Our Sister in Tanzania: Update from Michelle Ko

July 2018

“Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading”.  --Oswald Chambers

After two weeks of searching under the hot sun for a suitable and secure house to rent and not finding anything, the perfect place was provided--with a little (or I should say a lot) of renovation.

Taking time to pray and asked God for the decision making, I felt at peace to fix/renovate a house that is located behind a Tanzania pastor's house. Pastor John, who is semi-retired, has helped me very much since the first day I arrived. He is also a board member of SIM Tanzania. I got to know his family very well and feel safe to stay close to them in the granny flat which is located in their backyard. But the granny flat is unlivable and needs renovation. Therefore, for the last two weeks, I have been very busy buying building materials and getting a few workers to work on the house: repair the floor and walls, install tap water so I can have a shower and a toilet inside the house, etc. Thanks to pastor John’s kindness that the total cost of renovation is my rental in advance.

Here are some pictures of my new home (before renovation):

Each day I struggle to use my limited Swahili to communicate with workers. It's a big challenge communicating in another language. But by God's grace and with some help I have overcome all difficulties. The house should be ready in early July. Then I will start to look for furniture. We don't have Bunnings/Home Depot or IKEA where you can get almost everything in one place. I need to go around the area on my bike to look for different things and prices. For some things, I will have to go to Dar Es Salaam (the capital city which is a 10-hour bus journey). The house is totally empty and I need basic items (such as a pair of housecleaning gloves) to set up my home.

Praise and Prayer items:

• Thank God that I got a good used bike that enables me to get around easily
• Thank God for His provision to find a place to settle
• Thank God for Pastor John's family welcoming me to stay close to them
• Thank God for every opportunity to practice Swahili
• Pray for the renovation be done smoothly and my home to be set up
• Pray for my work permit to be granted by the end of July

Keep trusting,

Michelle
"The Coast, For Christ, By the Church!" --SIM Tanzania
 

5 Questions With...Community Group Coordinator Peter Brown

1. How did you first get involved with Friendship Presbyterian? My wife Grace was involved in the Mandarin section for several years before she and I met at seminary near Boston, MA in 2011. A year later, visiting Taiwan as a married couple, she brought us to the FPC English section, since I came from a Presbyterian background and spoke no Mandarin. We were here for just one service on that visit, but in the sermon Pastor Dennis preached that day, he happened to reference Stephen Um--the pastor of our church back in Boston! So right from the start, I have always felt at home at FPC. We visited again during our next trip in 2014, and then, upon moving to Taipei in the spring of 2015, we became regular attendees that summer and members in the fall.

2. What do you do Monday through Saturday? I work a part-time position as Community Group Coordinator here at Friendship. My main role is to shepherd, promote, and provide leadership-training for the church’s community groups, two of which I lead. But I am also involved with welcoming newcomers, editing the church newsletter, leading “The Engine Room” (our monthly prayer group), website updates, membership classes, and providing general administrative support for our staff and elders.

3. What is something people might be surprised to know about you? Before I went to seminary, I spent many years as an actor in New York City. I performed whatever work was offered to me—comedy or drama, classical or contemporary, stage, film, or voice-over work. I performed in national tours of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Cyrano de Bergerac.” I also directed a production of Shakespeare’s “Othello.” I was in a crowd scene for a film with Al Pacino, but they left it out of the final cut. I had always enjoyed theater growing up. Before I came to Christ, it was where I communed with what I thought of as God.

4. What do you find most challenging about being a Christian today? Evangelism. There is a degree of hostility towards Christianity today, particularly in the West (or anywhere that Western values are present), which can make talking about Christ come across not as mere conversation, but oppression. I am still very hesitant to discuss my faith with my old theater friends back in New York. I used to be one of them, after all, and I remember well the standard view of Christians as narrow-minded hypocrites who used a set of primitive and unscientific beliefs to try to control people. Since the Lord opened my eyes, of course, I have come to see how all people can be narrow-minded, hypocritical, and control-seeking. And how they will justify such behavior on beliefs with no greater ultimate grounding than the belief that a man rose from the dead.

5. What is your favorite book of the Bible? Not an easy question, but I think I would have to say the Psalms. It is like reading the whole Bible in miniature. You touch on history, theology, poetry, suffering, joy, redemption. You can find the doctrine of grace right in Psalm 103:10: “[God] does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” The Psalms are also very helpful for boosting one’s prayer life. It is like reading someone’s prayer journal (often King David’s!). Not that our prayers need to be expressed as eloquently as a psalm, but that we can come before God with both our flaws and our praises. In psalm 108, David is so full of love for God that he says he will “awaken the dawn” (v.2). He does not ask God to bring the dawn, to dispel the darkness David finds himself in. Rather, he, David, will himself bring the dawn through his song of praise, so deep is his joy in God. And yet, in the very next psalm, #109, we see David asking God to make the children of his enemy into orphans (v.9). Not exactly the love for our enemies that Christ taught! Yet there it is, in the pages of Scripture, “breathed by God and profitable for teaching” (2 Timothy 3:16). We learn from this that God knows how we talk when we are upset. Praying to God is not about pasting a smile over our inner conflicts. It is talking to God as we are, warts and all. Sinners saved by grace.

Upcoming Events

• Vern Poythress Visit: Drs. Vern and Diane Poythress have returned to Taiwan. Vern will give two talks, one on June 10th and one on the 17th, each about an hour long, following the worship service. He will also deliver the message during the service on the 17th.

His talks will be:

• Studying the Bible in God's Presence - June 10th in Room 702 from 1:15 to 2:30pm.
• Christ in Leviticus - June 17th in Room 702 from 1:15 to 2:30pm.

Please grab your own lunch and head straight over to the Roosevelt Road location for this very special event. The address is Roosevelt Rd., Sec 3, #261, 7F. See you there!

• Monthly Prayer Group – June 19th, 7:30-9:00pm: Come join us at “The Engine Room,” FPC’s monthly prayer group, for an evening of kingdom-centered prayer. We gather at 7:30pm and go into prayer from 7:45 to 9:00. All are welcome. Contact Peter Brown for the address (pb2059@gmail.com).

• Newcomer Welcome Lunch – June 24th, 1:15-2:30pm: If you are new to FPC in the last two months, come join us for food and fellowship at the pastoral apartment near Shida Road. It is a time to meet people new to the church and helps us get you connected to the life of the church. You can register at the Newcomer Welcome table downstairs in the fellowship hall, or online at https://goo.gl/Vk91mG.

• Pastoral Transitions: Pastor Dennis will conclude his service at Friendship on Sunday, July 29th. Peter and Polly Kim will be in the States for the months of June and July. In the month of August, there will be four guest preachers and on Sunday, September 2nd, Pastor Peter Kim will be installed with Dr. Paul Kong preaching and leading the service.