eNews: Greetings from Taiwan

April 26, 2009

Dear Praying Friends,

The Lord brought us safely to Taiwan! We arrived in Taipei on Thursday, April 23rd at 9:30 PM. The journey was tiresome with over 24 hours of travel, but we were very grateful to have reached our destination. Everything went very smoothly, including the security and customs. Both of us have traveled internationally before, and we both agree that this was the smoothest international flight we’ve ever had!

We rode the Taiwan High Speed Rail down to Kaohsiung. Initially, we were concerned that our 180 lbs. of luggage might have some problems getting onto the train, but again, praise the Lord, hardly anyone raised an eyebrow at all our luggage.

During the 90 minute train ride down, we were able to get a glimpse of Taiwan outside of busy Taipei. We saw many cities with high-rising buildings and apartments, lush rice paddies getting ready for harvest in a couple weeks, orchards, and gorgeous mountains. Another thing that stood out to us was the number of Buddhist temples, shrines, and sites for ancestor worship. We were told in Taipei that Buddhism and superstition were actually not prevalent, since Taiwan was “modernized.” However, after seeing so many temples and shrines, we can only conclude that the spiritual bondage is still very great!

On Sunday (April 26th), we shared our testimonies during the Sunday School hour. Stephen shared his salvation testimony and our calling, with Pastor Matt Hanna translating. Evelyn also shared her salvation testimony in Chinese. For the evening English service, Stephen preached the message encouraging the believers to walk by faith and not by sight. Evelyn also played the piano.

We greatly appreciate your prayers that the following two weeks would be fruitful. We also thank you for your prayers regarding our health and the baby. Evelyn and Baby have done very well through all the traveling. We have also adjusted well to the time zone change. Keep praying for us and for our fellow laborers and for the field!

In Christ’s service,
Stephen & Evelyn Wesco