Chinese New Year is Approaching

Here in Taiwan they celebrate Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, so the exact date changes each year. This year it falls in the middle of February. Because Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday of the year here, the Chinese students have almost a month off of school. Also the people have many New Year traditions similar to our Christmas traditions. One of those traditions is to clean out your home and put red signs on the door frames of your front door. The Chinese church that we attend gave us one of those signs. (See sign on the right of Hunter). The sign says, "The Lord gives peace." What a true statement!!! Please join us in praying that the Chinese here in Taiwan will come to understand that true peace and joy can only come from the one and true God. The yellow and red sign to the left of Hunter was made by Milly in her Chinese paper-cutting class at school -- her new elective class. The Chinese character means "spring." At Chinese New Year, people hang this character upside down. The reason -- the words for "spring is arriving" and "spring is upside down" sound alike!

Becoming Chinese??

Well, not really. But look at Page in the picture. Do you see how she is sitting? Chinese sit in this position all the time. Page claims that is really pretty comfortable but you will never find Keith sitting like this. If he did, he would never be able to get back up!!

Page is actually talking with a mother at the seminary we visited last weekend. She is a mother of five and her husband is enrolled in the seminary.

A Visit to Taiwan Baptist Seminary

Last weekend we were privledged to visit Taiwan Baptist Seminary. Linda Phillips ("Aunt Linda "- to our kids), who you see pictured above, has been the librarian at the seminary for the past 31 years!!! We figured that she began her ministry here in Taiwan when Keith was 10 and Page was 8! We had a great time walking around the campus and hearing all about the history and stories of how the seminary began. The campus is very pretty and even has an amazing view of the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 (See picture). When the seminary began it was way out in the country. Now it is surrounded by high rise apartment buildings and businesses! It was awesome to hear how God has been using men and women who graduated from the seminary to spread His Word across the nations. Linda is the last missionary working at the seminary, and she plans on retiring in August. We feel blessed to have spent some time with her before she goes back to the States to live.

Hiking Trip

One neat thing about living in Taipei is within a matter of 30 to 45 minutes you can get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and really enjoy the beautiful scenery that God created. Last Sunday, Wade, Hunter, and Keith went hiking with several other Cub Scouts and their parents. They had a great time and hiked up a mountain and when they came back down they enjoyed eating hotdogs and roasting smores.

House Church Baptism!!!

We have mentioned before that we go to a house church on Sunday afternoons. The house church is made up of missionaries, a few Chinese families, and even a few youth whose parents don't attend. This past Saturday, we were honored to watch Cathy (one of those youth) become baptized by one of her former teachers at Bethany (the school where our kids go). Cathy is a former Bethany student, and the teacher you see baptizing her was instrumental in leading her to Christ. Cathy was so excited, and it was a blessing to see her follow Christ. By the way, the baptism was done on the deck of a house overlooking Taipei. It was a beautiful view.

Gommy, Gompy Visit and Wade turns 10!!!

We had a great visit with Gommy and Gompy (Keith's mom and step-dad). They arrived on December 30 and left on January 10. We went on several fun outings, but the best part of their visit was just to be able to spend some time with both of them. In the above picture Gommy is enjoying reading a bedtime story to Hunter and Levi. Another neat part of their trip was that they were here to celebrate Wade's 10th birthday on January 9th.

Happy New Year

We had a great New Year's celebration this year. Keith's mom and step-dad (also known as Gommy and Gompy) came to visit us on December 30. On New Year's Eve we spent the evening with the members of our house church playing games, eating, and visiting. However, Gommy and Gompy did not last long at this party as they were worn out. On New Year's day, we went with another missionary family to do some sightseeing on a famous mountain. The picture above is us in front of a smoking, sulfuric open volcano.