王蓮姐妹

走向新生
2012年12月23日，我在曙光華人基督教會受洗，終於把我的身心都歸信了耶穌基督，
以耶穌基督為救主，順服並堅信耶穌基督是我唯一的信仰。
為了實現這一願望，我尋找和努力了許久。。。
沒有來美國之前，我渾渾噩噩幾十年，沒有正確的信仰和人生追求，
在頑固的偏見禁錮和影響下，真像一隻迷途的羔羊，和許許多的人一樣，
面對自己的人生，無語發問：「我為什麼來到世上？我將去向何方？」

李瑞麟弟兄／張芬蓉姐妹

弟兄姐妹們，大家好。此刻我們的心情格外的激動和興奮。
我們按照神的心意，藉此聖禮受浸，歸入耶穌基督，認識了神，信了主，
從此成了基督門徒，進入了神的大家庭裡，
活在神的恩福裡，讓我們接受聖靈的重生。

自決志信主到受浸之前，我一直徘徊：『我為什麼要信耶穌？又怎麼決定受浸？』

孫素鳳姊妹

女兒有天問我：
「如果可以選擇回到以前年輕的時候，沒有皺紋，沒有白頭髮，
沒有身上的贅肉，沒有臉上的大黑斑，我要嗎？」
嗯，聽起來還滿誘人的。
可是要我回到生命裡沒有主掌權日子，即使是青春與美麗我也不換。

年輕時，除了有人羨慕的外表外，其實並沒有什麼自信。
不管遇到多麼無理或不合理的對待與要求，一直都是忍氣吞聲，委屈求全，從不會說不。

許澎澎弟兄

是神改變了我
我的父母、大哥、大嫂、弟弟和弟妹和我的太太都是基督徒。
但我因從小在中國受無神論教育，自己的理性思維無法跨越，
一直在教會的大門前徘徊多年。

自從聽了遠志明牧師佈道和寇牧師的証道，以及藉新天地團契弟兄姐妹的幫助。
我居然跨越了，信了耶穌！相信耶穌是人類唯一的救主。
只有藉著祂，我才可以回到天父那裏，認識真理，得著永生。

我明白以往我因不認識上帝，我的人生方向和路線都錯了。 
我是個罪人，如今決定回頭，不再走自己的路，
願意一生跟隨耶穌，做一個討神喜悅的兒女。

Ken Zhu, 9th grader/Lynn Chen

Dear parents, supporters, and dear friends :)

Today's update comes from:

Today the mission team went to a city near Danshui River and ate a special food spicy tofu with noodles inside. The team also went to the Shisanhan Museum to learn about the native people’s culture. After going to the city and going to the museum we went to visit some Taiwan colleges bordering the Danshui River. After having a fun experience near the river we went to the night market. Weather was bad at the night market because it was raining but overall it was really fun. Many of the team’s people enjoyed buying food and clothes. Going to the Danshui River is a really memorable experience for the team. Today I learned to stick together as a team. Please pray for a safe flight back to California tomorrow.

It is hard to believe that two whole weeks have passed. We praise the Lord so much for all that He is doing and all that He has done! What an amazing missions trip it has been and all the glory belongs to God alone. :)

We thank the Lord so much for all of your support and loving encouragement ^_^ We look forward to coming home and will see many of you all soon!

In His love,
Lynn :)

Kristin Ho, 11th grader/ Lynn Chen

Dear parents, friends, and supporters! :) 

Today was the last day of our VBS and it ended with a lot of laughter as well as sadness as our official VBS missions drew to a close. But we are confident in our Lord Jesus Christ to complete the good work He has started in the hearts of those we have ministered to these two weeks and look forward to seeing many (if not all!) of the children who we have preached to one day in heaven. :) :) Today's update comes from Kristin Ho, 11th grader: 

 

Hello dear parents!

 

This morning we rose early, as usual, and traipsed to our final day of VBS. We had our daily worship songs and skit, small group lesson and memory verse memorization, and crafts and English lesson.  In all honesty, this last day of VBS did not seem to contain the same attachment and emotional intensity as the last day of the Tai Dong VBS – for me.  My group of kids in Taidong seemed to be comprised of half little angels and half little demons, but in the end, since the group was so small, it actually felt like leaving MY kids, and in Taidong, we were able to witness a lot of growth, or at least change in attitude and the kids’ relationship with us.  There was something kind of unforgettable about them.  The Taipei children, though, were mostly good-natured and well-behaved during the whole VBS.  Some of my kids were really loveable; they did hilariously weird things and played with each other with easy-going attitudes, even when they accidentally hurt each other.  

 

About two thirds of the kids in general had been to church before, but those that did not were exposed to the gospel repeatedly throughout these past four days. I learned, though, that you really do get out what you put in. In Taidong I really put in all my effort and felt like everything that could have been done was done, and leaving was a glad occasion as well as a sad occasion.  In Taipei, mostly the whole team began the VBS feeling unusually tired, and I did as well – the week continued in a more subdued way because of its beginning.  Many of us were also hit with stomach aches.  The kids and us counselors did become closer as we spent time teaching them gospel and Bible truths in small groups – by the end everyone knew how to do Jesus stretches and to call Nancy “Granny”. 

 

At the end of the day’s VBS we had a parent presentation, in which we had the kids perform songs/English/skits and played a video of the past four days’ VBS activities. The kids and us counselors parted ways, half the girls in our team left, and we went to dinner with the Taipei team at an extremely fancy buffet chosen by the Taipei coworker, Chris. Dinner was great; there was smoked shark and smoked salmon and made to order pasta and other tasty dishes.  Most of the guys tried a wasabi-heaped cracker each and two of the guys had wasabi-lemon drinks.  Ray looked 20 pounds heavier after he finished eating.  We then walked for about an hour back to the church and parted ways with Taipei team again before spontaneously deciding to go to Teacher Alice’s house for a little to rest.  When we came back, everyone was tired and in strange tired-high spirits; it feels to me like we’ve spent a lot of a special sort of energy. 

 

Please pray for everyone’s safety – the team split into various different places this evening – and for the souls of the kids from this week and last week’s VBS.  Also pray that we stay healthy and that the kids and their parents who haven’t gone to church before consider coming to church for the first time.

Again I want to express my deepest appreciation and thanks to our incredible prayer supporters on behalf of this missions team. I thank God so much in every remembrance of the people back home who sent us here and who continue to faithfully pray for us! It is my joy and honor to be a part of this team and see the amazing work God has done in the children we have ministered to as well as to see the work God is doing in each of our youth. 

