Lary is Home!

Lary is safely home from his three month time in Taiwan.  I'm sure he has many, many stories he'd love to share with you!  He probably has a few pictures too!  Thank you for your prayers for him while he was gone.  From the stories he's already shared, I know he got to see God move in some mighty ways.

Encouraging Taiwan Update

I will return home on May 25. Jeri, Connor, and I are doing very well. The English classes and the Drama clubs are going better than I could ever have imagined.  This week, at both schools, we have begun asking the students to share prayer requests with us in the classroom. Connor, Jeri's husband has an incredible testimony, which he has been able to share with most of the classes. At the end of each class the students fill out a questionnaire giving us blessing after blessing with most valuable feedback. This week on the questionnaire the students indicated that the most important thing to them in class was the time we pray the students.  The students love coming to English class and basically have to be told to leave the classroom to allow the next class to come in. They really don't want to leave. The way we are teaching is directly opposite from what they are used to doing here and that is why they can't wait to get to our class and don't want to leave.  God has put together a team of teachers/people dedicated to bringing honor and glory to God and having a positive impact on all the people we are allowed to touch in so many ways. We have already planted many seeds and continue to do so each day. We have some students who are moving closer to understanding what putting their faith and trust in Jesus is all about. It is just a matter of time before we start seeing some harvest. We keep thinking that today might be the day of salvation for some but we also want them to really know what making this decision is all about. We are not going to lead them in a prayer of salvation so they can repeat the prayer and not have clue as to what they are doing. We want to counsel with them one on one as much as possible.  Friday was a big day for us. Friday we are normally at Zhongzheng Junior High School.  Friday morning we first had to be at Ji-Sui Junior High School and each one of us spoke before all the students outside. The schools here have a day in which they celebrate their school history. Ji-Sui Junior High School had their day yesterday. It was quite an event. Every classroom marched around the track with banners and they all sat down in groups in front of a stage on the side of a big area that contained several basketball and volleyball courts. I spoke first and then Connor shared his incredible testimony with all the students and teachers listening. Then Jeri spoke about our English classes and the relationships we are building with students. There were Taiwan government people there as well as city government people there. Ji-Sui was celebrating 44 years in existence. There were students who received scholarships in honor of a teacher who had cancer. Their volleyball team was recognized with a big trophy for being champions in all of Taiwan.  There has only been one parent so far that has complained about what we are doing. Naomi, the teacher in charge of the Drama clubs, handled the complaint so well that they are now in support of what we are doing in the classroom. Michelle and Naomi, both a part of the team that God has put together, were expecting much spiritual warfare, in other words many more parents complaining.  I know that when people back home are praying, in regards to God intervening in all aspects of spiritual warfare here, that we have no doubt been witnessing God at work in answering those prayers. One example was the fact that the principal purchased as many Chinese/English Bibles as he could get his hands on and Connor at the end of his testimony told students they could get one when they went back to class. They handed out every one of the 300 Bibles in a short period of time and we're going to order many more to make sure every one who wanted one would get one. This is God answering prayer. I can only imagine what God is going to do through all the Bibles the students have received. The students in many of the homes are going to be in battle at home so they need prayer for protection from persecution at home.  Thanks for praying and doing battle on behalf of our team, each student, and their families. They are greatly appreciated and valued here. As soon as we were finished speaking we hurried to Zhongzheng Junior High School for the remainder of the day. We truly are blessed to have this opportunity and the blessings continue each day.  --Lary

Lary Leaving for the Village

I will leave shelter Tuesday morning, March 10 here, and go to Haulien. I will be staying in a hotel owned by a church member. The motel is about 10 minutes from the Mei Lin Baptist Church. I will have an electric scooter to use in getting from hotel to church if I feel comfortable doing that. I would love to be able to do that. An electric scooter does not require a Taiwan drivers license.. Pray for safety while traveling on scooter. It won't go very fast. I will share gospel with aboriginal people around there. May not have wifi while doing this. Should have wifi at hotel where I am staying and at the church. Not sure what else I will be doing while there. Rocked World performance at the church on Friday or Saturday night, not sure which. Mike C. will arrive I think Friday night so the performance is probably Saturday night. I will attend worship there and will come back with Mike to Taipei Sunday afternoon. I will worship at Bread of Life church this coming Sunday. Sarah and baby Joel are also going there to worship. Keep me in prayer as I begin teaching this coming week - March 17,18, 20 - with Jeri and Conner absent. I will be teaching at Ji-Sui Junior High School on Tuesday and Wednesday and New Taipei City Zhongzheng Junior High School on Friday. Whatever you can imagine I might need prayers for and then some is requested.

