Tag Archives: Weddings

Congratulations to 鄭喻璘 Yu-Lin and 王三源 San-Yuan on their Wedding Day!

October 4, 2021 Catherine Lee 5 Comments

A beautiful day for a beautiful couple! Such a special event, a wedding at Advent Church for 2 very special people, and the sun shone all day to mark the occasion. For us, this was THE wedding of the year, and a pandemic year at that. We give thanks to God that despite the uncertainties of the pandemic, everything went so well.

The wedding service was conducted by our rector, Rev. Hsing-Hsiang Wu, with Bishop Lennon Yuan-Rung Chang preaching and giving the marriage blessing. As both the bride and groom’s families are Christians, so we also had Holy Communion, celebrated by Bishop Chang. His sermon was particularly moving; he talked about Yu-Lin as if she were his own daughter, having known her since she was a child, and encouraged her all the way through. He made Yu-Lin’s parents stand up as he introduced them to their new son, and the same for San-Yuan’s mother, as he introduced her to her new daughter. There was hardly a dry eye in the church!

Yu-Lin is in her first year as a Taiwan diocesan seminarian, after a year of being a diocesan intern, which involved 6 months at Good Shepherd Church, Taipei and then 6 months at St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi. For the last few months, she has been living at the diocesan office in Taipei, with her weekend placement being at Christ Church, Chungli, Taoyuan. San-Yuan is a sound engineer, long based in Tainan, but a few months ago he moved up to Taipei, and has been attending the morning prayer services with Yu-Lin at the diocesan office, also taking part in some of the seminarian training sessions led by Bishop Chang. A great start to their future church ministry together!

Yu-Lin was our much-loved colleague here at Advent Church and St. John’s University (SJU) for many years, always keeping us on our toes. Life was never boring! She is very friendly, outgoing, extremely creative, multi-talented and highly-skilled in all things technical and practical – from fixing computers to driving her father’s minibus up and down the country. Yu-Lin’s father has long been professor of Electrical Engineering here at SJU and is now also Dean of General Affairs, which means he is in overall charge of the SJU campus and the maintenance of all buildings and equipment. He spends his weekends at SJU instructing courses that lead to license qualifications in everything from plumbing to driving fork-lift trucks, he told me once he has 23 different license qualifications! In between times he is to be found scurrying around the campus, checking the generators, the AC units, driving the workers in his forklift truck to trim some trees or installing lighting to make the campus brighter. Always busy, and in his holidays, he climbs mountains, and takes the family on holidays to interesting places. It was very moving for him, in the pre-wedding event on Saturday, when he and Yu-Lin’s mother placed the veil over their daughter’s head ~ he really struggled to hold back the tears.

Yu-Lin’s mother is the principal of the kindergarten at Jinshan RC Church, having taking over from her older sister. Yu-Lin’s mother has 3 sisters, and all but one of them are in Advent Church, all very lively and very lovely! The older one has now moved to St. Timothy’s Church, Kaohsiung to join her daughter, Si-Yun and husband, Rev. Richard R. C. Lee, who is the rector. Si-Yun came to the wedding this weekend, acting as ‘matchmaker’ – it’s an important role in making sure everything goes to plan! This is Si-Yun, Yu-Lin’s mother and older brother ….

So, with Yu-Lin and her extended family being members of Advent Church, Tamsui, and with San-Yuan’s family home being in Tainan, it was arranged that the wedding service would take place at Advent Church on Saturday October 2 at 1:30 pm, with the official wedding reception being held in Tainan next Saturday, October 9.

Taiwan is currently under Level 2 Pandemic Restrictions, which means facemasks are compulsory and indoor events are limited to 80 people. Because Advent Church is part of St. John’s University, so we are also allowed to use our Advent Church Centre as an overflow for a further 80 people, but because of the distancing rules, we would not be allowed to host any kind of formal reception with food. So after the wedding everyone went home with a box of delicious finger food to enjoy instead.

