said, “I’m being asked to choose between my own greed and my love of my homeland.” Like Samuel having to grow up without his parents, Taiwan is left without mother and father, and left to grow up in a noisy environment that gives nothing of permanence or comfort.

The noise from a consumer society says, “buy, buy, buy”. From a political world a voice says, “you’re wrong, only I am right” From a folk religious environment that says, “believe this god or that one.” Even in the Christian churches we are not free from competition of factions, some of which claim to be closer to God than the others, so much so that only they are right, and all others are wrong.

In such a noisy environment, are the people of Taiwan capable of hearing and identifying the voice of God? Or will the people of Taiwan, like the boy Samuel, having heard God’s call, mistake it for something else, and go to the wrong place to find out what to do?

Our Taiwan, like Samuel, needs to pause, turn to God, and say, “speak, for your servant is listening.”

TRANSITION

The lives of Taiwan’s people lives are filled with noise, so much noise that even when God shouts loudly, we are likely not to hear. It is easy to say that, because so few of Taiwan’s people are Christians, God is not speaking to everyone here, and to go on to say that only by coming into the church will people hear God’s word.

But God is, as we say in our PCT confession of faith, God, is “the Creator and Ruler of human beings and all things. He is the Lord of history and of the world.” So we know that God loves ALL of Taiwan’s people. God speaks to ALL of Taiwan’s People. Have you heard God lately, even in the church?

III: The Church’s situation

Like Samuel, like the nation of Taiwan, the church has an identity. Our PCT confession of faith says it this way:

We believe that the Church is the fellowship of God's people, called to proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ and to be ambassador of reconciliation. It is both universal and rooted in this land, identifying with all its inhabitants, and through love and suffering becoming the sign of hope.

Like Samuel, like Taiwan, the church lives with much noise. Just look at those words, 1) the church is a fellowship, so we should emphasize our people to people bond. 2) the church is called to proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ, so we should be about telling people about the salvation we enjoy. 3) the church is the ambassador of reconciliation, so we should go into the situations where there is conflict and seek to bring people together. 4) The church is universal and rooted in this land, so some people emphasize love of Taiwan, and others would look down on the Taiwan connection so that a more universal message could be proclaimed.

You can see that the church lives with noise, as did Samuel, as does Taiwan.

The solution is in listening intently for what God says to us, 1)in the Bible, to be sure, but also 2) in the voices of the fellowship, 3) in the Holy Spirit speaking directly to our hearts, and especially 4) in the ways that God reveals our mission to us in our interaction with Taiwan. Like the boy Samuel in the story, we must be intent, and say to God, who is speaking, “your servant listens”

TRANSITION:

Christianity is a wonderful faith, because it has both personal and community aspects. Sometimes when we look at only the community aspect, we see only what God might be speaking to the church. When God was speaking to Israel in the time of Samuel, neither the nation nor the religious establishment was listening, so God got personal. God spoke to one person there and then. God speaks to 1) Taiwan, God speaks to 2) Taiwan’s Churches, and God speaks to 3) each of us, today.

CONCLUSION:

In his society, the boy Samuel was nothing. You could say that his father and mother abandoned him to the care of others. He worked in a place that people did not respect. Though it was the tabernacle, there was not much of God there, remember, even Samuel, living in the tabernacle and ministering before the Lord, did not yet know the Lord.

But he listened (if you’re interested in what he heard, you can read verses 11-14 yourself). If you’re interested in what happened to Samuel afterwards, you’ll see what God does for people who listen and obey. He became far more than an abandoned child who worked for a corrupt family of priests.

His great position in his nation is not the main thing. What is most important for us today is that he listened to God, he went on to obey God, and he was able to lead a people who had abandoned faith in God back to the Lord of History and the world, who judges and saves.

What mission does God have for you personally, for our church, for our nation of Taiwan? Learning that mission requires that we do one thing, listen intentionally for what God is telling us.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN

Let us Pray:

O God who speaks, we are here, in Taiwan, in Canaan Church, listening. Speak Lord, for your servants are listening. AMEN

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Story 1086  Election Fever (now until January 14)
    We watch the news and read the paper (both on paper and online) and can't help but be aware that a presidential campaign is going on in the USA.  But more immediate to us is the one going on in Taiwan over the past several months. It ends on Saturday, the 14th.  There are three candidates. All parties seem to be pro-business and pro-welfare. Taxation seems not to be anyone's issue. What is at stake is the relation of Taiwan to China. All candidates claim to be "pro-Taiwan", but have different visions of what that means when the question of China is put into the equation.  Of late, they seem more to be running against each other than for anything. 
    At Dongning Church prayers have been offered every week for over a year, that the election will be clean, the result clear, and the ones elected to the presidential office and to the legislature be honest as they lead this nation.  Perhaps that is a lesson for all churches in all nations where elections are in the offing.

Story 1085  Turn-in-your-card Day (January 5-6)
    To help freshman and sophomore students in the Translation Studies Department of Chang Jung Christian University acquire credit they need each semester for outside-of-class listening hours, Char is allowed to sign or stamp listening cards each time they do well on class quizzes.Students can get 1-3 hours of credit depending on their score. Since the cards were due in the department office on Friday, final catchup was done in class the day before. However, after leaving caampus, she got a call from a woman who had been absent that day. She said, "I have 5 credits due from you that haven't been signed. When will you be on campus tomorrow? I'll bring the card to you."
    Char replied, "I don't go to the university on Friday, In fact, I won't be there 'til Tuesday" That was an unexpected surprise to the student who was counting on those five credits. Thinking quickly, Char came up qwith an idea. The student could take the train to Tainan and she'd meet her at the station, which is a 10 minute walk from our house. The girl said she would think about it, and soon called back agreeing to make the trip.
    Since a new spur line from Tainan station to the High Speed Train station (which is near to Chang Jung University) opened a year ago, transportation has improved. Previously a student would need to take a slow bus or a long motorbike ride to get here. Now, with a station right next to the campus, the entire round trip can be done in about an hour, and at a cost of about US$1.70.  It was also a lot easier on Char to not have to drive back and forth just to sign a card.

Story 1084  Presidential Encounter (January 5)
    A couple of months ago the board of directors of Tainan Theological College announced that Dr. Ong Chong-giau will become acting president on February 1 and be appointed to a full 4-year term on August 1.  Since then, Dr. Ong has been on campus frequently to attend meetings and transition in to the job.  On Thursday night, at an event that brings together leaders of 4 schools, Dave ran into him and they sat at the same table for a meal. They chatted for a few minutes about plans and possibilities for changes in Dave's work at the college after the leadership transition. Because this was not an occasion for a real discussion, things were kept very light.  The friendly manner in which they relate is a strong indication of good things to come.    

Story 1083  Longevity Presbytery (January 5)
    As a minister in the Reformed Church in America, Dave is a member of the Classis of California.  His ministerial credentials in the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church are with the Presbytery of Longevity Mountain, which meets in January, July and September.  Last year he was away during the July meeting and forgot the September one, so he felt it very important to attend the January session held on the 5th.  Char is a missionary member of Presbytery, without a vote, but is always invited as an observer. Usually, though, the meetings fall on a day when she has to teach.
    Besides hearing the 2011 year-end reports of the committees and agencies (Counseling Center, Elderly Care Center, etc.), the Presbytery would pass the 2012 budget and approve ordination for probationary ministers (those who had been serving for a couple of years to demonstrate their fitness for ministry). The Presbytery also passed a plan to start one new church every two years for the next 10 years.
    Since we left Kaohsiung in 2007, occasions to see former ministry colleagues have diminished, so it was good time to chat with old friends again. Having taken a train and a taxi to get there, he caught a ride home with a theological college professor who is also a member of Longevity Mountain.       
     
Story 1082  Another kind of Marathon (January 5)
    The freshman and sophomore students in the Translation Studies Department of Chang Jung Christian University, where Char teaches, are required to get credit for out of class listening exercises every semester. Six of those hours must come in face to face contact with a foreign language teacher outside of the classroom, in groups no larger than 6 students at a time.  The final day to get credit was January 6th. Many students had left things until the last minute, so Char met with four groups on Thursday afternoon, a task that she'll try to avoid in the future.
    Conversation topics varied, but many students brought up nervousness about their final examinations. One fellow, otherwise very good in English, was worried that his poor grades would see him put out of the university, which would mean immediate induction into the army (something he'd rather wait to do until after graduating). Others were concerned about one course or another.
    Attempting to draw a group of three reticent students into conversation, Char finally found something they were willing to talk about. They feel the requirement for out of class listening is unjust, and they attempt to subvert it in every way possible.     
    There will always be students in all programs, all around the world, who come to schools to put in their hours and write their examinations, feeling that's all they need to do in order to get the degree the school owes them in exchange for the tuition payment. Hopefully these three young people will have a change of heart that will result in their trying to squeeze every benefit they can out of all the good that comes to them at the Christian university they've chosen to attend.

Story 1081  La Migra (January 3 & 6)
    Staff at the Tainan office of the central government's Immigration Department (which compares to the one in the US government that goes by the title, "La Migra"), are familiar with Dave. He goes there himself or with international students to get their registrations.  A couple of weeks ago, escorting one student, he noticed that the guy was rather downcast until they left the door. In this student's country, any encounter with a government office carries the possibility to be harrassed and abused.  The contrast with Taiwan's friendly cooperation based on clearly stated rules was stark. When they left the office, he said, "That was easy!" So, Dave reconsidered his procedure.
    When the next student's file was complete enough for the application process, Dave merely had him sign the papers and went as a representative.  Things sailed through.  Last week yet another file was ready, so Dave went again on Tuesday, but was rejected.  It turned out he had left out one official paper.  The officer politely pointed it out and assured him that all else was fine.  Knowing that the relationships are good and the rules are clear, Dave also smiled and promised to come back in a few days.  On Friday he did, with all things decently and in order. Another student is "in".
 
Story 1080  Friendly Visitor (January 3-7)
    Our friend, Ted Siverns, from Vancouver, was back at Tainan Theological College this week.  Ted is part of a non-governmental organization group of international election observers who will be on the job between the 9th and 15th as Taiwan goes through presidential and legislative elections next Saturday (the 14th).
    In 2009-2010 Ted, accompanined by his wife, Betty, was the international visiting scholar at the college. He taught international students and, in a pattern not seen before, offered and led classes for local students (working with a translator). Betty joined a couple of choirs and befriended students left and right. In a very short time they became beloved people on this campus. 
    The opportunity to return to Taiwan for the election work attracted him back. He even came a week early, so he could spend time in Tainan and renew friendships. (Betty, busy with responsibilities as a church elder in Vancouver, was unable to make the trip.) Since Ted stayed in the alumni house, next door to our place, we saw a lot of him.
    On the 7th, he headed north towards his assigned work, stopping over half-way to preach at a Taiwanese church.  We look forward to seeing him back here in the future, hopefully accompanied by Betty.

Story 1079  Forgive and Forget (January 2)
    Alongside his teaching and administrative work at Tainan Theological College, Dave accepted an assignment to incarnate a school-to-school relationship between the college and Chin-li University (a Christian school 20 miles away) by teaching for the Department of Applied English there. After one semester of teaching only one course, his course load increased to 6 hours per week last September.  Soon he was given the opportunity to lead a non-credit reading group on a topic of his own choosing. Having established trust with a Taiwan-related topic, he's ready to move towards faith.
    Looking ahead to next semester, he has submitted a proposal to the Applied English department for a group that will read and discuss "Forgive and Forget" by Lewis Smedes. This book is decidedly Christ-centered.  To get the books, he used our mailing list and asked for someone to "receive, repack and reship" them from North America.  Several people volunteered. The first was Ben Lee, an RCA pastor in New Jersey, whom we have never met. He got the job. When Dave told the head of the department that the books were ordered and on the way, she cautioned him that the proposal had not yet been approved. No matter. If the university doesn't agree, he'll run a group at the theological college as an extra-curricular activity.
    On the 6th he wrote another proposal, this time to the office of the University chaplain, to lead a group discussing "The Purpose Driven Life".  About 5 or 6 years ago he led groups and classes through that book two times, and his Chinese language copy is annotated with page numbers that correspond to his English copy. 
    Whichever group gets the nod, (hopefully both will), his will be another voice for Christian faith on that campus in the Spring semester.

