"Man & Janet Bemo - y'

rAK fiAST
CRUSAaCK

.axwazi

Dear Christian Friends,

Greetings in the name of Christ who has left us evidence of His Divinity in the past and has
wonderfully revealed Himself in the present. What a joy it is to be here serving Him and to be
able to write to you because of Him.

We have decided to write to you whenever we feel we have something worthwhile to say and when we
have time.

The last newsletter we wrote was at T;he end of November so I

would like to tell of

a few things which happened in November and December.

One evening in November we had gotten the children to bed and were just starting to use the few
precious evening hours for studying when the doorbell rang. I wondered who the intruder was as
I went to the door. It was a lady who had been to our house twice before asking for money, and
this time she simply asked if she could spend the night at our house. When she came into the
living-room she saink to the floor and the baby tied to her back seemed lifeless. She and the
baby both had horrible black and blue marks on them and slie told us that her husband had been
drinking and had beaten them and now she had left because she was afraid of him. She still had
two older children with him.

'Je

fixed her something to eat and then while she and her baby

bathed Janet washed her clothes and laid out some new ones for them. She stayed with us for
three nights and sometime during the third night^she left secretly. While she was here we gave
her a Bible and a tract to read and were able to talk 'to her a little. We may never know how
she is now but we pray for her often.

Many tourists come to Taiwan to see the scenery, eat the Chinese food and hear about the customs
and go away thinking they have really seen China. Actually they have missed the most important
and interesting part - people as individuals.
named Mr. Jeng came to church early.
and Sam welcomed him to come in.

was over, I got to know him.

One day a man

Sam Hazlewood was there

He did and later, when church

He told me about an experience

whicn he had recently which led him to seek the Lord, and see-

ing our Church sign (put up only the week before) he had come.

I asked him to give this testimony the next week in church. He ^

said he would but asked me to translate his testimony into Eng-

lish for the nmericans present. I said I would but not until
he would tell me his story once again beforehand. As close as

tliWiP

I could translate this was part of his message: "Ladies and

.:'^k

Gentlemen, Mr. Bemo asked me to speak this evening and my heart

is especially happy that God has given me tnis opportunity. I

have believed in God for a long time since I went to the 6th -

11th grades in a Christian grade school on the ^inland.

All

my teachers were Christians ana we haa worship every Sunday,

weekaay morning before school, and itednesday evening. I was

immersed when I was eleven but didn't think about God much
after that

Translating (V) for Mr. Jeng

Last month when I was walking home from work I

was crossing a nigii bridge vlien I noticed a small boy standing outside the railing of the bridge

crying for help. I wonaered why no one was helping him. I climbed over the rail and as I was
nanglng onto the raiiihe, wiUi one hand reaching down to rescue the boy, a taxie cab rubbed the

raiiint, and cut one of ray fingers off here (nolding up short bandaged stub). I finally pulled
the boy to safety cuid he ran away without saying thank-you or anything. I had done a good thing
and been badly iiui't, bleeding a lot, but no one even thanked me. I couldn't understand this
but t..en I taought of Jesus and how, after He haa given Hiraseli for others, had received

no thanks,

iitill today people have no gratitude for His sacrifice.

The doctor says my hand is

almost well now, but ever since this happened I have thought I should find a Church. I went to
a big one but there were too many people and I was a little embarrased. When I came here last

Sunday morning I felt very welcome. I would just like to read one scripture tiiis evening Psalms 33s12. 'Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His
heritage.'

we need to have God as our Lord."

Mr. Jeng wants to be a preacher and is anxious for a Bible Training Institute to be started.

He

has been an inspiration to us all.

^This year, the Lord willing, we will be finishing language study. What a day that will bel In

y^the meantime we are learning so much, we are now in a Sook called "Twenty Lectures on Chinese
Culture".

This booK has really been helpful in understanding the Chinese mind. The other day

our lesson was on Chinese literature

and although it pointed out

the most in-

t^national language, getting you along almost anywhere, it pointed out' "lsothat"Ghinese""'r~although only a national_lanKU.ag.ft. is aunken by the greatest number of people in thr"worlit, ' T

was thinking that even though we are taking two years^ to get'"fSe""lanf^^'tlia't afterward .we will /

know the two best languages in the world - ijiglish to get us around best and Chinese to reach

//

the greatest number of people for Christ,

The class we are having on Thursday evenings is going

I
real well. It is the one event which really gets me all

I
1

stirred for Christ after a v/eek of school, I have been

teaching a ten lesson series on the Life of Christ which I

I
^

I will finish this week. I hope that several of them

Becky has just turned one year old as of January 8th.

we had some of her little friends over and even though
she didn't quite understand what the big occasion was,

she sure enjoyed it. She had two cakes - one from her

\ t

grandmother Bittemore and one from us (via Anaheim

Christian Church). She liked both but she was. mostly

interested in the candles.