The youth have the day off tomorrow for touring and shopping, it will be a well-deserved and much-needed break for everyone! ^_^

In His love,

Lynn :) 

Daniel Cha, college junior/Lynn Chen

Dear parents and supporters and friends :)

Thank you for your continued prayers and fellowship in Christ! 
Yesterday's update comes from Daniel Cha, college junior:

Today we woke up at 6:45 A.M. and prepared ourselves through devotional sharing and prayer. Various people shared what God had said to them the previous day and we prepared ourselves for the upcoming day. Jerry and Daniel went and got breakfast at a local bakery well known for its specialty breads.  After a few drinks were purchased at “7-11”, breakfast was eaten and a brief period of down-time was given. (For those interested, a wide variety of breads was available—some had egg with a kind of sugar in it and others had some kind of meat powder with cheese on top. All the food was very good.)  At around 8:50 A.M., we headed over to the church and started our V.B.S.

By the time we got there, a few kids were already there. As time progressed more kids came in, they started getting into line one by one. Once we got started, we made a couple brief announcements and awarded points to the groups that were most attentive. After a while,a lot points were awarded to certain groups and then we began praise. 

By now the kids knew four songs pretty thoroughly. The kids were all very excited to sing the songs. Looking for another opportunity to award points, we offered rewards to the teams who were brave and willing enough to go on stage to dance. After we competed in singing songs for a while, we concluded praise and proceeded to the next phase of the program—the skit.

Today’s skit group was composed of Jasmine, Michael, Kristin, Ken, and Hyde (a Taipei helper). Their skit was centered on the story of the faithful and un-faithful servant. After the skit team conducted their performance, the kids were then asked several questions. We then broke off into small groups and went to our respective areas.

During small group, we discussed the skit, yesterday’s sermons, and again taught the Gospel to our kids. We asked questions about the skit and what exactly they learned from it. One of the most memorable experiences of today was the fact that as we were reviewing the skit in our small groups, it really seemed that a lot of kids were beginning to develop a good interest in Jesus Christ. A lot of the kids that first seemed indifferent or bored about the Gospel all of a sudden felt far more interested and intrigued in the small groups.

After small group, we then had lunch which was very very good. After lunch, as usual, we had nap time and everybody slept very soundly (including the counselors). We then woke up and played a very fun balloon popping game. We proceeded to then do crafts, where we made little jet packs for the kids with cardboard boxes. The kids really enjoyed that and pretended that they were flying with their little jet packs. After crafts, we had snack time which was muffins and jello.

It was also very delicious. Afterwards, we taught the English lessons,our kids seemed to like us more and more as the days go by. Proceeding the English lesson was the large group message and worship. All the kids sang very very passionately and filled with joy. Uncle Chris (our Taiwan co-worker) gave a good sermon on why we should believe in Jesus and gave many reasons to believe in Him by faith. 

All in all, it was a very good day and we praised God for the fruit that we are already beginning to see in Taipei.

Prayer requests:
1.Pray for our last day of this VBS in Taipei, that God would make our day fruitful and filled with the Holy Spirit and do a wonderful work among the kids.
2.Pray for HOC in Taiwan, that as we leave, they would continue to do the great work faithfully.
3.Pray for the parents of the kids and for the kids themselves so that the kids would want to continue to learn about Jesus and desire to come to church on a weekly basis to HOC. Pray for their salvation.
4.Pray for our health, some members of the team are still very sick.
5.Pray for us, that all of us would continue to maintain this missionary attitude as we come  home as well.

We have seen firsthand God's incredible provision and blessings and we recognize that we are just half of the team. The other half of our very important team is back home interceding and praying hard for us! We feel the mighty effects of your faithful prayers and look forward to sharing more about our trip when we are home on Sunday. :)

Edwin and Daniel worked very hard to put together a video of our past three days in Taipei for the parents of the kids to see as well as for us to share with all of you! :) You can see the video here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151309883076679

In His love,
Lynn :)

__._,_.___

Ray Chen, college freshman/ Lynn & Aaron

 8/8/2012 Taipei
Dear parents and supporters :) 

Today was our second day of VBS and the youth are feeling really comfortable with their roles and responsibilities. Today's update comes from Ray Chen, college freshman: 

Today we had a similar schedule as yesterday.  We woke up pretty early and shared our devotionals at 7 am.  Every single person had something interesting to share.  Then we had some breakfast consisting of some weird pancake egg mix.  By 8:50, we left for VBS.  When we got there, we waited while the kids slowly poured in.  When most of the kids had arrived, we started by doing our praise.  We taught the kids 2 new songs, Remarkable and Once Again, in addition to singing the two songs we did yesterday. 

Afterwards, David, Jeffery, Michelle, and Jenny performed a skit about Daniel and the lion’s den.  Jeffery was Daniel, David was the jealous official, Michelle was the female king Darius, and Jenny was the scary lion.  After the skits, we broke into our small groups.  I was with David, Ken, and Stephanie from the Taiwanese church.  In small groups, we talked about the lyrics to Remarkable and Once again, and we went over the skit.  Then we had the kids memorize Daniel 2:20, “Daniel answered and said, ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and eve, to whom belongs wisdom and might.’”  

When we finished, we played some fun games and then went to eat lunch.  Just like yesterday, lunch was delicious.  We had noodles with some awesome sauce.  Then, at 1, it was nap time not only for the kids, but also for the helpers.  When we all woke up, we were somewhat refreshed and ready to help the kids again.  Daniel led us in a group stretch to prepare us for a large group game.  Aaron led the kids in a game called red light green light.  When Aaron says green light, the kids would run, and when he says red light, the kids would stop.  It was fun until Aaron started calling random words like green lamb to try to trick the kids.  By then it became somewhat annoying.  Anyways, afterwards, we helped the kids make crafts.  Half the kids made lion puppets, while the other half made a lion hat.  All the kids had creative designs for their lions and some had too much fun with them.  Later, the kids had snacks.  This time, the church served us chocolate cake and some red bean soup.  The chocolate cake was good, but I never got to the red bean soup because I had 8 slices of the cake, which I do not regret.  

After stuffing ourselves, we went on to teach the kids English lessons.  The kids in my group were 3^rd or 4^th graders, but many of them were equally if not more proficient in English than in Mandarin.  Some could read English, but not Mandarin.  Consequently, teaching English was fairly easy.  Afterwards, we had the small groups perform one of the four songs we taught them.  My small group did Once Again.  Finally, we all listened to Aaron’s sermon with Uncle Jerry translating to the kids.  Basically, Aaron’s sermon was about how we are sinful creatures who constantly sin against an infinitely holy God.  However, Jesus came to the earth and was crucified and had all of our sins on placed on Him, giving us a perfect record.  Afterwards, when the kids left, we went back for some questionable dinner. 

