December 21, 2002

Dear Friends,

Yesterday it was raining in Taipei as I drove to the town located at the mouth of the Tamsui River, which flows into the Taiwan Strait across from China. I was driving to a Presbyterian Middle/High School to preach at their two Christmas services.

As I drove, I listened to Christmas carols. There are plenty of signs of Christmas around. Trees, garlands, Santas are in many of the shops. You can even hear carols in English being played in stores. But Christmas for most folks in Taiwan is just another day. It is not an official holiday and Christians and non-Christians alike have to work.

As I drove to the school, I thought about what I would be doing later in the day and night. The school has about 2,000 students, of which only ten percent are Christian. Of the 120 teachers, only twenty percent are Christian. So, unlike previous Christmases, when I have shared the story of Jesus' birth with Christians, the majority of folks hearing my sermon would not believe that Christ is God's Son. As I drove, I prayed, thanking God for the opportunity, and also asking God for help in the task before me.

I drove into the school's gate and saw thousands of students in blue blazers and grey pants and skirts moving from building to building. It was Christmas open-house, and each class had decorated their classroom in a different way.

There were to be two services, since the chapel can only hold a little over one thousand. After the student orchestra played a prelude, we all sang "Joy to the World" in Chinese. The Scripture was read and then I got up to preach to the sea of blue. The lights were dim since I was using pictures of the nativity on a big screen, but I could see the faces before me. At first, they were surprised that I was speaking Mandarin. That often happens in a place where I speak for the first time. There were a few chuckles at my unique accent, something which I have found God can use to encourage people to listen more carefully. Then I began to share the strangeness and wonder of the way Christ came into the world. I asked the girls how they would feel if they had to tell their boyfriends that they were pregnant with God's Son. I asked the boys how they would receive this news. They listened to the story and then I said, "This is your story too. You may not know the Love that came at Christmas, but that Love knows your name and your family situation and your hurts and hopes. That love is with you right now." I asked them to open their hearts to allow that love to enter and change them into new people. New people like Mary and Joseph, the shepherds who returned to their fields as different people, and the wise men who returned home by another way.

After I preached a group of students enacted that first Christmas. There were shepherds with Taiwanese scarves around their heads and beards painted on their chinsThere were angels with wings and halos. And there was a child in the manger. As I watched the shepherds and wise men, the camels and sheep, all bow before that child, I prayed that the whole student body would learn to bow before that child.

It was a wonderful experience to seek to speak and hear that old story with new ears, the ears of those who do not yet know the Love that came down at Christmas.

Wishing you joy this Christmas!

John