A few months ago, Yu-Lin and San-Yuan announced their wedding event on Facebook with a sign-up form for those who wished to attend, but stressing that the event would also be livestreamed, so feel free to attend online instead of in-person. This is the video…

Then a few weeks ago we had a Covid cluster outbreak in Greater Taipei, and suddenly New Taipei City (which includes St. John’s University) went into enhanced Level 2 Restrictions, and events were suddenly restricted to 50 people. Some of us uninvited ourselves, but it was worrying week, not knowing what was going to happen! Then, as the pandemic situation improved, so restrictions were relaxed and it became 80 again. Relief all round!

Yu-Lin and San-Yuan first met through the Taiwan branch of ANM 萬國敬拜與讚美 ‘All Nations Worship & Praise Ministries’, which started in South Korea in 1987, and sends out mission teams around the world to reach Chinese-speaking people with the Gospel. Yu-Lin studied at university in Tainan, and in 2008, she and San-Yuan vaguely knew of each other through both studying on the ANM training program in Tainan. Then in 2018, they both attended 3-month ANM “Intercultural Community Mission Training” programs in Germany that overlapped by about 6 weeks. That was the start of their relationship. Yu-Lin then spent a further year in Germany with ANM, returning to Taiwan in May 2020 to join the Diocese of Taiwan internship program. Many of the people at the wedding on Saturday were connected with ANM….

This is an abridged version of Yu-Lin’s testimony that she wrote for our diocesan Friendship Magazine in May 2021:

“Not long after I was born, in 1988, my parents discovered I had an abnormal condition, which led them to embark on a day of running around different hospitals with me, unable to find a doctor willing to take the risk of operating on me. My mother was anxious and overwhelmed, and she prayed, “Dear Heavenly Father, if you heal my daughter, and find a doctor willing to operate on her, I will dedicate her to you…” Thanks be to God, He heard that prayer, and I was baptized in Advent Church at 7 months old, and at the age of 13, I was confirmed.

Although I grew up in the church, I didn’t really know anything about faith, and the word “Christian” was such a special label to me as if I was meant to prove: Why can’t Christians do bad things? So in adolescence I became very rebellious, stealing my parents’ money, running away from home, self-harming, bullying others.

But God’s work is wonderful. In 2006, when I turned 18, a friend invited me to a special gathering of ‘All Nations Worship & Praise School’ (ANM). It was a 4-day event, but at the start I was unable to concentrate and ran away from the gathering until the third day, when my heart really calmed down and I found myself longing to meet the Lord who loved me. That day I met Jesus! My first feeling was being filled with the Holy Spirit, and I will never forget being touched and forgiven deeply by God’s love. He said, “My child, I don’t remember your past,” and in the presence of the Holy Spirit, I was completely set free. Later, the leader announced, “If you are willing to give your life to the Lord, come up to the stage.” I walked onto the stage with a grateful heart and in tears.

So I started to participate in the ANM training every Saturday until now, and that gathering became a turning point in my life. I experienced God’s love and forgiveness firsthand, and found myself changing my character, habits and values, including redefining what I saw as a ‘successful life’. In 2010, God led me to Advent Church as an education officer, and in 2012 I joined St. John’s University Chaplaincy (under the then chaplain, Rev. Lennon Yuan-Rung Chang) as a student fellowship counsellor and administrator, including in 2015, taking part in a memorable short-term mission trip to Myanmar.”

ANM have the policy that dating couples only make their relationship public when they announce their engagement, and so it is that San-Yuan is known to many of us but has largely kept a low profile until recently. He tells me that while Yu-Lin was assigned to St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi earlier this year, he was confirmed into the Episcopal Church, and he is committed to moving with Yu-Lin around Taiwan depending on where she is assigned by Bishop Chang and the diocesan office. Hopefully he can find a suitable job wherever he finds himself based. San-Yuan is certainly very accommodating and committed! So far in the Taiwan Episcopal Church, as far as I know, he is the first newly-married husband to follow this path. We have several women clergy and seminarians, but all are either single or became seminarians later in life, once their children were grown.

