Grubb Mission Report - November 2015


“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
A Work of the Chestnut Mountain Church of Christ, Chestnut Mountain, Georgia USA
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PLEASE PASS THIS REPORT TO THOSE YOU THINK MIGHT HAVE INTEREST IN OUR WORK!
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NOTE: This report is being sent early because I leave for China and Taiwan on October 29th. I am scheduled to return home on December 7th. Your prayers are appreciated. JMG.

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WORKING AMONG THE CHINESE (2)
John M. Grubb

 

NOTE: In the September 2015 issue, we started an article on this subject. We talked about why Christianity is resisted. Please remember, most of the world has never been exposed to real New Testament Christianity. Here is the other part of the article. JMG.

 

HOW TO MEET THIS OPPOSITION

 

     In order to overcome these obstacles there are several things that we can and must do. 

 

1.  No compromise is possible. Over the years many religious groups have compromised with the philosophies and practices of Chinese tradition and religion. If we compromise, we have negated all our efforts. One of the comments we often hear is: “Other churches say it is OK to worship ancestors, so why don’t you?”

 

2.  Teach the Bible, not Americanism. We do not work among the Chinese to turn them into Americans. We are trying to turn them into Christians. If the traditions and practices of the local people do not violate the Word of God, we do not try to change them. We need to make it clear that our purpose is to simply preach the gospel of Christ.

 

3.  Unity. We know that division keeps many people from paying attention to the gospel just as Jesus said it would (John 17:20-22).  One of the most frequent questions we are asked is:  “Why are there so many different churches?”  Yet, even in our own country, there are people who encourage new denominations.  One lady said that if you don’t like what is going on in the church you attend, start your own!  We need to encourage unity not only among members of the church, but also to encourage those who are in the denominations to leave those man-made churches and cleave to the church for which Jesus gave His life.

 

4.  Large workforce. There is no question that more workers will make our efforts more successful among the Chinese people. This has been a big problem and will apparently continue to be a major problem in our work among the Chinese people in the coming years. We need more workers to have a part in this work. Until we have a large workforce among the Chinese people, we will not be able to do as much in reaching the local people.

 

5.  Time. The meaning of this point is patience.  Chinese are very patient people. They do not think in terms of days, months, or years. They think in terms of generations. They are not worried about the next year or two, but about their great-great grandchildren. We are not going to be able to make a great impact in just a few years. It is going to take many, many years to have an impact on this society. One of the most difficult things for our brethren to understand is that we cannot just spend a couple of years and establish a self-supporting work. It just will not happen in the work among the Chinese. It is a much slower process. It takes time.

 

CONCLUSION

 

     It has been the purpose of this article to help brethren to better understand what is involved in trying to preach the gospel to the Chinese people. Our task is not an impossible one (Philippians 4:13). This earth has over 1.4 billion Chinese people living on it. Every one of them needs to hear the gospel message. It is up to us to see that they have that opportunity.

 

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UPDATE ON MY MOTHER

 

TERRE HAUTE, IN: My mother is living in a nursing home in Terre Haute. She has to have 24/7 care. Her vitals are all good and she recognizes all the family. You can send cards to: Barbara Grubb, 1716 N. 8th St., Terre Haute, IN 47804. Please remember her in prayer.

 

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Materials Available

 

There are sixty Chinese lessons currently posted on YouTube. You can access them at: http://m.youtube.com/user/TheCoJC. I update my Facebook page all the time. Be sure to check my Facebook wall for pictures and news about my trips and activities. Be sure to check out my website: www.grubbchinese.org. http://grubbmissionwork.blogspot.com is my blog address. I post my monthly report there too.

 

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SPEAKING SCHEDULE

 

2016

 

May 5 – June 7 – Indonesia/CABL

September – Taiwan

Nov. – Dec.  – Singapore/Malaysia  

   Four Seas College Lectures  

   Section 17  

   Subang Jaya  

   Kota Kemuning

 

2018

 

Apr. 22-25 Gospel Meeting – Collinsville, IL

 

– John M. Grubb

Grubb Mission Report - October 2015

TAIWAN TRIP

      On September 8th, I departed on my 57th overseas mission trip.  Happily, the trip was uneventful and I arrived safely in Taiwan after traveling for about 21 hours. Brother Jao picked me up at the airport and took me to William and Yolanda Chen’s apartment.

      After a pretty good night’s sleep on Wednesday, we went around town on Thursday morning taking care of some things I needed to get done to begin my time in Taiwan. Later in the day we went to visit with students to invite them to the gospel meeting we were conducting in their school building. We also enjoyed a meal with some of William’s friends. On Saturday afternoon, we begin a two day gospel meeting at a new location in Tucheng. William is hoping to begin a new work there in the future. There were 20 people present for the service that afternoon. On Sunday morning, we had Bible study and worship at William and Yolanda’s house. There were some regulars who were not able to attend, so they number of those who attended was quite small. After eating potluck – Chinese style, we went back to Tucheng for the second session of the gospel meeting. We did not have as many in attendance, but still had some visitors to attend.

      On my last day in Taipei, brother Jao, the Chens, and me went to Yeliu Geo Park in Keelung. In all the years I lived and visited Taiwan, I had never been to this place. We hiked up to a gazebo at the top of a hill. There was a fantastic view of the harbor and the ocean.

      On Tuesday morning, I boarded a train for Hualien – a two hour train ride. Brother and sister Wang met me at the train station and we took the luggage to the church building then went to lunch. After lunch, we went to make a few visits in the city.