Slie had never seen fire be-

I '

,n.

fore and she stuck her finger right in the flame. It didn't ^

students

burn her because she had so much buttery frosting on it.

Yesterday, the Tseng family who-were former converts of ours

here and who are now in America working on his P.H.D, sent us

a letter and ^10 check for the work here.

This was really a

thrill and encouragement.

a~vary^;UAfgent prayer need.

I have a chance of possibly

^oing to kinmen.,^ island belonging to Taiwan but within sight of

Hed~Ghina;. The-'government will allow several missionaries to
go during Chinese New Year and attach Bibles, tracts or what

ever to balloons to float over to the mainland.

The gas in

these balloons will weaken and eventually allow the Bibles,

etc. to become accessable to someone behind the bamboo cur

tain.

Please pray that I might be permitted to go and par

ticipate in this.

It has been a great year of I969 and we are really looking for-

MrsT'saLdi
k.R.I, Box J37
Port Gibson, Okla.

7^^34
Heturn "Requested

^|

^^ky at one year old

expectation of great things for Jim. Pray with us, won't you?
NON-PROFIT
organization
U.S. POSTAGB

1.

PAID

Ft,Gibson,Okla
Permit No. 3

Field Address:

Alan & Janet Beao

Lane 1^7i Number 21

Hsin Sheng S* Bd*i Sec* 1

FAK CAST
cKosAaeR

Forwarding Agent:
Mrs. Sandi Gadt

R. R. 1, Box 237
Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma

Taipei, Taiwan
Dear Christian Friends,

On Thursday morning, February 12, before we had left for school, I received word that my
brother, Gsiry Bemo, had taken his own life*

I called my folks as soon as I could and made

arrangements to fly to the States the next day* The impact of what had happened didn't really
hit me till I got there* I was there for two weeks with my Mother and Father* It is really
hard to imderstand why this happened and we have had to leam to depend upon the Lord more*
Your prayers for my Horn and Dad, Gary's wife, Carolyn, and myself are needed*

I want to thank everyone who has done something for us during this time*

I am especially

amazed at the way the money was provided for the trip to and from America* I became convinced
that it was the Lord's will that I go back to the States for a couple of weeks to be with

my folks. I prayed, "If this is indeed your will, God, I should not have to say a word about
trying to raise this money*" IWien I wrote a check for the ticket in Taipei I did not begin to
have the money for it* I decided I would not mention the need to anyone accept God* However

when I got to Muskogee, Oklahoma, where my folks live, I found that the money had already been
committed by Churches and individuals in that area* They were only waiting for me to arrive
and let them know how much the tickes had cost* I have marked these special gifts on the
financial report as "special."

I took Becky with me to the States because I could take her for only IO516 fare and because Mom

and Dad had never seen her.

Although I missed Janet and Beth, who stayed in Taiwan, Becky kept

me from getting too homesick*

While In Oklahoma I got to speak in some of the supporting

Churches there*

On our way back to Taiwan we stopped over in Los Angeles where X

was met at the airport by Chuck and Molly Johnston, who were
also leaving for Taiwan the next day by ^ip* They boarded the

same ship Janet and I had ridden, at the same dock where we had

boarded when we came to Taiwan for the first time nearly four
years ago*

j|

This brought back some pleasant memories.

That night we stayed with the Howard Dobbs family in Aneheim,

California* The next day I got to meet, for a few minutes,

rJI

some men of the Fast Aneheim and Knott Avenue Christian

Churches*
Taiwan.

Afterward Becky and I got on a plane bound for

She was a perfect traveler.

We arrived back in Taiwan just as Sunday Services were being

held but Janet and Beth were at the airport for a glorious
reunion*

^On March 8th I preached my first sermon,,iii-Ch,inftRp at.-Church.

I was filled with feelings of both accomplishment and humility,

if you can imagine. I th^ the moat aerioua mistake I made

was that I said, "We may have to sacrifice the commandments of

God."

chuok &Molly Johnston

Our latest missionaries

when Imeantto say, "We may have to sacrifice our lives

for G^." That is serious enough but Flder Suen later translated my Chinese into their Chinese
m this particular point since I had gone over the sermon with him earlier*

Missionary Children: clockwise from back row - Mark Skiles, Beth Bemo, Jennine Johnston, Greg
Jennifer Johnston. Vicki Bkiles, Jeanette Johnston, & Becky Bemo, Missing-Shane Hazlewood.
Below is the Men's Meeting: from left is Alan Bemo,
Ted Skiles, Jonathan Chen, Chuck Johnston & Sam
riazlewood. Missing - Peter Suen & Luke Line.