At the wedding, we were delighted to welcome Sheerah and her husband, Yu-Wei. We first met Sheerah some years ago, when she came with a team from the Diocese of West Malaysia to Advent Church to lead some training for our children’s summer camps, a program called Kid’s Games. So she got to know many of our students and church members, including Yu-Lin. Since then, she has relocated to Taiwan, married to Yu-Wei. They have 2 children, Ethan who turned 2 on Saturday, and Eva, aged 4 months. Bishop Chang invites them to attend our monthly birthday lunches at the diocesan office, so they have got to know us all even better. Like San-Yuan, Yu-Wei is also a sound engineer, and he was invited to help with the sound system for the wedding. So with Yu-Wei busy, we all offered to help out with entertaining Ethan and Eva, who proved a big hit with everyone, and appear in lots and lots of photos. As it was Ethan’s birthday that day, it seemed an added bonus!

Before the service…..

The wedding service ……

After the service, the throwing of the bride’s bouquet…

And group photos…..

Please do pray for Yu-Lin and San-Yuan as they begin their married life together. The road ahead is long and challenging, especially during the next few years of training, but we pray for God’s grace to sustain them. Congratulations to them both and their families, and thanks be to Almighty God!

Advent Church, Taiwan

💕Wedding Celebrations for Mr. Zong-Yi Chou 周宗毅 (小毅) and Ms. Yi-Ru Chiang 江依洳 (鴨子)!💕

September 28, 2020 Catherine Lee 8 Comments

Mr. Zong-Yi Chou 周宗毅 (aka Shiao Yi 小毅) & Ms. Yi-Ru Chiang 江依洳 (aka Ya-Zi 鴨子) are married! YES!

Many congratulations to Shiao Yi 小毅 and Ya-Zi 鴨子 on their wedding, held at 2:30 pm, Sunday September 27, 2020 in Advent Church @ St. John’s University (SJU), Taipei!

This is a day we’ve all been looking forward to for a very long time ~ and finally they’re married! 💕

And these are former members of the SJU Student Fellowship moving everyone to tears by their singing…. 😂😂

The events started with make-up and hairstyling in the small chapel at the back of Advent Church, and preparations in the main church..

The service began with the bell ringing ~ and the wedding procession moved down the aisle, the gorgeous bride being escorted by her father (and if you’re wondering about face-masks for the service, they were optional). It was certainly a wonderful wedding!

After the blessing, the bride and groom gave flowers – and hugs – to both sets of parents….

The couple left – and came back in again for photos ….

Shiao Yi and Ya-Zi first met each other in their first year as students here at SJU when they started to come to the Student Fellowship, and a year later became boyfriend and girlfriend. That was 9 years ago! They were both baptized together at Advent Church by Rev. Lennon Yuan-Rung Chang, who was then SJU Chaplain, and since graduation 6 years ago they’ve been coming to Advent Church most Sundays. They had planned to get married last year, but had to postpone when Ya-Zi’s grandmother died, so we’ve all been waiting a long time, and they’ve been very patient! Here’s the parents of the bride and groom…

This is the first wedding in Advent Church taken by our SJU Chaplain, Rev. Hsing-Hsiang Wu, and also the first wedding in Advent Church with Bishop Lennon Yuan-Rung Chang giving the wedding blessing, while our chaplaincy staff, Shu-Jing and Yu-Lin served as witnesses and helped to organize everything. 😇

We were delighted that so many former members of the SJU Student Fellowship could come to the wedding, and sing so movingly for the occasion. There’s plenty more of the student fellowship planning their own weddings ~ and the girl who caught the bride’s bouquet is Chung-Hsien’s girlfriend, and he’s already proposed!💕

It rained nearly all day, but the weather didn’t stop everyone turning out and enjoying the celebrations. After the service, there was a tea-party in the Advent Church Centre, part of a whole weekend of celebrations – this was only one part!