My most memorable experience was the day we left Taitung to go back to Taipei. In my Taitung small group, one of my kid’s family’s name was Chen, just like me.  Therefore, we called him Xiao Chen, and I was Da Chen, or little Chen and big Chen.  The first day, Xiao Chen was really obnoxious.  He would run away, hit other kids, and hide from us.  He even made another kid cry.  By the last day, he was still really annoying, but we grew really close to each other.  When we left for the train, Xiao Chen jumped into my arms, and even gave me a flower.  We were both incredibly depressed that I had to go back to Taipei. 

From this trip, I learned many things.  For example, I learned how much kids, especially the ones from Taitung, need love.  Most of them come from broken families and poor living conditions, which may have contributed to their obnoxiousness, but once God showed His love for them through us, they started becoming more bearable.  From this I realized how we are kind of like the kids.  Even though we constantly sin against God, He will always love us.  

1.  Please pray for our health, that none of us will get really sick and that we will get plenty of sleep.2.  Please pray that the Holy Spirit will reside in us, and that our words would pierce their hearts and that many souls will be added to God’s kingdom. Pray that God will work in through us.3. Please pray for the children in both Taipei and Taitung. This is so that the things we have taught/will teach them will be effective. I pray that they will love God with all their heart and believe and be saved in Christ Jesus our Lord.4. Please pray that we will all serve God in California as well, and be willing to dedicate our whole lives go God.

Thank you again for your wonderful thoughts and prayers! :) We love and appreciate them all :) It has been a joyous and blessed time with the youth missions team :)

In His love,

Lynn & Aaron :) 

Katherine Xiao, 8th grader/ Lynn & Aaron

8/7/2012 ~Taipei

Dear parents and supporters! :)
Today's update comes from Katherine Xiao, 8th grader　:

Dear parents, church members, and friends,
         Today was a very exciting day because it was the first day we taught VBS to Taipei children! We began the day with worship and prayer, preparing our hearts to serve the Lord. Afterwards, we headed to the church that we were doing VBS in. We first set everything up and made sure all the craft supplies and skit props were ready, and gradually, children started coming in. Jasmine Chang, Jennie Zhang, and I are leaders in the first group, who are the youngest children. They were all very cute, and their English is even better than the seventh and eighth graders in Taitung, mostly because many of them came from America or attend international school. We first taught them two worship songs, and then performed our skit. In our small groups, we made a team name and chant, and then played some icebreaker games. Little by little, the children started opening up to us. We asked the kids questions about the story, which was about Joshua leading the Israelites across the Jordan River on dry ground. Then, we taught them how to properly dance the praise songs. By the time we finished, it was already lunchtime. Time sure flies when you’re having fun! For lunch, we had curry. We were able to bond with the children and learn more about their interests. Unlike the Taitung kids, Taipei kids had trouble learning the games after lunch. They weren’t as competitive and spirited. After struggling for a long time to get them to understand the games, we finally started playing.  Crafts came afterwards. The kids in Taipei really liked doing everything in the crafts by themselves, while the Taitung kids just wanted us to do it. All of the crafts (which were fish mobiles), turned out BEAUTIFUL. The kids were really creative on their part, and each kid’s crafts had a unique style to it. There was a minor snack time, where the church served chicken nuggets and cream puffs. English lessons occurred after. As I stated previously, many of the children already knew English, so several of the leaders, especially the ones serving the older kids, had to try and make the words more challenging. However, since my group taught the youngest, the curriculum didn’t need be modified. The kids were really active when they learned, and it was a blessing to teach them. All groups then went on stage to perform the songs and dances they learned. It was cute. 
  
        My most memorable experience today was having lunch with the kids. They’re all very intelligent, and have very witty jokes, which I all laughed at. They loved the food they were eating, and espcially liked eating with us. We learned different variations of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and had lots of fun. Most of the kids finished their food, even their broccoli. It was amazing seeing how different each and every kid was. Some were shy, some loved games, others loved jokes, etc. God made each of us in our own image, and created each of us differently.
        Through this trip, I learned the difference of communities and why God loves children so much. Today, when we taught kids from Taipei, I noticed a distinct difference between the Taipei kids and Taitung kids. Taipei kids were quieter and more sophisticated, while the Taitung kids were very energetic and dragged us everywhere. I believe God put each and every one of them in different cities to glorify Him differently. Also, kids are very innocent and love you very much. As long as you love them, they love you. I loved the Taitung and Taipei kids, and I will and already do miss them very much. I can only pray that what we taught/teach them will be effective in their lives and that God will be glorified. I also pray that we will be able to meet again, whether in this life or the next. I would like to praise God for bringing me on this mission trip. I have learned so many things during this trip and have experienced amazing bonds with the kids. It was and will be hard to leave the kids, but I believe God brought us here for a reason, and that we will be able to take what we learned and experienced from this trip to California and serve as missionaries everywhere we go. This trip has truly been a blessing for me.
                      
       I would like to thank each and every one of you for praying for us every day. This mission trip has been pretty successful so far, for God truly works through prayers!

Please continue praying for us:

      1.Please pray for our health, that none of us will get really sick and that we will get plenty of sleep.

      2.Please pray that the Holy Spirit will reside in us, and that our words would pierce their hearts and that many souls will be added to God’s kingdom. Pray that God will work in through us.

      3.Please pray for the children in both Taipei and Taitung. This is so that the things we have taught/will teach them will be effective. I pray that they will love God with all their heart and believe and be saved in Christ Jesus our Lord.

      4.Please pray that we will all serve God in California as well, and be willing to dedicate our whole lives go God.

      This mission trip has been a success thanks to your prayers, and I am truly, truly glad that I came on this trip. Once again, thank you for your support!

      A few of us are still sick and many of us are tired, please pray for the Spirit to give us strength and energy to finish this week strong. :)
    Thank you for reading and journeying with us! :) All glory to our GREAT GOD! :)

    In His love,
    Lynn & Aaron :)

Jasmine Chang, 8th grader/Lynn & Aaron

8/5-6/12 ~Taipei

Dear youth parents and prayerful supporters!