Story 1078 Partnership in Mission: Where the Rubber Meets the Road (December 30)
    For years as missionaries we kept rather casual accounts and sent reports to the mission treasurer whenever we felt that we had a big enough pile or receipts to want to make a claim.  These past two years, however, we've been more on the ball, especially because we've begun to have to send money the other way. Now at the end of every quarter we not only send receipts, but also make a fund transfer.
    Between the first of October and the end of December, we had received cash and benefits from the two universities and one college where we work that totaled just a few shekels shy of US$6,000. Of that amount, over $4,400 came in cash. We deducted expenses, presented receipts, and transferred the surplus to the mission treasurer in Taipei, where it will be used to defray the expenses of the Reformed Church in America to continue mission in Taiwan.  Now, every year the schools we serve reimburse the Reformed Church for over US$20,000 of what it costs to keep us here. 
    When we came to Taiwan as partners in mission in 1982 partnership meant that the Taiwanese church offered work and supervision while American and Canadian churches provided the resources. Now partnership is much more mutual, and we're so glad to have grown with the process.

Story 1077 Worshiping for Dollars (December 29)
    Only 3% of the people in Taiwan are Christians. Most people have either no religion at all or a combination of Buddhism, Taoism and ancestor worship practices which lightly veil a foundation of animistic folk religion. There are many gods and goddesses, all of which are worshiped at temples everywhere you look. People the age of university students, though, are generally ignorant of what is being worshiped at different shrines.
    In a lesson Dave was teaching to two different classes there was mention of a certain god for whom there is a big annual festival in Tainan. The comment in the lesson is that the festival is done to "give back to" this god for the blessings that the people have received.  That concept seemed odd to many of the students.  So, Dave asked one group to tell him, in English, why people worship the different gods and goddesses.  The sentence they were to assemble went something like, "People worship X in thanks for Y."  or  "People worship X to get Y."  Not one student chose the "in thanks for" option. All mentioned "to get".  And almost everyone put "money" in the place of "Y".
    Taiwanese are pragmatic and materialistic. Churches sometimes fall into the pattern in an attempt to evangelize. The phrase is seen painted on walls, "Believe in Jesus, get eternal life." Even Christians who are not getting good things, good health, good jobs for their children, worry free life, sometimes question whether or not Jesus is worth it.
    Two weeks ago at a church outreach function at the cultural center, a woman from Dong ning Church testified. She owns a shop, and things haven't been good for her lately. But she said faith had changed something in her. She found herself less focused on that monetary bottom line, and more content with the peace she has found in the faith and fellowship of the church. She worships Jesus in thanks for what she has been given. What a different way to see things!

Story 1076 Big Breakfast (December 29)
    Generally we invite the international students to breakfast with us on alternating Wednesdays, but skipped a week in December because two other big meals were planned that day. Because Kate was still with us, we postponed the busy work of hosting the second December breakfast until after she departed. On Friday morning we had 11 students plus ourselves sitting around the living room with plates on our laps.
    Among other things, we discussed what the churches in Zambia, Madagascar, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Korea, Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands do at the New Year. Everybody has special worship services, most of which include preaching. Dave mentioned that even though January 1st has become loud and celebrative here in Taiwan, especially for younger people, the festivities and feelings of new year are celebrated at a different time, the Chinese New Year, that is marked according to the Lunar Calendar. So, though Saturday night, the 31st, would have a lot of noise, it would be three more weeks until things really got happy about the transition. 
    For Wednesday breakfasts this year Char has been available to join (last year she had to teach that morning). She has come up with a wonderful idea.... zip lock bags for leftovers.  She sends people away with the things that have remained, including fruit, bread and other treats.  The table, which was heavily laden when everyone arrived, was pretty bare by the time they left. 

Story 1075 The National Museum of Taiwan History (December 28)
    One of the joys of working at Tainan Theological College is a week of Christmas vacation (which other schools don't give). Students are away, staff are on "light duty" rotations, and the faculty all have the time off. Because the international students can't go home, Dave is on call. He also tries to arrange a half-day exposure trip which interested students can join.  This year it was to the newly opened National Museum of Taiwan History, which is located in Tainan. Phone calls and other comments led him to believe he would be leading a group of 6, so he planned to go by bus.  When time for departure arrived, though, only two international students and one Taiwanese student were at the meeting point, so, they left.
    The museum is beautiful and does a wonderful job of presenting the history of Taiwan as a history of people, starting first with the question, "Who is Taiwanese?"  The answer is seen on a large screen that projects the images of whoever comes up the escalator, indicating, "If you're here, you are Taiwanese."  It goes on presenting the history of the aboriginal people, the colonizers from Europe, China and Japan who have controlled this place, and the ways people have lived under the governments from each group. 
    The trip was made in mid-week, but the place was pleasantly full of people, including kindergarten and middle-school student groups and the elderly, some of whom had lived through what the museum described as historical. 
    Upon return, Dave heard from a few of the internationals who had not made it that day. Some had stayed home to work on assignments, others had merely overslept.  He can unreservedly recommend the museum to any and all of them for an individual trip whenever they may feel they have the time.

Story 1074 Back to Chicago (December 29)
    One of Kate's friends grumbled by e-mail that Thursday was going to be a long day for him. She responded that hers would be 38 hours long.  Just after midnight she woke us so that we could take her to the bus station and say goodbye at the end of her Christmas vacation with us. She was here for 12 days. Given the unfortunate fact that Kate was on vacation but neither of us had time off, we put as much as we could into each one of them. The bus took her to the international airport near Taipei where she boarded a plane to Tokyo. She changed for another to Minneapolis and then a short hop to Chicago.  She phoned us when she got home, already Friday our time, but still Thursday where she was.
    We'll next see each other in August, when we arrive to spend 6 months of home assignment, and Chicago is only a few hours' train ride away. 

Story 1073 At the Last Minute (December 27 & 29)
    Char was amused on Tuesday when students approached her before class, between classes and during her lunch period with requests to arrange "free talk" sessions.  First and second year students in the translation studies department must get credit for 6 hour-long sessions a semester (in groups of 1 to 6) with a foreign language teacher.  Char has been available since September, and typically sees two to four groups per week. But, since students are responsible to schedule things, she has often had a week when she has met with only a handful of students. Now, with only two weeks remaining before their requirement must be met, students are scrambling to find teachers. Since Char's available slots were almost all filled, she advised most students to look elsewhere and to tart earlier next semester.
    On the 29th, after teaching four hours in the morning, Char was scheduled for four free-talk sessions beginning on the lunch hour and stretching into the afternoon.  She was happy to learn that the one student who had asked for the third of these sessions couldn't make it. He had been planning to skip another class for the free-talk, but learned that would mean missing a quiz, so backed out.  Though she still had to wait around, at least she got a breather, and a time to correct some quizzes.
    With one more week of regular classes before exam week, and with four more groups to meet for free talk, it looks like Char will have helped over 100 students meet their out-of-class requirement this term.   

Story 1072 Response to a Petition (December 26)
    There's a leadership transition underway at Tainan Theological College. The current president will go on leave at the end of January and be replaced by an acting president, who will be installed for a full 4-year term in the Fall of 2012. The process has been filled with uncertainty and not always accompanied by transparency.  Dave joined the school's pastors and professors twice last year, putting his signature on petitions. The first one went to the board of directors, and the second to the executive committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. 
    The board met with the faculty in mid-September and said things that restored a certain amount of confidence, but left other issues undefined.  The second was sent in October, just in time for the General Assembly's executive committee to consider.  In response to that petition, the Moderator, Vice-moderator and the General Secretary traveled to Tainan on the day after Christmas for a meeting with the petitioners.
    Since all three of those men graduated from the college, and have served together with many on the faculty in various committee assignments over the year, the meeting was friendly.  Above all else, the faculty felt that their concerns have been heard, and that things at the college will be monitored in the future to respect the "firewall" between the college  board of directors' duty to "govern", and the school's faculty and administration to "manage" what happens here.

Story 1071 A Jolly Visitor from the Far North (December 24 & 25)
    Growing up overseas, our children didn't have many relatives around, so we created family in other ways.  Everett and Ardyth Savage, from Washington State, were like surrogate grandparents.  Friends from Kaohsiung Community Church stood in as aunts and uncles. All of those have moved on, but Tim Fox, the "uncle" from Taipei, is a constant.  In recent years he is the Christmas guest, and we were very, very glad to have him here again this year. Tim brings the cool of north Taiwan to us, and the whacky joy of his New Jersey sense of humor.  Because he is a university teacher, he and Char often compare students. Since Dave joined that "tribe" in 2011, he has something to add now.  Tim's voice was a welcome addition to our family caroling around the advent wreath, and he gave moving interpretations of the Henri Nouwen devotionals we were reading there, too. 

Story 1070 Translating and Tootling (December 25)
    On Christmas morning Dave was the English language translator during worship at Dong ning Church.  The international students were away, but an American couple from Indiana were there, and enough people were asking for translation into Mandarin so that the church ran out of headsets (which can be tuned to receive either the English or the Mandarin feed). The church was packed!
    Just after the sermon he had to dash out of the translator's booth to a space that had been saved for him. The recorder group was playing a Taiwanese Christmas carol, the text of which was written by Dr. C. M. Kao, the former general secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, from his cell in 1982 (when he was a political prisoner) and the tune of which was written in the same year by a pastor from a city not far away from here. 
    During the announcements the church recognized those who have volunteered as teachers, youth leaders, cooks and translators during 2011. Dave had to leave the booth again to go stand down front. Nobody who was listening to him seemed to mind.

Story 1069 An Intrusive Santa Claus (December 24)
    Way back in February Dave joined the adult recorder choir (a recorder is a kind of whistle) at Dong ning Church. There were already 2 other recorder groups there composed of children, so the church decided to start one for the other folks. We played at the Christmas outreach at the city cultural center on the 17th, and were drafted into the caroling group for the 24th.  Dave was asked to dress in the Santa suit. He has often been asked to do that, and usually demurs, but this year, since it got him out of playing the recorder (he doesn't practice often enough to get good at it), he was agreeable. 
    At about 5PM on the 24th he suited up and joined the group walking along the road. They played hymns and sang Silent Night, Dave passed out candy and tracts.  The group stopped at a major intersection about 3 blocks from church and lined up in concert formation, playing holiday tunes and carols.  Dave waved at people on motorbikes and in cars, boarded a bus and passed stuff out, and greeted a lot of people.  As the group walked further along (to play at a clothing shop that belongs to one church member) Dave went into cell phone stores, beauty shops and cafes, greeting, sharing wishes of Christmas, and distributing candy. 
    Later that evening, (in his regular clothes) Dave spoke to the church youth group about seeing Jesus as someone other than a European, showing slides of African and Asian versions of the Christmas story, and finally settled down at 8:30 to enjoy the church's service of lessons and carols with the rest of the family. 

