Hi again it’s just us, the President family with another update about what is happening in Taiwan.
I have some BIG NEWS to share! So far in our family we have a President, a First Lady, a Vice President and in June 2022 we will be officially appointing a Secretary of State! (Gender still unknown haha)
For those who didn’t get it – we are pregnant! (I say we but we know it’s just Amber lol..) She is at 9 weeks so it is still early and is feeling the effects of pregnancy in a strong way. With Hezekiah, Amber was also extremely sick for almost the entire pregnancy and we are just hoping that it doesn’t look the same way this time. As of now, since we have a toddler this time, I have been hard at work trying to stay active in ministry while taking care of Amber and Hezekiah and it is a bit more work than I expected but God is giving me grace as I pray for energy to manage each day. Prayers for these things would be wonderful!
A bit vulnerable here: (Sorry if it sounds like complaining- I’m not trying to)
Since our last update, my knee has had a small injury which looked like it needed surgery and after an MRI and 2 different opposite opinions by doctors here, we decided to do physical therapy for a few months before looking at it again and deciding about surgery or not. I really want to be diligent and do the exercises daily to make it better but it has been extremely difficult to find the time and energy while taking care of the family and also be engaged in ministry and relationships.
To be transparent, I am a bit worried that I am going to be stretched too thin and I haven’t been able to do the PT’s much at all. (Any tips are always welcome)
Good ministry and relationships related stuff:
Our community nights (Discovery Bible Study) have been back in full swing with plenty of people coming to eat and chat about the Bible etc. One really cool thing that has been happening is one of the girls who comes who is not a believer, has now been inviting her friends and family to join as well and they are all eager to know what the Bible says. She calls it a “Bible community night” which I didn’t say to her and she is totally comfortable sharing with her friends which has increased the size of the groups that come. She also has volunteered to pray at the end of the evening which is really big in this culture as even some of the other believers haven’t been willing to pray at the end. They have been asking really good questions that gets the conversation deeper and we all have the opportunity to apply what we read in the Word after the evening. I love how each week builds on the previous and we can see how God is moving in the people as we meet.
On the 8th of December we will be having a Christmas community night again with a meal and talk about the Bible but we are also going to do a gift exchange and so far have about 8 people coming. We also have plans to do a Christmas event at our café on the 17th of Dec and will hopefully be able to bless some Taiwanese through that.
The YouTube inductive Bible study that I have been doing so far has 7 videos and I am going to continue doing those videos but they are delayed a bit as we are pretty busy with other things currently. When I get restarted on them, we will continue with the letter from James.
Hospitality/Outreaches:
We recently finished doing some super amateur remodeling of our 3rd floor guest rooms for outreach teams and other guests that will stay at our house and although it isn’t a professional job, we are happy with the outcome and feel that it is now a cozy space where people can make themselves at home while they stay at our house. We have a couple groups coming to stay in Dec and January and hope to host many more in the future so it’s exciting to be equipped for up to 12 people to stay.
String Art:
String art has been going slowly but still good. I just finished my biggest portrait yet, a piece of Salador Dali that I hope to sell to use the money to provide for some Taiwanese that are in need here and I was also recently asked to do a couple more pieces which we hope to do the same with. Eventually I want to teach this art to more people so that they can have a skill which provides for their needs.
Merry Christmas to all our friends and family and we hope and pray that some day we will be able to come back to Canada and the US to visit you but it seems the way that the world currently is, we are still far from that being able to happen, not to mention costs of travel, quarantine hotels, and then quarantine hotels when we return back to Taiwan after visiting. Gosh it has already been so long but still hoping it will become possible someday. We love you all so much and would love to see your faces more often!
(If you ever decide you want to send a short video shout out to us, we would love to hear from you and about how you have been doing recently! – Just send it to our facebook messenger or any other way that you can think of)
God bless you today!
Your friends,
Jacob, Amber and Hezekiah President
Love is the Answer, Humility is the Key, Jesus is the Way
Presidents in Taiwan 