From the Pastor's Desk
Peter Brown
What Happens When Life Hits You?
by Pastor Peter Kim
That’s a question that a lot of people, I believe, were dealing with here in Taiwan when we went under voluntary lockdown. Unlike other parts of the world, many people in Taiwan felt it necessary to heed the government’s strong suggestions for managing the COVID situation.
The result? Many people that used to attend Friendship Presbyterian either ended up going back to their home country or quitting church for good. The disruption of physical community brought discouragement to many. It was a difficult time. However, the Lord did not stop working through it all.
Baptism of Miles Fulton.
This past year, as a church, we learned how to have an online presence. We saw some unbelievers visit us and hear the gospel. We saw some baptisms. And we saw new members join us. We also saw a new church plant get started, the demolition of our old building completed, and a successful congregational meeting held, through which we made some constitutional amendments, approved the budget, and approved four new deacons. Most importantly, we saw how God continued to work in people’s hearts to build them up in the gospel. One example is a brother who ended up going back to India because his time in Taiwan was done. He was so impacted by the teaching of the importance of the gospel in a person’s life that he wanted to go to his hometown and share it with others. He is now working through the book, The Gospel-Centered Life with some of the church leaders in his hometown.
Baptism of Ruhama Liu.
So, what happens when life hits you? We can look to the Lord and trust that He is still working in His powerful way to bring about His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Something that we look forward to in the new year is the construction of our new church building which we hope will be completed by 2024. If you are interested in supporting our church or supporting the construction of our new building, please be sure to make a donation at http://www.friendshiptaipei.com/give. We also covet your prayers as we continue to pursue our vision of seeing the international community of Taiwan experience gospel-renewal for the glory of God in Taipei and beyond.
Lighting of the first Advent candle (hope).