Story 1068 Away they Go! (December 23 & 24)
    Chia-yi Presbytery (the next one north of Tainan) established an ecumenical committee many years ago.  The committee helps the churches there to relate across denominational lines.  Additionally it has taken on a mission of hospitality to the international students of Tainan Theological College.  An annual Christmas home-stay is part of the deal.  This year the 11 international students went to four different churches.  All was arranged for Saturday morning departures when one pastor, whose congregation was to host a group of 5, called and asked to take them on Friday.  That's great!  The time was set for 6PM, but then changed to 4.  They loaded up and went.
    The next morning Dave walked the remaining 6 people to the train station and put them on board for their own trip to 3 other churches.  He was confident that they could make it because two among this group were from India, where train travel is common.  The following week, after all had returned on Sunday and Monday, good reports were heard all around.

Story 1067 Here Comes the Judge (December 23)
    On the last day of school before Christmas break at Tainan Theological College no classes meet.  After morning prayers it's "open house" time.  Students are free to visit each others' dormitory rooms (usually no men are allowed in the women's dorm, nor any women in the men's.)  Not everybody opens their rooms for visits, but some do, and others even decorate for the event.  Dave was one of the judges this year, rating things like creativity, seasonal appropriateness, relationship to issues of faith, and hospitality.  He tended to give higher marks to those students who passed out candy and treats!

Story 1066 Choir-concluding Concert (December 22)
    In September, thinking that we were joining a group that would disband by mid-October, the two of us became part of the Tainan Theological College 135th Anniversary Choir.  Only after getting in did we learn that practices, for 90 minutes every Tuesday evening, would continue until the week before Christmas, when the concert would be presented as part of the College's Christmas week festivities.  When it became clear that the concert would be on a Thursday, Dave dropped out (he teaches night school at Chin-li University on Thursday.)  Char soldiered on, rehearsing each Tuesday evening after her busiest teaching days. But, those rehearsals gave her an enjoyable opportunity to reconnect with some former students and get acquainted with others in the alto section. . 
    On the 22nd the choir sang a program that integrated worship with anthems and songs in English, Taiwanese, Siraya and Latin.  Char enjoyed the concert, with our children in attendance. She's glad that her Tuesday evenings have come back to her.

Story 1065 Eating our Way through the Week (December 21, 23 & 25)
    The international students at Tainan Theological College are a bit far from home for their own bishops or district superintendents to fete them, so Tainan Presbytery (the local district of 78 Presbyterian congregations) has adopted them. Every year during the week before Christmas the students attend a banquet during which the Presbytery honors its students, retired ministers and widows of retired ministers.  A lot of food is consumed, and many, many gifts and greetings are presented.  Of course, Dave goes along (even though he is a member of Longevity Presbytery in Kaohsiung). Tainan Presbytery, a generous organization, has adopted him, too.
    That evening the college's weekly evening meal together included celebration of the Lord's Supper at the tables. It started with worship in the chapel, but there was no benediction. We moved to the dining hall and waited for the breaking of the bread, then shared our meal.  About 30 minutes later cups were distributed, juice was poured, and we finished the communion, followed by prayers and the benediction. 
    Two days later we convened at a buffet restaurant for the annual Christmas feast to which faculty, staff, retirees and family members are all invited. Kate and Grant joined in and chatted freely with students, staff and faculty.
    Our family's traditional Christmas dinner is lasagna, salad and cheesecake with fresh strawberries.  This began decades ago when the ingredients for it were not easily obtained here (now they all are common). We managed that again this year, and have spent the days following it kind of rolling around.

Story 1064 Cookies and Customs (December 19-22)
    It has long been Char's Christmas custom to make Christmas tree shaped cookie press cookies for the students in her university classes.  She gives each student one cookie with their choice of printed Christmas napkin, then talks about the holiday customs, both secular and religious.  She's able to put some testimony into the presentation by remarking, "My family are Christians, so we mark the birth of Jesus at this time of the year," adding details of how this is done.
    Preparing the cookies each year is seem time consuming, but many students say how touched they are. Some of her sophomore students have said that they still have the napkin she gave them when they were freshmen.  Now that cell-phone cameras are ubiquitous, several people ask her to pose with them and their cookie for a pixelated memorial shot.  


Story 1063  Reaching Out (December 17)
    Dongning Presbyterian Church does a big Christmas musicale every year at the municipal cultural center, which is about 2 miles from the church building. The amazing number of musical groups in the church (a woodwinds ensemble, a chamber orchestra, a recorder band -- Dave's first performance with it!, and adult choir and a children's choir) were joined by a brass ensemble from the nearby national university. Beyond that, two women's dancing groups and one instructor (who performed a belly dance routine) added to the event.
    Dr. Lin gave a brief talk on the connection of Christmas to Jesus (contrasting that with the connection to Santa that Taiwanese are familiar with), and two women from the congregation who had come to Christian faith as adults gave testimonies.  Every year there's also a craft project to give a chance for church members to interact individually with kids who attend. In the past these have been sort of like Christmas tree ornaments. This year a 5-color-bead thing was assembled. It is a basic evangelistic tool to explain, through the use of colors, the gospel of salvation.  To do the "coaching" work, 100 church members were trained in making a simple explanation of salvation. Hopefully, the training for and experience in sharing the gospel will outlast the music, dancing and crafts.
 
Story 1062  Arrivals (December 16 & 17)
    Grant boarded a plane in Chicago on Wednesday morning and rolled in the door here in Tainan (after a stop in Hong Kong) early on Friday.  Kate boarded her first flight from Chicago, which took her to Minneapolis, on Friday morning. After a change there and a stopover in Tokyo she arrived in Taiwan at 11PM that night. Char went to meet her and after Kate's extra long wait through the immigration lines, they bussed back to Tainan together, arriving around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday.  It's already good to be together, and will continue to be fun for the next 10 or 11 days.  Kate returns to Chicago on the 29th, and Grant will continue here until mid-January.  Feels like family!

Story 1061  Minister Making (December 15)
    Apart from regular classes in their fields of Social Work, Church Music or Ministry Training (depending on their majors), students of Tainan Theological College occasionally must attend additional lectures for which academic credit is NOT given.  This week a physician was on campus and all students in all majors were required to attend (attendance was taken!) He spoke on the pastoral care of people with anxiety disorders, something that pastors and social workers will need to deal with and that the church musicians may find in their future choirs.
    The dire announcements about "all students must attend" prompted Dave to pass along the requirement to the international students and to prepare himself to act as translator. Then, when the lecture began, the doctor began in Mandarin (which Dave can't translate because he works in Taiwanese). A subtle word with the dean resulted in him and the international students being allowed to leave the otherwise packed college chapel, and go back to other projects.

Story 1060  Moving Makeups (December 11-16)
    Char missed two classes (four hours of teaching) a couple of weeks ago due to a nasty cold.  It took a week to make arrangements for makeup time, but finally this week she got it all in. That involved two extra trips to school, on Monday and on Friday. 
    Other than these inconveniences, she worked out a method that satisfied the students and didn't tax her overmuch by deciding to show movies.  Seasonal (Christmas) ones, to be sure, but movies nonetheless with English dialogue and subtitles for a language workout.  For one class she hit a snag, though.  The film she had chosen had already been shown to all of them in a class about values they're taking. Happily, she had two others in her bag for "just in case."  To encourage attendance even more, she offered to stamp 2 hours on everybody's listening cards for all those who showed up.

Story 1059  Cross-cultural Pain in the Neck (December 11)
    One international student at Tainan Theological College has had a pain in her neck for a couple weeks. Eventually it prevented her from sleeping, so she mentioned it to Dave, who recommended acupuncture at the Christian hospital next door. At first she was reluctant, but eventually the persuasion of her classmates (especially of the Africans, who, strangely enough, have been exposed to Chinese medicine in Zambia and Madagascar) drove her to agree to get an appointment.  On Monday afternoon Dave used the internet to get her an appointment for that very evening with the hospital's Chinese-medicine outpatient clinic. He accompanied her through the diagnosis, but left her with the doctor and nurse for the needles, the massage and for plastering with a rather pungent herbal poultice.     
    The doctor gave her return appointments, which she went to the next evening and then on Friday with a local student, rather than with Dave. As the days passed she was feeling better.  Where she comes from, acupuncture is not done, but because it IS regular treatment in Taiwan, she's learning different ways to be healed while she's here.

Story 1058 An Evening on the Street in the Rain (December 9)
    On Friday night we joined several hundred Taiwanese Christians at an outdoor rally in Taipei a couple of blocks from the Presidential Office Building. It was a prayer meeting focused on concern Taiwan's people in the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for January 14th.  We were led in song and prayer, and heard short speeches from representatives of different interest areas. Issues included environmental and land use, rebuilding of communities destroyed by natural disasters, human rights, and Taiwan's sovereignty. The woman who spoke on environmental and land issues mentioned that nuclear waste in Taiwan is exclusively stored in Aboriginal areas (like Indian reservations in the USA). The speaker on community rebuilding mentioned how the government prohibits people whose had dwelt in mountain areas cut off by landslides 2 years ago from going back to their ancestral homes, insisting that they live in new housing estates miles away from their orchards, farmlands, churches and ancestors' graves. When Rev. Chang, the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church spoke, he called on all present to love their homeland and to spread the good news of the gospel of Christ. 
    It was raining and the temperature was in the low 60s. We sat on plastic stools, wearing ponchos and bamboo-leaf farmer hats. Everyone got cold.  But the spirit was warm, and the atmosphere was calm and respectful.  At the end of the meeting we stood in a group holding candles as Rev. Chhioh, the church's Moderator, led us in prayer and pronounced the benediction. On the way back to the train station we thanked the police officers who had surrounded our group. They had stood in the cold (while we sat) through the the speeches, hymns and prayers.  In contrast to some of the more raucous political meetings that these men and women must secure, we hope the Christian one was a positive witness.

Story 1057 A Request for a New Missionary (December 8)
    The Ecumenical work committee of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan deals with missionary personnel, overseas training opportunities and church-to-church relationships. Dave is a member, so he went to a meeting on Thursday.  There were 8 routine items of business on the agenda, 3 of which really caught his interest.
    Paul McLean, a Canadian missionary who lived in Taiwan from 1983-1995 and worked on translation of the Bible into Hakka has continued on that project since that time, even though he has returned to Canada. He has been visiting Taiwan twice a year to finish the Old Testament, which will be published in 2012. Taiwan's church highly regards his work and expertise, and has requested that the Canadian Presbyterian church continue Paul's missionary appointment so that he can help with putting the Old Testament into the languages of several Aboriginal groups which, to date, only have the New Testament. 
    Taiwan's Presbyterians and Japan's Kyodan (United Church) alternate between the two countries year to year to meet together for mission discussions. In February of 2012 Taiwan will host the meeting using a retreat center on the campus of Chin-li Christian University, where Dave teaches part-time. He reminded the committee that the Rev. Hwang, the university's chaplain, is fluent in Japanese, and that the university's Japanese language department could be asked to provide translators for the foreign guests. This will give the Japanese visitors a chance to share their faith in their own language with people who very likely are not yet Christians. It will also give the Taiwanese Christians a chance to share with students who will soon be going out of the university into society, dearly in need of the help that faith can give a new graduate.
    Another exciting opportunity was announced.  TamKang Christian High School has requested a new missionary to teach English on their campus. This position was once held by RCA missionary Jeanette Koolhaas (who worked there in the 1980s and 90s). The school could easily hire someone "on the economy" to fill a classroom position, but, wanting a Christian, has opted to look first through church connections.  The request was sent in just hours before the committee meeting, so staff need to settle the details before anything can be officially announced overseas. For the time being, if you know of anyone with a Christian with a teaching certificate who would be willing to relocate to Taiwan for the next several years, there just may be a place for him or her in Northern Taiwan.