      During the night and into the early hours of Wednesday, a small earthquake woke me up. That is the first one I have felt in a few years. During the morning, brother Wang and I went to the assisted living home and visited with various people living there. We reminded them of the Bible class to be conducted on Thursday. Then we had a Bible study with one of the men living there. I taught the lesson in Mandarin and brother Wang translated into Taiwanese. In the afternoon, we went to visit a lady who works taking care of someone in the local veteran’s hospital. On Wednesday, I spoke at the midweek Bible study at the church building. After the evening service we went to visit a lady who had been in a traffic accident and is currently homebound. Brother Wang is hoping to study further with her in the near future.

      On Thursday morning, we headed back to the assisted living home for mid-week Bible study. There were about fifty who attended the morning Bible study. As usual, I spoke in Mandarin and brother Wang translated into Taiwanese. In the afternoon, we went to the second assisted living home, where we presented another lesson – I spoke and brother Wang translated. Thursday night was the first night of the three night gospel meeting. We had a number of visitors to attend the service.

      On Friday morning, because brother Wang was helping his older sister with a serious family problem, I taught one of the men at the assisted living home without translating into Taiwanese. His Mandarin was good enough for him to understand me. Friday night was the second night of the gospel meeting. Again, we had a number of visitors and hope the lesson was helpful to them.

      On Saturday, I spent most of the day working on bi-lingual projects for future use. Saturday night was the last night of the gospel meeting.

      Sunday was a very busy day. It started at 6 A.M., when we went to the first assisted living home for morning worship. There were about 50 in attendance for this service. We then moved to the church building for Bible study and worship. On Sunday afternoon, we went to the second assisted living home for worship there. The two lessons at the assisted living homes were translated from Mandarin into Taiwanese. The two lessons at the church building were in Mandarin only.

      On Monday morning, brother Wang and I began our train journey from Hualien to Tainan. On the way, we dropped off my bigger piece of luggage in Taichung, where I would return in two days. We were met by Jared and Tracy Brzozowski. We spent about an hour visiting with them, the boarded the High Speed Rail train to finish our trip to Tainan.

      We went first to brother Wang’s sister’s house for lunch and to pick up brother Wang’s parents to take them back to their house. Later I the afternoon we headed to Yu Jing for visits and the planned evening service. There were about fifteen in attendance including five members from Kaohsiung. A day that began at 6:00 AM (leaving for the Hualien train station) ended at about 10:00 upon arrival at brother Wang’s parents’ house.

      On Tuesday, we left the house about 8 AM and began our day of teaching and visiting. Our first stop was to have a Bible study with a prospect in another part of Tainan. Most of my lessons were about an hour each time I spoke.

After that Bible study concluded, we went to visit with another family. After lunch, brother Wang went to look at a vehicle that could be used in tract distribution in Hualien. In the evening, we went back to Yu Jing for the Tuesday service. The brethren from Kaohsiung were not about to attend, so we had fewer in attendance.

      On Wednesday morning, brother Wang, his parents and I boarded the train heading northbound. I got off the train in Taichung. Brother Wang and his parents went on to Hualien. Brother Yo met me at the train station and I began my last week in Taiwan.

      After lunch, we headed for the prison where I taught two classes. The same students were in the two classes. The first class was fifty minutes and the second class thirty minutes. We then headed back to Taichung to run some errands before heading back to brother Yo’s house. Taichung does not have midweek class on Wed., so I had a chance to catch up on my reports – including my written report and my PowerPoint presentation.

      On Thursday, I was able to start my walking again. I had not had the opportunity to do that all week. It was good to be able to visit with John and Michelle Yo again as well. We tried to find one of the old Japanese prison camps near Taichung, but were unable to locate it. I was also able to connect my computer to the internet and post some of my pictures to Facebook for brethren and friends to see.

      On Friday morning, we had a Bible study with a regular visitor to the services. After the Bible study, we had lunch with brother Jang. Brother Jang was born in 1926 and has lived in Taiwan since 1953. He is the oldest member in Taichung. On Friday evening, we had another Bible study with one of the members and her family.

      On Saturday morning, we visited with a woman from Indonesia. She is working for a Chinese family taking care of their children. There are a number of Indonesia and Filipino workers living in Taiwan. After the visit, we had lunch with brother Paul Liao. We then made another visit in the afternoon to a couple who has a son that is struggling with drug addiction.. On Saturday night, the gospel meeting in Taichung began. We had a small group to assemble for the first night of the service, but we did have two visitors to attend the service.

      On Sunday morning, we conducted a worship service at the Assisted Living Home near the church building. There are three members of the church living there. After that service, we went to the church building for Bible study and worship. I presented a two-part lesson on “Setbacks in Life” in Mandarin. There were about thirty who attended the morning services. There were six or seven visitors who attended the services. Sunday was “Mid-Autumn Festival.” On Sunday night, several of the members and friends assembled for a potluck and fellowship.

      On Sunday night, I received a message from Delta Airlines of a schedule change for Tuesday’s return flight home. The reason: an approaching typhoon. On Monday, we watched the weather reports to see what would happen to affect my flight out the next day. The services Monday night continued as scheduled. We had good attendance in spite of the weather. The wind was very strong during the night Monday night.

      Early Tuesday morning, William and Yolanda Chen took me to the airport and I found out my scheduled flight had been delayed and I would miss my connection in Tokyo. Helpful Delta and Eva Air agents worked to rush me to a flight on Eva Air that would let me make the connection. One of the ground staff actually took my luggage to the gate to put on the plane so that it would also make the connection. Because of their help, I was able to get home on schedule. After getting home late Tuesday afternoon, I worked until 11 PM to get caught up and put things away.

      On Wednesday morning, I worked on getting my China visa application processed. It should come back about ten days before I leave for the trip.

      Thanks to everyone for your prayers during this trip. It is greatly appreciated that you remember me in your prayers during all of the traveling that I do.

– John M. Grubb