My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 22 ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝโ
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day22: This is 2-year-old Ethan, in his reindeer hat, in thoughtful pose ~ ah, we love him so much! He and his baby sister Eva keep us all entertained at our monthly diocesan office lunch gatherings in Taipei – including the one today. Ethan has won the hearts of all the diocesan office staff and all the visitors! Ethan’s mother, Sheerah is from Ipoh, West Malaysia, and for many years worked as their diocesan children’s worker. In 2010, she came with a diocesan team to lead ‘Kids Games’ training in Advent Church, and we’ve all kept in touch ever … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 22 ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝโ
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 21 ๐๐๐ถ
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day21: Good News! ๅฅฝๆถๆฏ! Remember Jia-Wei ๅๅ from Hong Kong who featured here on #Day2? He’s one of our students in the St. Johnโs University (SJU) Student Fellowship, and he’d said he really hoped to be baptized on Christmas Eve, but needed courage to first ask his family. With time moving on and Christmas Eve approaching fast, he finally summoned up the courage to talk to his family last night ~ and rather to his surprise and great delight, his father agrees with his decision, saying that as Jia-Wei is an adult, so he’s free to choose his own … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 21 ๐๐๐ถ
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 20 โ๐๐
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day20: This is Shi-En ไธๆฉ, this year’s chair of St. John’s University Student Fellowship. He’s popular and outgoing, generous with his time and money, and his latest hair styles are always the talk of the town! Shi-En is a third year student in Leisure Sport & Health Management, and comes from Kluang, Johor, West Malaysia, where his family are members of Peace Assemblies of God Church ไฝณๅฎ็ฅๅฌๆ. Shi-En’s sense of identity coming from a Christian family is very strong. His name Shi ไธ means ‘world’, En ๆฉ means ‘grace’, and he says his parents gave him this name hoping … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 20 โ๐๐
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 19 ๐โ๏ธโ๏ธ
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day19: This is Yi-Mu ็พฉ็ง (left) and Yung-Mu ๆฐธ็ง (right), sons of the Very Rev. Philip L. F. Lin, dean of St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei and his wife, Linda ~ the photo taken today at the cathedral’s English Service Christmas celebration. Such friendly boys, and so happy to pose for a photo! In 2011, while the family were living at St. James’ Church, Taichung, and when Yi-Mu was 5 years old, he was diagnosed with leukaemia. Then started a very long and gruelling 4 years of intensive chemotherapy. For a whole week every month he would need to stay … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 19 ๐โ๏ธโ๏ธ
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 18 ๐โช๐
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day18: This is the very lovely Mrs. Hsu and her helper, Linda, who I’ve just been to visit today at Suang-Lien Elderly Center to wish them a Happy Christmas! ๐โ๐ฏ๏ธ Actually Mrs. Hsu is even more looking forward to December 28, her birthday ~ she says she’s going to be 95, so Happy Birthday too! ๐๐๐ Mrs. Hsu is wonderfully well-cared for by Linda, whose family home is in Boracay in The Philippines. Linda’s family are really grateful to her for the money she can send home every month from her work in Taiwan, and she always appears with … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 18 ๐โช๐
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 17 ๐โ๏ธ๐
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day17: This is Ming-Chuan ้ๅณ, senior warden of Advent Church, and his lovely wife, Meng-Zhen ๅญ่. This evening they welcomed 30 of us from Advent Church, including 12 from the St. John’s University Student Fellowship, to their home for an Advent Service followed by a delicious meal. The cold wind was howling outside, but inside it was so warm and cosy. They are just so hospitable and kind! Ming-Chuan is a former police officer, and Meng-Zhen recently retired from her work in a busy hospital, and despite some serious ongoing health challenges these past 2 years, they both continue … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 17 ๐โ๏ธ๐
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 16 โโช๐
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day16: This is Jasmine Yu ๆธธ็ฎ็ชไธปไปป, our good friend in charge of the local junior high school, Xian-Xiao (branch of Zheng-De Junior High School ๆญฃๅพทๅไธญ่ณขๅญๆ กๅ). Xian-Xiao is so close that their pupils walk through the St. John’s University campus each day to get there, so we see them all often. There’s 85 children in the school, aged 12-15. Small is beautiful ~ they are so well cared for! The school specializes in giving the children all sorts of opportunities to discover what kind of career they might like in the future, with chances to learn everything from cooking to … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 16 โโช๐
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 15 ๐ผ๐โ
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day15: This is Dr. Huang Hung-Pin ้ปๅฎๆๆ ก้ท, President of St. John’s University (SJU), Taipei since August 1, 2020. Previous to this position, he served as professor in the National Taiwan University (NTU) Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, Taipei. President Huang was here at SJU today to open the SJU Christmas Charity Bazaar, run by the SJU Chaplaincy, helped by members of Advent Church and SJU ~ and it went really well! There are many challenges facing SJU; the priorities are to stabilize the financial situation, increase student enrollment and improve academic standards, so President Huang really has his work … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 15 ๐ผ๐โ
My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 14 ๐๐๐ผ
#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day14: This is Jing-Huei ้ๆ ง (left) and Jin-Luan ้้พ (right), who keep Advent Church running smoothly from morning to night! Both have their birthdays this week, and we celebrated today ~ thanks to Jin-Luan for sharing her yummy chocolate birthday cake with us all. Happy Birthday to these 2 Lovely Ladies! ๐ฅณ๐๐ Jing-Huei works for Advent Church in charge of the office, while Jin-Luan works for St. John’s University (SJU) in charge of Advent Church cleaning, which is mostly done very early in the morning before 8:00am. She’s always leaving just as we’re arriving, off to clean other parts … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 14 ๐๐๐ผ
Catherine Lee 