Story 1056 Off of the Book (December 6)
    Dave's return to the university classroom last September involved choosing textbooks for 2 courses. He's tolerating (barely) one of them, but last week, noting that both he AND his students were bored, he decided to abandon it. The text was not accomplishing the objectives of a course in Oral Interpretation, anyway.
    For the remaining 5 weeks of the term the focus will be on listening to English audio programs and translating them into Chinese without a printed script.  That means Dave must give more attention to preparation (no more, "open your textbook to page 89...") Fresh audio programs (harvested from internet sites like British Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of America) come in spoken, not written, forms, and introduce topics like homelessness, economics, psychology and health that are current. These are much better than things like "Taiwan's Land Reform Policies in the 1950s" that were in the textbook. 
    The students are anxious. They have always been educated with a book in their hands. But going "bookless" is more like the real-life situations of interpretation they are likely to encounter when they get out of school and into the world of employment. It's rather like how we live, move and have our being as Christians. We have been shaped by the contents of the Bible and value what we find in it.  We want to live by what we learn there, but we need to live with our eyes off the page, relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us through life situations in line with what we've absorbed from all of that Bible reading. Dave's students will be getting a bit of that experience in terms of turning the English they hear into the Chinese they speak during the next few weeks. He expects that it will be a wild ride.     

Story 1055 Christmas is Romantic (Sometime a week or 2 ago)
    Sitting with a couple of women for a free-talk session at Chang Jung Christian University a while back, Char mentioned that we were looking forward to the return home of Kate and Grant for Christmas.  One of the women volunteered, "Oh, Christmas is romantic."
    Char has heard Christmas called many things, but "romantic" was new to her, so she asked. The woman replied, "For Christmas you can go out to a nice restaurant with your boyfriend, have a good meal and exchange gifts." In that way, it's not much different from the 3 Lovers' Days that Taiwan marks every year (one Western, one Japanese and one Chinese).
    In recent years Christmas has become an unofficial but popular secular holiday all around Taiwan. Decorations are everywhere. Cities have Christmas trees, and churches are asked to participate in their lighting (December 18 this year in Tainan). This brightness tends to eclipse the message of Jesus Christ, coming as Savior of the Nations and Prince of Peace.  
    Maybe it was easier for the church to speak of Jesus when the celebration of his birth was just that. There was no competing, commercial and cultural celebration to get past on the way to the gospel. Now romance, flash, hoopla and Santa all crowd things. Think about it, one's holiday expectations are satisfied by a good meal in a nice restaurant and exchange of gifts with someone you love, why bother to find anything deeper?

Story 1054  Chapel Drama Leads to Impromptu Class (December 2)
    Aborigines, whose ancestors were in Taiwan long before anyone from China (or anywhere else) came here, now constitute less than 2% of the population. More than 80% of aboriginal people are Christians. Generally those seeking theological training will attend Yu-shan Theological College, where Reformed Church missionary Judy Estell works. For various reasons, though, some Aborigines find their way into other schools.  Tainan Theological College, where we work has a very active Aboriginal Club.  On Friday that group led the college at morning prayers. 
    They presented a drama, showing how Aboriginal villages were brought from subsistence into the cash economy in the 1960s and subsequently squeezed to the margins and off the edge of Taiwan's economic miracle development. Today life in rural and mountain areas is increasingly difficult.  At the end of the drama there were focused prayers.
    Some of the international students began to ask Dave about these issues, so they found a room and he conducted an impromptu class. The discussion moved from identifying the nature and situation of Taiwan's aboriginal peoples into issues of development and economic empowerment regarding the mainstream economy in some of their own home countries.  Christian concern for the poor, the marginalized, and those who have lost out as jobs have gone overseas (or have evaporated entirely) was strongly evident among these pastors from around the globe. It was, and is, a privilege to be part of the intellectual and spiritual ferment that happens at this wonderful place.
 
Story 1053 A Change in the Weather (December 1-3)
    South Taiwan is tropical, but that doesn't mean it never gets cold. On Thursday night a cold front descended from China and dropped temperatures into the 60s Fahrenheit. We added a blanket to the bed and warmer clothes to our wardrobes.  The cat now stays close and enjoys being covered in blankets. 
    After the heat of most of the year, the months of cool in December and January are quite welcome. We just tend to forget about them the rest of the time.

Story 1052 My Family Meet Jesus in America (December 1)
    Two women scheduled time for a "free-talk" hour with Char after class on Thursday. Only one showed up.  "One on One" free talk sessions are often like pulling teeth. But this time there was a commonality between Char and the student, Rachel, that made things flow beautifully.
    Rachel began by saying that when she was in elementary school her family had spent a year in America.  An aunt had given them a contact with a Taiwanese woman who lived in there, and that woman had introduced them to her church. Rachel said, "My family meet Jesus in America."   In a matter of 10 months of residence they had come to faith and been baptized.  Now they are active members of an independent charismatic church in central Taiwan.  Rachel goes home every weekend for family and fellowship time.
    As they continued talking, Char asked if Rachel knew any of the other Christians in the class, and took out her name list and pointed to some names.  The conversation, which Char had feared might be arduous, turned out to be a time of fun and sharing. Just what Char needed that day.

Story 1051 Candlelight Morning Prayers (December 1)
    It was Dave's turn to lead morning prayers at Tainan Theological College on Thursday.  The assigned text was Psalm 24, which is one of the responsive readings in the hymnal. He asked the worship leader begin the reading, but to pause after each congregational response.
    There were 10 candles lined up across the communion table.  During each pause, Dave lit a candle and said a sentence or two that flowed from that verse of the psalm.  He started at the advent wreath at one end, and moved, using matches, moving phrase by phrase, flame by flame, candle by candle, to the other edge of the table. 
    Part of our role as cross-cultural missionaries is to help people see things from other angles. This doesn't mean that we are uncomfortable in Taiwanese culture, it just means that we're not bound by any particular set of forms when the time comes to do things.  Candles in the morning can be enlightening, even while the sun does shine.

Story 1050 Taiwan History and a Clown Car (November 30)
    In the place of Wednesday afternoon College Worship this week, Tainan Theological College went to the movies.  A documentary about Dr. and Mrs. Chhan, who were democracy and human rights activists from the 1960s through recent times, was playing at a local theater.  Mrs. Chhan, who is now 77 years old, and Dr. Chhan, who died last year at the age of 92, were both strongly influenced by Christians in Taiwan's struggle for democracy. They were both baptized in their old age.
    The college arranged the time and the tickets, but transportation across town to the theater was left to the students. There are 11 international students, not a one of whom even has a bicycle.  Rides with staff members were arranged, and Dave thought everyone was covered.  He planned to take four people with him in our car, Rhoda Toyota.  Rounding the corner near our parking spot he counted heads, and there were five. These included two rather large men from Tuvalu.  But, everyone got in. Dave and Walter, in the front, put their seats as far forward they could go. Four men crammed themselves into the back.  It was like a clown car. Things went well. After parking in the fourth level of the basement under the theater, we only wondered if Rhoda, built in 1995, still had enough power to get back up to the surface. She did.

Story 1049 The Pressures of Being a Taiwanese Teenager (November 30)
    On Wednesday night our neighbor, Grace Yang (a high school student) stopped by with a message. Char invited her in and the two of them chatted for a while.  Grace and her brother spent 5 or 6 years in Chicago while their father completed his PhD in Ethics. The whole family does well in English.
    Grace told Char that she had just finished the second of three big sets of examinations this semester and had an evening off from the grind before starting preparation for the next ones. Exams for her little brother, who is in 9th grade, were to be given on Thursday and Friday.  
    The next night Char met Joshua and his mother while they were on their way to see a doctor.  Mrs. Yang mentioned that she and her husband make their children go to bed at midnight, whether or not their homework is finished. Many of their classmates are up until 2 or 3 AM. This puts a tremendous strain on many families.  Knowing that teenagers require 8 to 10 hours of sleep per day, it's hard to see how any of them gets enough rest to function well in school.  While educational reforms have been trying to make life more reasonable for students for a number of years now, clearly this problem has not been successfully dealt with yet.

Story 1048 A Sick Day That Lives On and On (November 29)
    On the last Saturday in November, Char felt a nasty cold coming on. She slowed down a little, hoping to be better enough in time to limp through 4 hours of class on Tuesday.  But there was no improvement, so when Tuesday came, she reluctantly called in sick. (The day of rest really helped.)
    However, it wasn't so easy just to leave it with a call. Missed classes at Chang Jung Christian University must be made up, and students have very full schedules.  Besides that, on December 6th there's a major quiz to be taken in both classes, and she had planned to remind students on the 29th. So, for days afterwards she called various students to ask them to pass the word along, posted things on FACEBOOK, and attempted to cover all the bases so that nobody will be taken by surprise on the 6th. On top of that, she has checked out departmental course schedules so that she can discuss scheduling the makeup sessions for the coming weeks. 

Story 1047 Paying the Piper (November 28)
    It's not hard to teach a class that you've prepared. It's the ones that have NOT been prepared that are the killers. Dave learned this long ago, but last week that didn't stop him from putting off preparation until the last minute.  He started his week with nothing ready, facing 2 hours of class that afternoon and 5 more the next morning. His plans were barely sketched out.
    The international students of Tainan Theological College, who often seek advice and help, were in their own class that morning, so he was able to get things set for his own theology class that afternoon and for the next day's course in interpretation.  That afternoon he rushed through things for another class and did his "Taiwan Identity" reading group preparation after supper.
    In order not to get stuck like that again, he spent most of Wednesday in the drudgery of correcting quizzes and recording scores.  Next week he'll have piles of papers to return, hopefully wiser this time.

Story 1046 Children Together  (November 25)
    Last Friday the faculty of Tainan Theological College had a potluck supper. Three families brought five small children (aged 1 to 6). We watched with delight as the littler ones sought to draw near to the bigger ones, and some of the bigger ones took it upon themselves to entertain the littler ones.  Thinking back to years and years of church suppers in Kaohsiung when the little kids were our kids, and the wonderful freedom it was to trust that at church the kids were alright with each other and generally safe, we smiled and gave thanks. We were thankful for how well they did among God's people as they grew up, thankful for the young adults that they have become, and thankful that we weren't responsible for the little ones running around at that supper on Friday.

Story 1045 Home isn't There Anymore (November 25)
    Dave had to go to Kaohsiung on Friday to deal with an international student's visa conversion. Char wanted to go get Advent candles and religious-themed Christmas cards from the Roman Catholic bookstore there. (The Presbyterian book store in Tainan door was out of Advent candles and doesn't stock many religious-themed Christmas cards). We went together, taking the car.
    Exiting the freeway into Kaohsiung, Char reflected on our 25 years in Kaohsiung and how much time she had spent driving in the city, going to work and back, taking children here and there, and going on other errands. She said, "I'm glad I don't have to drive here any more."  There had been a few years after we left Kaohsiung in 2007 during which we felt homesick for the familiar place. Now, Tainan has become our home.

Story 1044 Different Angles on a Serious Problem (November 23)
    Sitting at breakfast in our living room last Wednesday, the international students of Tainan Theological College began discussing whether the ministerial training they had received in their home countries had been more theoretical or practical.  John, from Bangladesh, said that his training was highly theoretical, but that practical skills had not been hard to pick up when he got to parish work.  Lova, from Madagascar, mentioned that his training had been both theoretical and practical, but it had lacked mention of how to deal with a suicide in the church family.  That started an interesting round of discussions.
    Panji, from Zambia, said that he believed a church should deal with a suicide death should in much the same as a death from malaria, a road accident or AIDS.  Students from more Anglican backgrounds mentioned the lack of a specific "suicide funeral liturgy" in the prayer books used in their churches.  One man mentioned that in his denomination, though a suicide can be buried in the church cemetery, the grave must be in a corner or near the wall, not with the person's family. He sees this as a deterrance for others who might consider taking their own lives.
    Dave mentioned how when a student of Tainan Theological College committed suicide two years ago, the family and pastor dealt with the funeral in their home church. The college's response was to the needs of the student body with the provision of additional pastoral care, seminars on suicide, and intentional concern for everyone's condition.
    Being part of this international community, having and sharing different perspectives, is a wonderful thing, even when the topic is dreadful to contemplate.

