It's a Good Problem

So after attending the same church for over twenty years for me, twenty-three for Carl, and  for our kids, their entire lives,  the thought of finding a new place of worship when we moved to Taiwan was slightly daunting.

 Faith Assembly in London was (and continues to be) more than a just church to us- its family. The worship, the pastor, the people, all were an integral part of our life. How do you go about rebuilding that in a new and strange land?

Our options were restricted by two things- lack of a vehicle large enough to carry six passengers and our inability to speak and understand Chinese.

But yet God provided. 

For the last twenty six months of our lives, we have been blessed by the ministry of House of Blessing. 

It was a great church because not only was it within walking distance, but it was bilingual. After we moved our second year, the walk was even shorter- less than five minutes!

But the church steadily developed a major problem- lack of space. The congregation grew and grew. Many Sundays found late comers no choice, but to stand. Leadership decided to alleviate the problem by having Children's Church independently in another room, thus freeing up seats for more adults. Not a perfect solution, but doable.

Recently, the problem became even more desperate when the air conditioning began to fail. Not to mention, the building's administrators informed the church of impending construction that would leave the children's program roomless. It soon became apparent to the leadership that the current situation was no longer the best use of the church's resources.

Thus began the search for another facility within the community, within the church's monthly budget.

Options were found and laid out to the congregation, which in turn individually voted.

The Dingus family no longer walks to church.

And we no longer sleep in on Sunday mornings.

House of Blessing now meets in a community center built by a christian company. It was built with the purpose to reach the community with the life giving message of Jesus Christ. A Chinese church also meets there. Their service begins at 10:30am, ours at 8:30am.

The drive takes only 8 minutes. 

Yesterday was our first service in the new location.

 The air conditioning worked.

Every one had a place to sit.

Empty chairs await new parishioners.

The children were able to rejoin the adults for a combined worship service.

Well worth the earlier start time and longer drive!

Yes, God provided.