--Lary

The Latest from Lary

The latest from Lary:

This morning went very well. Left shelter at 6:00 am rode the subway and then taxi the school. Arrived 30 minutes early. Saw more students go through the gate this morning than I had over my teaching career.. Waited on Jeri and Conner and Michelle and Naomi (the others on our team) to get there. We had to wait a little bit at the beginning because they were having a tornado drill to start with. Inside the gate in front of the school were several basketball courts in the space behind the gate to the front of the school. Instead of the 1000 7th graders meeting in an auditorium, they had them sit down ion the court in the area in front of the school. They were all dresses in Orange pants and jackets. The microphone was placed on the steps leading to the front of the school. Jeri spoke first, then Conner, then myself. God gave us each the words to speak. All of the words spoken by each one of us went together smoothly. I didn't know what Jeri and Conner were going to say but one of Conner's points fit perfectly with what God laid upon my heart to share. The students were well behaved, focused, and attentive. The 8th graders were identified with similar attire but the color was blue. The freshmen wore like pants and jackets which were a chartreuse color. After the students were dismissed they had to go past us in going to their classes. We had in hand sheets of paper that explained the process of what they needed to do in order to sign up for the drama club. All of us were empty handed when the students were all gone away. I know I had at least 20-25 sheets in my hand. I am not sure how many sheets were printed.

Tomorrow we will return to the same school ( same time) and meet with the 8th graders and do the same thing.  Tomorrow afternoon Jeri, Conner, and I will work on lesson plans for classes day1 and if we have time work on day 2.

Thank you for the prayers!  Keep praying please!

Prayers for Lary as He Goes

Lary leaves for Taiwan on Tuesday.  As he goes, he has asked that we, as his church family, pray the Prayer of Jabez daily for him.

The Prayer of Jabez

"Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request." 1 Chronicles 4:10

Please be in prayer as he leaves on Tuesday at 6:10 am.  Pray that God would be the 'pilot' of his plane.  He has some short layovers before connecting flights.  Please ask that the planes be on time or even early to these locations and that manuvering through what might be unfamiliar airports be smooth and simple.

He is scheduled to arrive in Taipei, Taiwan at 6:25 pm their time and 4:30 am Missouri time on February 25.  Additionally please ask that it is simple to go through customs and that the person who is picking him up is on time and easy to find.  Upon arrival begins the adjustment to their time zone, so please pray that he is able to sleep when he is supposed to and able to be alert and awake when he's supposed to.

Be looking for more updates and prayer requests from Lary in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Togo Winter Trip

We just returned from another trip to Togo and it was a great one!  On this trip we focused on two areas: 1) business development, and 2) researching the unreached Anii people of central Togo.  

Our main objective in Togo is to see people won to Christ.  Why then do we teach business classes? Because we believe that strong business create jobs and wealth, which in turn increases the resources necessary to plant new churches, which in turn win more people to Christ.  We partner with a church in Mision Tove, Togo in a church planting strategy that desperately needs resources to plant new churches.  While we as a church could simply send them money, that is not sustainable and is not the best method of church planting.  We really want the local church to spearhead these efforts with minimal funding coming from the US.  Most every missions agency agrees that the method with the greatest long term sustainability is to have active local involvement and buy-in.  

Therefore, we are trying to do what we can to get the resources necessary from within Togo to plant these new churches.  We believe that strong businesses owned by members of the church will do just that.  They already have a heart for that.  We have seen our partner church plant five churches on their own and we want to put more fuel on that fire. 

The team taught business classes in two villages, Mission Tove, and Atsave with 41 and 27 business owners attending, respectively, The topics taught were: How to analyze profitability, how to set yourself apart from the competition, and how to set up record keeping for management decisions.  The members asked a lot of great questions which we tried to answer thoroughly.  While this took a lot of time, many of the questions applied to everyone there so it was beneficial for almost everyone.  

Stay tuned to hear more about the Anii people group!  Kevin Ginnings led that trip and we hope to hear more when he gets home from Togo in a few days.

We would love to answer any questions you may have about the trip, so please let us know!  Keep in mind, we have two more trips this year if you feel God calling you to serve internationally.  The dates will be July 12-23rd and October 2-15th.

--Dennis

Did You Know This about Taiwan?

So, you know Heart of Life does missions in Taiwan.  You may even know someone who has gone to Taiwan.  Maybe you yourself have even visited Taiwan.  But, how much do you really know about this little country??

To find out more about the country, the people, their religion, things that help share the Gospel there (referred to as "bridges"), and hindrances/barriers to sharing the Gospel, click the link below.  

Taiwan Country Profile

(The link is from the International Mission Board (IMB) who Heart of Life occasionally partners with and has had and continues to have a long-term missionary presence in Taiwan.)