We are really excited about this update as it has a ton of amazing news! (And a few challenges we have faced recently) but mostly good!

Challenges first:

In our last newsletter we shared about how Covid caught up with Taiwan and since then we have been experiencing some challenges connecting with people because the government was imposing very big fines for any gatherings indoors among an assortment of other restrictions which made it virtually impossible to meet face to face with anyone. Those restrictions have relaxed a little bit but people are still not meeting because of the fear mindset that is prevalent in Taiwan. Our vision here remains the same but it is a bit delayed and so we have gotten creative in reaching people in other ways. 

We currently are in the midst of something called ghost month which is full of additional fears because many Taiwanese believe that for a month each year, the gates of hell are opened, allowing ghosts to roam around and possess people. Because of this, people are afraid not only of Covid but are also afraid of doing a lot of basic things they consider taboos during this month including whistling, tapping someone on a shoulder, opening an umbrella before leaving the indoors etc. 

Good things!:

Youtube Bible Study:

Since we have been a bit on hold in the way of ministry, I have been creating a YouTube Bible study series where I am teaching people how to study the Bible inductively and I plan to go through the entire Bible eventually. Those who have not been able to come to our community nights and have questions have been able to use this as a tool but obviously it is not the same as getting together. I have completed 4 videos up till now and I call it LAD Bible Study. LAD stands for Look, Ask, Do, which is the basis of inductive Bible study. I am currently doing Titus so if you decide that you’d like to start from the beginning and follow along, you are welcome to do so. Each video is less than 15 minutes so it’s low pressure. I will post the video links below.

Video 1: https://youtu.be/lYtXw6KRDgg

Video 2: https://youtu.be/9jdMXmDyKLY

Video 3: https://youtu.be/ZiogO9XKFEs

Video 4: https://youtu.be/q15HXb1W4a0

​

Connecting with families:

We have wanted to build and run a soft-play parent/child play center out of our home so that moms and dads with kids can come and enjoy themselves in a fun atmosphere where we would be able to encourage them, build them up and minister to them through relationships. This has had some challenges up to now with equipment costs, shipping, and now the restrictions etc. So right now we are just waiting for the right timing but still have had small families come to the house to visit and play which has provided opportunities to minister to them. It just doesn’t look like we imagined it yet.

In the meantime, I have been making string art and selling it to raise money to give to some struggling families who are in need, which will hopefully help us build relationships and reach out to share the gospel with them. This has been a big blessing also to me personally because I appreciate the verbal affirmation from doing good quality art. (I guess one of my strong love languages is words haha)

Recently we finished The Lion of Judah piece which many of you purchased tickets to a raffle for and it raised around $6500CAD!! This was such a blessing for those receiving the finances. I am working on a couple other things which will also go toward the same cause but also will soon be teaching string art to people so that they can also have an additional means of income. 

The winner was a Taiwanese man on the right in the picture and the man on the left is my dentist who helped deliver the art for me lol. 

If you want to see my other work, check out and follow my string art page on Facebook:

“President String Art”

​

 ​

Hosting people:

We still want to host church outreach teams (for free) out of our home to help them get a feel for what missions could look like, teach them how to evangelize, encourage them to make a decision about mission work and hopefully connect to more of the community around us with their help. 

(We have had a few teams want to come stay but they have had to cancel because of Covid stuff, so we are waiting on this but prepared)

Until we can start receiving outreach teams, we have instead been opening the house up to other missionaries and families around Taiwan who need a place to get refreshed, have some time alone with God to get some vision, etc. and then return to their city where they can continue sharing the gospel. This is different than we originally thought the house would be used for in this time but we feel that we are still called to be hospitable in any way possible, to all people. Up till now, it seems that people have been blessed to use the house for that and it is a joy to be helpful in that way. 

​

APRC (permanent visa) news –

We got it!! – This has been a 6 year process and one that has almost impossible requirements to fulfill but God provided a way for us to get it and it finally came in! This is huge for us in terms of ministry and being able to connect with the Taiwanese now that they can see evidence that we are committed to staying here long term. It also opens up a lot of other doors that previously have been closed.

(Let me know if you want the bigger story and we will email you personally)

​

My dental work –

I needed some very expensive dental work done that I had delayed doing for many years but it became a more serious problem and it had to be done so we looked for a dentist who would allow us to pay the money little by little on a payment plan or something. We started going to a dentist (in the above picture) who is also a Christian and uses his practice to encourage people, pray for them and share the gospel. He even baptized a couple people not long ago. The dental work that I needed was going to be a process of 4-6 months because of needing a bone graft and skin graft etc. The cost in total was about $7,000-$10,000CAD depending on the type of equipment used… Basically to make a long story short, we thought that we would be paying off a really big bill for a long time but before my final appointment, he told me that he wanted to bless us because God put it on his heart to bless us and support us with this dental work. He said he felt honoured by what we are doing in his country and said that we didn’t need to pay anything more for the dental work but it was a gift from him and from God to us! We are obviously blown away by this! 

We ended up only paying around $1000-$1500CAD for the whole thing! Praise God! He is so good!

Amber also needed to get 2 wisdom teeth taken out, so he did one of them for her so far and although it was a 70% chance that her jaw would break from the extraction, he was careful and smart and he got it out without the jaw breaking! She still needs the other one taken out as it causes a lot of pain but we are blessed that he is a very good dentist who is gentle and smart about his work. He has been a massive blessing to us!

Let us know if you have any prayer requests that Amber and I can be praying for you for or if you just want to say hi, share what’s been happening etc. we’d love to connect with you. 

Thank you everyone who has continued to support us prayerfully, emotionally and financially! We love you guys and appreciate you!

Hugs from Taiwan and God bless you!

Jacob, Amber and Hezekiah President

“Love is the answer, Humility is the key, Jesus is the way”