Month: December 2015

St. John's University, Taiwan1 Comment

YES! NT$ 340,000 (US$ 10,350) all raised for 宜蘭聖方濟老人長期照護中心 St. Francis Care Home, Yilan!

Catherine Lee

Incredible!  Thanks be to Almighty God!  It’s done!  This month, St. John’s University and Advent Church have raised a grand total of NT$ 340,000 (US$ 10,350 / £ 6,985) for St. Francis Home  宜蘭聖方濟老人長期照護中心 in Toucheng, Yilan County – way beyond our expectations.  Thanks for everyone who participated!  Here’s our chaplain and rector, Rev. Lennon Chang, receiving the Thanksgiving Certificate yesterday from Sr. Betty in Toucheng R. C. Church ~  God is good! Every year during December, on behalf of St. John’s University and Advent Church, the SJU Chaplaincy organizes a huge bazaar and collects donations for charity, a different … Continue reading YES! NT$ 340,000 (US$ 10,350) all raised for 宜蘭聖方濟老人長期照護中心 St. Francis Care Home, Yilan!

Advent Church, TaiwanLeave a comment

St. John’s Day @ Advent Church ~ and our Christmas Party!

Catherine Lee

Yes, a big day for Advent Church!  On the first Sunday after Christmas, we always celebrate St. John’s Day ~ and as this is St. John’s University, all our students past and present from the St. John’s University Student Fellowship – plus church members past and present – are always invited back. And today was the day!  Part of the theme of Advent is to ‘return’, and returning home to our home church is one of the things we’ve encouraged everyone to do this month.  And as it’s the last Sunday of 2015, it also seems a great way to … Continue reading St. John’s Day @ Advent Church ~ and our Christmas Party!

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Christmas Day Early Morning @ 正德國中賢孝校區 Xian-Xiao School Assembly !

Catherine Lee

7:45am Friday School Assembly at our local Junior High School, Xian-Xiao, on Christmas Day ~ and we were there ~ in the rain ~ but YES, we were there! Not only were we there, but we were all dressed up in our Christmas outfits, and all awake and smiling!  Xian-Xiao (or Hsien-Hsiao) is a wonderful neighbour to us at St. John’s University and Advent Church ~ and we love ’em all very much, teachers, staff and children!  They’re actually a branch of Zheng-De Junior High School 正德國中 in Tamsui, with one school principal, Mr. Lin, in charge of both ~ and … Continue reading Christmas Day Early Morning @ 正德國中賢孝校區 Xian-Xiao School Assembly !

Advent Church, TaiwanLeave a comment

Christmas Eve @ Advent Church!

Catherine Lee

The highlight of Christmas Eve at St. John’s University every year is our Christmas Eve Service in Advent Church, well-attended by students, church members, local people and visitors ~ YES! Last night the service started at 7:30pm, and we also had 2 baptisms  ~ a gorgeous 2-month-old baby, son of our lovely church members; and one of our SJU Student Fellowship students in his 4th and final year, who was supported by all the Student Fellowship.  We started the service in darkness, then with candles ~ BEAUTIFUL!  And we finished the service with rice porridge and birthday cake! Thanking God … Continue reading Christmas Eve @ Advent Church!

Faith3 Comments

Advent Word, Day 26 ‘receive’

Catherine Lee

Day 26: #receive #領受 Thursday December 24, Christmas Eve ‘It doesn’t matter that our lives, or our families or world are not perfect. What matters is that we make a space, no matter how small, for God in our hearts. When we do that, God will do the rest, and Christ will once more be born in the Bethlehem of our lives and the mangers of our hearts’. 我們的生命、家庭、或世界不完美，並不打緊；重要的是，要在心中開啟一個空間，讓神進駐。我們這麼做，上帝就會成全，而基督也會再次降臨，來到生命中的伯利恆，降生於你我心裡的馬槽中。 Today, the photo and the Advent Word meditation above match perfectly!  This was taken last night as we went with our students from the St. John’s University Student Fellowship around the dormitories … Continue reading Advent Word, Day 26 ‘receive’

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Advent Word, Day 25 ‘reflect’

Catherine Lee

Day 25: #reflect #反映 Wednesday December 23 ‘Mary has much to teach us. Mary’s experience gives us the message that all is sacred, all creation is redeemed, all is a reflection of the glory of God’. 馬利亞值得我們多多學習。她的經歷，提供我們饒富意義的信息，那就是：一切都屬聖潔，所有受造者都已被［創造者］贖回；所有一切，都是上帝榮耀的反映。 Advent Church reflected in the windows of the new Advent Church Center this morning! Continue reading Advent Word, Day 25 ‘reflect’

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Advent Word, Day 24 ‘pray’

Catherine Lee

Day 24: #pray #祈禱 Tuesday December 23 ‘Anyone who prays struggles with self-censorship. One of the best pieces of spiritual advice I ever received was to pray for anything that I desired, even if that desire seemed sinful – to begin integrating prayer with life as we actually experience it, rather than as we might wish it to be’. 祈禱的人自會努力自我檢視。我所領受的最佳屬靈建言之一，乃是為「心之所欲」而祈禱，哪怕那「心之所欲」看似不應該—唯願祈禱與生活相結合，一如人生最真實的體驗，而不是心中異想天開的奢望！ Busy busy busy today at ‪SJU Chaplaincy ‪‎聖約翰科技大學校牧室! 900 Christmas cookies in 6 different flavours, 2 each for 360 SJU faculty & staff, 150 for ‪Advent Church‬, all wrapped in ribbon with these Christmas greetings: ‘Glory to God in the highest … Continue reading Advent Word, Day 24 ‘pray’

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Advent Word, Day 23 ‘experience’

Catherine Lee

Day 23: #experience #體會 Monday December 21 ‘Second-hand information about God is not enough. We need to be able to touch and know and undeniably experience Jesus at work in our world and in our lives to be able to believe God, to be able to believe in God’. 關於上帝，僅有二手資訊實在不夠。我們須要接觸、知悉，而且真實地體會耶穌在世上、以及在我們生命中的聖工，才有可能相信上帝、信仰真神。 Until you experience it for yourself, how could you know that the stump of a ‪‎banana tree‬ could be just sooooooo delicious?! Our church members, the Tan family ponies! Continue reading Advent Word, Day 23 ‘experience’