Today was a day of rest for us as we got to sleep in a little bit (or a lot!) and started our preparations for tomorrow's VBS in the afternoon after lunch. We are in good spirits and pretty good health with a few people feeling a bit under the weather from the workload last week. We would love and appreciate your prayers for healing for those who are feeling tired and a bit ill as well as renewed passion and strength for this week. We want to finish strong and love much on and for our Lord Jesus! :) August 5-6th update is by Jasmine Chang, 8th grader:

Dear parents, church members, and everyone,   
    On Sunday, we were still in Taidong and we had a long 5 hours Father’s Day Sermon. (Father’s Day in Taiwan is August 8) We listened to why we had to respect our fathers, broken families, and how blessed we are to have fathers in (most of) our lives. We listen to the Village Chiefs sing their native songs and we watched a skit made by the teenage yuan zu ming; it was very touching. It’s about the lives of a happy family until their mom dies. The father starts drinking with his friends, but the eldest son was mad at his dad and they both got in a fight. The son learns from his dad and starts drinking too, but got blind when he got in a second fight with other drinkers. His whole family was really depressed; especially the dad. One day, the father met a Christian and she decided to evangelize to him. He started to believe in Christ and donates his eyes to his son so he could see. Many people started crying and it was touching, like I said before. After we ate lunch, I didn’t know what happened afterward because I went sleeping.  At 2:00, we went Taidong food shopping, which consists of mochi and other delicious food. We went bicycling afterward, although I didn’t go and I talked to Pai Lin Ah Yi. We went on a train ride for 5 hours, and said a really quick goodbye to all the Taipei helpers.
    On Monday, we had training. We got to sleep in, because we had to wake up at 6 o’ clock every day. It was a short training, since we had received it already in the past week. All we did was teach the new Taipei members the songs we sang and we made the crafts. We organized everything, made new posters, and cried because Candy was leaving (or so we thought.) We went to Sogo Department Store. They had food, clothes, appliances, and accessories. When we got back, we ate the cake that Pai Lin Ah Yi bought for my birthday.

      A memorable experience was my birthday with the Youth Group. I got cake from Pai Lin Ah Yi, soap from Daniel, and a huge, cute chicken pillow from David, Jeffrey, and Michael.        
      It was memorable, although I wasn’t feeling well. I would like to thank everybody for a wonderful birthday! I also think another memorable experience was the parting of the Taidong kids. They were all so friendly and we got along so well together. It was a pity that we couldn’t spend more time with each other. We were all mourning on the train and when they gave us their traditional accessories. I really hope they can learn more about the gospel and that God really is their true savior so that one day I could meet them again; maybe not on Earth.
       I learned about the importance of how truly lucky we were. The Taidong kids made me realize how fortunate I was to live in America for the food, shelter, weather, and the resources we have to get to know the gospel. Many children only have one parent or no parents at all. The day before we got there, there was a typhoon and a lot of the kid’s shoes got blown away. Many of them don’t receive the love and care they need for their age from their families. Meanwhile, back in San Jose, we receive lots of love from our families and many do not have broken families. One big thing that is different between the FMLC missionaries and Taidong kids are that they are thankful for what they have. They’re satisfied with the limited amount of food and shelter that they receive. In California, not focusing on our FMLC church is almost the opposite. Many of us are spoiled but we still aren’t thankful and we ask for more. It’s because we don’t know how lucky we are until we go to places like Taidong to see everybody that aren’t as fortunate as us. The Taidong kids are lucky to have a pastor like Brother You (Paster You) because he cares for them so much. He takes all the kids to church every day and sends each one back. The kids stay at the church sometimes because of the typhoon. Their resources of gospel are also limited because some family members aren’t Christians and some are only forced to go to church. Some of them really do not like to go to church, and that’s why I pity them. I hope when they grow up, they can realize that us, as missionaries, are really trying to help them so we can save them, rather than being bossy and mean.
    

There are a few things I would like if you could pray for us:

-Our health (Many of us are sick or not feeling well)

-The Taidong and Taipei kids faith in God

-That God will work through every kid and change their closed hearts ( Same as the  second prayer)

-FMLC missionaries will be enthusiastic with all the praise and talking about the gospel     

    Thank you for everyone who has been praying for us, we really appreciate it! Please continue praying for us. The mission trip is going very well and we hope future mission trips will be successful also. Thank you again!

                                                                                                                                                            Many of us have been under the weather and recovering so this update is coming a few days late, thank you for your continued prayers and bearing with us :)

In His love,
Lynn & Aaron :)

Rina Hung, college freshman / Lynn & Aaron

8/4/2012 Taitung

Dear parents and wonderful supporters :) 

Today was an especially eventful day and held quite a few surprising events! 

The biggest surprise and unplanned event was the spontaneous worship and praise put on by ALL the youth (Taipei Home of Christ and First Morning Light Church youth) after dinner at the restaurant we were at. :) It was an amazing sight to see 22 youth worshiping God with the VBS praise songs we had been teaching the kids all week in a very public and open restaurant. ^_^ All glory and honor to our great God! 

Today's youth update comes from Rina Hung, college freshman: 

Dear Parents, Friends, and family,

I pray that everyone back home is doing well! Time goes by so fast, today is the last day of our VBS program in Taitung. We had a great experience serving the Lord through spreading the Gospel to the kids. 

We began the day bright and early by preparing our hearts for missions with praise songs and life journal sharing. VBS then proceeded as usual, with group games weaved into the planned praise songs, crafts, and English lessons. The kids had fun making Bible verse jetpacks and tossing water balloons outside. We also tried to incorporate parts of the Gospel into our activities through the entire day in the hopes that these children would understand that the purpose of our being here in Taitung is to introduce them to the Lord. At the end of the program, Pastor You led the children in a farewell ceremony and presented us with parting gifts and an emotional song (tears all around). The day ended at a spectacularly indigenous-looking restaurant where we made a lot of spontaneous noise and commotion dancing to our praise songs on the dance floor. The guests seemed to appreciate our enthusiasm.

The most memorable experience of the day for me was easily the farewell portion. Though we have only known these kids for 3 days, we have all become very attached. It is always astonishing to be reminded of the strength of human relationships, and in the past few days the bonds that we created will remain a part of us long after we leave. In our sadness at leaving this wonderful place, I can only pray that in the short time we spent here, our messages about God made an impact on their lives and that they will turn to him as their savior and Lord. And if they do not walk away from this experience completely changed by the Gospel, I pray that this VBS camp has opened up their hearts to Christ so that they will continue to come to church to worship and become disciples of the Lord.

As we head back to Taipei, please pray for the following:

1)      That God will keep revealing himself to the Taitung kids through the church

2)      That our next VBS camp will be successful in making disciples

3)      That God will replenish our hearts so that we can give continue to serve him wholeheartedly

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers, God Bless!

Please also keep in prayer for us continued good health for the team as well as travel mercies as we will be traveling back to Taipei today (Sunday). :) And lastly, here are a few photos from today. Please excuse the quality! They were taken on an old phone but we have good quality ones that we will be sharing later ^_^ 

The first photo is Aaron and Daniel from the back playing piano together. Our two Korean men did very well despite not speaking much Chinese besides "bao zi" and "xie xie".

