Memorial Day & Outreach

The Lord blessed us with a wonderful "Fellowship Day" on Memorial Day at Fellowship Baptist Church! He brought out an estimated 300+ people from the neighborhood. Everyone was well fed (eating over 550 hot dogs) and had lots of fun! The many activities and ministries of the day included, four jumbo gyms, food, balloons made into hats, swords, and poodles, music, three chalk talks, and a reenacted Patrick Henry speech!

But the most wonderful thing is that all of these people clearly heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ through three Chalk Talks, the Giegerich’s literature table, the Amazing Grace Mission tent and the many tracts so many in our church faithfully distributed. Praise the Lord, thirty-two people made a profession of faith!

Jumbo gyms and balloons

Lots of fun and smiles!

After everything was over, the men of our church enjoyed jousting around! They got intensely into this and quite a few went home complaining of headaches.

The Amazing Grace Mission tent and the Giegerich’s literature table

The Chalk Talks

A big thank you to all of our church family for your hard work and dedication before, during and after the event. Each one played an important role that made the day a great success. We owe a special thank you to Joe & Berta Risinger for their vision, planning and oversight.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.”
Ephesians 3:20

eNews: We are Home from Taiwan

May 14, 2009

Dear Praying Friends,

We have arrived safely back! Thank you for your prayers for us over the past three weeks.

The Lord truly blessed our ministry and time in Taiwan—The Republic of China. Stephen had the privilege of preaching eleven times, including seven Chalk Talks. Evelyn ministered in music with piano and harp, shared her salvation testimony and godly heritage, and led a ladies Bible study.

The climax of our time there was seeing two souls come to know the Lord as their personal savior this past weekend! The seed was planted months ago, and watered by God’s faithful servants since. It brought tears of joy to see God give the increase after the Chalk Talk Saturday evening. To God be the glory!

We crisscrossed the island from Taipei to Kaohsiung to Taichung to Taitung, meeting most of the Baptist missionaries there and asking hundreds of questions. As we write, my brain is overwhelmed with the information we gathered. Many long hours were filled with serious questions and answers about Taiwan’s history, culture, land, government, politics, climate, religions, and educational system. The most important questions, however, centered on the great spiritual needs of Taiwan. We learned about the trials, blessings, struggles, and victories involved with ministering in Taiwan as well as the practical aspects of being a missionary.

We are looking forward to reflecting on all that we have learned and experienced as the Lord continues to lead in our lives. We anticipate finding His direction as we pray, meditate on God’s precious Word, and also as we share our impressions and experiences with you, our pastor, our friends, and with our families. Please pray with us that we will be in the center of God’s will.

In Christ’s service and loving it,
Stephen & Evelyn Wesco

World's Tallest Building and a Famous Museum

We traveled back up to Taipei and had one day up there before our flight Wednesday morning.


Taipei has the world's tallest building - the Taipei 101 (http://www.taipei-101.com.tw/index_en.htm). It's the tallest completed building for now - a taller building is still under construction in Dubai. They were going to charge $400 Taiwan dollars a person (approximately $13 US) to take the elevator all the way up. So being cheap, we just walked around the base and felt very small. :-)

View of Taipei from the mountainside. Taipei 101 is the only building sticking above the horizon toward the right. The haze is due to pollution and humidity.

We also visited the National Palace Museum. This museum is ranked among the top 10 museums in the world. A large part of the museum display is comprised of the collection from the ancient Chinese emperors. There were some amazing art pieces - like a little boat (with fully functional doors, windows, etc.) carved from an olive pit and stunning ceramics. The sad thing was that no pictures were allowed. :-( The website (http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/home.htm) has some good pictures for the curious.

Mother's Day in Taiwan

Thank you for your faithful prayers. We had a long and exciting weekend. Stephen preached Saturday evening at Cornerstone Baptist Church. He preached on the burden of sin and of the Christ who sets us free from sin. After the preaching, two young people responded, indicating that they wanted to accept Christ. Others had planted the seed, faithfully watered, and the Lord gave the increase!

The young man who accepted Christ after the chalk talk on Saturday.

On Sunday, Stephen taught during the Sunday School hour and did chalk talks for the morning and evening service. Evelyn was able to minister in music with the harp and piano. It was an exciting Mother's Day!

The day was extra special because it was Evelyn's first Mother's Day as a mommy!

Please pray for our ministry at Cornerstone Baptist Church

This weekend we will be ministering at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Kaohsiung. Stephen will be preaching three chalk talks and Evelyn will be playing the piano and harp. Please pray that the power of God will be demonstrated through us and that His Word would have free course and be glorified.


This lighted poster hangs by the busy street corner. Many smaller flyers have also been distributed.

Sharing in a Ladies Meeting

Evelyn was given the opportunity to share in Chinese with the Ladies at Cornerstone Baptist Church, very intimidating since she was the youngest present.