On March l6t]a^he Johnston family finally arrived after a combined trip of ship and plane. It was
something to be able to see them off and meet them too.

Now with four missionary couples here in Taiwan and nine children between us, the women are taking
turns each month having special S.S classes for the English-speaking children while the regular
services are being conducted in Chinese.

While I was filling out the census report the other day, Janet said,"It sure is a good thing the
U.S. government takes a census every ten years because the missionaries here alone have more than

doubled the population in the past ten years." I suppose we have done our part in the "population
explosion". In fact, speaking of lots of children, census, and population explosions, we would

like to ^npj^jQoe. that we are "expec_y.ng"..a baby in July.

for a healthy child of the Lord^s choic^.

We are hoping for a boy, but praying

One of the great thrills I have been experiencing lately is

that of the men meeting to work things out about church ser
vices, summer camps and joint projects. It is great to have
the Chinese there to tell us their ideas on things and we

hold their advice as that of greatest importance. By the way,

our summer camp is to be held from July
this year. I

hope the new baby will wait till afterward.

we have a new lady watching our kids while we are in school,
wno is trying to teach them Chinese. Also Beth has little
Chinese friends who come to the nouse every day to play with

her and it really amazes us to hear her chatter away in

Ciiinese. Just the other morning we heard Beth tell the lady

in perfect Chinese, "My daddy is going to school".

It took

us three months to say a sentence like that. Ha!

Janet won't be going to school anymore after the new one. ar
rives but I will continue to go till the end of this yeair.

Please pray for us that we may be able to learn quickly and

well the language of tnese people whom the Lord and we love.the Chinese.

netn c< Becky and their friends*

Mrs. Sandi Gant

H'H.1, Box 2^7

Port Gibson, Okla.

Heturn Requested

Your co-workers in Taiwan,

NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE
PAID

Ft. Gibson,Okla
Permit No. 3

. 0

FINiiNCIiiL REPORT

Field Address:

Forwarding Agent:
FOR ALiiN Sc JaNiT BH^IO

Alan & Janet Bemo

Lane 157 Number 21

Hsiu Bheng SHdfSec1
Taipei, Taiwan

Mrs. Sandi Gant

Ft. Gibson, Okla.

74^5^
JaNUaRY (continued)

JANUARY
Income
Anonymous

^ 40.00

Colorado

Mr. & Mrs. Bob Ammerman

10.00

Illinois

otrongiiurst Christian Church

55-00
Dtronghurst Christian aisis. Hoc. 59.00
mission Belles, otronghurst
12.00

Indiana
i^ir. ^ wrs. Dean Wolfal
Iowa

k.R, 1, Box 257

FOR JANU.iRY, FI2BRU.\Ry, & MaRCH

'j'*

150.00

Printing
Rewsletters
Financial Reports

.4^
.

i-ducation (Books)

10.75

SalaryOffering

80.00

Insurance . . .
Social oecurity . . . .
House Help.
Personal.'
Total January Sxpences

47,84
55.50
42,50
85.33
4}679.58

Grinnell Christian Church. .

45.00

Mr. oc Mrs. Gary Meyers . . .

10.00

Mrs. H. F. Walters . * *
Lola Gposs . . . . . . . . .

5.00
5.00
50.00

Mr.

10.00

Kansas

Mrs. Andrew Bailey

Mrs. Liang Fu Tseng.

Kentucky
Mrs. Isabel Dittemore. . . .
Missouri
Central Christian. . . . . .

20.00

Florence Douglas . . . . . .

10.00

Balance

December, 1969 Balance

.i>l43,55

Total January Income . . . . . . 735.75

Total

879*10

Total January sxpence . . . . . 679*58

January Balance

s199.72

FsBRUaRY

28.75

Nebraska

Income

An onymous . . * . . . . . . . . . 4 ( > 40.00

5.00
Arkansas

Ladie's Miss. Hoc. (.^ymore).

25.00

New Mexico

Nora Lou Lenon.

10.00

California

Mr. 8c Inrs. Norman Malm . . .

Bruce Malm . . . .

40.00
2.00

Ohio

12.50

Mr. 6c Mrs. Kenneth Naumann .

