My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 8 ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ„โ›„

#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day8: This is Tze-Wi ่Šท่–‡, our colleague at St. Johnโ€™s University (SJU) Chaplaincy, Taipei; she and Yi-Ting ไพๅฉท are both sponsored by the Taiwan Episcopal Church. Both are very talented & creative, and have put their skills to good use designing the Advent Church section of the diocesan website, it’s much admired by all our other churches! Together they organize all the many chaplaincy activities, and there’s always lots to do; coming up next is the SJU & Advent Church Christmas Bazaar, this year in aid of SOS Children Village in Chungli. Life is busy, busy, busy! Tze-Wi is … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 8 ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ„โ›„

My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 7 ๐ŸŒŸ๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ๐ŸŽ

#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day7: This is the Rev. Charles C. T. Chen ้™ณ้‡‘ๅœฐ็‰งๅธซ and his second son, Christopher ้™ณๆ™บๆนงๆ•™ๅ‹™้•ท, Dean of Academic Affairs here at St. John’s University. We had a cake today to celebrate Charles’ 86th birthday on December 10, while Christopher celebrated his 60th birthday last month. Happy Birthday and many congratulations to them both! ๐ŸŽ‰๐Ÿฅณ ๐ŸŽ‚ When I first arrived in Taiwan in January 1999, it was the two of them who met me at the airport ~ Charles was then rector of St. James’ Church, Taichung, much supported by his wife MaryJo, and just starting what would become … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 7 ๐ŸŒŸ๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ๐ŸŽ

My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 6 ๐ŸŽ„โ›„๐ŸŒŸ

#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day6: This is Bishop David J. H. Lai ่ณดๆฆฎไฟกไธปๆ•™ and his wife, Lily who we visited today at their home in Tainan. Bishop Lai retired as Bishop of Taiwan in February 2020, and really enjoys welcoming visitors to drink tea and enjoy fellowship, while Lily is out at art classes & learning new things like Nordic Walking ~ they both love being retired! Due to the pandemic, they have not yet been able to visit their children & grandchildren in New York since they retired, but they say they are so grateful to God and to you all for … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 6 ๐ŸŽ„โ›„๐ŸŒŸ

My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 5 ๐Ÿ””๐ŸŽถ๐ŸŽ„

#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day5: This is the Rev. Lily L. L. Chang ๅผต็Žฒ็Žฒ็‰งๅธซ, Rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church, Taichung, looking forward to celebrating her 60th birthday on December 27! ๐Ÿฅณ๐ŸŽˆ๐ŸŽ‰ Congratulations and Happy Birthday Lily!ย  ๐Ÿฅณ๐ŸŽŠ๐ŸŽ‚ She is very busy looking after 2 lively congregations (Chinese & English), a large kindergarten and education institute, plus many diocesan responsibilities ~ and with so much going on for Advent and Christmas, she asks for your prayers for her health and strength. ๐Ÿ˜Š Thank you! Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 5 ๐Ÿ””๐ŸŽถ๐ŸŽ„

My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 4 ๐Ÿ‘ผโ›ช๐Ÿ””

#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day4: This is Chuan-You ๅ…จไฝ‘, the youngest member of our Advent Church PCC / Vestry Committee and also in charge of the Advent Church Sunday School. He works in Taipei as a software engineer, and became a Christian through the student fellowship at St. John’s University, of which he was later elected to serve as chair for a year. Like many of our student fellowship, he is the first and so far only Christian in his family. Today he and his team are running a Board Games outreach event for 40+ local children in the Advent Church Centre, and … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 4 ๐Ÿ‘ผโ›ช๐Ÿ””

My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 3 โ›ช๐ŸŽ„โญ๐Ÿพ

#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day3: This is Rev. Hsing-Hsiang Wu ๅณ่ˆˆ็ฅฅ็‰งๅธซ, chaplain at St. John’s University (SJU) and rector of Advent Church on the SJU campus. Aged 37, he’s the youngest priest in the Taiwan Episcopal Church, and is blessed with a very lovely wife, Yu-Ru. Sadly, both of them have kidney disease, his inherited from his mother (who’s already been on dialysis for over 10 years), while Yu-Ru’s started as a child, with no family connection. They both try their best to follow their doctor’s advice, eating healthily with sufficient exercise and rest, but they have to be very careful not to … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 3 โ›ช๐ŸŽ„โญ๐Ÿพ

My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 2 ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿ””

#MyAdventCalendar2021 #Day2: This is Jia-Wei ๅ˜‰ๅ‰ from Hong Kong, one of our students at St. John’s University, now in his third year studying Computer Science & Information Engineering. In his first year he joined our student fellowship and is now on the leadership team, in charge of fun activities like games ~ he’s very talented, and a real blessing to us all! Jia-Wei is the only son in his family, and his parents and grandparents are all followers of traditional Chinese folk religion. He would dearly love to be baptized this Christmas Eve, but he needs courage to first talk … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 2 ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿ””

My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 1 ๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ๐ŸŽถ๐Ÿงธ

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 ไพๅฉท, 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 … Continue reading My Advent Calendar 2021: Day 1 ๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ๐ŸŽถ๐Ÿงธ

Advent Word 2020, Day 10 ‘Patience’

#AdventWord #Patience Patience is that reminder that we are not in control, that our lives do not always happen according to our schedule. The experiences of the prophets, Mary, Joseph, shepherds and Magi remind us that we exist in Godโ€™s time. Living in kairos time requires our prayer, our attention and most certainly our patience as we recognize God’s presence, as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives. All eyes on Canon Mark! This is Canon Mark Stevenson, canon to Presiding Bishop Michael Curry – and very well-deserving of a special gold medal in the Patience department! In … Continue reading Advent Word 2020, Day 10 ‘Patience’