Gracepoint Fellowship Church - Hsinchu Chapel: Some Thoughts

I don't know if some of you have noticed, but I'm pretty crazy about what's going on in our church in Taiwan - Gracepoint Fellowship Church - Hsinchu Chapel, and the associated college ministry there, Koinonia - Hsinchu.  If you haven't noticed, just check all of my posts - I think I find some way to mention our church there in most of my posts.  I'm always hungry to know what's going on there, interested in the latest news on how our team is doing and how the students there are doing, and eager to pray for them.  For those of you newer to Gracepoint Fellowship Church, Koinonia, and Homegroup 6, I thought I'd take the time just to share some background about what's going on across the ocean.

Gracepoint Fellowship Church - Hsinchu Chapel only started less than a year ago, when Eugene and Cynthia Peng (formerly staff members of Kairos Christian Fellowship) along with seven other brothers and sisters from our church, moved to Hsinchu, Taiwan to start a new church and new campus ministries at National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University.  When they got there it was just nine staff members - now, the Friday Night Plus (the name for their Friday night Bible study) is a place where many Tsing Hua and Chiao Tung students have heard about the Gospel.  Some students on those campuses have even taken Course 101, a survey of Christianity that was developed at Gracepoint Fellowship Church.

For myself, I'm always very excited to hear about what is going there in Taiwan because Taiwan has been an important place to me for my entire life.  My parents grew up there and most of my extended family is still living there, so when I heard one year ago that we were really going to plant a church in Taiwan - well, I can't think of a suitable word for what I felt.  This past winter, I had the privilege of going to Taiwan and being a part of the Christmas Celebration - it was a chance for us to share the true meaning of Christmas, since to many Taiwanese, Christmas is just another holiday from the west and is characterized by consumerism.  To be there, singing the familiar praise songs and hearing the familiar story of Christmas, was truly a special experience.

So, now that you know the background, let's get back to the present.  As many of you have heard, the dynamic duo who leads Gracepoint Fellowship Church - Hsinchu Chapel are here in the Bay Area even as I type.  That's right, Eugene and Cynthia Peng are in town.  For the next couple of days they will be at Sierra Lodge for a good time of fellowship and training, but they will be around for the weekend, so be sure to say "Hi!" and "加油!" if you have the chance.  Last night we had a time of fellowship and sharing with them at our North Loop building in Alameda after SET/prayer meeting.  They shared a bit with us about what has been going on this past year in Hsinchu and lessons they have learned.  Peopled asked a variety of serious and humorous questions: "What is one piece of advice that you would give to people interested in missions and church plants?", "What was the most hurting praise moment that you experienced this year?", and "I heard you banned some words in Hsinchu - what are they?"  If you're interested in the answers, let me know in the comments - maybe I'll post them in a future post.

Anyways, that's all for now.  In other news, I'm leaving this Friday for Taiwan, and I'll be there for the next four weeks, visiting family and our team members, as well as helping out with an English camp that is happening on the NTHU campus in August.