What is a burden?

The other day I asked God to give me His eyes to see the people around me in Kinmen, and He swiftly answered:
My heart broke.

I guess because this is such a modernized, generally wealthy island, I previously wrote off many of the beliefs and customs practiced as “cultural.” There are temples all over the place here in Kinmen,
“no big deal,” right?

The truth is the Enemy has such an invisible, almost subtle hold on the lives of the people. Concealed under all their wealth, lifestyle, and hospitality, they live in fear of the darkness. Satanic worship becomes a security for a people so lost and insecure.

Did you know 2 years ago the Taiwanese gov't spent $10 million NT to pay Buddhist monks to worship for seven days straight to appease the gods!? The amount of paper money burned as offerings got environmentalists upset, yet the government still portions out $1 million NT a year to pay these monks to worship on behalf of Taiwan. A couple days ago, I walked by a home where a woman was showing her 8-yr old son how to burn the paper money to the gods/ancestors correctly. It's so demonic. Such a lie… and a GOOD lie at that. Because these precious people won’t find out the truth until it’s way too late.

Kinmen Sunset

Recently, our team attended a meeting with our local pastor and his wife about their vision for the church, and the best witnessing strategy for us to use here in Kinmen. To give us background on the spiritual situation here, our pastor’s wife, Joy, shared her testimony with the team:

Joy grew up a member of the Haka tribe. That meant that her family was one of the most devoutly religious people here on the island. Growing up, she said she took pride in helping out with the incense offerings to the gods- but was always scared of any darkness, even shadows on the side of houses. The belief here is that when a relative dies, he becomes a god that has the power to either bless or curse the family. Real doubts in the validity of the gods started to form when the uncle that lived with her family committed suicide. She was scared and angry at the fact that she now had to worship a god who died in such a horrific way. Through a friend in college, she later attended church and heard about Jesus. She said when she heard the worship music for the first time, she cried and cried- and couldn’t figure out why. She decided to never go back to that church because she was so embarrassed for weeping in front of all those people.

Yet that church started reaching out to her in very bold ways. The youth pastor actually started holding a college Bible study group in her own house! Because she had to be hospitable to these “guests,” she inevitably sat through many Bible studies and started to learn more about Jesus. Finally, she “surrendered to the Lord” one night when she had a severe cold. She couldn’t breathe because of the mucus in her lungs, so all she said was, “Jesus, I want to breathe.” Immediately, she could breathe and was completely well- but another weight lifted off her chest. She was now free from that fear that had so controlled her life. Soon after that night, Joy decided to be baptized (to the surprise and distain of her family) and immediately destroyed the Jade necklace she always wore around her neck to curse bad spirits.

Joy was the only one of her siblings by her mother’s side when she died, everyone else was too afraid of being near any kind of death. Praise the Lord: Joy was able to lead her mom to the Lord before she passed away.

Moon Festival at the beach

Please pray for the salvation of the Taiwanese. The Lord has to break through countless lies to plant His love, peace, and security in these people’s hearts.

Please pray that I have opportunity to share God’s goodness and His love while I have the privilege of being here. I want to be a tool useful for the Master’s hand- not only to add joy to the lives of my students, but to direct them towards Christ’s love so they can taste it for themselves.

All of these children, teachers, taxi drivers, waitresses, construction workers, fry cooks, Buddhist monks, university students, bartenders, and so many others are going to Hell without belief in the finished work of Salvation through Jesus Christ. Please don’t forget Taiwan in your prayers. Share in Jesus’ burden for the lost.

“…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16)

My precious students at Duo Nian Elementary