50.00

20.00

kifomen's General Council.

Oklahoma

First Christian (Okay) . .

luiott iive. Christian. . . .

liSst Anaheim Christian

Canada
Mr. ^ i'lrs. Don Lev;is
Colorado
Mr. & I-irs. Bob
Illinois

....

25.00

Stronghurst Christian . . . . . .

20.00
20.00

Kansas

Hast Point Christian . . . .

January Total Income

50.00
21.50
^755*75

Rent

itIlO.OO

Utilities. .

^+5*5^

Travel

Car Repair
Gasoline and oil .
Car Tax

15.75
50.99
72.00

Gasoline tax - * . . . .

18.97

29*15

55*00

Mr. u Mrs. Ben Gross

......

40.00

Bible Study Club, bublette. . . .

10.00

lurs. H. i?. kValters. . . . . . . .

5*00

btamps
.
Permit .

16.0^
50.00

10.00

I'dssouri

Mr. (X Mrs. Richard Buus . . . . . 100.00

Mrs. Barbara Jo Btauffer. . . . .

Mary Donaldson . . . . *
Central Christian Church

5*00
10.00
55*00

New Mexico

Mary Jo Malm

I.50

Janet Malm

2.50

Bruce Malm

Mr. & Mrs. Norman Malm. . .

U.b.

70.00

Mr. &c Mrs. George Dittemore . . .

Kentucky
Isabel Dittemore

i!i:q)ense

10.00
10.00

Riverside Christian
Mr. iic Mrs. A. L. Gorman

Mr. 8c Mrs. Doug Bemo . . . .

55*00

. . .64.56

Muskogee Christian . .

Postage
Taiwan .

9Q0j
2.00

2.00

5^*00

New York

Margaret McGinn

50.00

fN

Financial iteport Pg 2
(continued)

Income (continued)

Income

Ohio

12.50
5.00

women's General Council

Mrs. kargaret Hay

Oklahoma

300,00

Riverside Christian (special)

Riverside Christian.

20.00

First Christian,Okay (special)

300.00

First Christian, Okay

20.00

Grandviev/ Christian (special)

krs. Paul Gable (special) . .
kaudie ivilliams (speical) .
kary Horn (special)
huskogee Christian (special).

23.00
3.00
1.00

30.00

321.^8

kuskogee Christian

23.00
25.00

Willing Workers Class (special

Christian Homebuilders-(sp.).
Truth Seeker's Class (special)
Loyal hen's Class (special) ,
Loyal Women's Class (special)

16.00

2^.00
23.00
25.00
25.00
130.00

Rena Picl^elis . .

hr. <k krs. i)oug Bemo

Ralph Stiger .

. .
,

20.00

Sooner S.S. Class .

Last Point Christian.

hr.

mRCH

^0.00
22.30
30.00

Mrs. Kenneth Waumann

Texas

hr. he i'lrs* W.O. Johnson Jr.

30.00

^2096.8^
j^xpense

Anonymous

. . . . . . S 40,00

California

E. Anaheim Christian . .

34.46

Knott Ave. Christian

John K. Smith . . . * .

70.00
I5.OO

Canada
hr. u Mrs. Bon Lewis
Illinois

20.00

otronghurst Christian
110.00
Stronghurst Chr. idss. Soc, .. 20.00
Iowa

Grinnell Christian

41.00

Kansas

" Bible Study Club,Sublette. . .

3.00

First Christian (Kansas City>.

26.00

Ben Gross

20.00

Mrs. H. F. Walters

3.00

Kentucky

Okolona Christian
Isabel Bittemore

. . ... . 200.00
10.00

Nebraska

Howard Newkirk

23.00

New Mexico

Mr. Sc Mrs. Norman halm . . . .

44.00

Missouri

Pleasant Hill Christian. . . .

43.00

Central Christian church . . .

20.00

Mr. he Mrs. ..m. Seneker . . . .

I3.OO

Ohio

Rent

110.00

Utilities.

Telephone

55.13

....

Travel
Airplane .

32.80
,

1111.^8
20.00

Train . . . . . . . .
Gasoline
.
Taxies

3.00
12.88
6.kO

Postage
,

4.31
3.04

Office iiiquipment . . ,
Salary
Offering
,

.75

Insurance. . . . . . .

67.30
47.84

HouseHelp

26.00

Personal

Total February Lxpences

600.99
2126.32

Oklahoma

January Balance
Total February Income .

199,72
2096.84

Total

2296.36
2126.32
170.24

3O.OO

Riverside Christian

20.00

ij'irst Christian, Okay

Mr. he Mrs. Kenneth Naumann . . .

