On February 4th at the mission, “Jesus Bread of Life,” a little body was welcomed into God’s kingdom. Trinity Hartman, here pictured being baptized by her father, Missionary Mike Hartman, was born on February 1st. A party will be held for this special event in March.

Why is baptizing this little one worth mentioning? For two reasons: first, it is uncommon here to take such a young baby out in public; second, it is also very unusual to have a baptism without a party.

As missionaries, we try to adapt to the culture and follow local traditions. Yet as Christians, we know how important it is to bring the little children to the Lord. Entering church on Sunday with a three-day-old baby was met with many surprises and a few scoldings. After the baptism, Missionary Hartman explained that while we are concerned about our daughter’s physical wellbeing, her spiritual condition is of utmost importance.

We will hold a baptism party in March, when family members will be here visiting. As Missionary Hartman explained to the congregation, we did not want to wait that long to baptize the little girl. This way we have the reassuance that she is God’s child.

It is common in Mexico to wait to baptize a child until the family can afford to throw a party. By baptizing our daughter without a party right away, we gave witness to what is most important: the forgiveness of sins and peace of salvation that comes through the Word and water.

Taiwan sticks to state firm name changes despite US concerns

Sat Feb 10, 3:36 AM ET

TAIPEI (AFP) – Taiwan has vowed to uphold decisions to drop “China” from the names of state enterprises in favour of “Taiwan” in an assertion of local identity despite criticism from the United States.

“The (Taiwan) government has the sovereignty and leadership in deciding its own policy and this is part of the domestic affairs,” said deputy presidential secretary-general Cho Jung-tai.

“We will continue to walk this path,” he told reporters.

Taiwan’s state-run postal, petroleum and shipbuilding companies on Friday decided to replace “China” or “Chinese” with “Taiwan” in their names despite strong union opposition.

The rebranding was estimated to cost the companies between 20 and 70 million Taiwan dollars (2.12 million US).

Premier Su Tseng-chang reiterated that the new names will prevent the Taiwanese firms from being mistaken for Chinese ones.

“The state-run companies change their names to avoid confusion with (those in) China…It will not affect employees’ benefits and will enhance their competitiveness,” he said.

Changing the names of state-run firms was pushed by independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian as part his efforts to create a Taiwanese identity separate from mainland China.

But the move was met with criticism from Washington which said it would raise tension between the two rivals.

“We do not support administrative steps by the Taiwan authorities that would appear to change Taiwan’s status unilaterally or move toward independence,” the State Department said in a statement.

“The United States does not, for instance, support changes in terminology for entities administered by the Taiwan authorities,” it said.

Following Friday’s board meetings, Chunghwa Post Co. will change its name to “Taiwan Post Co.”

The English name of Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) will be changed to “CPC Corporation, Taiwan” and the word “Taiwan” will be added to its Chinese-language name replacing “China.”

The China Shipbuilding Corporation (CSBC) will also change its English name to “CSBC Corporation, Taiwan.” Its Chinese-language name will be “Taiwan International Shipbuilding Corp.”

Over half of Taiwanese people opposed the change according to a poll released by local news channel TVBS late Friday.

Some 55 percent of the 975 people surveyed on Thursday rejected the move while 21 percent approved. The rest had no comment.

Names and titles are highly symbolic issues in the row between Taiwan and China, which split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

Beijing still regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

What is an IDOL?

When you think of an IDOL what comes to mind? Perhaps your mind thinks of pagans in a foreign impoverished country, pagans that simply don’t know any better than to bow down to objects made from wood and stone.

When you were a child and visited Grandma and Grandpa’s house did you go to church with them? When they had devotions at their table were you included? I remember such experiences and they left an indelible impression upon me regarding my spiritual life and relationship with God. The same thing happens in Taiwan. Children visit Grandma and go with her to the neighborhood temple to worship gods made of wood and stone. They go with Grandpa to the family ‘god table’ and burn ‘ghost money’ in order to take care of the spirits of their ancestors. Ancestor worship and Chinese culture are woven together. When a sinner is brought to faith in Christ Jesus as Savior it is a miracle that the Holy Spirit has performed!

Miss Chen is a Grandma and is about 70 years old. 2 years ago the Holy Spirit brought her to faith in Jesus as her Savior. Praise God! She has 4 children and 2 of them are Christians and 2 are not. For the past 2 years the Christians in the family have been sharing their faith with the others and sharing the reasons they have for removing the idols from the home where their mother lives. This is no small matter and could cause irreparable harm in a family if not dealt with carefully with clear communication. Praise God that the entire family finally agreed that the ancestral tablet and idolatrous items could be removed from the home!

Evangelist Lin lead the family in a ‘CLEANSING SERVICE’ to praise God for his love in bringing them to faith and seeking God’s blessing as the home was dedicated to the glory of God. It was a 25 minute service with song, prayer and scripture lessons culminating in speaking the words “In the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we remove these idols and dedicate this home to the glory of God!” As we bagged up the idol related items, incense censors, candle holders, ancestral tablet, ghost money etc… members sang spiritual hymns to God’s glory. After final removal of all the idol goods, we presented the family with a framed gift which said “Christ is the Head of this House!” We also added Christian banners over and around the doorway which praise God for his grace. Such banners are common during Chinese New Year but these were not greedy sayings asking for wealth in the New Year but praising God for his grace. It was a joyous occasion and we give thanks to God for his love and the work of his Spirit that made this happen.

Idols in a foreign country are often easy for American Christians to pick out. How about the idols in our own lives? Scripture says: You shall have no other gods! Do we? When we place anything or anyone before God in our lives, those things or people become our idols as they take what rightly belongs to God, first place. Work or having a job is important and needed but do we live to work or do we work to live? What kind of idols do we have that we have grown up with and have trouble recognizing? Property? Vehicles? A second home? 401K plans? Portfolios? What else can be added to the list?

God blesses us with his love, forgiveness and gives us His name: Christian. We are his children. May he guide us to place him first in our lives and to use what he gives us to his glory and the furthering of his kingdom! God bless you!