The second photo is David, Edwin, and Jasmine's group of K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd graders performing their praise song for the rest of the group.d caption

The third photo is of a little girl tying on Rina's wrist the bracelets we were gifted with. The ladies received one for each wrist.

The fourth photo is our group photo with both the Taipei and the FMLC team with some of our VBS kids. We are all wearing the gifts we were presented with.

The fifth photo is all of the youth dancing and singing the VBS songs at the restaurant we were at.

The last photo is a view from the back where you can see other restaurant patrons taking video, photos, etc. Some of the little kids danced along with us :D

This was a long update, thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers!! :) 

In His grace,

Lynn & Aaron :)

Michael Cheng, 11th grader/ Lynn & Aaron

8/3/2012 Taitung
Dear youth parents and wonderful supporters,

The second day of VBS in Tai Dong was fun but very tiring. We feel your love and support through each of your faithful prayers. :) Today's update is from Michael Cheng, 11th grader:

To those interested,
               The 4th day in Taidong, the second day of VBS. The VBS schedule was mostly the same as yesterday’s, but it is picking up speed finally, now that our small group members have become more familiar with each other, things are really happening now although in a mixed way. The kids sometimes listen, sometimes they don’t, sometimes they sit like the good little kids that they’re supposed to be, sometimes they run around like they’ve got caffeine injected into them. It’s been fun, but also exhausting for many of the missionaries. Speaking of missionaries, if you haven’t known this by now our church, FMLCCC, teamed up with another church in Taipei in a joint effort to spread the gospel.  It all really is exciting, and we’re still praying that the people we are ministering to would have their hearts opened up by God so that they could come to accept Him as Savior and Lord. It’s a challenge, but rest assured, we are trying our best, with many memories being made and souls being touched.
                 A thing that really caught my attention was how much the children’s behavior could vary. As said before, sometimes they’re little angels, sometimes they’re little bundles of sin. But that’s the thing! They’re like us! Before we knew God, we were in total rebellion against him, being totally sinful beings not wanting to obey and listen to the Good God who loves us. But God opened up our eyes and ears so that we could see him, and when we did, we saw how evil we are and how good God is. Only now did we come to repent and finally listen to God and want to love him and serve him and give him our all. So like the kids, we were once all evil, unrighteous in the sight of God, but when God touched us and we turned to Him, we finally came to realize our sins and repent and receive salvation.
                The people whom we are ministering to need God to open up their hearts, and this is something we missionaries here still pray for. If you could also pray for that, it would be appreciated, for prayer really is powerful, and just for the mission as a whole, that God be glorified and displayed for all to see in our mission.
From a Brother in Christ,
Michael C.

We want to give glory to God for the amazing work He is doing in the lives of the kids we are ministering to and the work He is doing in us! It has been such a joy to be with this wonderful group of youth kids. :) I am so proud of them and want to thank God for the parents who have taught and raised them so well. All the youth are working so hard and so diligently with all their heart to bring the gospel to the Tai Dong children! :) :)

Thank you again for your loving prayers. :)

In His grace,
Lynn & Aaron :)

Jeffery Yan, 10th grader / Lynn & Aaron

8/2/2012 Taitung
Dear Youth Parents and supporters :)!

Yesterday was our first day of VBS and the first time we got to spend an entire day with the kids. It was a lot of fun but also very tiring for our youth team! Today's youth update comes from Jeffery Yan, 10th grader: 

Dear Parents, Family, and all else who may be concerned, 

Overall, today was busy but also an excellent educating experience. We began our day with a relatively early (in comparison to most people’s “normal schedules) morning roll call at 6:30 by singing a few praise songs, sharing life journals, and prayer. Following this included breakfast, devotionals, and final preparations for VBS until around 8:45­—attendees to the VBS began dropping in around 8:30, totaling around 50 kids towards the end. Until around 17:00, we commenced with various VBS activities, including worship, games, lunch, naptime, crafts, and English lessons. After dinner, there were no activities planned until 20:45 (the last activity of the day). At that time we sang a couple praise songs, debriefed our first day of instruction, and prayed for the next couple days to come. 

One memorable experience was seeing how the kids’ behavior changed for the better as the day progressed. When they first arrived, most seemed reluctant to do anything and lacked much enthusiasm. Later on when leading praise songs/dance, I was provided an opportunity to view a different side of the children—one bursting with energy and excitement. This soon morphed into slight rebellion, however, when meeting in small groups. But as we (the staff) grew more accustomed with the kids and vice versa, this tension was loosened and all was well by the close of the first day, evidenced by the students’ increased excitement and participation as a whole when performing various VBS songs. From this experience I learned, once again, that “you can’t always judge a book by its cover”. Managing my small group of six students (even with two other youth as co-leaders) was also no simple task. But the more we spent time with them, striving to show them God’s love, the more we were able to fully interact with them and even hold conversations. 

We kindly ask if you could support us in prayer at this time, for although we teach the VBS, nothing will happen without prayer for God’s hand working among both us and the children. 

Some things that we need prayer for at the moment are as follows:

1)      Unity amongst the missions team
2)      Strength to
a)      heed what God may have spoken to us
b)      to persevere even when physically or spiritually tired
3)      A willingness to learn to be found in the kids attending the VBS

4)      For God to do great things in Taidong, so that we can just marvel at how great  He is.

In Christ,
Jeffery Yan 

P.S.: I apologize for any spelling/grammar errors that you may find and I thank you for bearing with me as I have a difficult time making things seem interesting.God bless!

We are so thankful to God for His incredible provision in every way and we are continually thankful for your support and prayers! No one on the team has gotten sick and everyone has been in good health and high spirits even though the days have been long and tiring. 

We hope you are enjoying these updates and look forward to sharing more when we return! 

In His grace, 

Lynn & Aaron :)

Nancy Xiao 11th grader / Lynn Chen

8/1/2012 Taitung

Dear Youth Parents, 

Today was a long and very busy day but ALL of the youth kids worked incredibly hard to prepare for the Vacation Bible School (VBS) starting tomorrow. :) We are so proud of them and being here with them has been such an incredible joy. ^_^ 
Today's update is from Nancy Xiao, 11th grader:  

Dear parents,

How are you? I hope you are all doing well and are happy in Jesus. We are having a great time here, worshipping the Lord corporately and serving Him.

