Happy Birthday Bubbie Sissy

Today was Ava's 2nd Birthday.  We ordered her favorite dinner, pineapple pizza and then she opened a few presents from Nana and Grandma.  And she topped off the evening with some carrot cake.  I'm not sure who was more excited about opening the presents- Chloe or Ava.  :)

Happy Birthday little girl.  I didn't think you would ever get this big and yet you are already here.  Crazy how the days creep and the years fly.

Check out this article on Taiwan

You can view the full article at http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=34355

Taiwanese churches needing American help

Posted on Dec 31, 2010
by Debra Weikel

TAIPEI, Taiwan (BP)--A desperate plea for help is ringing out to churches across America. Most churches have not heard the call and others have not considered that they could be the answer. Across Taiwan, the church is wavering. The resources are available, but the training and vision are lacking.

International Mission Board missionaries Jim and Brenda Schexnayder are attempting to solve this problem. In 2006, they began working with local Taiwanese churches in leadership development and evangelism training.

"In America, people have a good background of what a Christian is, but they don't have that here," Schexnayder said. "They are truly a baby. Oftentimes they add Jesus to their existing dichotomy of gods. It sometimes takes a while for those other gods to fall away."

Schexnayder trains small groups through the local church on the basics of Christianity. Usually his groups start with the basic understanding that the church is the people, not the building.

"People are used to doing worship in their houses and the temples, but in their minds the church is only a building down the street," Schexnayder said. "They don't see their small group of believers as a church -- even if they are meeting and worshipping regularly. We just keep trying to tell them that this is a church and we are building towards a church."

But there is one thing that Schexnayder cannot teach.

"If the church looks at me, they're not going to see anything to copy," he said. "The church in America needs to show the local church [in Taiwan] what the American church is doing."

Schexnayder would like U.S. churches to connect and become a direct model for churches in Taiwan. These churches need a good model so they can start to grow.

Jim and Brenda began working with one particular church that closed because of lack of interest. After moving to a new location, the church reopened and is growing again. Last summer, Jim and Brenda helped the local pastor host a three-day summer camp for 15 high school and junior high school students.

"I have been praying for help and now here you are," the pastor's wife said regarding Jim and Brenda's assistance.

Jim and Brenda receive numerous requests from churches for help, but their time is limited.

"The American church could come just once or twice per year and partner with one or two local churches by providing advice and materials as well as just a mirror for the church to see what it should be doing," Schexnayder said.

Tony Dong became a Christian five years ago and is the owner of an automotive center in Taiwan. Jim and Brenda recently began working with him to start a church using extra space on the top floor of his shop.

"I was waiting to get the car fixed and Tony told me, 'I have a vision to start a church in this shop,'" Schexnayder said. "Two months later he said, 'I have some people doing a Bible study and I want to grow it into a church.'"

Dong uses his business contacts to share the Gospel. His passion for God is evident in the number of people he invites to his weekly Bible study.

"My vision is to read the Bible. The more I learn, the more God will tell me what to do," Dong said.

Dong prayed weekly for a spiritual business plan and continued to preach the Gospel, which ultimately cost him his original business partner. God gave Dong the vision to use his garage as a meeting place for the church. Dong would like to see American Christian business leaders provide training to his other business contacts so that they will pray for the same spiritual business plan.

"Tony provides a unique opportunity for Christian business leaders in America to train local business leaders on how to do business God's way," Schexnayder said.

The opportunities for American churches to partner with local Taiwanese churches are endless. Vacation Bible Schools, leadership training among pastors, Christian business training and English summer camps are just a few of the ways American churches can help struggling Taiwanese churches keep their doors open.

"Don't ever let language be an excuse," Schexnayder said. "Pray and expect God to be glorified."

--30--
Debra Weikel writes for the International Mission Board. For more information on how you can help the struggling church in Taiwan, contact Jim and Brenda Schexnayder at jbshake@pobox.com. Volunteer teams are needed around the world. Go to www.imb.org for more information on how you can be involved.

Q: How Do You Eat Pumpkin Pie Using Chopsticks?

A:

(as witnessed at a Thanksgiving feast in Taipei, Taiwan)

Chloe and Ava New Pics

Chloe, Age 4

 Ava, Age 2

What I've Been Reading Lately

"Outlive Your Life"

by Max Lucado

Sometimes the most challenging part of a Christian life is knowing how to spend your time. Work, family and ministry all seem to compete for the same few spare minutes each day. In Max Lucado’s latest book “Outlive Your Life” he outlines several very practical yet challenging methods on how to make a difference. Lucado describes the need for people to serve the poor, orphaned and hungry in the world. He provides many examples to empower people to outlive their life in big and small ways.

This book is a great encouragement and reminder to be doing the things we know we should be doing. It gave me a renewed energy to continue to serve others. It also helped me to gain new awareness in areas that I should be doing more. Lucado’s writing style is fun and imaginative. His methods are very entertaining without being distracting to the central message.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking they should be doing more but are unsure exactly how to prioritize the need. Lucado provides a challenge to everyone to do more with their life and this challenge should not go unmet.

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=0849920698&title=Outlive_Your_Life&author=Max_Lucado

http://www.amazon.com/Outlive-Your-Life-Were-Difference/dp/0849920698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281477971&sr=1-1

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Life Lesson

It may be surprising to hear that my children are not perfect. They have been known to argue and back talk on occasion and even hit (or bite in Ava's case) each other.

One day last week, Chloe hit a classmate. She was mad at something this classmate did or said and being four years old, the most natural method of releasing frustration is through violence.  Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time she had hit this same classmate.  After talking to the teacher (in a Chinese/English/Sign Language mixture) we decided the best course of action was for Chloe's teacher to talk to the boys mother for me.  I graciously accepted the teacher's help for a number of reasons.  The biggest reason being I am unable to speak or understand Chinese over the phone and the boy's family does not speak English.  But also, there are cultural understandings that I still have not grasped.

The teacher called me later that evening and told me that the mother was not mad and was understanding of Chloe's frustration with not being able to express herself in English. I thanked the teacher and was grateful that another cultural faux paus had been successfully navigated.

Little did I know the lesson this boy and his mother would teach me.  The next day Chloe went to school and the boy gave Chloe some candy and two friend cards.  The first card had the boy's name written on it and a message in child's handwriting saying "We are good friends."  The second card was blank and was intended for Chloe to return the gesture.

Immediately I thought about the lesson of returning evil with kindness.  I was humbled by the fact that I moved around the world to minister to people who in many ways understand basic biblical principles as a culture far better than I do.

Because of this mother's small kind gesture, Chloe and this boy are now friends who actively greet each other in the halls.  Chloe says things like "Look mommy, there's James.  He's my friend."

How many instances of bullying in schools would be ended if we could adopt this basic principle of loving those who hate us, cheat us, bully us or wrong us?  In this case, my child was the bully but I learned the lesson.

Song Shu Ban

This year Chloe is in the squirrel class (a.k.a Song Shu Ban in Chinese).  This month, her class is learning about exercise because this is the month that the school hosted an "exercise performance."  For those of us who are unfamiliar with Asian customs, an exercise performance is essentially the equivalent of the school play.  But, instead of memorizing lines for a performance, they practice coordinated exercise.  Her class did a special dance about flowers.  It was really cute.  

Below are a few pics of Chloe at her school over the last few months.  She has been rapidly learning Chinese even occasionally speaking to me in Chinese.  (Although I usually don't know what she is saying).