It would be an understatement to say that this 'update' on our labors here is overdue. There always seems to be something that makes its way to the top of the 'priority list' and knocks 'typing on the computer' out of its original position. Be that as it may, I will share a bit about the recent past so that you may see the fruits of our labor and join with us in praising our gracious Lord and Savior.

THE BOTTOM LINE!!

"The bottom line" is what most people look at to determine the success or failure of any given endeavor. If the bottom line shows that the numbers are 'on the rise' then the boss is happy, the laborer is rewarded and the work continues. On the other hand, if the bottom line isn't 'on the rise' and hasn't moved in a positive direction for a while then the boss will need to do some serious reevaluation of the situation to determine if the work should continue at all. "Numbers. Just show me the numbers."

Sometimes that kind of "number mentality" sneaks into our labors in the Lord's Vineyard. We put hours into recording statistics and compiling 'year end reports' so that we can view 'the bottom line' and determine our success or failure. Too often the bottom line does not look too good and in frustration and a feeling of failure we cry out saying, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR MESSAGE AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED? In our world 'the bottom line' seems to be the first place and sometimes the only place we look when evaluating our labors. 2,750 years ago the prophet Isaiah penned the words WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR MESSAGE AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED? (53:1) Was Isaiah driven by the 'bottom line' mentality that is so prevalent in our world today? Perhaps he was. He was only human. The numbers don't always paint an accurate picture do they?

God has not promised us that we will see the numbers. He has entrusted us with the Word of Life and has empowered us to take that Word of Life to those who are dying eternally without it. Will we see the results of our work? Perhaps the Lord will show us a few of the lives that he has brought to faith through our labors in the gospel, perhaps not. Doing all we humanly can to tear down man made obstacles, we endeavor to share the Savior and his love and we know that the Lord will bless our labor.

FROM NUMBERS TO NAMES: Christmas in Taichung

Numbers. We average twelve for worship on a weekend. We have six Chinese baptized members in our church family in Taichung, four are adults. The numbers aren't too impressive are they? Numbers don't always tell the whole story about the work of the Lord in this place or any place for that matter. Let me give you an example. Three years ago we began hosting Christmas Eve evangelism outreach activities. On Christmas Eve 1996, we had 76 people come to our home. They heard the true meaning of Christmas for the first time ever. What a privilege to share that message with them.

Out of the 76 people who came, we knew about 25 of them. With so many people in our living room and kitchen it was impossible to really interact and get to know any of the others. We had the numbers but we didn't really have the names that went along with the faces. Christmas 1997 was a similar story. Having just returned from furlough, we managed to arrange as best we could another Christmas Eve evangelism outreach activity. My wife, Sarah, and I invited people we knew: the barber, the cycle mechanic, friends of our daughter, Hannah, etc. More than 50 came for Christmas Eve and some heard for the first or second time the gospel of love and forgiveness in Jesus. This time around we knew a greater percentage of the people who came but it was still near impossible to fill cookie platters and drink cups and interact with all those people. Was it worth the effort?

I PLANTED THE SEED, APOLLOS WATERED IT, BUT GOD MADE IT GROW. SO NEITHER HE WHO PLANTS NOR HE WHO WATERS IS ANYTHING, BUT ONLY GOD, WHO MAKES THINGS GROW. THE MAN WHO PLANTS AND THE MAN WHO WATERS HAVE ONE PURPOSE (1Co3:6f).

We look back at those first couple Christmas activities and consider them as 'seed sowing'. We also looked back and decided that we could do things differently to enable us to have more time for interaction with those who came for Christmas 1998. Of course this would require more time and effort and planning but we wanted to try another method. For Christmas '98 we broke our 'prospect list' into seven groups and held seven different Christmas evangelism activities. For the 10 days prior to Christmas we were busy cleaning up for the next group or cleaning up from the last group. The Lord blessed our efforts as we had opportunity to share the Savior with 137 people. Out of those 137 people, there were only a handful of people that we did not know.

Even our rabbit, Snowy, helped invite people. Snowy roams our front yard-ette during the day and as children make their way to and from school they like to come by and say 'hello' to Snowy. When I happen to be outside and the children come by I talk with them a bit. A few days before Christmas a couple of 4th graders came by and were feeding Snowy some grass. I talked with them and then invited them to come for Christmas Eve. They said they would come! As it turned out, one of them live next door to one of our members, Roy Pan. The parents of one of the girls asked Roy about 'those foreigners with the rabbit' because they knew that Roy knew us personally. On Christmas Eve, the girl and her parents came and heard of their Savior for the first time ever. Rabbit evangelism!

