It’s December 1, the first day of #MyAdventCalendar2021 and so here I start with a photo a day for the next 24 days of people here in Taiwan who I would like to ask you to pray for. It’s not really well-planned in advance, but they will all be real people who I invite to open that day’s window on the Advent Calendar to enjoy the chocolate inside, yum yum!

Day 1: this is Yi-Ting 依婷, our newest and youngest colleague on the staff at St. John’s University (SJU) Chaplaincy, Taipei, she’s here sponsored by the Taiwan Episcopal Church. Yi-Ting is from Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia and graduated last year from SJU in Creative Design ~ as a student she was also chair of our SJU Student Fellowship for a year. Please pray for her, we all love her so much!

In previous years, I have participated in the AdventWord project of The Episcopal Church, with photos and meditations each day of Advent. It’s great, and is continuing this year, but their meditations are posted at 6:00 am New York time, which is 7:00 pm here in Taiwan ~ so it’s a bit late for us, the day is almost over! This year, inspired by the gift of a chocolate Advent Calendar (thanks to my good friend, Shiao-Chien) I am inviting you instead to pray for my friends and people I know here in Taiwan. I also include an ongoing prayer request for my 89-year-old mother, currently stuck for the last few days without power after Storm Arwen hit the north of England 🌨️ 🥶❄️ cold is the word ~ but relatively cheerful in the circumstances, fortified by kind people supplying lots of hot cups of tea! ⛄☕

😇 Grateful thanks to all! 😇

Wishing you a prayerful and hope-filled Advent 2021!