20.00
30*00

oooner S. S. Class

20.00

iiuskogee Christian . . . . . . .

23.00

Expense

4i'932.96

Utilities
Travel
Repair

Postage

42.49
II9.3O

Gasoline T a x -

I8.98

Gasoline . . . . . .

27.21

Taxies and Buses

.- i'.

Taxwan

U.S

1.43

3.23

6.00

Education (Tuition and Books . . 348.23

Printing

Salary

Balance

Total February Expense.

February Balance . . .

10.00
I2.3O

hr. u Mrs. Boug Bemo

Repair . . . . .

Taiwan
U.s

Mrs. Ruth ilipp .

..omen's Gen. Council

Offering . . . . . . . .

8.00

82.30

Insurance

47.84

House help

30,00

Person al

67.57

Balance

February Balance . . . . . . .>#170.24

March Income
932.96
Total
1123.20
March Bxpence
.. 802.84
iiarch Balance . . . . . . . . i 320.36

rAK CAST
cttusAaeKi

Field Address:
Alan & Janet Benio

Lane 157* Number 21

Usln Sheng S. Bd, Sec.
Taipei, Tedwan

Forwarding Agent;
Mrs* Sandi Gant

H, E, 1, Box 237
Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma

July 'f, 1970

Bear Christian Ce-workers,
I hope this letter finds you breathing every breath and eating every bite, not merely for
your physical existence, but for our Lord Jesus Christ*

Several of you have written and asked more about the possibility of sending Bibles by
balloons into Red China* Since last I wrote a lot of things have happened along this
line* Because people have written me about it and assured me of their prayers I have
b#5n encouraged to do more investigating* I have gone to talk to the Minister of Inter.. L Religious Affairs and he assures us that it is very possible to send Bible balloons
:uind the Bamboo Curtain* Before we can, though, a letter has to be written to higher
.yrnment officials to have the project approved. One problem is that the Chinese Com-

-i .Li.ists have simplified Chinese writing and now no one under thirty can read any Bible or

-Terature printed here*

^e can buy Bibles printed in the simplified Chinese in HongKong

h
we are not allowed to bring them into Taiwan* The balloons cannot be sent from HongKcig because HongKong has diplomatic relations with Red China* In the letter to the govei^umeat of Taiwan we are going to request permission to bring some Bibles in simplified
Chinese into Taiwan for the purpose of sending to Red China by balloon* Before we write
this letter we would like to tell you about it so you can pray about it* We know only
God can do the impossible. Please pray with us.

Sam Hazlewood, Chuck Johnston and I went on an English bus tour* This bus tour was set
up by Overseas Crusade for Chinese students who are interested in learning English. The
purpose of the tour was to sow the Good News of Christ in their hearts*

W were invited

to go along to help in this. During the hour and a half ride to the beach we sat among
the students and talked to them in English about lots of things but most important we

talked to them about the faith ^hch we have. At the beach we played games in English,
went swimming together and had hour of inspiration" - a message from God's Word. Again
on the trip back we talked to them. God's Word was sown among lonely College Students
and some great contacts were made. Daily we see and hear about new methods of reaching
these young people for Christ, and our excitement is mounting to get into full time work*
A w^ek before Mother's Day we had our house painted.

We had to stay away from five to

nine Saturday night as we waited for the paint to dry* When

we got home we discovered a thief had just been there and had
stolen our typewriter and adding machine. This is the sixth
time we have had a robbery or attempted robbery here. This

gives new meaning to the scripture "He will come as a thief

in the night.*..."

Every night we expect a thief to come.

Every night we should expect Christ to come.

have a problem.

RS
s

Anyway we now

We need a new typewriter very badly.

'

The

typewriter that Janet is using to type this newsletter out

with is one which we have borrowed.
A typewriter is something we need almost every day.
We are hoping that some of

'

^^

you are looking for a special project and would like to help

us to buy a new one.

ft

<*

If you can help please send the money

'V^

to Sandi, our forwarding agent.

I think you will remember Mr. Jeng, the man who had his finger cut off while rescuing a boy on a bridge. He is really
on fire for the Lord.

He has led six of his co-workers to

Tf?"
' *

Our typewriter

-r-*w

Christ and is now making arragenients for then all to be bsi3tized together in tVie oceaj
He has a lot of ideas about how to spread the gospel in Taiwan.
He suggested that
v/e
could advertize to have a combination English class and preaching service to be held sev
eral times a week.
He said if I would teach for thirty minutes he would preach for thirty

linutes.