The Lord has blessed Evelyn with a godly, Christian heritage. So she was able to share the testimony of her great-grandmother, grandparents and parents, encouraging the ladies to be faithful in the same way to the Lord and their families. Even with the mosquitos, pouring sweat (it was hot!), and a kicking baby the entire meeting, Evelyn was able to share of the Lord's goodness.

Please pray that this testimony will encourage the ladies of Cornerstone Baptist Church to stay faithful and raise their children for the Lord in a culture that opposes God's standards.

“Formosa” - The Beautiful Island

Since our arrival in Taiwan, we have wondered why the island was called “Formosa” which means “the beautiful island.” We had spent all of our time in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung—the three largest cities in Taiwan. There is no natural beauty in concrete and air pollution!

However, this past Monday we drove the four hours down the cost and through the mountains to the eastern city of Taitung to meet the missionaries there. We saw Formosa!


The flowers in the valley.

The rice fields - they say that the best rice in the world is grown here!

Formosa's beautiful Eastern coast

Night Market and Stinky Tofu

Some of the Delaneys took us to the Night Market last week. The best way to describe it is a combination of a real USA's Chinatown and a 4-H fair. It is crowded and noisy, with food and more food, games and so forth.

The highlight of the evening was trying stinky tofu! It is fermented tofu that has the stench of an animal barn before they deep fry it.

It's not bad until the aftertaste!

Everyone around us was eating it up as if it was the most delicious thing in the world.

Religions of Taiwan

Buddhism

In every neighborhood there is a Buddhist temple. What grieves our hearts is that these temples are not “tourist” attractions or remnants of the past, but active thriving temples. We have seen young children, youth, adults, and elderly all come and bow to these idols. Satan truly has the people in bondage. The only answer and way to freedom is through Christ!

Ancestor Worship

Many in Taiwan are under the bondage of ancestor worship and tradition. To become a Christian is to break tradition, and many are afraid to anger the spirits of ancestors. Parents and grandparents will not let their children come to church because who will worship at their graves when they are dead? Most grown and married children are still bound to obey their parents. The graveyards are in the side of a hill where the ancestors are worshiped. Thousands of graves are scattered in the hills.

Traditional “worship centers” are in most homes and businesses.

Education

From a very young age, Taiwan’s children enter into a system that will govern almost the rest of their lives. They have school all day, special “cram” classes in the evening, and homework the rest of the time. The family is wrapped around school, with hopes of getting the children into the best highschool, the best college, the best graduate school, and then the best job. To fail would shame the entire family. Second in the class is not good enough. Education is truly worshiped.

eNews: Wesco's Update from Taiwan

May 3, 2009

Dear Praying Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers. This last week has been a full week as the Lord has taught us much regarding the needs of Taiwan and the world and how small our human strength is. But at the same time, He has taught us how great His love and power is.

We traveled up to Taichung for two days to see the ministries there. Taichung is located in the middle of the country. Stephen had the opportunity to preach a chalk talk to a children’s program at Lighthouse Baptist Church, along with teachers and parents.

Throughout this week, we have spent many hours talking with the Baptist missionaries from the Kaohsiung and Taichung areas. They have given us great insight regarding the challenges and blessings of working in the Taiwanese field and missions in general.

On Saturday, Stephen preached a chalk talk at Mountaintop Baptist Church’s youth meeting. Even though it was a “youth” meeting, the church invited everyone to attend and made it an outreach ministry. On Sunday, Stephen shared our testimony during the Sunday school hour, and preached again through chalk talks in the morning and evening services. Evelyn also provided music for the services. It is a challenge to preach through a translator since Chinese grammar and syntax is often opposite to English grammar! But the Lord blessed.

During the morning service, the pastor and his wife decided to have the young children attend the main service to hear the chalk talk. These youngsters were wired and had no idea how sit still for more than 5 seconds! Yet, as Stephen started to preach, a quiet fell over them and they paid attention. Praise the Lord!

Thank you so much for your prayers. Physically, we are doing very well. Baby is growing and is apparently very active. The mosquitoes love us dearly (especially Evelyn), but the Lord is very good. Please continue to pray that we would be sensitive to the Lord’s leading and His will for us. We want what He wants, and not our own will.

In Christ’s service,
Stephen & Evelyn Wesco

Please Pray For Us!

This has been a very full weekend for us. Stephen did a chalk talk this Saturday evening at Mountaintop Baptist Church, which is about 25 minutes away from Kaohsiung.

During Sunday tomorrow, we will spend the entire day with Mountaintop Baptist Church. In addition to sharing during the Sunday school hour, Stephen will preach with chalk during the morning and evening services. Evelyn will also be providing the special music for all three services. Please pray that we would not be ministering in our own strength, but that the Lord would work through us and that He would be glorified.

We especially appreciate your prayers as Stephen preaches through a translator. Having a translator repeat everything word for word means that Stephen has half of the actual time to preach. Thus a 30 minute message would last for 1 hour with a translator. Pray that he would know how to effectively present God's Word. Thank you!