Thu, Jan 1st - 11:42PM

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I want to wish all of you a belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.  There are many things I would like to tell you.

As you all know this time of the year is always busy.  This is no exception for me.

Late in November a man came to our church who could not sleep.  He often went to the hospital to get a shot to go to sleep.  One of the women from our church brought him.  He came and then went forward and publicly prayed the sinner's prayer and received Jesus.  Since then he has been able to sleep.  Praise the Lord.

Thanksgiving was great.  I prepared three Thanksgiving meals: Two in my home and one at my school. One in my home was with Junior High children.  There were 30.  They were great.  I shared with them a little about thanksgiving and what it meant.  I share with them also about Jesus.  Another 20+ people came to my home on Thanksgiving day.  They were mostly from the hospitality college.  It was a great time of sharing with them about being thankful and about Jesus.  I shared my testimony.  It turns out that one of the girls really could relate. The dorm manager is a Christian and she is counseling her.  We had many people at the school.  I praise the Lord for the many opportunities to share with people about Jesus and various teachings of Jesus to meet their every need.

I spent about three intensive weeks preparing for my ordination.  I really didn't realize how much was involved in this.  7 December I was ordained as a missionary/pastor.  My main role in Taiwan at this point is to train leaders with their pastors in Churches on how to mentor/disciple their people and how to continue to make disciples.  This is truly on God's heart as demonstrated by Matthew 28:19-20.  It is a command and it is ordained by God.  Right now I have three discipleship groups.  I'm hoping to start another one.  I also have three Bible Studies and I hope to start an investigative Bible Study for the many Buddhists who are here.  I'm not sure when but it will be exciting.  Please pray for my translator.  It is quite important to have a good translator who knows me and the Scripture.  I want to give God all the glory and praise.  There were around 30 pastors in all at the ceremony and 12 were involved in the actual ordination.  You can see the photos on picasa web site. I have many albums there that may be of interest to you.

Also 7 December after the morning worship service 5 people were baptized.  One older man was weeping with joy over his salvation.  He is probably in his 70s and he was a Buddhist all of his life.  Now he opens up the church for prayer every morning.  He now totally enjoys God and he is excited about partaking in the bread and wine in our fellowship and communing with God.  He is a wonderful example for all of us. Another person who was baptized is one of my girl's disciple.  After being baptized, pastor invited her to greet people coming into our church. What a blessing.

Christmas I had two dinners.  It's amazing to me to see how much can be accomplished around food.  Many times Jesus fed people and spoke to them about the "Bread of Life" which is Jesus.  One woman with her daughter came for the Christmas meal with the disciples.  They had no money and she had no way of giving anything this year to her daughter.  So we were able to give her daughter a wonderful brand new bike.  God is good and He has provided for them.  Please pray for Lupe and she is trying to support her daughter and her son lives in Belize.  She was not able to bring him back to Taiwan as of yet.  Please pray that she can bring him back and that God would continue to provide for them financially and spiritually.  She's been going to another church quite a distance away.  She is a Sunday School teacher for the children.  It's a missionary church.  So the missionary pastor has been helping.  This area in Taiwan is not well off financially.  But people do help each other.  Praise the Lord!!!!

The Missionary Training School Students are doing well.  They are struggling with discipline and time management.  Some work late at night and then get back up to come to class.  They are easily discouraged because they would like to spend more time with the Lord but with their work schedule it seems very difficult.  One woman is one of my translators and she works as a Dentist in Pediatrics until 11:00 p.m. and then comes back to school at 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning.  Please pray for them this coming year that they would be able to enjoy their relationship with the Lord and that they would be able to spend more time with Him.  Also, they are going to go to Thailand in January.  They will share the gospel with the Chinese there.  Please pray for them as they go.

We prayed in the new year at our church.  It was lovely.  I played the guitar and blew the shofar.  I also prepared some food.  They do enjoy my cooking.

I'm quite encouraged by what I'm seeing in my church as of late.  People are more excited than ever about prayer.  People are being healed and set free through inner healing classes once a month for a few months. At prayer a couple of days ago the Holy Spirit came down and we really felt the presence of God.  I've just purchased three teaching DVDs that I would recommend.  They are from John Bevere: The Bait of Satan, Intimacy with the Holy Spirit, and Freedom from Sin.

I've become more and more convinced about the need to help people rely on the Holy Spirit so that they would be able to overcome temptation and sin in their lives.  I'm getting a clearer picture of true Salvation.  It's not only that we are saved from the penalty of sin but the reality of daily victory has really reached my heart this past year.  I hope that this ferver will grow and that I can articulately share with others about the wonderful Salvation we have in Jesus.  He wants to be in charge of our whole lives.  As we submit to Him and resist the Devil we will experience daily victory.  But we cannot do it on our own.  We really need the Holy Spirit to teach us and to make us aware of things coming our way.  Sometimes things seem harmless.  But when matched with the Bible and the discernment from the Holy Spirit we become overcomers.

Often times the New Year is a time of reflection as well as goal setting for the upcoming year.  I would like to either read or listen to the Bible once each month or every other month. As I've started doing this it is incredible how much clearer I am able to see things.  I would like to encourage all of you to spend more time with the Lord.  Just bathe in His presence. The stimulation is incredible and His insights are overwhelming.

A song has been going thru my head for months.  The words are as follows: Read your Bible Pray everyday and you'll grow, grow, grow.  Eventhough it is a childrens' song it is powerful in meaning.

Prayer items:

1.  Daily disciplines: bible reading/listening; bible study; prayer; fellowship; witnessing.

2.  Health & Safety: Blood sugar would be stable and go down to normal; Travel by car, motor scooter, & Bike safety as well as other forms of transportation; discipline in food and rest.

3.  Disciples: They would learn to be intimate with Jesus and to share this with others and begin to disciple others.

4.  Economy: God would help people financially.  We are going to have some workshops on biblical financial concepts.

5.  Language acquisition: Pray that I would learn and become more fluent in Chinese.  I was called on the spot the other day to speak.  God really helped me to speak clearly and concisely.

6.  We would see many get saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized, and grow close to Jesus.

7.  Pray for our leaders in our countries that they would have Godly wisdom.

8.  Pray for my teacher Natalie:  She was just diagnosed with Cancer.  She had surgery and it looks good.  She is back at school already.  However, she will have some radiation therapy starting in a couple of weeks.  Pray for her salvation.  Her parents are Christians and she is a Buddhist.

9.  For the quick return of Jesus.

Scripture:

2 Timothy 1:12b "... for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day."

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

God bless you all!!!

Pastor Mu Xiao Yang