Two of our 7 groups were made up of Chinese students that attend our 'English as Outreach' classes. With funding from the WELS Kingdom Workers, in September of '98, my parents, Norm & Betty Stellick, came to Taiwan to begin work compiling and organizing English instruction materials and teaching classes using these same materials. The students that they teach are people that my wife and I already knew and so the 'English as Evangelism' classes gave us one more avenue to work with these people. My folks teach 5 classes a week to different levels of adult students. For Christmas, my folks made a tape of some Christmas songs. I was privileged to share the gospel in Mandarin with the students during our two Christmas evangelism activities for the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. I adapted "God's Great Exchange" and shared with them our need for Jesus. Joyce, one of the students, said that as she was listening to the Christmas tape in her car and thinking about 'all the things that she had heard' during the Christmas party, she had to pull over and park her car as she was crying at the thought of the message of God's love that she had heard. Pray for Joyce and the 20+ other students that my folks are working with. (For more info about how you can come and teach 'English as Evangelism' in Taiwan contact me via e-mail.)

CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas? A few weeks before Christmas there were a few people who asked me this question: "What do you want for Christmas?" I replied that I wanted a Chinese CO-worker to assist in the gospel work and a few more members as well. I was joking when I said that but in reality that was what I could really use. Well, I didn't get exactly what I wanted but let me tell you a bit about Mr. Huh. It was about 2 years ago that I met Mr. Huh. At that time he thought he wanted to try and learn a bit of English. He came a couple of times to Sarah's English Bible class and then said that he wanted to learn more about the Bible.

Mr. Huh had worked in a Buddhist temple for many years but left that work after becoming disgusted with the way the temple workers cheated and swindled the people who came to the temple. It bothered him that these 'religious people' would be so dishonest with something as important as the faith of someone else. Mr. Huh was searching for the truth.

Roy Pan, one of our members, joined me and Mr. Huh for a few Bible studies. Mr. Huh is most comfortable speaking in Taiwanese so I assisted using Mandarin Chinese and let Roy explain the truths to Mr. Huh in Taiwanese. We met for a few weeks time and then due to work conflicts a month passed without seeing Mr. Huh. At that time then, we went to the States for furlough. Upon returning to Taiwan I stopped by Mr. Hugh's and was able to talk with his wife a few times but never tracked him down. A few weeks prior to Christmas '98 Mr. Huh showed up at our door and talked with Sarah for quite a while, I was out at the time. I contacted Mr. Huh and set up a time to meet with him as he was very excited about learning more about the Savior. The first night we met at his home at 9pm. I shared a gospel presentation with him and he said that he believes in Jesus as his Savior. Praise the Lord! He even talked about Baptism and we decided that we would study baptism at our next meeting. Mr. Huh was on fire. It was after midnight before I returned home.

The next time we met, Mr. Huh brought along a co-worker, Mr. Lai. Mr. Huh had shared the gospel message with Mr. Lai and Mr. Lai wanted to learn more and so they both came to study the Word. We again met late in the evening to accommodate their work schedules and before we knew it midnight had arrived. Mr. Lai has not joined us these past weeks. Mr. Lai is often on the road and out of town on business but we pray that through Mr. Huh we will remain in contact with him. Mr. Huh and I studied baptism and he continues to confess his faith in Christ. He felt that he would like to study a bit more before being baptized so that he can be more knowledgeable about what he is doing.

In addition to Mr. Huh, the Lord also led us to Amy Yea and her two boys, Peter and Jerry. They have worshipped with us quite regularly since early November. Amy rents an office near the Chen Ping Chinese Elementary school where our daughter, Hannah goes to first grade. Jerry is in second grade and Hannah is in first. Hannah seems to have a crush on Jerry. It is kind of cute to see how children interact at that young age. We recently changed our worship time from Saturday evening to Sunday evening in the hopes that it would be more convenient for more of our members and attendees. That time slot is not suitable for Amy and family and so we are seeking to serve them in other ways. What do you want for Christmas? I had asked for a coworker and more members but these things are not purchased or found at the snap of a finger. We are thankful that the Lord in his mercy has entrusted us with a handful of new prospects that are eager to hear the Word. All praise to God who controls all things and gives us the opportunity to share his love with others.

From numbers to names to relationships to opportunities to share the Savior. We thank the Lord for the fruits of our labor that he has shown to us. We pray for his strength and guidance for the future. Please pray for Mr. Huh and Mr. Lai, pray for Amy and her family, pray for our small church here in Taichung that we may band together in service to the Lord. NEITHER HE WHO PLANTS NOR HE WHO WATERS IS ANYTHING, BUT ONLY GOD, WHO MAKES THINGS GROW. THE MAN WHO PLANTS AND THE MAN WHO WATERS HAVE ONE PURPOSE (1Co3:6f). Our purpose is to let the gospel shine so that those living in darkness may see the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, believe and be saved eternally. All praise and glory to God!

Your coworker in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ,

Kevin, Sarah & Hannah Stellick

January 1999, Taichung, Taiwan