Story 1043 Train Buddy (November 22)
    In addition to her official teaching duties at Chang Jung Christian University, Char is available for "free-talk" sessions with students who must fulfill a "6-hours per semester with an English teacher" requirement. Most of her Tuesday and Thursday lunch periods, and often an hour after class, are scheduled.  Because Dave has the car on Tuesdays, Char rides the train. Recently on her rides back to Tainan she has been accompanied by a young woman, Esther,a commuter, who was in her class a year ago. They spend their 20 minutes on the train happily chatting away in English. Last Tuesday, Esther asked if she maybe could get free talk credit for this time.  Char said, "Sure, for three trips, I'll stamp your card for an hour." Besides showing herself proficient in English, Esther has proven herself to be resourceful!
 
Story 1042 Invitation to Examination (November 22)
    The admissions committee at Tainan Theological College has invited Dave to write a new examination to assess applicants' ability in English.  Typical examinations in Taiwan test how much a person has memorized.  Dave believes that the theological college needs to know what a person can "do" (rather than can "remember"). Though the exam itself won't be given until late July, Dave has to offer materials for preparation before the end of the year so that potential applicants can begin to prepare. The word lists, sample sentences and model questions are all due by Christmas. 

Story 1041 Thanksgiving in Taiwan (November 20,24 and 25)
    Though there's no official Thanksgiving Day holiday in Taiwan, some churches use the Sunday before the American holiday to focus on thanks and to offer a day on which to make special offerings.  That's true at Dongning Church, which we attend. Because our pastor, Dr. Lin, spent 9 years in New Jersey, he's familiar with American practices and histories, and he puts a Taiwan spin on them.
    On Thursday in her classes Char included things about cultural and religious aspects of the American Thanksgiving celebration. She showed pictures of some of our former extended family gatherings and told about our nephew, Nick, who had to go to his department store job at midnight for "Black Friday."
    The next evening many faculty members at Tainan Theological College had a potluck supper. The food was mostly Chinese, but one family brought roasted turkeys they had specially ordered from a French-owned supermarket. Char made pumpkin pies and Dave whipped the cream. It was a feast and ersatz family time. We gave thanks with and for our friends.

Story 1040 A Pastoral Visit (November 18)
    One of the dilemmas of life in ministry is often "who is the minister's minister?" In some church government systems the bishop cares for the ministers under his or her care. But we're not in that sort of a system. 
    Last Friday Dr. Augustine Musopole, a minister from Malawi who works at Chang Jung Christian University and teaches a course every semester at the Theological College, came to see Dave.  Augustine is one of the leaders of an English language church in Tainan, and has a wonderful pastoral presence to many people on top of his role as professor. Though we're not part of his church, he took on a pastoral role.
    After a couple of routine business things, Augustine said that he had noticed unhappiness and perhaps even anger in Dave over the recent weeks.  Sitting together there was a good time of sharing, caring, understanding and unburdening.  Dave KNOWS he could have gone to Augustine with his troubles at any time, but didn't want to.  He is grateful to God for sending him a pastor at a time of need. 
    So, who is YOUR minister's minister?

Story 1039 New Friends (November 12 & 18)
    A week ago Dave was asked to stand in for the theological college president and introduce the school to a group of 11 visitors from the Canadian Presbyterian Church. The group arrived in Taiwan on the 14th and had toured church-related historical sites and current mission work agencies. Dave wrote on his calendar, "Canadians: 1:30 PM" and gave it no more thought.  At 2 the phone rang, "The Canadians are here."  He'd totally forgotten.  But, at least they, like Dave, were running behind schedule. After about 25 minutes of introduction and a brief tour of buildings, he had them back on schedule and at their next stop, the Church Publishing House by 3.
    Some years the international students of Tainan Theological College all arrive together, or within a day or so of each other.  This year the first came in on September 18, and the others one or two at a time since that date.  The most recent arrivals are Rev. Ashley Ngira, from the Solomon Islands, who landed on November 12 (we were away on retreat, so didn't meet him until the 13th). Rev. Jekson Barus, from Indonesia, got here at about midnight on November 18. Each of these men now has quite a few weeks of classes to make up if he is to finish his studies program next June. We wish them the best.
    As Dave and Rev Barus drove from the Kaohsiung airport to Tainan, Jekson observed that he had been at home in Ambon, Indonesia, just that morning, and late the same night he was in "China."  Dave responded swiftly, "You are NOT in China. You are in Taiwan!"  The confusion is based in a situation that persists around the world. Elsewhere in Asia there are two nations using the name Korea. This is similar to the African situation where two nations are called Congo, and to two regions of Europe where a nation has the same name as a province of a neighboring country (Ireland and Macedonia). In the Pacific, the independent nation of Samoa is less than an hour's flight from American Samoa. Since Taiwan's official name is "The Republic of China", it often gets confused with another nation nearby. Now Jekson is clear, and we hope you are, too.

Story 1038 An Important Visitor  (November 17-18)
        Rev. Andrew (Drew) Yamamoto, our supervisor from the Reformed Church in America (RCA), was in Taiwan on Thursday and Friday, hashing out details, understandings and arrangements between the Reformed Church in America and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) regarding important aspects of their partnership and including, crucial for us, our future missionary service. His arrival had been suddenly delayed 24 hours when, while still in the Philippines, he had to arrange for a visa to visit China on his varied journeys in the coming weeks.  The delay meant that people here quickly shuffled their own schedules to make meetings possible, but all was re-arranged.
        Drew talked with several staff members of the PCT General Assembly who also arranged for him to meet with Dr. Ong Chiong-iau, the incoming president of Tainan Theological College. While there is some detailed proposal writing that the Taiwanese church must do, there is some hope now that Dave's job at the theological college (which has requested his continued service)  can be adjusted in a way that make it more acceptable to the RCA. A meeting of RCA Global Mission Staff in February should make a final determination. (Char's job was never in question. She can continue at Chang Jung Christian University which has wanted her and given her a role with students since 1996, and the RCA has been satisfied with that.)
        Uncertainty about our future began in August of 2009 as the RCA began re-examining its mission priorites and strategies around the world, as it must do from time to time.   In our better moments since then we've been at peace, leaving things in God's hands. But in our "other than better moments" over the past 27 months we've been anxious.  This hopeful development relating to our future is what we've been praying for and struggling to hold onto for what seems to have been a very, very, long time. We thank you for your prayers this past week and ask that you continue to pray.

Story 1037 Deaths (November 15 & 17)
    We received a call from Char's parents on Tuesday evening with the sad news that her Uncle Jim, 88 years old, had died the previous day.  Jim was a widower and had been in failing health for a number of years. On our vacation last summer we went visit him in the care facility where he was staying only to discover that he was out to the doctor once and had been admitted to the hospital the next time.  His funeral was held on Friday morning. 
    On Thursday at morning prayers Dr Wu, the president of Tainan Theological College, announced that the previous night the brother of Dr. Yang, the ethics professor, had been involved in a traffic accident and had not lived through the night. Dr. Yang lives across the lane from us. He was gone all day Thursday and most of Friday seeing to arrangements. We met him on Saturday when he returned from the service for putting the body into the coffin. The brother left behind a widow and two adult children.  Dr. Yang is now the eldest son in the family, so more duties will fall to him as time passes.  It is good that he is surrounded by a community of support.
 
Story 1036 Squaring the Circle (November 16)
    In 1992 our pastor at Liok-hap Church in Kaohsiung passed away. He and his family had been long time friends of ours.  After a year of transition, Rev. Chng came to lead the church. He had a couple of daughters, one of whom, Ka-un, is just slightly younger than our daughter, Kate (whose name in Taiwanese is Thian-un). 
    Within a couple of years we had moved on to a new church start that Dave was assigned to, and after that assignment we moved to a different church.  We met Rev. Chng and his daughter again last week.  Ka-un will graduate from the theological college next spring. In preparation to finish, she was scheduled to lead worship and preach her graduation sermon last Wednesday. Dave was her faculty advisor for preparing the service.
    She spoke on the parable of the talents, encouraging all to be good and faithful servants. She did well. Of course, during the evaluation session there was criticism, because professors must correct students, it's required!.  Rev. and Mrs. Chng were in the chapel, at the dinner that followed and even sat through the evaluation!  It was good to see this loving family (Ka-un's younger sister was there, too) surrounding and supporting one who moves on to the next step in a life of gospel service.

Story 1035 The Silence Between the Notes (November 14)
    Dave's turn to lead morning prayers at Tainan Theological College always carrys a challenge of meeting the needs of the students and faculty who attend. Since a lot of preaching happens here, and because everyone has been to church on Sunday, Dave figures that another sermon is not likely to be required.  This week he worked with the concept of the silence between the notes.
    In the hymnbook used at the college several "prayer response songs" are all grouped together.  Dave arranged a service led by a student reader and the pianist. His only job was to explain the structure. After the prelude, call to worship and a prayer, the congregation opened their hymnbooks to #329-333.  The scripture was to be HEARD, not read off the page. After the reader spoke a verse, the pianist played one of the response songs, then there were 60 seconds of silence.  This cycle was repeated five times.  
    The entire thing, verses, songs and silences, took a bit longer than 15 minutes, and perhaps the space gave the community a contemplative beginning to a busy week.  
 
Story 1034 Weekend Away (November 11-13)
    Since 1982 whenever we've been in Taiwan, we've attended the annual retreat of missionaries who serve the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church. We wouldn't miss it!  As the years have passed, the weekend has become less a time for education and more about retreat and relaxation. A good change. In the 'old' days, a committee of missionaries was in charge of planning and arrangements; now General Assembly staff plans and pays for the entire weekend as an expression of love and appreciation from the church to its missionaries.
    This year's weekend was at a resort near the southern tip of Taiwan. We toured, talked, walked and ate. There were a couple of evening prayer gatherings and the celebration of the Lord's Supper on Sunday, especially meaningful with people from 13 countries gathered around the table.  The Korean, Indian, Thai, Singaporean, American and Canadian missionaries whom we see only once or twice a year got to meet the new group of international students.
     After all of the feeding, we arrived back in Tainan late on Sunday afternoon and rolled or waddled our way back to the college to recuperate. We all had been refreshed by our time together, by the natural beauty, and by prayer and worship.

Story 1033 Where are They? or All's Well That Ends Well (November 11)
    We were going on retreat for the weekend. Dave had sent written instructions to the international students of Tainan Theological College saying where and when to meet for the walk to the train station. He had allowed plenty of time for that walk.  At the stated time, only 2 were "in place".  In the next few minutes, but still with enough time, 2 more appeared. But the other 5 were nowhere to be seen. With a specific time set to rendezvous with the rest of the 'attendees' in Kaohsiung, we started to get nervous.
    It turned out that one of the students had slipped in the shower and cut his eyelid, and four people were attending to him. One ran with the news, so Dave sent him and the first 4, with Char in charge, to the station to get the train. Then he met the group of four (including the injured man) and sent three of them along to the station on their own. He called Char on her cell phone and told her to wait for them.  Then he took the injured student back to the dormitory (where the first aid kit is kept) and began to sort things out.  There was a broken pipe to report, too. 
    After the bleeding was stopped and the cut was bandaged, another contact was made with Char.  The three men Dave had sent to the station by themselves were nowhere to be seen, and the train was about to leave. Char sent the others onto the train in the care of a Korean student who's been here several years, speaks Chinese, and knows the train system, while she waited behind for the other three. Then a surprise phone call from someone on the train reported that the three had gone to the FRONT station (not the REAR one where Char was waiting) and had mysteriously gotten onto the right train without even purchasing tickets!
    When it was certain that the injured student didn't need further medical treatment and the breakage of the pipe was reported to the school, Dave, Char and the injured fellow took a later, faster, train to Kaohsiung and a taxi to the meet-up point, arriving only 20 minutes late. Of  course, the assembled group had waited for us, we all boarded the tour bus and were off!  Whew!  Thankfully, the rest of the weekend was more relaxing than the beginning. 