Guests were invited to sign their names and thumbprints…

There were also plenty of mementoes of the occasion, cookies and cards…

And the official photo album – many of them taken in Advent Church

Ah yes, many congratulations to the happy couple, Shiao Yi and Ya-Zi, and God’s richest blessings on their future together! 💕💕

Taiwan Episcopal Church, Diocese of Taiwan

Congratulations to Isaac Chen Wei-Chieh 陳瑋杰 and his beautiful bride 羅雅馨!

December 15, 2019 Catherine Lee 1 Comment

On September 2, 2019, I received a very special message, and it made my day! The message said, “Hello Catherine! I am going to get married on December 14, 2019! Our wedding will be held in St. Peter’s Church (Chiayi). We want to invite you to attend our wedding, we would be happy if you can come!”

🥳🥳🥳 YES! Of course I must go, I just have to be there!🥳🥳🥳

🥳 ISAAC IS GETTING MARRIED, YIPPEE! 🥳

And so it was that yesterday, 220 km south of here, in the lovely little church of St. Peter’s, Chiayi, a young and handsome Isaac 瑋杰 Wei-Chieh and his lovely bride, Angie 雅馨 Ya-Hsin were married.

THANKS BE TO GOD!

And, thanks be to God again, cos I was there too!

But I was not the only person to travel to Chiayi from Taipei; Isaac’s grandfather and some family members had also set off early to be there for the 3:00 pm wedding. And they were also, like me, going back the same day. Actually it took me 5 hours each way, and that included 90 minutes by High-Speed Rail from Taipei to Chiayi. But it was well well worth it! This is Isaac’s grandfather and the family….

Isaac is the young man who I got to know a few years ago through my visits to St. Peter’s Church, Chiayi for a series of youth Bible Studies. He was teaching nearby at the time, was a relatively new Christian and had joined St. Peter’s Church – and was helping to lead the church youth group. In the summer of 2016, he was one of 3 delegates from the Diocese of Taiwan to take part in a CCEA Youth Forum in Malaysia, and as a result of that trip, we arranged for him to share his experiences with us all at an event at St. Peter’s, when Raj Patel, CMS Regional Manager for Asia came to visit Taiwan in October 2016 (see that blog post here). We were all most impressed. The Church definitely needs more people like Isaac! Here he is with the St. Peter’s youth group….

That event in October 2016 at St. Peter’s was held while the vicar of St. Peter’s, Rev. Simon T. S. Tsou, was away in the USA for a 3-month training program with the Diocese of Los Angeles. As Simon recounted yesterday at the wedding, it was also while he was away in the USA, that Simon’s wife informed him that Isaac had started to bring a very nice young lady along to church. That young lady was his colleague, Angie – at the time she was interested in the Christian Gospel and taking part in Bible Studies, but had not yet found a church to go to. She continued at St. Peter’s, and soon afterwards was baptized, they got to know each other better, and well, as they say, the rest is history! These days, they both work in Kaohsiung, and worship 3 Sundays a month at St. Paul’s Church, Kaohsiung, and one Sunday a month at St. Peter’s. So the wedding was held in St. Peter’s, led by Rev. Simon Tsou, but with the vicar of St. Paul’s, Rev. Cheng Chen-Chang giving the marriage blessing.

The St. Peter’s Youth Group, many of whom have since moved away for university study, all returned to sing at the wedding. Isaac also sang his own song for his new wife. Ah, it was very moving!

There were lots of church members there from St. Paul’s, Kaohsiung…

And even more from St. Peter’s, Chiayi…

Many congratulations to the happy couple, may God bless them in their new life together, and as they continue to serve him and serve in the church! Thanks be to God for them both, they are so lovely. Please do keep them in your prayers.

I left for home straight after the service and refreshments – after all there was a 5-hour journey to face – but we were all given a little pack of yummy homemade cookies for the journey. Such thoughtfulness! Thank you Isaac and Angie and all at St. Peter’s Church for a great day, it was a wonderful and very special occasion!

Advent Church, Taiwan

Wedding Blessings and Celebrations for our beloved Setu and Jacob!

February 12, 2018 Catherine Lee Leave a comment

Ah, THE DAY finally arrived! YES!