Also he wants to start an evangalistic meeting for non-Christians to be held

every Saturday night.

He wants to do the preaching.
We began our first one last Saturday.
He has preached in the morning Sunday service once so far.
Also, Mr. Jeng wants to go in
to full-time Christian service. I seriously think this may be the Lord's answer to my equest for a Chinese co-worker when we begin full-time work next year.
We would like for
you to continue praying about this.
The biggest prayer need concerning Mr. Jeng is the
fact that his '.vife is not a Christian, but an ardent Buddhist.
When he first started com

ing to Church she opposed him and often hid his religious books. Now she has changed her
attitude to one of passiveness. As Mr. Jeng put it, "As long as she is not a Christian I
cannot be an effective minister for Christ because when I tell people about Christ they
will ask me, 'If Christ is so great why doesn't your own wife believe?'" This is very true.
I hope that you will pray daily for Mrs. Jeng. She has high blood pressure. Mr. J ng
asked her if he prayed for God to heal her and she was healed would she believe and ocept
Christ? She said she would. Then he told her that, in that case he knew Qod would heal
her* He is a man of great faith. Please pray specifically that God will heal Mrs. Jeng
and give Mr. Jeng the right words to say to her. Please pray right now!

We have just had the first "Institute for Church Growth" here

in Taiwan. Three Professors from America, Don DeWelt, Conley

Silsby and Gordan Clymer came to conduct it. It was attended

by missionaries from HongKong as well as the missionaries and

In preparation for camp we have had some interesting exper-

next "newslel:teT~and telX~about~ the pre^ration, "camp", ana

the

BB

^i

\/ I

BB.

iences but since there is so much to tell I will wait till

j ^

; jP^ y''

and gave us a lot of ideas on how to better evangalize Taiwan.

our home which was an added encouragement.

. jl

^ f

nationals here. It was certainly an inspiration to all of us

We had the privilege of having Brothers DeWelt and Sisly in

'

f j' ^

HB|I^^BBP|B f

'

final results.

brothers DeWelt, Clymer,Silsby.

As Sam Hazlewood and I were waiting to pick up the camp advertizements we were standing in a small street getting our
shoes shined. Several small boys came and watched us so we
decided to sing a few songs. By the time we got through the
first song we already had an audience of twenty-five people
of all ages. We decided we would do this again - next time
with some tracts to pass out.

The baby is due right after camp is over.

We are praying he

or she will wait but just in case Janet has the phone number
of the camp grounds to let me know when things start happen

ing.

Anyway by the time you get this it may be history.

will be v;riting an .ther newsletter as soon as the baby is

born so you may be hearing from us again in a couple of weeks.

Yours because of Him,

Mrs.

,JL./

fim
L' E" .if" r.

Sandi Gant

1, Box ?37
Ft. Gibson, Ckla.
Heturii Pec nested

NCIn'-PROFIT

ORGANIZATION
U.S.

POSTAGE

l.^e PAID
Ft.Gibson,Okla
Permit No. 3

Field Address:

Alan & Janet Bemo

Lane 157i Number 21

Hsin Sheng S* fid., 3ec. 1

rAK CAST
CKUSMeit

Forwarding Agent:
Mrs. Sandi Gant

E, R. 1, Box 237
Fort Gibson,

Oklahoma 7^^3^

Taipei, Taiwan

Nov. 18, 1970

Dear Precious Friends,

Alan has been epcceptionally busy these past few

letter to you for him.

weeks and has asked me to write this

It was a great opportunity so I grabbed it (Ha!) and also it

gives me an opiportunity to tell about one of Alan's accomplishments recently which he

probably would have skipped over, but more about that later.
He and Chuck Johnston and

Sam Hazlewood have gone for a 3-day Christian Men's Retreat up in the mountains with other
Christian men on the island.

The theme of the retreat is "Christ and the Chinese Mind"

with exceptional Chinese Christian leaders and missionaries speaking, so it promises to

be an educational as well as a much needed relaxation for Alan.

Since he hopes to grad

uate from school by the end of this year he has really been cramming the Chinese language
down and personally I'll be glad for him to get untensed a little bit in these next few
days.
Many things have happened since the birth of our little

son.

One is born and another starts to school.

. ,

Beth

started to Chinese Nursery School on September 10 with

about 130 little Chinese friends.

She really loves i t and

comes home daily singing little Chinese songs and dancing.

i*

She says she will sing them for her little American

friends when she visits in America in a few years.

There

S '

"

are three grades in the school for three, four and five

year olds.