Story 1032 Two Weeks of Mid-term Madness (November 7-21)
    For college students, mid-term examinations are an unpleasant annoyance week.  For us they are a long labor (but not of love).  Writing, printing, giving, marking, grading, returning and discussing..... there's lots to do. But if we didn't like it, we'd be in some other line of work.
    Char gave written exams to two classes at Chang Jung Christian University and interviews to all students in another two.  It has taken her many days to complete all of the marking, evaluating and reporting.  But she heard a lot of stories.
    Dave gave written exams to two classes. Some students in his night-school class reported that this was the first time ever they had written a sentence in English. Altogether, 59 students each wrote 16 sentences. That took some time to mark. For a class in interpretation, he had students tape record themselves translating an article he read. That didn't go as well as he had hoped, so he'll do something different on the final, hopefully something easier to score.

Story 1031  Coming Soon to a Theological College Near You (November 4)   
    Eight of this year's international students have now arrived on campus at Tainan Theological College. Three remain "out there somewhere". During recent days word was received that one from the Solomon Islands will get a visa on November 6th and fly on the 12th.  Another, from Indonesia, will get a visa in the coming days and hopefully join the class before the 10th.  Though arriving late, at least they'll be here, adding flavor to this multinational community of church-leaders-in-training. A Samoan applicant, repeatedly delayed for one reason after another, still has not announced his potential travel dates.  Bon voyage!

Story 1030  What a Change a little Democracy Makes (November 4)
    On Friday morning Dave took three international students to the Immigration Department to register them as aliens.  As he chatted with the staff (who have become quite familiar to him) one young man, doing alternative military service by working in that office, addressed Dave as "pastor." The guy is a member of a Presbyterian Church in town, and his father is the friend of the chaplain of the Christian hospital next door to the theological college. In the early 80s, the chaplain was in prison for political crimes, which involved his participation on the democracy movement at that time.
    Dave remarked that since Taiwan has become a free country, connection to a political prisoner no longer keeps a person out of a government job .  Then the young man added a more serious condition. He is not only acquainted with this chaplain, but his own father also spent six months in jail on political charges back then.  What a change we've seen in Taiwan during our decades here. What a blessing it is to live in a free place that has dealt with its past. We hope the same conditions can prevail in places like Syria,Yemen and the large superpower across the Taiwan Straits very, very soon.

Story 1029  Juxtaposition (November 3)
    Taiwan has been trying to purchase updated fighter planes from the United States this year to replace the 1970s model F-5 and 1990s model F-16 jets it is using in defense against  Chinese aggression. Whether weapons are really needed (as many people think) was called into question at morning prayers on Thursday morning at Tainan Theological College.
    Prayers start at 8 AM. When the school bell rings, the pianist begins the prelude.  That is also often the time when the morning patrol from Tainan Air Force Base takes off to defend the border that runs down the middle of the Taiwan Straits. On Thursday, just as the pianist began a very sweet rendition of 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, four fighters roared overhead. This called into question what it is that the people of Taiwan, including Taiwan's Christians, are trusting.  Is it wealth, weaponry, position or educational achievement? These false idols are challenged every time that hymn is played or sung.

Story 1028  Sunday School on Wednesday (November 2)
    Theological students, unaccustomed to being in the pulpit, often reveal more than they intend to when they preach. On Wednesday the senior preaching to the college showed that she is most comfortable as a Sunday School teacher. Her assigned text was the story of Israel, having come out of Egypt, crossing the Jordan into the promised land. Slipping past and around all manner of things that could have benefited the congregation spiritually and theologically, she talked about the size and contents of the ark of the covenant, and speculated on the width and depth of the Jordan (which she supposed to be something like the Mississippi) at that place where the crossing happened.
    We all have our tendencies. Professors in pulpits can often act professorial, politicians up there are evasive or non-committal, and people with axes to grind get abrasive. Perhaps having a Sunday School teacher is not a bad idea from time to time, but it's not terribly deep.  

Story 1027  Visitors (November 1 & 3)
    Between his office and home last Tuesday evening Dave saw 3 sightseers strolling through the campus. He welcomed them using Taiwanese. One of the three offered his hand and responded in English, "We know each other, I'm Barry Tanis."  In 1982, Barry was one of the people who came to the airport to greet us upon our return to Taiwan as career RCA missionaries. At that time he was a volunteer RCA intern in mission, a program that we had also participated in during our single years. A couple of years later he married Bonnie, a woman from Taiwan, and they moved to New Jersey.  Although Bonnie regularly returns to Taiwan to visit her parents, but we had lost contact.  Barry and Bonnie were  here with their son, John, who will be studying Chinese in Taipei for the next few months. We all went to the house and spent half an hour with Char, catching up.
    On Thursday Char stopped at the high-speed-train station near Chang Jung University after work and picked up our friend Siaomay Yang, from Chicago. Siaomay was in Taiwan on her way home from Thailand, where she is involved with an independent school giving education to hill-tribe youth.  She is close to both of our children, who live in Chicagoland. In fact, she is the mother of our daughter's boyfriend, so she had news to share. This was her first time to come to  Taiwan in over 20 years, so she remarked on the changes as we took her around our little place.  Visitors are like variety; they add spice to life.  We look forward to more as time passes.

Story 1026  Excuses (November 1 & 3)
    While many students in Char's classes are responsible and hard-working, there are those each semester who are definitely not. It's often tempting to focus on and become annoyed with the minority.
    On Thursday Char saw one of her students who had been away for 3 of the past 4 weeks and had not bothered to contact her. Warning her that the number of absences was getting serious, Char handed the young woman absence forms to be filled out.        The first week's form said, "I was visiting my father in the hospital. The doctor says if he has another operation, he will become a human vegetable".  The second read "My father died," and the third, "I was at the funeral." Needless to say, all is forgiven.
    While sometimes people have frivolous excuses for not attending class, here's a lesson that it's always good to offer the benefit of the doubt.

Story 1025  Now We Know (October 31)
    The Tainan Theological College board of directors met on Monday and issued the long awaited, and much worried over, news of the appointment of the college's next president.  Dr. Ong Chong-iau, currently dean of the undergraduate School of Theology at Chang Jung Christian University (where Char teaches) will move to Tainan Theological College in January and take the reins on February 1st as acting president.  On August 1st he will officially become the 10th president in the school's 135 years of history.
    Dr. Ong has a history with the Reformed Church in America.  While getting his doctorate in theology, he lived in Boston, where he was active in the Reformed church (a Taiwanese language group, and the only RCA church in New England) there.  When he finished his doctorate he came to teach in Tainan, later to be drawn to the university as it founded a department of religion and philosophy. Eventually he moved into the university's own School of Theology. Next year, he will return to the theological college.
    We ask you to pray for the outgoing president, Dr. Wu, for the incoming president, Dr. Ong, and for the entire college community as we walk together through the transition.

Story 1024  Better Late Than Never (October 30)
    The phone rang late in the afternoon announcing,only 6 weeks late for the beginning of term, the newest international student arrival.  Walter, from Tuvalu, had come in the night before and gone to stay with a Tuvaluan couple in town to sleep off the travel before coming to college.  The key for his room was in Dave's office, awaiting his arrival at a time he had not specified. 
    On Monday morning Dave introduced Walter to the college community during morning prayers, and sent him off to his first lecture immediately thereafter. There will be six weeks of lectures and assignments to make up if he is to pass everything. Thankfully, the instructors have agreed to spend extra time with him during his Christmas and Winter vacations.

Story 1023  Out to Caanan with 4 On Board (October 30)
    Caanan Presbyterian Church in Pingtung (about 60 miles away) is without a resident minister, so invites Dave to fill in 3 or 4 times a year. One of the elders phoned him in September to set up a date this month. Since he likes to have the international students at the theological college visit a local church at least once a month, he took the opportunity to load 4 of them into the car, equipped with English language hymnals, copies of the English translation of the sermon he planned to preach, and a promise of lunch on the way home.  The drive, mainly on multi-laned high speed freeways, shows off Taiwan in a marvelous way. Though the air has begun to take on its winter smogginess, that didn't obscure the mile-long tunnel under a mountain nor the two-mile long bridge over a wide river.  As they drove along, Dave pointed out things along the way.
    Caanan Church is actively involved in community outreach ministry and has a marvelous variety of musical ability. This Sunday the senior citizens fellowship choir presented the anthem, which they began by playing in harmony on ocarinas! They sang a hymn that was in the 1937 hymnbook of their youth, but which didn't make it into either the 1964 book or the 2009 collection. Of course, the international students didn't understand much, because Dave was on the platform and unavailable to translate. But they could figure out the hymn numbers, so sang along during the service.
    Following the benediction Dave went outside to the the church gate to shake hands and say goodbye, leaving three Africans and one Pacific Islander surrounded by Taiwanese. No problem. One Taiwanese man who had lived in South Africa for several years joined them and started a conversation. A children's choir was also practicing for the evening service.  After a while, we loaded up the car and headed back to the city for lunch and rest.  A good trip, and a good way to spend half a day among God's people.

 
Story 1022  A Surprise Answer at the Immigration Office (October 28)
    Friday morning Dave went to the immigration department office to pick up Alien Registration Cards for two of this year's international students. (The two of us have been "registered aliens" since 1982). While waiting to get the cards he conversed with the director of the branch office, a man whom he had met at a cultural event last June. After some small talk, Dave mentioned having read in the newspaper that the immigration department is looking for at least 31,000 illegal immigrants, most of whom had come to Taiwan legally as contract laborers from places like Indonesia, vietnam and the Philipines, then run away from their employers.
    The director's response really surprised him. "Yes," he said, "it's terrible for them.  Taiwanese employers often treat them like property and abuse them, so they run away, thinking they can do better for themselves on their own." His opinion was not that these illegal immigrants were bad, but that the abusing local employers were, and that the problem could be greatly solved if the abuse would stop.
    The human concern shown by a government official with responsibility to bring in and prosecute foreigners who violate Taiwan's laws was amazing. From previous visits to the Immigration Bureau, Dave has come to know that a couple of the clerks there are Christians. He doesn't know anything about the director's religious faith, but can see Christ in a man who cares for the victims of abuse meted out by people from his own nation.    

Story 1021  Extra Trips for Relationship Building (October 26 & 27)
    Having taught at Chang Jung Christian University since 1996, Char has developed friendships with many students and  teachers.  But since she only teaches first and second-year classes, she often loses track of people as they move on to, through and past graduation. One day last week a couple of former students, now in their final year of college, invited her to be part of their senior class photo.
    Ordinarily that would be no trouble, except that the photo-shoot was scheduled for Wednesday morning at 9, a day and time that Char is not usually out there, and she's usually busily preparing for classes on Thursdays. But touched at having been remembered, she drove thirty minutes to the school and joined the class and a few other teachers.  While there, she was able to catch up with several young people whom she had not seen much of since 2009. Now that she's in the picture, she'll be part of their memories for the rest of their lives.
    Dave was even more surprised to be invited to be part of the photo of the graduating class in the applied linguistics department of Chin-li University (another Christian school near Tainan) because he has only taught a few of the seniors there for no more than a couple of months.  Their photo-shoot was scheduled for early Thursday afternoon. Since he drives out there (this one is a 20 mile trip - an hour's drive -  each way) for a night class on Thursday, he was unsure that he wanted to go to the trouble.  He responded to the invitation with gratitude, but told the students "Don't wait for me if I'm not there on time."  In the end, he decided to go.
    Class graduation photos are taken in October, even though graduation isn't until next June.  Don't ask us why.... that's just how it is.  We're usually the ones telling students what to do, and giving them grades for how well they do it. This opportunity, to sit with them while a photographer ordered ALL of us around, was much more human, and much more in line to the role of "Christians among inquirers" that these jobs place us in.
 