After years and years of waiting ~ they’ve FINALLY made it down the aisle, tied the knot, had the obligatory kiss AND the wedding blessing! CONGRATULATIONS!

Advent Church on Saturday February 10 at 2:00 pm was THE place to be. It may have been pouring with rain and cold, cold, cold outside, but inside, it was a buzz of activity and filled with warmth! Excitement was in the air, but, also, well, let’s face it, a little concern about whether it was all actually going to happen as planned, or yes, even if at all! So when we all got to the church, and actually saw bride AND groom BOTH there, both looking Ready with a capital ‘R’, well, what a great relief! Smiles all around. And y’know what? Everything went off without a hitch. Thanks be to God! The bridegroom smiled all afternoon. He even smiled in my direction. At my camera. So did the bride, but, well, we knew she would smile! The bride’s months of careful planning and organization, plus the hard work and support of a huge team of helpers all paid off. And what a great day it was!

To understand our smiles of relief and amazement, you just have to understand a little about the very lovely bride and her very handsome groom. Setu works with our Chaplaincy Team at St. John’s University (SJU). We’ve been based in the same office now for about the last 7 years. We even went together to India this time last year. She has the most wonderful, fruitful and inspiring ministry with our students, particularly those in our SJU Student Fellowship. That’s how come so many SJU Student Fellowship alumni came back to participate on Saturday, joining with current Student Fellowship members in singing or playing instruments or acting as ushers, or whatever – all there to ensure everything ran smoothly.

In our life in the SJU Chaplaincy, Setu also provides us with plenty of laughs on a daily basis. She doesn’t mean to, of course, but she does! She’s creative, idealistic, gifted in multiple languages, compassionate, kind, and is always searching for ways to make the world a better place – whether it’s some words of encouragement for our students on facebook, or through Bible Studies, meetings, organizing activities, outreach ~ she’s on the go from morning to night. She runs, yes RUNS around the office. It’s a small office, there’s hardly no room to swing a cat, yet Setu, on the move, manages to run! (She even ran on Saturday…. round to the front of the church!)

And guess what, in the process of all this, she totally forgets to eat. Breakfast lies unopened, or half eaten on her desk until lunchtime. Her lunch is still being eaten, one noodle at a time, throughout the afternoon. Actually she has much improved over the years, but hey, if a student asks Setu about the deeper meaning of life and the world and the universe, her face lights up, she stops running, and wow, before you know it, a whole hour is gone in deep and meaningful discussion.

And guess what too, in this respect, Jacob is very similar. While other couples might spend hours discussing how to decorate the house, what to buy at the supermarket, where to go on holiday etc etc; no, not these two. They thrive, positively thrive on discussing all things spiritual, philosophical, theological, ethical, moral, eschatological and, of course, meaningful.

So, not surprisingly, when it comes to arranging something as practical and down to earth as a wedding, well, it has taken rather a long time. They’ve kind of been ‘together-but-not-really-together’ for what seems like a century, and ‘married-but-not-really-married’ for the last five years. So, as our rector, Rev. Lennon Y. R. Chang explained during his sermon on Saturday, their wedding celebrations were more of a marriage blessing, which of course in this situation is just as meaningful and moving.

Setu’s parents both died while she was at university in Taipei, and partly through that experience, she became a Christian and found much support and friendship in their Student Fellowship. She discovered the Anglican / Episcopal Church when she moved out to the countryside, not far from Advent Church, looking for a quiet place to write up her thesis for her MA in Japanese (on Shūsaku Endō, author of ‘Silence’), and has been here ever since. She LOVES the Episcopal liturgy and traditions, the spirituality and quiet reflection of monastic orders, and every year disappears off for a few days of silent retreat in a RC Retreat House. So, in planning her wedding, she invited her good friend, Fr. Jacques Duraud (杜樂仁), originally from France, now at the Jesuit Community at Fu-Jen RC University, Taipei, to walk her down the aisle. In his speech, he said that he accepted the role as an elder brother in the Christian faith. And he looked so natural!