The youngest group (Beth's) wear bright pink

aprons, the middle wear turqouise (Jennifer Johnston's

grade), and the oldest wear white ones. They also all
carry yellow shoulder bags with the school's name on it.

It's all very exciting as you can see! 1 They ride little
mini-buses to and from school. You may wonder if we will

continue the children in Chinese schools for their formal education. Psychologically we don't think this would
be wise. As missionary children we think they need to

know basically what nationality they are and study and

"*

'

^ '*

"

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have home life in their own culture but go out from there
to make friends and learn other languages.
However these
first few years of nursery school, I think, will be beneficial to Beth's understanding of the Chinese and their
language. She's already having a few problems with even

this, though, so we are going slow.

Our only desire is

for our children to grow into Christian servants in their

own stead and we daily pray for the wisdom in guiding
them in this path. Already through one of Beth's little

BHfRSjl^^HiliiHHk. r

Off to school,

nursery friends, Tomoko, (a Japanese girl), we have had the privelege of inviting and
being invited to her parent's home and sharing our faith. Her mother is teaching all of
us missionary women Japanese Ikebana flower arranging and she is becoming a very close
friend. It is sure making me recall my Japanese fast. I am thinking very seriously of
starting women's meetings for all of the women that have become friends in this neighbor
hood and would appreciate any suggestions you may have from your own women's meetings.
Actually more and more we are realizing what "green-horns" we are about everything, but
know that the Lord will use us even so and help us through older Christian friends such
as you in the States.

Alan has been wondering exactly how to go about starting indiginous churches here ih Tai
wan where the church would more or less support its own Chinese Minister and make an ef
fort to rent or build its own building, etc. The missionary could concentrate then on
visiting the churches and advising and on training leaders as Paul of the New Testament
did. We thought of visiting the Mark Maxeys in Kanoya, Japan after Alan's graduation be
cause many indiginous churches have been started there and we wanted to see and hear ex
actly how it was all done. But now we see that our non-instrument Church of Christ bre
thren have done the very same here and we can study from our own back yard, so to speak.
Actually it was their Chinese ministers who came to see us first and invited us to see

what work they have done.

They were real surprised to know there was another "branch"

of the Church of Christ and seem very anxious to work with us and help us in any way they

can.

This is all very exciting and surely the leading of the Lord.

we not Brothers?"

As they said, "Are

Our little denominations and "cliques" seem to sort of fade away on

the mission field where the people don't understand them anyway and want only to work to

gether as "brothers in Christ".

So we've been busy "studying" many things these last few

months and have asked how their churches were started and how and where their leaders

were trained and how they go about building up their churches,etc. Again, we need to un
derstand the Chinese mind and speak to the Chinese. It is amazing how a non-Christian

heritage can make a difference in thinking in so many ways.

Over the supper table is

where Alan often likes to discuss these matters with the Chinese.

what a missionary wife does.

And you may wonder

The same as any other wife she fixes the supper.

Alan will never ask me to write another letter again the

way I keep adding my wifely comments but anyway, now we

come to one of the highlights of these past few months and
that is the Speech Contest sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of

Taipei. The teachers at our language school selected Alan

to represent them in the contest along with 6 other foreign

representatives from six other colleges. They trained and

helped him night and day for two weeks on his eight minute
theme "What I know about China".
His pronunciation had to
be perfect and his speech content complicated but good.

Well D-day was September 21 and he won first place. Need

less to say we were as proud as punch because it means
these 2)^ years of language study haven't been wasted but
that his Chinese is pretty good. But the glory all goes to
God Who has upheld us in our discouragements and been the
Goal towards which we were studying. Thank-you,too, for
your patience and continual support through prayers and fi
nances in these 2)^ years. May this be an encouragement to
us all.

I'm convinced that if we could do it,anyone could.

It seems that recently we have been exceptionally blessed

with letters and even "goodies" from home and during this
Thanksgiving Season we have much to be thankful for. I am
especially thinking about elderly Mrs. Walters who sends a
note with her $5 each month and the 'autumn leaves' Lucille

Green sent in her letter, the 'Christmas in July' package

from Anaheim and the Christmas package from Springfield,
Ohio; the special offering for Jonnie from the Sooner class
and several special gifts for the typewriter and on and on
i t goes. Missionaries are truly blessed peoplell
And we

"What I

Know about China"

are thankful too, for our overworked forwarding agent,Sandi, who besides keeping our fi
nances straight,goes shopping for us getting the 101 things we need now and then from
teething rings to pressure cooker rings. Thanks be to God and to everyone of you.