Today we began the day with an hour of prayer. We prepared our hearts through prayer as we prayed for our own spiritual wellbeing, our mission team, Taidong, and our VBS camp. Afterwards, we spent time alone with God as we read the Bible and did our daily devotions. We also practiced and perfected the big group lessons of the VBS camp, the skits, by memorizing our lines preparing props and costumes. In the afternoon, we prepared all the crafts needed for the VBS camp, mastered the worship songs and the dances that we will be teaching, as well as learned how to make all the crafts.

Though today was eventful and long, it was extremely enjoyable as we became closer to one another and the Taiwan team. Please pray for each and every one of our members’ spiritual wellbeing and that there will be a revival in Taidong. Also, that the Lord will work through us and in Taidong and that many hearts will be touched and many will turn to Jesus and become a believer.
Thank you for the prayers and your love for us. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. God bless you.       2012 Taiwan mission team

 I have also attached some photos from our day today for your viewing pleasure ^_^.

Alice Teacher is helping David with his costume for our skit, he plays the bad guy.

Ray has a beard because he is playing Joshua in his skit group.

The Taiwan and FMLC teams working together to prepare crafts for 70 kids. We worked on craft preparation for almost 3 hours.

It was so sweet and wonderful to worship together in Chinese and in English. :)

These two pictures were taken tonight as we learned and practiced our worship songs with Nancy, Michelle, David, and Jeffery as our praise leaders.

We also got some super yummy sweet potato chips.

Delicious. :D We hope you are enjoying these updates! :) 

In His love, Lynn :)

Jennie Zhang, 8th grader /Lynn

7/31/2012 Taitung

Dear Youth Parents, 

Praise the Lord we made it another day! Today was the day we went down to Tai Dong so it was especially eventful! Jennie Zhang, 8th grader, shares about our day from her perspective:

Today, we had to wake up at 5:00 to pack up and get ready to do VBS in Tai Dong. So for the first half of the day, we spent it on socializing with other Taiwan missionaries and sleeping on the train. After we arrived in Tai Dong, we were introduced to the Tai Dong church. After we watched a Christian movie and had dinner, then we gathered for our evening devotions.

I personally thought today was really exciting and fun because we were able to hang out together and learn more about God. However, it was really tiring because we had to get up very early and it was hard to sleep on the train. Overall, I enjoyed the things we have done today.

Some prayer requests I would like to make are that our whole mission trip will be healthy and not get sick, that we may be more unified, and that we may be fruitful in helping others learn about Jesus. Also, some additional prayers requests are that it won’t be too hot, and that the typhoons won’t be too vicious.

I know I say this everyday but we are so thankful for your continuing support and especially your prayers. We feel them very powerfully here and thank God in every remembrance of our FMLC family. 

In His grace, 

Lynn :)

Edwin Chow, 11th grader /Lynn

7/30/2012 Taipei 

Dear Youth Parents, 

Uncle James made a great suggestion to have the youth share a journal entry each day or every few days during our time in Taiwan. 

Edwin Chow volunteered for the first day and his update is below: 

Today we spent the entire day in preparation for the VBS programs will be doing in Tai Dong and Taipei. First, we were hit by a huge surprise. The "translators" we were supposed to have for the VBS in Tai Dong turned out to be middle schoolers who only speak Mandarin. At first we were stressed out of our minds, but as we got to know them more and more, we learned that they are an essential part of our missions trip. They are believing Christians who know the gospel in Chinese, something only a handful of us can do. PRAISE THE LORD! 

It is a true reminder of what Paul speaks of in Romans 12:4-5 "For as in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (ESV). Today we perfected our programs and bonded with our new team members. 

We started with worship where we prepared our hearts in service for Him, Teacher Alice taught us how to dance to a Chinese song, it was really fun and silly! Afterwards, we played some icebreaker games where we were forced to give a bright smile and greet each other with a high five. We met a lot of new brothers and sisters and continued to play ice breaker games. 

Later, they helped us improve our VBS program and gave us a new light. To be honest, at first I was afraid that we would not be able to get along with them, but God truly humbled me and allowed me to see how God will provide throughout the Mission's trip. I ask that you will continue to keep us in prayer. Please pray for God to convict the people of Taiwan into true repentance and for Him to use us as instruments for His glory.

Again we are so thankful for your love and support for our missions team and for sending us here to do God's work! :) 

Many blessings!

Lynn :)

旭東姐妹

撒种            

記得八、九年前，我求問 神說：「我可做什么?」 
神回答我說:「撒种」。我就嘗試著開始傳福音，發現這事不容易。
過了一年，我再次求問 神說：「我可做什么?」 
神的回答還是：「撒种」。
我開始認真面對這事。

我的困難是，
第一，我雖對神有感性的認識，但要用言語來表達，卻說不清楚。
第二，膽怯，不敢開口，

宋裕民弟兄

我是在無神論的社會，中國上海市成長的。從小就接受了一种〝觀念〞，『自力更生，奮發圖強』。凡是靠自巳勤奮努力，必能達到目標。好像美好的前程就會在前面等著我。我出身在〝黑五類家庭〞父親是歷史反革命和現行反革命。從小就在惡勢力的環境中成長。所以自己很勤奮，努力不懈，靠自己的小聰明，克服了種種難處。但是在我內心深處沒有平安。覺得在我的人生道路上充滿了困苦，好像苦海無邊。

陈玮姐妹

神的時侯

AWANA 在 曙光教會的進展

是一個信心的功課,是神奇妙的作為.

去年, 因工作上的關系我認識了一位女士, 后來我們成為很好的朋友. 雖然, 我們工作上的合作關系在去年夏天就已結束, 但我們的友情卻不斷加深, 我們常會約好了在一起吃個午餐, 她喜歡和我談一些事情. 上個月, 她約我出去吃飯, 我在我繁忙的時刻表中抽出時間,  和她見面. 那天, 我們又在一起聊天, 到快要結束的時侯, 她突然問我一個問題, 一個二年級的學生會不會笑, 我說, 通常一個二年級的孩子應該會笑, 并且會做一些好笑的事情, 她告訴我, 她的二年級的儿子不再笑了,

Ray Chen (Youth Group)

Have any of you wondered just how amazing, powerful, and timeless God is?  Imagine a monkey on a typewriter randomly typing.  Given the time, a long time, it will eventually rewrite the Bible word for word.  Yet God would have been there for an infinite amount time before the monkey started typing, and an infinite number of time when the monkey finishes typing.  That’s a long time!  God is truly amazing.

Anyways, about me.  I was born in Toronto, Ontario.  Like most babies, I was born ugly and chubby.  Hopefully, I grew cuter, but I remained chubby.  I moved to San Jose when I was 7, and started going to church around that time.  For the next few years, I would call myself a Christian, even though I didn’t know what it meant at all.