And the bridegroom, Jacob? He’s the man to talk to if you want a deep and profound discussion. In the days when we used to have monthly English Bible Studies at Advent Church, he would be the one to ask the most very deepest and most very profoundest questions, all the result of much contemplation and reflection prior to the Bible Study. In more recent years, since he got busy running his own design company, he keeps very unconventional hours, working very late into the night and sleeping very late into the day, and rarely gets to come to Advent Church, and if he does, well, it’s quite a bit later than everyone else. And because he usually wears a face mask, Taiwan-style, he appears even more elusive and mysterious! Kind of like James Bond 007, we all want to know what he’s thinking, what makes him the man he is! In the event, we needn’t have worried about what would happen on Saturday. Jacob rose wonderfully to the occasion, and did Setu (and all of us!) proud. He smiled all day long, graciously cooperated for all photos and charmed us all with his elegance and grace. Thank you to Jacob!

The wedding blessing service was led by Rev. Lennon Y. R. Chang, assisted by our chaplain, Rev. Wu Hsing-Hsiang, with songs from our Student Fellowship choir, Advent Church choir, and supported by our seminarian Stoney on the organ and piano, plus former and current students all on hand to help as necessary. We even had live streaming for those unable to attend…

After the blessing of the couple, they bowed to the congregation in thanks – then we had THE KISS!

This was all followed by Holy Communion….

After the final blessing, we had the procession out of the church of bride and groom…

And the 2 best men and 2 best bridesmaids…

And so to the church centre next door, where we had a buffet-style reception (I found some interesting delicacies ~ rolls of bacon with a strawberry in the middle!)…

Jacob’s great friend is Rev. Joseph Ho, in charge of St. Mark’s Church, Pingtung ~ Joseph couldn’t be with us on Saturday, but his lovely wife and gorgeous daughter and mother-in-law were all there, so we had special photos for Joseph!

The entertainment at the reception was provided by different groups of students and friends. Some danced, others sang, some had even written their own songs for the occasion. One group who were not able to attend were our Student Fellowship members from Malaysia who have all gone home for Chinese New Year. They had each recorded a short video of their greetings which was shown at the reception, so lovely.

And the other group who must be mentioned are Machiko, Junko and Megumi, who came especially from Osaka, Japan to attend the celebrations. Last summer they were here for our joint youth outreach (with our companion diocese of Osaka), organized by Rev. Lennon Chang, with much support given by Setu. I had the chance to take the 3 of them around Taipei on Friday, including a great visit to drink tea with Bishop Lai, and later accompanied them to Taiwan’s most famous dumpling restaurant, Din Tai Feng, kindly hosted by Rev. Keith Lee, from Good Shepherd Church. So, yes, a very warm welcome to them!

After the food, speeches and entertainment, we had group photos, first the family…

And those belonging to Advent Church!

By then it was already 5:30 pm and I had to leave to get to St. James’ Church, Taichung, in time for preaching at the English service the next day, so I had to leave before the photos were finished. Actually I had the chance of a lift to the MRT Station, and as it was pouring with rain and I had tons of luggage, I made the most of the opportunity, and got to Taichung by 9:00 pm. Since then, I’ve been sorting out the 604 photos that I took on Saturday afternoon. Ha ha, you’ll be glad to know that I am not posting all 604 here, just a few!

Thanks be to God! It was a wonderful occasion! We are also grateful that Setu and Jacob had this opportunity to stand together in Advent Church to receive God’s blessing, and that of the church and university community. Thank you to all those who organized, helped, supported, and made sure everything went so well. Yulin and Ro-Han deserve our special thanks, plus the church clergy and staff, church members and all who came to show their support.

We all love Setu and Jacob so much, and wish them all the best for their future together. Please pray for them, and give thanks to Almighty God!

Advent Church, Taiwan

Happy Wedding Day Mr. You Bo-Min 游博閔弟兄 and Ms. Hsu Ying-Ping 徐穎蘋姊妹!