Story 1020 A Day in the Country (October 23)
    It's not uncommon for churches in Taiwan to plan an "outdoor worship" Sunday once or more every year. It gives people a chance to invite their neighbors out to something that can fill an entire day, and includes everyone in social fun and games apart from the time that is spent worshiping.  It had been several years since Dongning Presbyterian Church, which we attend, had “gone out”, so we did this on the 23rd.  Four buses and a few cars full of people left from a nearby gathering spot at 8 AM and headed for a tourist farm (they don't grow tourists, they cater to them) in a former fruit orchard about 50 miles away.
    All 7 of the currently resident international students of Tainan Theological College were on board. There were also a couple from Tuvalu (the wife is a medical student), a guest from Hong Kong, a domestic helper from Indonesia, and the two of us.  Including all of the Taiwanese, this totaled 10 nations!
    Arriving at the destination an hour later, we went to a meeting room for worship. Our pastor, Dr. Lin, knowing that many of the church families had brought friends and relatives, preached on the topic, “Why believe in Jesus?” Following worship there was some free time, followed by lunch, more free time, and a group photograph.  We were rolling again at 3PM and back home by 4:30. 
    Green grass and trees, blue sky, the quiet contrast from the roar of city life and, best of all, the fellowship of God's people. A blessed day from the fount of every blessing.

Story 1019 International Morning Prayers (October 21)
    Morning prayers at Tainan Theological College are scheduled every weekday but Wednesday (on which there are class meetings). On Friday it was the international students' turn to lead.  This came as a bit of a surprise. Dave had thought they weren't on deck until November. Happily, someone had written the date on a scheduling board that he saw. So on Wednesday morning at the class meeting he told the group.  They responded enthusiastically.
    The service was divided up: Opening prayer, choral call to worship, scripture reading, hymn, sermon, and closing prayer.  Planning took only a few minutes and people happily took responsibilities.  On Thursday, Dave found a pianist from the music department. When Friday came, the college was led by people from India, Bangladesh, Zambia and Madagascar, with Dave doing translation. 
    Internationals are scheduled to lead again on the 28th.  Dave is relieved that things went so well the first time, and is looking forward to the second in joyful anticipation.

Story 1018 What I Did On My Summer Vacation (October 20)
    Char is not getting many solitary lunch hours lately. Every time she goes to school she has an appointment with students for "free talk" sessions at noon. On Thursday she met with 4 women, none of whom had brought a topic to discuss. So, they went for the old saw, "What I Did On Summer Vacation".
    It used to be that university students never took jobs. Their families said that being a student was enough. But times have changed here.  Two women talked about summer jobs.  One had clerked at a local second-hand store, and the other had been a foreign guest-worker student in America, where she worked at a store in Clearwater, Florida. 
    The other two had each been actively involved in church activities, and shared what they had done.  Both had participated in a program run by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan matching local students with foreign visitors for a two-week "I Love Taiwan" mission and exposure activity.  Each had also taken part in their own churches' neighborhood outreach to children through Vacation Bible School and other activities.
    One of them also went on a foreign mission trip sponsored by the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, a locally-based Christian NGO. She spent 10 days in Nepal at a remote village giving remedial education to children. She had adventure stories to tell that left Char and the others amazed and aghast: an 8 hour hike up the mountain to get to the location; no power or showers for 10 days; airplane malfunction; missed connections; and 2 nights sleeping in airport terminals on the way home.
    Whether it is a summer job or a summer mission project, Taiwan's young people now engage with their communities and the world in greater numbers and with greater frequency than any past generation. At Chang Jung Christian University, those who have done so through churches are more supported and free to tell about it, and to invite their not-yet-Christian friends to join them.

Story 1017 The World is Black (October 20)
    One of Char's classes at Chang Jung Christian University included reading and discussing a brief article with 7 predictions about the “shape” of future families. For example, it noted that that people are living longer, having fewer children, and there are more single-parent families.  The students discussed whether any of these predictions are already happening in Taiwan and whether they are positive or negative changes. Most seemed to think of the predictions as negative.
      During the break between hours, while she was standing in the hall taking a sip of tea, one student suddenly commented, "The world is black." When Char questioned her, she continued, “The world is full of bad things.”
    Char then responded, “Yes, but look at the sunshine and the beautiful weather today.” The woman accused her of being an optimist (apparently a bad thing in her estimation).  Char agreed that there are indeed plenty of negative things around us, but lots of positive ones, too.
    This could have turned into a wonderful opportunity to briefly share about the Christian belief in God's loving and active care, but, alas, the bell rang and the break ended. Char will look for future opportunities to engage this student in conversation and witness.

Story 1016 Some College-Teacher Shuffles (October 17-19)
    As the week started, we learned that the invitation Dave got last week to teach dramatic presentation at Chin-Li University has been withdrawn.  Because we'll be on home assignment in America during the fall term, and the course is planned to be taught then, the department chair will find a different teacher. She is very concerned, though, to be assured that we'll be back in 2013.
    On Tuesday just before his second class began, a student told him, "Our senior picture is to be taken today at 11 o'clock. We need to borrow an hour from you." Dave agreed, but then asked the entire class when they would arrange to pay back the borrowed hour. They were aghast. Borrowed hours are NEVER paid back. So, he "gifted" it to them.  During the time that the gift freed up, he and the department chair took care of a lot of teacher-business that they  ordinarily do by e-mail.
    One of those e-mails came the next day. The advisor to Dave's night-school class was appealing that Dave "take it easy" on those students. Someone had spoken to him expressing fear that the upcoming mid-term examination would be too hard.  The advisor noted that night school students have day jobs, so are less able to prepare for examinations. Dave's response was that he's already babying the class, teaching at half-speed in the evenings. If the students aren't up to that, they aren't up to college. He promised, though, that if everyone bombs on the mid-term, he'll adjust things on the final.  

Story 1015  Spontaneous Seminar (October 14)

    International students at Tainan Theological College come with varied backgrounds, cultures,  and accents on their English. Sometimes it's a miracle that they understand each other or their teachers at all. Dave's impression in some past years was that outside of the classroom they rarely engaged in discussions about the things they study. On Friday, though, he overheard a lively debate about mission history and theology going on in a gathering space right outside his office door. While Dave was inside working on lesson plans, they were outside sharing their own churches' histories. Indians had something to say, Zambians something else, and the man from Madagascar had a very interesting story.  We are so happy that as Reformed Church missionaries here, we can be at the hub of church leadership development for people from around the world.

Story 1014  Dramatic Invitation (October 13)
    Cheng Hsing-yu, the head of the department of Applied Linguistics at Chin Li University, is Dave's supervisor there.  From time to time they see each other on Tuesday mornings, but otherwise communicate by e-mail.  On Thursday she invited Dave to teach dramatic production for the next two terms.  Of the many things she has requested (leading clubs, teaching Spanish, interviewing applicants and more), this is the most challenging yet.
    Dave has limited experience with drama. Decades ago he directed a play at a junior college in Kaohsiung. He answered, “Yes, but I can only help one term, because I'll be out of Taiwan during the fall.”  He followed that with questions about scripts, production rights, and a lot of other things.      Directing a play, unlike teaching a class, involves a person very intimately in students' lives. That's just the place an evangelist needs to be.

Story 1013  The Germans Are Coming (October 13)
    A week ago Char had an Austrian exchange student in one of her Thursday morning classes. She wondered if he'd visit again, but he didn't show up this week.  However, during  the break between class sections,  some of her former students from the Translation Department came and informed her that a German group was  on their way to visit her class. When?  Immediately.  You mean for a few minutes?  No, for the full two hours!  There was no time to think how to readjust the teaching plan for the day before 8 of them were escorted in.  After they introduced themselves, killing a little bit of time, Char quickly rearranged people so that each of the Germans was paired with one or two local students.  They then worked through most of the regular lesson.  Though not every student got to sit  with 'their own'  German, and one of the Germans wouldn't agree to sit with local students by herself, it worked well enough.  
    It turns out this group was from a technical training institute that has some kind of relationship with Chang Jung.   They were led by a social worker and nursing professor from their school, visiting Taiwan for  10-days of exposure. During their day at Chang Jung Christian University someone decided that Char's class was one where they they could understand and participate. In retrospect Char sees how she could handled the time better (had someone given her a warning). Yet it was good to have them, with their European accented English, to broaden the experience of her local students. 
    And the Austrian? Though he didn't show up on Thursday,  on Friday the international studies center  phoned and asked Char if he could enroll in her course for credit. 

Story 1012  High Speed Trip (October 12)
    We're scheduled for 6 months of home assignment in the USA beginning on August 1st next year.  Before missionaries take this kind of leave, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan likes to do a review, considering whether and how future service might be modified from what has gone before.  Most reviews continue someone in their current job, but sometimes, as with us in the past, the assignment is changed to meet new needs.
    On Wednesday morning we took the bullet train (high speed rail) and arrived in Taipei at 9.  A subway trip had us at the General Secretary's office for a 9:30 appointment.  We heard him speak of the Taiwan church's needs and desire that we come back in 2013. We discussed how this church can best communicate those needs and that desire to the Reformed Church in America.
    A General Secretary is a busy person, so we kept things brief. We were out of his office by 10:15 and on an 11 o'clock bullet train back south. By 1:30 we were back at work.  Taiwan is a wonderfully convenient place, and Taiwan's Presbyterian Church cares wonderfully for missionaries who serve here.

Story 1011  Angels Watching Over Me (October 11)
    Early Tuesdays Dave drives to Chin-Li University (about 20 miles north of here) and teaches 4 hours of class. At noon he returns to Tainan Theological College, arriving just a few minutes too late for lunch with the students. Last week he planned to take four international students for health checks they need in order to get residence permits.  He arranged to meet them at the library at 1:30.
    On the way home he began to look for a fast lunch, something he could take with him in the car and eat when he got home. A turkey & rice place about 2 miles from home looked good, but there was no parking. Recalling a box-lunch place two blocks from home, he pulled over and double parked in front. He ran in, got a meal in a box, and returned to the car. It refused to start.  The battery, purchased in July of 2008, had given up the ghost.
    He pushed the car to a legal spot and walked home. After lunch, the health check, a visit to another clinic for vaccinations and helping one fellow with a computer problem, he walked to our neighborhood car repair shop. Our car's record was in their files, so they knew what battery he needed. He and a service technician then rode a motor scooter to the car. With a new battery, it started right up. He went home and was still able to put in an hour in the office before quitting time.
    That a car battery dies is a normal part of life.  Last Tuesday, though, it didn't die before he had driven to work and gotten almost all the way back home. It held out until he was within walking distance, and replacement was a breeze. Though guardian angels are not part of Reformed Theology, Dave wonders if they might watch over us anyway.

