Hey family and friends
I just wanted to send out a simple update of some of the things that have been happening around Taiwan recently.
1. During Easter, Amber and I were invited to go to a public school and share with the students of four different grade 10 classes about what Easter is and why we celebrate it! I have never been able to do that at a public school before but it was great!!
We broke up into small groups after each class and talked to the students individually, being able to share the gospel and talk through some questions. Some of them were bold in saying that they believe it is true! Others said that they believe it is false, but the point is that they were able to hear of God’s love for them and they could make a decision of whether they believe it is true or not. There will be some follow up later and hopefully some will accept Jesus and be baptized! So stoked for that!
2. The Bible school that I am staffing in is now a month underway and the students are on fire! They are each growing closer to God in a different way and are doing a wonderful job at spreading that closeness to others in Taiwan as well! Our 39 students are eager to learn and ask so many questions that I am challenged by consistently. I find myself learning so much through teaching basic truths from the word.
God has given me a group of 4 guys in my small group who are a joy to disciple! Their names are Shin, Raymond, Paul, and Kirby.
It is so interesting as one of them is a young Japanese guy who is a new 1st generation Christian and has never read any of the Bible before. He wants to grow in the word so that he can take it back to Japan and preach the Gospel there! I love chatting with him because I will sometimes make comments with regard to the law or the Apostles and I get these blank stares that say “I have no idea what you are talking about” which leads me to ask if he understands and since he doesn’t have a history of hearing anything about these things, I get to take him through the Bible little by little explaining details and big pictures to him. It brings me back to the basics and I get so excited to talk about the Bible with him.
3. I recently have been building a relationship with a young man and hope that it grows! I want to continue to invest in him and become good friends and hopefully he will come to know Jesus someday. He has a big heart that is open but he is very busy so please pray that we will be able to find time to spend together.
4. Starting last week, I have started to do ministry at an old folks home where I have a team of 6 other people that seriously are such great people for this ministry. They are full of energy and just want to love the men and women at the home. Last week we sang some worship songs with them, gave massages, chatted and told stories and heard theirs etc. and we will be continuing to go there every week. The aim is to be able to love on them, and preach the gospel there along with some entertainment and see their lives transformed by Jesus. Praise God for blessing me with this group!
5. Recently, there have been a few more people that have accepted Jesus at the YWAM English cafe and they are continuing to come and be discipled! YES!!! We are also running a Bible study out of the cafe now!
Since memorizing Psalm 119, I have kept up with reciting it so that I don’t forget it but man it is not easy to do sometimes. I have found that during worship, I love to just speak out the words from the Psalm and it is so life giving to worship God with His word. I want to encourage everyone to memorize scripture even during your quiet times with the Lord and meditate on His word. It is powerful and even though you can go through a verse or scripture 300 times, God speaks to you differently as time goes by.
Anyway I just wanted to send out a small update of what was going on here in Taiwan! Thank you all for your prayers and support! You are a huge blessing and I am praying for you as I hear of needs as well!!
Please send me a message if you have any prayer requests!
God bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
Jacob President
Presidents in Taiwan 