^<rr\.^yjLlL

Your co-workers,
Mrs.

NCN-PROFIT

Sandi Gant

R.R.I, Box 237

Fort Gibson, Okla.
Return Requested

>77

Or^GANlZATION

U.S. POSTaGS
1.6<! P A I D
Ft.Gibson,Okla
Permit No. 3

Field Address:
Alan & Janet Bemo

Lane

157

Number 21

Hsin Sheng S*Rd.,Sec.1

Taipei, Taiwan

rAK CAST
cnasAacK

Forwarding Agent:
Mrs*

Sandi Gant

R. R. 1, Box 237
Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma

"v.-,

W4J
i VT\

December l8, 1970

Dear Christian Friends,

Janet, Beth, Becky, Jonnie, and I hope all of you have had a Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Tear. We hope and pray that on this birthday of the King of Kings and
Lord of Lord's that He has become more the master of your life*

There is one sickness we really like to get* It is really kind of fun for Janet
and I to sit together on the sofa after the kids are asleep, listen to Christmas
records and make ourselves homesick*

V/e can really get the

blues sitting there

talking about being with my folks in Muskogee,Oklahoma during Christmas time and
feeling the heat from the fire-place as we crack pecans for pies or candy* When
we think of our last Christmas in the States

which was spent in Wabash, Indiana

with the Wolfals, Hecks and many others it makes us pretty homesick. We are sure

to lose some sleep if

ations, and carols*

we

allow ourselves to think about snow, Christmas decor

This is a kind of sickness that warms the heart,

it is one

that we never become immune to or cured of*

This
disease could be fatal except
for the medicine of our love for the Lord and Taiwan.
Even though we miss you
and America we would not have it at the expense of not being here*

We have quite a lot of things scheduled for the Christmas season here. We
planning on decorating a tree this afternoon. Janet is busy baking cookies and
making candy to give to friends. The kids are excited about presents under the
tree, most of which were sent by some of you. I plan on eating some of Janet's

goodies and opening a few presents myself*

The Church had a Christmas party
night before last and of course will be going carolling on Christmas eve. The
Church has rented the Globe Theater of Overseas Radio to put on a Christmas play
on the 26th. We are planning a Christmas party on Christmas night for our students
and we are expecting arouna twenty people.

So many of you have asked about Mr. Jeng, the school teacher who, when receiving
no gratitude after saving a little boy's life, remembered how he had not been
thankful to Jesus for dying for him. Our prayers were mainly for his wife. We
have found out that she had been baptized at the age of twenty and now does not
oppose Mr. Jeng becoming a preacher. We don't know how things will turn out now
because Mr. Jeng came to church last Sunday for the first time since we started
praying for him aind his wife six months ago. He says that he entered Into a busi
ness deal which fell through and he lost all of his money.
He thinks this was
God's doing to make him give up in the business world and fulfill hie original
commitment to God to be a preacher. We don't know exactly what to do now but I
started this week studying the Bible with him four hours a day five days a week.
Also we will start a weekly Bible study with him and his wife every Monday night
starting in January. I am paying Mr. Jeng for the four hours of Bible study a day
because he is teaching me to read the Chinese Bible, but at the same time I am
hoping it will be good training for him.
We spend time each morning discussing
the scripture we are reading and he asks some very good questions and takes notes.
Our study is all done in Chinese. We hope you will pray with us that he and his

wife will be faithful and indeed fulfill his commitment to Christ.

Now we have another earnest prayer request.
A young man who used to be very
sincere for Christ has played the role of the prodigal son after serving two
years in the army here. He took a job,recently, which requires him to cheat and

lie daily and which keeps him from coming to services since he works seven days
a

week.

We

invited him to

live with us so we

witness to and encourage him.

would have more of a

chance to

We have had Bible study and 'Communion with him

on Sunday night after he gets home late from work. He told us last week that he
was going to try to be honest at his job and if he found that in doing so he could
not please his boss he would quit. We pray for him daily that he will make the
story of the prodigal son beautifully complete by coming back to his loving
Father's waiting arms.

wonder if any of us

more and more

over

95^

realize the importance of prayer.

every day.

We are realizing it

We are working here in Satan's land a land where

of the people are idol worshippers.

Satan has these people in his

fearful hand and the only power that can break his hold is God.

jT^iyer that this power can be tapped.

It is through

Tour Co-workers in Christ,

Sandi Gant

1, Box 237

'

NON-PROI

0BGANIZA1

;Gibson,^la.
trn Requested

U.S. POSI
^