Dear Praying Friends,
I (Jason) am about two months into my internship at our church here in Taipei, Taiwan. All students at China Evangelical Seminary are required to fulfill a church internship requirement. The school’s policy is that the available time for the internship extends from Friday after classes until Sunday evening. During that time we are expected to serve full-time at the church. While the school maintains that we only need to complete four segments of time each weekend, in practice each student is at the mercy of their churches’ leadership. Some of my classmates preach once a month, others lead worship, and some teach Sunday school classes.
Friendship Presbyterian Church
I am fortunate to be interning at Friendship Presbyterian Church, one of the most popular intern positions for such spiritual reasons as a lighter work load, higher stipend, and shortest travel time. All kidding aside, we have been attending Friendship Church since we moved to Taipei in September of last year. It is known for having Bible-based sermons, very traditional worship (read: hymns) and being Reformed and non-Charismatic in theology. These characteristics suite us and help us feel very comfortable there. It also has a top notch Sunday School program, which Ellie participates in. As far as I know this may be the only church of it’s kind in Taiwan.
The College Student Fellowship
My internship responsibilities are with the college student fellowhsip. The fellowship body is composed of six small-family groups, each with its own unique personality. Over the past two months I have been rotating through these groups, spending two or three weeks with each one, getting to know the students, learning from the group’s counselor, and getting a feel for the scope and dynamics of this ministry.
Friday nights are the large group meeting, with roughly 80 students in regular attendance. Before the meeting I attend the student leaders’ prayer time to pray for that night’s meeting, upcoming events and for individual students in each leader’s small-family.
Large group meetings begin with worship and singing, led by a different small-family each week. Next, as part of a campaign to help the students develop a consistent devotional life, a student will share about what God has been teaching him that week. Then it is time to greet newcomers. They turn this into quite a big deal with a rowdily sung special Welcome Song and requiring each newcomer to stand and introduce themselves. The point worth sharing here is that there actually are new people each week. In a group-based culture, bringing your non-Christian friends to church events is much more common and natural than I’ve found it to be in the States. Fellowship members often introduce their friends by saying, “She doesn’t believe in Jesus yet, but she wants to learn more about Christianity.” This never causes the friends any amount of embarrassment or discomfort and they always seem to have a great time.
The second half of the night is small-family time. Some nights there is a Bible study lead by a counselor or student leader, other nights the students just hang out, eat, and build their relationships with each other. The students always like to hear my perspective and each time I try to share with them something I have learned during classes or from my Bible reading that week. They were especially interested in my dating experience with Kristie.
Sunday School
I am also responsible to help teach an Introduction to Christianity class for students planning to be baptized. As such, it is a topical survey class and I’ve taught on the doctrines of revelation, sin, redemption, faith and repentance, and the importance of personal Bible reading.
Preparing and teaching the material have really challenged my Chinese. I’ve been encouraged by noticeable improvement each week. This class has reminded me how much I love teaching Bible and to finally be able to do it in Chinese is what we’ve been working up to over these past four years.
Prayer Requests:
- Four students in my Sunday School class who are planning on getting baptized in January have yet to tell their parents about their new faith because their parents are against it. One girl, Yi-wen, is particularly concerned about how to approach ancestor worship. Please pray for her! She will be baptized shortly before the semester ends when she will go home to celebrate Chinese New Year. She will most certainly have to confront her family with her faith when she declines to participate in ancestor worship during the New Year festivities. This will be extremely difficult, as it goes against many core values and beliefs in Chinese culture.
- Please pray for my involvement in the college student fellowship. The other counselors will be deciding how I can best work with them for the Spring semester and I need a significant roll to be able to continue with this internship next year.
- On December 18th I will be delivering my first sermon in Chinese. Thankfully it is only for my preaching class; I’ll need some more practice before they let me loose.
- Our daughter Ellie has been sick on and off with a sinus infection for over a month. Our son Abram is still trying to learn how to sleep through the night.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love. Psalm 147:10, 11
In fear and hope in our LORD,
Jason and Kriste Truell
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