June 24, 2017 Catherine Lee 1 Comment

A beautifully sunny day at Advent Church for the wedding of our former student, Mr. You Bo-Min 游博閔 and his lovely wife, Ms. Hsu Ying-Ping 徐穎蘋 ~ congratulations to them both ~ and their families! Here they for the group photo, titled ‘The Kiss’!

Actually, Bo-Min has always been known to us as A-Bu-La 阿不辣, a good nickname for a fun guy, who loves to act and dress up and do imitations of people and pull faces and make everyone laugh – all the time, that how I remember him! He’s now 28, and for the 4 years that he was a student here at St. John’s University, he kept us all well entertained, ah how we loved him! He was baptized here in Advent Church and became the leader of our student fellowship, and has continued on as a Christian. His wife Ying-Ping is a Christian too ~ they’re at the Torch Church at Taipei Main Station.

In the summer of 2009, Bo-Min was part of a student fellowship mission trip to Malaysia, led by our rector and chaplain, Rev. Lennon Y. R. Chang. Today a large group of about 30 former student fellowship members and those who went to Malaysia joined together to sing and play for the wedding. Very meaningful! They are such a great group, and today they helped with all the organizing and arranging too….

While Bo-Min was here at the university, we also did a lot of outreach in LaoMei, my favorite village on the northern tip of Taiwan, and 2 of the girls we got to know there came today. At the time, they were 12 years old, and they’re now 20! Here they are with Hannah, our rector’s wife….

And so to the wedding ~ 9:00 am start!

Congratulations to Bo-Min and Ying-Ping, and best wishes and God’s blessings for their future together!

PS: I’ve been to lots of weddings at Advent Church and I think this is the first ever where we’ve had a whole group photo on the church steps with ‘The Kiss’!

Advent Church, Taiwan

Happy Wedding Day 林家亨弟兄 Mr. Lin Jia-Heng and 李嘉芬小姐 Ms. Lee Jia-Fen!

January 7, 2017 Catherine Lee 1 Comment

And yes, their names, Jia-Heng and Jia-Fen, are very alike, though actually the ‘Jia’ is a different Chinese character in both – but still! Today we are celebrating their wedding day at Advent Church!

Jia-Heng and Jia-Fen were 2 of our students in our student fellowship for all the 4 years that they studied in the same Electronic Engineering Class here at St. John’s University. Jia-Heng is from Taipei and Jia-Fen is from Jinshan, so not too far away, and they’ve kept in touch with us since graduation and come back to visit often. A few months ago, Jia-Heng was baptized and then last weekend, confirmed. Their friends from the student fellowship have supported them both from the beginning, and all came today to sing and to congratulate them on their wedding day at Advent Church ~ a beautiful service!

Congratulations Jia-Heng and Jia-Fen on your wedding day and may God bless you today and always!

St. John's University, Taiwan

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Tseng ~ and all the Tseng family!

October 14, 2016 Catherine Lee Leave a comment

Last Sunday was an auspicious lucky day in the Chinese calendar, so there were lots of weddings being held all over Taiwan. It was the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, Chongyang Festival, which is also Senior Citizens Day, so there were many activities going on for older people as well as weddings.

Mr. James Tseng works in our General Affairs Office at St. John’s University, after many years heading up the Student Recruitment Office, and last Sunday his elder son was getting married ~ and I was invited, yippee!

He told me this morning that on that day, early on Sunday morning, they were all up at 5:00 am, ready for leaving soon after 6:00 am. They had to get to the bride’s home on the dot at 7:30 am – exactly the right moment, very important in Chinese tradition. After all the marriage customs and traditions were performed there, then they had to leave the bride’s home before 8:15 am, and be on their way again. Next stop was to get back here to the bridegroom’s home, where the groom’s father, Mr. Tseng had to present all the 12 members of the bride’s family with red envelopes. All the wedding cars were on duty to make sure they arrived and left from each place exactly at the specified time.

I was invited to the wedding banquet at lunchtime, along with 240 others, that’s 24 tables, and what a great banquet it was! We had course after course, all of delicious foods, and significantly in the middle came the Tang-Yuan, sweet round balls which signify wholeness and perfection in the marriage, and family togetherness.