By the summer before my freshman year, my old church split, and, after a few months, we got a new pastor.  Also, around this time, I started going to Valley Christian High School.  Soon, I started realizing that being a Christian was more than going to church and avoiding major sins.

Even though I learned a lot about the Bible and Christianity, from church and my Christian school, I still felt a lack of connection with God, and lived a non-Christian life.  I knew about Jesus and what he did for me in my head, but my heart was totally unaffected.  I would have doubts of whether or not I was really saved.

The summer before my senior year, I went on a mission trip to LA with the youth group.  I remember the first day there, our pastor asked us, “Why did God bring you here?”  I was caught totally off guard, and came up with a random answer that I forgot the next day.  Over the next few days, I could feel God with me through all the people I met.  Two people I will never forget are Patricia and Martha.  Both were elderly women who had a solid faith in God.

The first time I saw Patricia, I was in a group with a few others.  We were on a “mission” to find someone to talk to and show them God’s love.  We also had some cookies that we could give out.  It was night and our group was in fear of talking to random strangers.  Soon, we saw a woman pulling out some cardboard from a bush behind a bench she was sitting on.  Our group was debating on how to approach her.  Finally, we gathered the little courage we had, and walked up to her and started talking.  Fortunately, she was very friendly, and accepted our cookies without much thought.  After a few minutes of talking, she asked us if we believed in God.  Ironically, we were hoping to share the message of God with her, but she was the one who shared it with us.  Then she went on to say how God has provided her with everything she needed, food, water, and a place to sleep.  She also told us of a miracle she had.  She was hit by a car, yet she got up, and felt no pain, and was perfectly fine.

Later that week, I was with a different group on Santa Monica beach.  We were going around looking for people that we could pray for.   After walking awhile, I met Martha.  When I asked her about what I could for, she surprised me by asking for help in finding people in need whom she can help.  Being elderly, I expected her to ask for more energy, or more money, or less back pain, yet she thought of not herself, but of others.  Though she never explicitly said it, I could tell she was a Christian by her compassion and actions.

By the end of the mission trip, I felt a tremendous change in my life.  I truly felt God in my heart, and not just in my head.  I remember the day after getting back from the trip.  I was crying with both joy from feeling God so personally, and sadness that the trip was over.  Then I told God that I will always try to do His will, even though there will always be times when I fail miserably.

From then on, I felt a change in my life.  For one, the Bible was generally less boring to read.  Also, I became more outgoing, not just in church but also with strangers.  Also, I started worrying less and less about the troubles of this world and started trusting God more.  I remember one day I was driving to volleyball practice at a high school.  I had been there before with a GPS, but the GPS broke, and I was still fuzzy on the directions.  I decided to trust God and just go with the fuzzy directions I had.  While I was driving, I had a major brain fart, and could not remember whether to take highway 82, 85, 87, or 17.  I was driving about 75 with the windows down when suddenly a paper flew from the back seat in front of me.  I grabbed it to keep it from blocking my view and I saw that it was a map.  It turned out to be a map that I needed to get to practice.

Even after all of this, I still had some doubts about my faith.  If I were to die, I would not have been 100% sure that I would be in heaven.  Soon, Pastor Lee left, and Aaron and Lynn Chung came to be our new pastors.  They introduced me to life journaling and Aaron showed me a book called Living The Cross Centered Life by CJ Mahaney.  Even though the book was really repetitive, and I never finished it, it helped me understand more about the Gospel, and the depths of what Jesus went through to deliver all of us from sin.  However, from reading the parts I read, I am now sure that if an airplane suddenly crashed into my house, I will be meeting my creator face to face.  Acts 16:31 says “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Now, from realizing the depth of what Christ saved me from, I love Him more than I ever did before.  For a sinless, holy, perfect being to willingly save me, the worst of sinners, is totally mind boggling.  Even though I fail on a daily basis, I am trying my best to always keep God in my mind and glorify Him and spread His kingdom.  Because getting baptized is a symbol for my unity with Christ I am truly thankful for getting baptized, and I know this is just the beginning.  My walk with Christ is a journey that will last for the rest of my life.

Hernan Benitez(Youth Group)

I am obeying this command, not only because I want to show everyone that I am a loyal Christian, but it’s because I am a joyful Christian that is having this unique privilege that shows how I am living a joyful life through Christ. 

 I started to go to a Christian school when I was 4 years old. I grew up listening to the stories of the Bible, and how great Jesus was. However, I never knew understood the reason on why we should keep reading the Bible or assist to every church meaning. I was there simply because my parents forced me to be a socially active person.I still remember using Jesus Christ as an excuse of life, the only reason on why I went to church was because I wanted to live trough eternity in heaven and care about myself. I didn’t really give value to the things that Jesus did for me. 

 I never wanted to spend time with the Lord, so I started to invent reasons on why I should be doing things that I thought that were important. Sometimes I read the Bible because everyone read it. These lies that I invented seemed to be the truth. 

 Unfortunately, all the lies that apparently suited in my life were made to drive me out of reality. Did I really know what was true?

A dramatic turn of event occurred one day when my friends and I were assisting a Christian concert that my teacher invited us to go. After he finished playing, my teacher and I gathered together with my friends ,and we started to feel the Holy Spirit was surrounding us. At that point, I didn’t feel comfortable with myself and my understanding of the Bible yet. People often mentioned that God talked to them through quiet time, so one day I asked myself: “What can I loose.”

At the beginning, after reading a few chapters of the Bible, I started to realize that God was trying to interact with me. My curiosity towards God started to grow until one day I realized that my interest started to develop, and then I finally understood the concept of being saved by faith, because without him we can’t be saved.

Now that I realized how complex the context of religion was I found out that only the important things that belonged to God were worth of pursuing. The everyday life was not a wild adventure, a battlefield or just another day that was added to my daily life. Now that I am God centered, I know that I won all the battles that I had and will possibly have. My heart is not only cleansed of sin, but it longs for God now.

I know that I will be put intentionally in situations that regular non-Christian people wouldn’t be able to face with ease, in situations that only God can help us solve, and I am glad that I am going to be there with God, because I am not in the position of the non-Christian person. I know that risking my life for him is going to be painful, but that pain will definitely be an itchy after experience a life near my God.

The power of God is infinite, and I am still wondering what took me so long to understand that.

