Keith did return from Japan...

Sorry to leave you hanging but Keith did return from Japan. He had a great time in being an assistant coach for the varsity boys basketball team's trip to Misawa, Japan. Above is a picture of how it looked outside -- cold and very snowy. In fact, it snowed every single day that they were there.

However, the highlight of the trip was winning the Far East Tourney Championship. This was the first time in 8 years that Morrison won the championship. Below -- see the banner (along with the team) that we won!!

Milly in MS School Play

Milly played a hen in this year's MS play titled Chanticleer and the Fox. She did a great job. Above is the cast with the director and below is Milly posing for one of her Mom's pictures. They performed the production three times. Milly had a great time!!!

Keith Heads to Japan...

Keith will head to Misawa, Japan to help coach in the end of year basketball tourney for the varsity basketball team. He is very excited. It will be really cold as Misawa is in the north part of Japan. Please remember Page and the kids for a good week without Keith.

Back from Thailand...

We had a great time in Thailand. We spent the first couple of days in Bangkok and then spent the rest of the week near the coast -- in some meetings. Also, as you can tell we also had some fun in the sun. A big highlight for us was seeing some from our home club in NC.

MCA's JV Win Championship!!

As stated in an earlier blog, Keith is coaching the JV boys team at Morrison again this year. They just concluded their season. They had a great year. They went 13 - 1 this year and won the JV tournament by beating their arch-rival, TAS, for the third time this year in the championship game. (See picture above with Keith holding up the trophies). Last week the JV team defeated TAS in what is known as a trophy game. They play for a huge toothpick each year (see picture below of Keith holding the prized toothpick). This was the 30th year the JV teams have played for the toothpick. Morrison won it back for the first time in several years. The overall record for this toothpick is TAS 17 to MCA's 13.

Although JV basketball is over, Keith is also helping the varsity. They have about a month left in their season. They conclude their season with a trip to Japan. Keith is looking forward to going to Japan for a whole week of hoops.

Wade Celebrates His 12th Birthday.....

Wade had a great day celebrating his 12th birthday. He decided he did not want a party but instead wanted his family to go with him to Friday's. So, that is what we did. See picture below. Page did cook some brownies and all in his class sang happy birthday to him and then enjoyed the delicious brownies.

Wade has bypassed Milly in height this year. He is hoping to overtake his mom by his next birthday.

Back to School/Basketball

On Monday we all report back to work/school. It has been a great vacation. Along with normal school comes basketball for Keith. He is head coach for the JV boys team (see picture above) and assists the varsity team. Currently, the JV boys stand 8 - 0 with just a couple weeks left in the season.

Back from G-Bay

We had a fantastic trip to G-Bay. We left the day after Christmas and returned on Dec. 30. Our family, along with some other families, ran an English camp on this small island between Taiwan and China. All of our kids did a great job and helped out a lot. During the day we worked with the kids, and at night we invited the whole community to movie nights. We had many believe in what we were teaching, and the last night we celebrated with 11 baptisms. Below are some pictures of the activities. Thanks for your prayers.

Keith is pictured with some boys who thought that Keith was very cool because he is a basketball coach!! Page is pictured with some 9th graders in our English class. Milly is in action teaching 3rd and 4th graders the Christmas story.

Wade helped out with a kindergarten class. Hunter and Levi also helped in a big way. Here they are standing in front of a temple. G-Bay had many temples!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

We wish all who read this blog a very Merry Christmas. The picture above -- although not the greatest quality -- is of our kiddos anxiously awaiting to come downstairs to see what presents they have. We had a great day opening presents and heading to Chili's for a Christmas lunch.

We leave on the 26th as a family to help out a home club with an outreach. This club is on an island in between Taiwan and China. The island is called G-Bay. It should be a great experience for all in our family. We will be back on the 30th with pictures and an update.

A Taiwan Tradition...

Nick and Gloria, Taiwanese friends of ours, just had a little baby girl. See picture above (Gloria, Page, and baby Amelia). In Taiwan, one tradition is for the parents of the new born to give to their good friends a sticky rice meal -- with seafood on top as well as red boiled eggs (See picture below). The eggs represent good luck. We were honored that Nick and Gloria chose to give this meal to us.

Levi's Kindergarten Class

Levi's kindergarten class went to a nursing home and sang some Christmas songs -- first in Chinese then in English. They were a big hit. Below, Levi gives an older man a hug.