Mr. Tseng’s younger son, Tom was one of my students some years ago, as he learned English to prepare him to study for a Masters Degree in Australia. He was also at the wedding banquet along with his girlfriend. So good to see them!

The bride changed outfits several times, as is the custom. She looked stunning….

So, many many congratulations to the happy couple and to all the Tseng family!

St. John's University, Taiwan

Wow, such an amazing day! JJ 廖健均＆ Anny 蔡昀臻’s Wedding @ Advent Church!

May 29, 2016 Catherine Lee Leave a comment

And the first ever wedding reception in our newly-finished-and-about-to-be-opened-next-weekend brand new Advent Church Centre ~YES!

It was a beautiful sunny weekend for a very special wedding ~ always helps to have good weather for the tossing of the bride’s bouquet, and this time it was perfect!

And the lucky girl was so happy!

In fact everyone was so happy ~ and much due to the Tsai family, ah, they are so much loved by us all!

Mr. 蔡秉桓 Tsai Bing-Huan is one of our most mature and active members of St. John’s University Student Fellowship ~ he’s just great, so polite, so dedicated ~ and so brilliant on the guitar! Ah, we love him so much! Here he is with his mother….

In fact his whole family are very much associated with St. John’s University, his father Professor Tsai 蔡錫鐃 (I notice he calls himself ‘Old Tsai’ on Facebook!) also started his college life here, and has been working here for the last 30 years – he’s currently an assistant professor in the Dept of Creative Design, and Bing-Huan’s mother works in the university administration in the General Affairs Office.

His sister 蔡昀臻 Yun-Zhen (Anny) also studied here – she’s 12 years older than her brother and after graduation went off to Missouri, USA for further studies, and then found a job – and along the way, a very handsome husband! The very handsome husband is Mr. 廖健均 Liao Jian-Jun (JJ), he’s also from Taipei but they met in Missouri and, well, they’re still there!

Here’s all the Tsai family with JJ as they said goodbye after the reception last night, with Advent Church in the background…. and, yes, all the family are very very tall and elegant, and all natural born dancers!

Old Tsai (I just love that name!) was the first person in his family to become a Christian, he was baptized as a student in his 4th year by Rev. David Chee in Advent Church. Later he brought his wife for baptism, and his children have always been active in the student fellowship and church too. Anny encouraged JJ, and he too is now going along to church – in fact during the wedding they played a video recording from the minister of their church in the USA sending his blessings on their marriage, and the best man (JJ’s senior high school classmate) shared his testimony about how delighted he’d been to hear that JJ had started going along to church with Anny.

It’s 11 years since Anny and JJ first met, and now they’ve returned to Taiwan for their wedding. They’ve been back in Taiwan for several weeks getting ready, but we’ve all been preparing for this great event for many months! The Advent Church Centre was still a mass of scaffolding and boxes right up until Friday night as we made the last-minute preparations. This was the scene on Friday….

Among the student fellowship group there’s been much excitement and anticipation about the whole wedding – especially as the reception was going to be a party with dancing, and about 20-30 students offered their services to help ~ boys in their best suits and girls in very beautiful outfits. All led by our 2 lovely chaplaincy staff, Shu-Jing and Yu-Lin. Everyone worked really hard, and all were so well-dressed and so happy (and very good at blowing bubbles!) ~ here’s all the students waiting to escort the guests out of the reception on their way home!

The wedding service was at 2:30 pm yesterday in Advent Church. It was led by Rev, Lennon Chang, chaplain and rector, and assisted by Rev. Wu Shing-Shiang. Our church choir sang a really lovely anthem. St. John’s University President Chen Jean-Lien gave a short address, and there were many faculty, staff, students and church members as well as friends and family in the congregation. The church was full! A beautiful and very relaxed service.

The wedding cake was a tiered platter mostly of small cakes, and after the cake-cutting, everyone had some of the cakes and coffee, yummy yummy!