Overseas Missions Update
The Lord continues to do His work all around the world. It is an honor to be even a small participant in a huge story that He is orchestrating on every level. It seems that every time we turn a corner with our overseas missions, there is a new opportunity waiting for us.
Taiwan Vietnamese Church
As He has for the last two decades, God is working through Brother Khoa in Taiwan to reach the Vietnamese. It is a pleasure to be able to see and participate in their ministry with every mission trip. The number of Vietnamese brothers and sisters they have impacted continues to grow, their churches as well as those who have moved back to Vietnam.
On this most recent trip (which you can read about below), we helped Khoa facilitate an outreach program: English workshops for the Vietnamese. On two occasions, the church members invited their non-believer friends to join the American team for a fun evening and to learn some English. Needless to say, it was an effective outreach tool that we will be using again in the future.
SouSan Church and Taiwanese Outreach
During the last two trips, GFM has had the pleasure of connecting with a church of Taiwanese believers in Kaohsiung. They are looking to transform their beautiful building into a missions base, through renovation and some valuable missionary connections they have. We are excited to share in this vision with them, and help them develop it in any way we can.
From this base, GFM is wanting to seek new opportunities to do outreach in Taiwan. We made many connections on this last trip, and I believe God has set us up with SouSan in an exciting way to bring fruit from these connections.
Vietnam and China
Our friends in Vietnam are faithfully doing God's work to reach many unreached people groups. Brother John is still reaching the tribal groups in central Vietnam and Laos, while Brother Simon is working on Bible translations for many of the Northern Vietnamese tribes. We hope to connect with both of them on our next trip to Vietnam.
Our friend from His Feet International, Todd Matthews, recently connected with us in Ohio. We discussed the possibility of ministry in China, which is very slim right now. However, we are talking about our options, and there may be some small opportunities to help support some work still going on there. Please pray that God's church would not stop growing there.
Visit His Feet International's website: www.hisfeet.com
Prayer Requests
Provision
God has always made a way for His gospel to be spread in all the world, and He always will. Please join us in praying for this end, that God's word would be known; that He would provide the way, the means, and the resources to do His will.
Connections
As mentioned before, many new connections are being made overseas. We ask that you would pray with us that God would help us to steward these connections; that we would have discernment and wisdom moving forward.
Safety
This is always a concern when doing ministry in closed countries. Pray that God would divert the eyes of those who would try to sabatoge the church; that believers would be bold and never back down; that God would continue building them up.
On-the-ground experiences with GFM's March mission trip.
From March 4th to the 19th, I had the pleasure of leading a team on a mission trip to Taiwan. I was accompanied by Angie (my mom), Alayna Perdicas, Jonathan and Haley Graham, and David Yoder. Below, you can read some of the regular updates we sent back home as we went on this journey.
March 4 (from Katee)
Hey everyone! The gang is on their long haul flight to Taiwan now after some early traveling this morning. Some praises for extra comfort during this flight as it wasn’t full so they got to stretch out! Prayers for continued smooth traveling. They will be traveling all night for us and land sometime tomorrow morning. The attached picture is Angie and David with a whole row to themselves!!
March 5 (from Katee)
The team is safely checked into their hotels in Taipei! God gave them a very smooth ride all across the board. They are getting some rest now and will relax and see some local sites. Thanks everyone for your prayers!
March 8 (from Jaren)
We've had a great start to our weekend in Taipei. On Friday, we visited Dahu Park, home of the Moon Bridge. Very lovely place! And when we got back to the hotel, we surprised Mom for her birthday (she had no idea)!
This afternoon, we sat down to dinner with Sam Schneider, a God fearing man we met on the plane, along with his Chinese wife and their two kids. We got to hear their incredible testimonies, pray together and encourage one another.
Then, this evening, we went to the Vietnamese Church for our special outreach event. We play games, ate delicious food, and talked about the Lord. A couple of non-believers joined us, and now we pray that God puts a seed in their hearts.
We will have church tomorrow morning, and we'll let you know how it goes!
March 9 (from Jaren)
Today we attended the Sunday morning service with the Taipei Vietnamese Church. We had a wonderful time together! Got to pray and encourage one another.
We are in a different hotel for the night (we have a great view of the Taipei Main Station). We stopped by the night market this evening, saw some cool performances and ate some delicious food. Tomorrow, we'll take the bullet train to Kaohsiung and join SouSan Church. More updates to come!
March 12 (from Jaren)
It's been a great couple days here in Kaohsiung! Priscilla and Mama Wan have been taking good care of us at SouSan Church. We have been eating some delicious food and seeing come cool places.
On Tuesday evening, we visited the Kaohsiung House of Prayer (KHOP) which is located high up in the tallest building in the city with overlooking windows. Really cool spot to worship the Lord! We joined them for worship and prayed together. They are truly wonderful people.
Today, we went hiking up SouSan mountain, home of a species of Macaque monkey that only lives in Taiwan. They were everywhere! After a long upward hike, we were greeted with an unbelievable view of the city from 1,000 feet up. God's world is big and beautiful!
Over the next couple days, we will help the church with a few odds and ends; then we will attempt some outreach opportunities with the Taiwanese believers here. Pray that God gives us the right opportunities and leads us to the right people. Thank you!
March 16 (from Jaren)
What a turnout for our English workshop! We had as many non-believers as church members come for food and games. Everyone had fun and got to know each other. Then, I had the pleasure of sharing the gospel with the group. Brother Khoa said that afterwards, a number of young people came up to him, asking very intentional questions and wanting to learn more about Jesus. Praise the Lord!
This morning, we joined the Vietnamese again for church. We had a wonderful, touching time of encouragement and prayer. God really worked in people's hearts. After church, we joined the men of the church for some volleyball! David Yoder put everyone to shame.
Tomorrow, we leave to Taipei, where we'll have a couple days to rest and see some sights. Then, it's back home.
March 19 (from Jaren)
We are now on our way to the airport where we will say goodbye to Pastor Khoa and board our flight home. Please pray that our travels today are safe and smooth, and even restful if God can swing that.
Lastly, I want to tell you all how grateful I am for your prayers throughout this trip. They do not go unnoticed, and we wouldn't be able to do this without you. Thank you so much! See you soon.
Go Forth Ministry Updates