Milly and Wade in Christmas Concert!!!

Here are some pictures of Milly and Wade in action in the Middle School Christmas program. Milly plays the oboe and Wade plays the bass clarinet. Both did a great job!!

6th Grade Softball Champs

Wade's 6th grade team won the softball championship this past Saturday. Wade had a fun time playing softball with all of his buddies. Milly decided not to play softball this year. The next sport for middle schoolers is soccer. Milly and Wade both plan to play. Below is a team photo and then a shot of Wade in action.

The Look of Christmas --

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. We have our decorations up (see picture above -- decorating the Christmas tree) and Hunter performed in a Christmas program this last week. He had a great time playing the cello and singing with his classmates. The weather even turned cold this weekend -- although it is supposed to warm back up. We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!

Celebrating Thanksgiving!!!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did. We celebrated with a few families here in Taichung. As you can see with this spread, we ate good. After eating, Page and Cheryl led us in a few worship songs.

Christmas Mission Trip

We found out that over Christmas break our family, along with a couple of other m families, will be going to an island, G-Bay, to help out a local church. It will be a big challenge for our family as the island does not have any Western food!! In fact, it is populated by mostly fisherman so they eat a lot of seafood. Besides, the food, our kids are looking forward to it. The island is between Taiwan and China. On the map below the island is near Makung in the Taiwan strait.

Franklin Graham Crusade in Taiwan

I don't know if you had heard but Franklin Graham and his ministry came to Taiwan a couple of weeks ago. It was a huge success as we have heard over 13,000 came to faith. Please join us in lifting these up to the Father that they will follow through with their commitment to follow Him. Below is "A Light for Taichung" moment. Please join us in praying for the people of Taiwan and specifically Taichung. Thanks.

LIGHT for TAICHUNG

The Franklin Graham Crusades came to Taipei, Taiwan October 30th, 31st and November 1st. Many people from Taichung invited friends and traveled the 3 hour journey north to participate in this evangelistic outreach. Other Taichung churches showed the event by video feed to their friends and family. One believer excitedly told of how her Mother accepted the Lord and now everyone in her family are believers. *Please pray for the thousands of Taiwan people who had opportunity to hear the gospel because of this event. Pray that they would not forget the truth that they heard. Ask the Lord to soften their hearts so that they will receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. Pray for those who already accepted Jesus as their Lord, that they would be discipled so that their faith will grow strong and solidly founded on the Bible. Ask that they will be bold witnesses to the power of a changed life through Christ.
To His Glory and Honor and for their salvation,

Junior Carnival

Every year the Junior Class at Morrison puts on a "carnival" for the local community. The carnival's purpose is to raise money for their class. Our kids love it. This year Keith was in the dunking booth and was dunked several times. Also pictured is Levi boxing with one of his buddies from his kindergarten class.

MS Volleyball tournament

Sorry for not posting in a couple of weeks. It has been a very busy couple of weeks. Below are some middle school volleyball pics of Milly and Wade. They both competed with their resepective teams in the annual MS volleyball tourney. Both had a great time playing volleyball and hanging out with friends.

Milly waiting intently on the serve to come her way!!

Milly waiting around with her team (along with 8th grade boys team) to receive awards.

Wade with his 6th grade volleyball team!!

Another Light for Taichung Moment...

Each month, our team here in Taichung writes on a real situation in which they are dealing with. Please join us in praying for the people of Taichung and for His light to shine here on this island.

LIGHT for TAICHUNG

Dr. Lee has watched his wife surrender her life to Jesus Christ and has seen the changes in her life. She now has greater strength and peace to face the many challenges that her busy life brings. Dr. Lee sees his wife get up early to have a quiet time and also one before bed, and has himself tried getting up and sitting still, but without the focus of seeking the one true God or a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He is like so many other husbands, of believing wives that see changes that Christ has made, but are unwilling to give up their current life and take that step of faith.

Please pray for Dr. Lee and the many other men like him to humble themselves, acknowledging their selfish, sinful nature and their need for a Savior. Pray that the Christian men of Taichung will walk in faith in such a way that men like Dr. Lee will see how Christ can lead men to have a full and meaningful life. Pray for the spiritual awakening of husbands so that the Christian church in Taichung can be established with Christian families.

To His Glory and Honor and for their salvation.