Good news from Taiwan

The following is from the newsletter of Linda Phillips, who is celebrating 30 years as a missionary in Taiwan.

"One of the most memorable events in my life this year was a mission trip with my church to northern Thailand the last week of July. We went to work at a church in Le Mon, close to the Myanmar (Burma) border. Most of the people in that village are of the Akka people group. However, most of the young people understand Chinese, so we did not have any major language problems. We worked with children, visited in homes and held a revival meeting and conducted the Sunday worship. We prepared for 100 Children but had over 150. Our schedule changed daily but we had a wonderful week. Some of the young people brought their mothers to visit us one evening and four women accepted Christ that night. What a joy it was to be there.

Our pastor had to leave early so I ended up being the speaker for the revival meeting on Saturday night. I used Chinese and the pastor’s wife translated into Akka for me. Then on Sunday morning two of us went to another village where I had been asked to speak in English for their worship service. A different people group lived there and their pastor translated for me into the La Hu language.

This service was a very special time for me. One of the women from this congregation has slipped away from fellowship with Christ. She had been drinking and living a godless life. That Saturday the pastor and some church members went to visit her because she was ill. During their visit the woman repented and returned to Christ in tears. This tern in her life encouraged everyone, but during the night she died. Because of her death and the custom of that people to go to the home of the deceased, the church decided to move their worship service to a field next to her home. They put up a tent and we held the service there. I had prepared to speak from Psalm 23, because the theme for our mission team was, “Jesus the Good Shepherd.” How appropriate that scripture was for the family and friends, of this woman, who joined the church people for that service.

I left Thailand with a wonderful sense of joy in having experienced God working in the lives of these people. Working everything for the good of those who love and follow Him. That week in north Thailand was a highlight of my missionary career. How wonderful our Lord is"