Advent Word, Day 1 ‘shine’

Today is Advent Sunday!  The first day of Advent Word 2016, a project supported by the Anglican Communion. Day 1: ‘shine’ 光輝 Sunday November 27 ‘Rather than experiencing the sorrows of our world as a source of desolation, hear the news as a clarion call, as motivation and clarification for what we are to be about as followers of Jesus Christ: to bear the beams of God’s love and light and life, especially to those who wouldn’t otherwise know it’. 與其把世界的悲傷視為荒涼之源,不如聽取福音信息。聽那到感人的號召,受其激勵、淨化,而成為耶穌基督的真信徒:披戴上帝的愛、光明、生命,並將這美好光輝傳揚四方,尤其傳給那些還在幽暗中「茫然不知所之」的人。 Meet Little Shine, the beloved grandson of Jerry and Jean, devoted church members of St. James’ Church, Taichung, where Jerry is … Continue reading Advent Word, Day 1 ‘shine’

St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei 60th Anniversary Thanksgiving Concert!

A whole year of 60th anniversary celebrations at St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei was brought to a very fine and very fitting end yesterday afternoon ~ with a special thanksgiving concert, with choirs and music groups from Good Shepherd Church, St. James’ Church, Christ Church, and of course St. John’s Cathedral. There was St. John’s Cathedral Choir…. Good Shepherd Choir…. St. James’ Church Choir….. And Christ Church…. We had short 3-minute speeches (well, 3 minutes was the allocated time, which caused much laughter – as some definitely went on just a bit longer!) from former deans and clergy in charge of … Continue reading St. John’s Cathedral, Taipei 60th Anniversary Thanksgiving Concert!

St. James’ Church, Taichung ~ another big welcome!

St. James’ Church, Taichung is one of the most hospitable churches ever, and when their rector, Rev. Lily Chang and their youth group leader, Chia-Lin heard of a group of youth coming to visit from St. Andrew’s Secondary School, Singapore, they rolled out the red carpet to welcome them!  The ladies of the church cooked up a huge feast of traditional Taiwan food to welcome them, and we had games and lots of fun together, with sharing about the Taiwan Episcopal Church and presentations.  Such a fun evening! Just look at all this delicious food! Thanks be to God and … Continue reading St. James’ Church, Taichung ~ another big welcome!

I love CMS! A Great Big Welcome to Taiwan for Raj Patel, CMS Regional Manager for Asia ~ all the way from Oxford ~ YES!

Yes, honest, I love CMS!  And all those associated with CMS ~ the mission partners, CMS staff, UK Link Churches and of course all those who welcome us to serve in their dioceses, churches, organizations and communities! CMS stands for Church Mission Society ~ I joined in September 1989, served in Tanzania for 7 years, and then in January 1999 arrived in Taiwan and I’ve been here ever since, first at St. James’ Church, Taichung for 7 years, and since early 2007 based here at St. John’s University, on Taiwan’s NW coast.  My last formal CMS-UK visitors came in November … Continue reading I love CMS! A Great Big Welcome to Taiwan for Raj Patel, CMS Regional Manager for Asia ~ all the way from Oxford ~ YES!

The No. 1 National Taiwan Museum 國立台灣博物館 Tour with Amanda Lai 賴盈伃 ~ YES!

Yes, introducing one of my most delightful former students, Amanda, who spent 2 years of her early life with us at St. James’ Kindergarten, Taichung ~ and she’s now a student of art history at Tainan National University of the Arts.  All grown up and going places! This summer Amanda is an intern at the National Taiwan Museum in Taipei, another wow!  Her family are great friends of mine, and a few weeks ago, her mother took my visitors, Harriet and Nicky and me to visit the Rainbow Village in Taichung.  So with a bit of encouragement from Amanda’s mother, I … Continue reading The No. 1 National Taiwan Museum 國立台灣博物館 Tour with Amanda Lai 賴盈伃 ~ YES!

Beautiful people and places of Dadu 大肚 and Changhua 彰化 ~ Thank you Rebecca 劉恩渝 and all the family!

Such a fun day, and we got to go on the new skywalk ~ YES! In September 1999, I started working at St. James’ Church, Taichung, about the same time as St. James had a new church administrator, Rebecca Liu.  We shared the church office together, along with Rev. Charles C. T. Chen, the rector of St. James’ Church.  Rebecca was our right-hand person, always so willingly on hand to do whatever needed doing whenever it was needed, and she was always always so lovely! At Chinese New Year 2000, Rebecca kindly invited me to her home for the Liu … Continue reading Beautiful people and places of Dadu 大肚 and Changhua 彰化 ~ Thank you Rebecca 劉恩渝 and all the family!

Round-Taiwan Tour with Nicky and Harriet ~ YES!

Yep, we’ve done a whole circuit of Taiwan this past week ~ ‘n what a beautiful country! Nicky and Harriet, my 2 lovely visitors from one of my CMS Link Churches, St. John’s, Neville’s Cross, Durham, UK, had already been here a week, based in Taipei, and so this was the chance for them to see a little of this beautiful island ~ Ilha Formosa (‘Beautiful Isle’, the name given by Portuguese sailors), otherwise known as….. Taiwan! Last Monday, July 11, when we set off, southern Taiwan was still reeling from Typhoon Nepartak which had wreaked havoc a few days … Continue reading Round-Taiwan Tour with Nicky and Harriet ~ YES!

台灣聖公會台中市聖雅各幼兒園「給夢想一雙翅膀」愛心園遊會 ~ St. James’ Preschool, Taichung, Charity Bazaar 2016!

And this year, even more lovely people came than usual, and lots of smiling VIPs came too ~ here they all are last Saturday at the St. James’ Charity Bazaar! Every year on the Saturday before Mother’s Day weekend, St. James’ Preschool and Language Institute hold a great fiesta, bazaar, fair, extravaganza all rolled into one. And every year they raise a lot of money for charity.  And every year the charity is different. This year there are 2 charities, Wulai District Fu-shan Presbyterian Church 烏來福山教會outreach to local children and young people of the Atayal Tribe in the mountains south of Taipei, … Continue reading 台灣聖公會台中市聖雅各幼兒園「給夢想一雙翅膀」愛心園遊會 ~ St. James’ Preschool, Taichung, Charity Bazaar 2016!

Just Married! Many Congratulations to Yi-Chia 鄒宜家 and Si-Han 陳思翰 on their Wedding Day ~ and it all started in Boston!

Our beloved Teacher Tiger’s big day ~ YES!  And yes, we call her Teacher Tiger (well, after all she was born in the Year of the Tiger!), otherwise she’s known as Yi-Chia 宜家, and in fact that’s what our friends in Boston call her.  Yesterday was a very big day for her and her brand new husband Shawn ~ Si-Han 思翰, and what a lovely couple they are! Yi-Chia’s family are all members of ‘The Church in Taipei’, YongHe Branch 新北市召會永和區一會所, affiliated to the ‘Local Churches‘ Movement or ‘The Little Flock’, which was started in the 1930’s in Mainland China by … Continue reading Just Married! Many Congratulations to Yi-Chia 鄒宜家 and Si-Han 陳思翰 on their Wedding Day ~ and it all started in Boston!