Betina Benitez (Youth Group)

我第一次去教會差不多五、六歲大，那時我還在巴拉圭，我去的原因是因為我朋友叫我去陪他。每一個星期天我都去聽聖經故事，我也學會了禱告，也從那時我就知道了神的存在。

我記得有一個老師，每一個星期都叫我們讀聖經，一開始我不喜歡唸聖經，因為我覺得很無聊。而且，我從小就不喜歡唸書。

來美國以後，我發現能這麼靠近神也是因為從小都不停地去教會，雖然小時候是因為很喜歡和小朋友一起比賽背經句，認為很好玩，也很刺激。

我也在也了解，如果你真的想認識神的話，就要多讀聖經，我們可以學到很多東西，並且更靠近神。有一節經文，每當我讀到它，心中就會很喜樂。

「你必將生命的道路指示我。在你面前有滿足的喜樂；

    在你右手中有永遠的福樂。」　　　　詩篇十六章11節

我希望更靠近、更認識上帝，所以我想要受洗；

也願意服從上帝，我要感謝祂！

江燕 姊妹

各位弟兄姐妹平安，我叫江燕。今天我站在这里，非常激动，也很自豪。靠着我们的主耶稣基督，打赢了这场属灵争战，受洗归入主的名下，荣耀了我们的神。

下面我谈谈自己信主的历程：
我出身在一个军人的家庭。从小到大受到的都是无神论的教育。中国改革开放后，我从学校辞职南下广东经商。当时的广东（1985）很多公司和饭店，酒楼都喜欢供奉各种各样的佛来保护自己的生意和平安。我也受到这种风气的影响，从一个无神论者，慢慢跟随大流。特地去请了一座观音佛像供奉在家里。

孫宏橋姐妹

和從大陸的兄弟姐妹們一樣，在我們生活在大陸的那個年代，是不可能有機會親近和知道神的。來美國二十多年，也一直因忙忙碌碌於讀書、工作和家庭，而沒有靜下心來，去思想日常生活之外的事情－精神世界。直到一年半前，家裡清淨下來，最小的孩子上大學了，先生去中國工作，還健在的婆婆、媽媽二位老人身體壯態還好。我就找到我的大學同學何堤，我知道他是信主的。由他的帶導，我來到了曙光教會。那是我第一次走進教會參加敬拜和聽牧師傳揚主的話語。本來只是想來看看，了解什麼是基督教。沒想到，一聽到詩歌，我的眼淚就制不住地流下來了。心中有一種釋放、交託的感覺。

楊新輝弟兄

首先感謝神的大能讓我今天成為一個基督徒,讓我的靈魂歸向上帝,歸向主耶穌.感謝神的信息通過牧師和基督徒弟兄姐妹們傳遞給我,讓我走因信稱義的路. 感謝寇牧師為我們施洗, 感謝所有的兄弟姐妹給我做見證人.
和大多數大陸來的兄弟姐妹們一樣,我是在無神論的環境下長大的,從前是無神論者.到美國以後,有了機會接觸基督教,開始的時候是好奇,加上希望能到教會的英文會話班練英文口語.那時侯我在教會聽什麼都不信,

陳甄諾Genoveva姐妹

我真正開始認識神，是搬到墨西哥的時候。那時我知道了有祂存在的。雖然讀的是天主教學校，但畢竟他們還是有信神和耶穌，我就開始學會向神禱告了。因為學校都有教，我也有照著他們教的方法，一句一句把我所想對祂說的話說出來，到最後還用最後一句 “奉靠主耶穌基督的名，阿門”來結束禱告....我那時差不多八九歲吧。
在我生命中，當我慢慢長大時，我就越來越懂事，當然我也發覺…神慢慢的使我更靠近祂。那就是在2007年，當我從墨西哥回巴拉圭的後，我又回到了我小時候讀的雙語基督教學校。學校每一年都有辦夏令營，就像這裡的retreat一樣，一起讚美主，聽神的話語，一起禱告。還有更多活動，就比較吸引了我。

《受難節禱告會見証》 胡人超弟兄

他為我們死 我們為他而活

為主而活

15 年前，我還在前一個教會負責總務，有次開同工會，我提出成立一個維修小組，為有需要的弟兄姊妹和慕道友免費服務，大家聽了都笑了。三年前，我在曙光的核心同工會，又提出同樣的想法，大家聽了也都笑了；這次唯一不同的是，我們的大姊大－淑玲姊說：「不要完全免費，還是要收點費用。」沒想到還不到一個月，我就被公司裁員了。我真的開始做維修的工作，也不得不收費。很感謝這三年來許多弟兄姊妹的支持和照顧，讓我做到如今。

 

萬事起頭難，幹這行真是要汗流滿面纔得糊口，有時真是苦不堪言。

《受難節禱告會見証》 馬莉姐妹

因為基督為我死，我要好好為衪活

前言
弟兄姐妹平安，2011年6月我曾在教會作過見證 「經水火入豐盛之地」。現在我再度為愛我的神站在這裡，為祂的大能大力及不捨棄我作見證，祂告訴我「耶和華以便以謝」，祂從來沒有離開我，祂永遠在我前面為我開路！真的，在祂裏面，我還有什麼憂慮呢？只有天天感謝 神的恩典，曰曰活在祂的光中，領受主恩的甘甜。
在這裡，我首先要感謝教會寇牧師、倩芬師母、及弟兄姐妹長期為我代禱的辛勞，因為你們的禱告，我深知神愛我，祂為我擺設豐盛的恩典，在困境危難中一路引領保守，謝謝大家！

Update
首先要談的是我的病況。我從2010年8月在台灣結束肺部腫瘤化療六次後回到灣區，開始在EL Camino 醫院追蹤治療，從10月至2011年8月服用標靶藥物將近十個月，後發現有抗藥性現象，於是從2011年10月開始每三週一次的化療. 神真的很愛我，在化療過程中沒有一絲不適。今年一月我回台灣探望父母，並到台北榮總進行預防性的腦部MRI 檢查，

《受難節禱告會見証》 趙蘭姐妹

把自己全心全人献给主 

2005年12月25日圣诞节我受洗正式成为一名基督徒。然而对耶稣受难的真正认识是在两年前的受难节，那天晚上教会组织大家看了一部电影----『耶稣受难记』。我流着眼泪看完了这部电影，我第一次知道荆棘的冠冕戴在头上是血肉模糊血流满面的情景，我也第一次体会到当铁打穿透掌心的时候主耶稣痛苦难耐的滋味；我也第一次知道为什么主耶稣在客西马尼园祷告的时候汗珠如血滴在地上……我更第一次明白 ：
罗马书5章7-8节
「为义人死，是少有的；为仁人死，或者有敢作的。 

   惟有基督在我们还作罪人的时候为我们死，神的爱就在此显明了。」的真正含义。
回到家里，我流着眼泪来到耶稣面前，回想信主四年多来自己所做的点点滴滴，愧疚无比！