Story 1010  Double Ten (October 10)
    On October first the People's Republic of China (commonly known as “the PRC” or “China”) celebrated its national day. On October 10th , "Double Ten Day" the Republic of China (more commonly known as  “the ROC” or “Taiwan”) held its own.  This year was the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of China, an event that happened long  ago, and  far away from Taiwan.
    Some of Taiwan's people have mixed feelings about celebrating this "national day".  16 years before the Republic's establishment, the Chinese empire had ceded Taiwan to Japan after losing a war. The revolution that overthrew the last Chinese emperor had no effect on Taiwan.  After the Second World War,  Japan left Taiwan and control of the area was temporarily held by the Allied Powers. The Nationalist Chinese government was asked to take custodial care until things could be sorted out. But the Nationalists soon lost a civil war in China to the communists, causing their government and much of their military to retreat to these islands and proclaim itself sovereign here.  Some local people feel that its presence since 1945 is a foreign occupation.
    No doubt, Taiwan's people have prospered over the course of the past 66 years. They would not have either the flourishing economy or the open democracy they enjoy had the Communist party, which still controls China, taken control here in 1945.  On the other hand,  after the coming of the ROC government from China, Taiwan endured 40+ years of martial law and repression. Democracy was a hard struggle that only came after many years and with much sacrifice. 
        Yet, there is something worth celebrating, there is hope for the future.  A hope for a Taiwan indisputably sovereign over its own territory in a friendly relationship to the big powerful neighbor so nearby. Kind of like how Canada is sovereign over its own territory, yet so near to a more powerful neighbor just across the line.

Story 1009 135!!! (October 9)
    In 1876 Tainan Theological College was established to train church leaders for Southern Taiwan.  For its first several decades it was led by missionaries from England and Scotland. After the Second World War, Taiwanese took the helm, but many of the teachers and the bulk of the funds to support the school were from Europe and America. Now, at 135, the school stands on its own for funding, and employs only a few foreign teachers (Dave among them).
    The college held a big blowout on the 9th, inviting churches to come for worship outdoors. More than 2000 people filled the campus for celebration and commemoration. The morning, which had been forecast to be clear, dawned with drizzle and occasional rain. That didn't deter the attenders, who came in busses (droves of busses).  Most found shelter from light dampness under trees or in the college chapel (which wasn't intended to be used that day).  Students went beyond their assigned duties to keep everyone dry. 
    Worship included hymns, readings, poetry and a dramatic presentation about Dr. Thomas Barclay, the school's founder.  A light lunch finished the day's activities. Some folks had to wait up to an hour for the meal, though, because the college kitchen was overwhelmed! 
    But we had a good time.  Happy Birthday, Tainan Theological College and Seminary.

Story 1008 Relationships lead to Recommendations (October 8)
    Last year Jessica, a Taiwanese woman whose own children are in college in Canada, came back to college herself. She had originally studied art, but took many years after having left school to raise a family.  Last year she enrolled in the Translation Studies Department of Chang Jung Christian University and was in Char's class. 
    Because Jessica found that she was having hearing difficulties and the work of remembering things quickly enough to do translation and interpretation was too taxing, she didn't come back this year.  Now she has contacted Char, asking for several recommendations to help her get into a degree program in English Literature at a national university.  Char is pleased that Jessica, who is not a Christian, found her trustworthy and kind enough to request this help, and spent a good portion of one afternoon wording and writing out the requested letters. 
    Another former student, Patty, is spending a year as a Chinese Language teaching assistant at Hobart & William Smith College in New York State.  Patty wants to look for something more beyond this adventure, so has sent Char her resume to review and correct.  Both of these women have found a friend in their Christian teacher.

Story 1007 The Austrian Auditor (October 6)
    Waiting to take the elevator to an upper floor at Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU) last Tuesday, Char met and chatted with a guy who looked totally out of place.   Marcos is from Austria. His university at home has a partner relationship with Chang Jung, so he's in Taiwan on an exchange year.  For many years Chang Jung has sent students to Austria, but so far, has only had a handful of students like Marcos coming in our direction.  Though the school hopes to increase the number of overseas students, it's difficult to set up enough classes for them that are taught in English. They wander through the enormous campus hoping to find friends among the students who are willing to venture forth in English or some language other than Chinese.
    Marcos found one friendly person, a woman who is in one of Char's Thursday classes.  She invited him to join her for class, so now Char has an Austrian auditor.  With Marcos' English nearly fluent, in sharp contrast to CJCU students, Char warned him that while he was welcome to join the class and it would be very positive for her students to talk with him, she was worried that he would be bored out of his mind.  Marcos was a good sport about it though, said his English grammar could use some review, and on Thursday he even helped explain the meaning of "quarter-finals" in a soccer playoff. 

Story 1006 Not THAT!! (October 4)
    Dave teaches a course called "Oral Interpretation" to students in the Applied English Department of Chin-li University. He hopes that his students will eventually be able to listen to spoken English and turn it into spoken Chinese.  The students, however, seem more comfortable with the idea of looking at written English and turning it into written Chinese.  But, that's another course, one they had LAST year from a different teacher. Interpretation is about hearing and speaking, not seeing and writing.
    Preparing them for an examination that they'll take next month, Dave has introduced some slow-speed spoken English articles available from the internet.  When he said, "We'll use some of these for the mid-term, you'll hear the spoken word and record your translation onto tapes," an audible gasp arose from the class.  Though they haven't done this kind of thing before, a month's preparation should be enough to have them do it when the time comes. 

Story 1005 We'll Prepare AFTER Class (October 3)
    College students in Taiwan are overloaded. They often take more than 20 hours of class per week.  At Tainan Theological College they also have lots of writing to do. One of the common answers to the question "What have you been up to?" is, "writing reports."
    A habit born in Taiwanese students from early age is to wait for the teacher to tell them what to learn before they apply themselves to it.  That causes dissonance in the class that Dave is teaching, where he wants them to have read their assignments first, leading to classroom discussion when they gather. He really wants them to ask, "What about the second sentence in the third paragraph?" instead of him having to say to them, "Let's look at the second sentence in the third paragraph."
    Each term, with each new group of students, he moves them toward self-preparation ahead of time. By the end of a term, he may have made a bit of progress. The idea that they might ask questions of the teacher rather than sit waiting to be asked or told things, can be a hard one to get used to. 

Story 1004 Two Trips (October 2 & 3)
    If you've ever missed a connection at an airport, you can sympathize with Panji Nkosi. He started out on October 1st in Lusaka, Zambia and missed a tight connection in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The next flight to Hong Kong (with further connection to Kaohsiung, Taiwan) wasn't for 24 hours.  Panji was stuck overnight in an international airport transit lounge.He didn't have enough cash to make a phone call to Taiwan.
    Dave went to the Kaohsiung airport on the evening of the 2nd and waited until there was nobody left in the international arrivals hall.  He came home with an empty car, looking for e-mail that might give a clue as to what happened.  NOTHING.  That night he sent notes to the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (Panji's home denomination) and the Church of Scotland (which is sponsoring his study here and which paid for his ticket.) Many people began praying and looking.
    Monday afternoon the only word (from Scotland) was that he had, indeed, boarded the original plane in Zambia. But there was nothing further. Then, at 7PM that night, the phone rang. The traveler assistance center at the Kaohsiung airport said that an African was there whom nobody had come to meet.  Dave asked to speak to him, and learned that this was, indeed, the missing Rev. Nkosi.  "Wait an hour," he said, "I'll come get you."  All's well that ends well.  The folks in Scotland were greatly relieved.

Story 1003  Bringing the World to Church (October 2)
    It's no news that Roman Catholics around the world celebrated the Lord's Supper today, they do EVERY Sunday.  Most Anglicans and many Lutherans do the same.  About 100 years ago an American Presbyterian began promoting at least one Sunday a year when all Protestants should join them, and the practice seems to have taken root in general in America. But that doesn't make it any more "world-wide" than the World Series of baseball.
    However, Dr. Lin, the pastor of Dongning Presbyterian Church, having spent 9 years in America, has instituted the practice here.  This morning the 270+ Taiwanese Christians in the congregation were joined by international students from Tainan Theological College. Taiwanese worshiped and shared the supper with a Zambian, a Madagascan, a Bengali, a Kiribatian, a Korean, two Tuvaluans, and two transplanted Americans, united in the body and blood of Christ.

Story 1002  Honoring the Great Teacher, and some Lesser ones, too (September 28)
    We grew up thinking of Jesus as the Savior, the Redeemer, the Great Physician, and the Good Shepherd.  Some people also regard him as the Great Teacher (which, doubtless, he was and is). In the Far East, Confucius is regarded as the greatest. His birthday, marked on September 28 (but, alas, no longer a holiday), is known as Teachers' Day.  On Tuesday at Chang Jung Christian University one of Char's former students presented her with a drawing and good wishes.  On Wednesday the Tainan Presbytery (Classis) invited all teachers (and accompanying spouses) from the theological college to an elaborate meal.
    At the university, where it is prohibited to bring drinks into the language laboratory where Char teaches, there are shelves outside the door to leave cups and water bottles.  Char's personal coffee mug is emblazoned with the Chinese Characters that read "Taiwan Person".  She's the only one in the class with this kind of cup so students recognize it.  Leaving class on Thursday, she found a note stuck into its handle from another former student, wishing her a Happy Teachers' Day and saying nice things about her. It's wonderful to be affirmed the way we each have been this season.

Story 1001  The Midnight Rambler and other Arrivals (September 27 & 29)
    On Tuesday night the phone rang at about midnight. Lydia Mwale, a pastor from Zambia, was at the school gate.  Her luggage was still in Africa. Dave's instructions had said, "Call from the Taipei airport (about 150 miles from here) before getting on the bus."  But a policeman who was helping her said, "There's no need for that." Dave's further instructions had said, "Ask the taxi driver to call when you are at the gate."  But the driver's didn't want to do that. Lydia waited in the dark outside the locked gate until a kind soul came along who spoke some English and helped her phone inside.  
    A meal, a shower, and some sleep. Lydia was better the next morning, but needed clothes, which Char provided. The bags finally arrived in Tainan on Thursday. 
    Wednesday afternoon Jacob and Rajeesh, two pastors from South India arrived.  Dave met them at the Kaohsiung airport, only 40 miles away. Typical things about housing, orientation, visas and helping people through culture shock are happening.  This year people fresh off the airplane are asking about getting SIM cards for their cell phones.  We're glad they know so much about these things, because we're often flummoxed.
    Getting to know these arrivals, we've learned that one Indian a new father, and the wife of the other is expecting to give birth to their first child in the coming weeks.  Lydia, a widow, is also a young grandmother.  (A Madagascan, Rev. Lova, arrived late on October 1st, and another Zambian, Rev. Nkosi, is expected on the evening of October 2).
    Stragglers, having had difficulties following instructions about documentation and visas, will be coming in over the next month. It turns out that some applicants are no better at following Dave's instructions than helpful policemen or busy taxi drivers. 

Story 1000 Accidental Choir (September 27)
   We heard a complex announcement about a college choir being organized and beginning to rehearse on Tuesday evenings. Mention of the school's 135th anniversary celebration, scheduled for October 9th, was made.  We assumed that the choir would rehearse a couple of times, sing once at the special worship, and then disband. So we decided to join.
    On Tuesday night we arrived in the college chapel to find students stuffing big stacks of music, including some for Christmas, into their folders.  It turns out that we've joined a choir that will sing a major concert in December. Now we're committed to a 90 minute practice every week.  This is not all a bad thing. It puts us into a group of people doing something that brings happiness. But since it's been decades since either of us was in a choir, our sight reading and other musical skills are quite rusty.
    Char sat between a couple of women who had been in her English class three years ago. Dave sat among the tenor section with a couple of Indonesian-Chinese students.  
    The director is Edgar Macapili, a Filipino musician married to a Taiwanese woman he met while they were both studying at Southern Methodist University some years ago. The mix of music he chooses exposes everyone who sings for him to broaden their experience and deepen their singing ability.  The delightful mixture of Taiwanese and English with which he leads the choir challenges everyone to stretch their understandings of both languages.

ANY STORIES BELOW THIS POINT WERE POSTED LONG LONG AGO (IN FACT, IN 2008) AND ARE NO LONGER CURRENT.  WE'RE JUST HAVING A DEVIL OF A TIME GETTING THEM OFF OF THE SITE.