Luodong Family Missions Christmas Outreach in Taiwan

Peter Truasheim

In December 2007, our volunteer team of The Luodong Family Missionaries traveled along the beautiful and rugged east coast of Taiwan from Yilan county to Hualien. The purpose of our trip was to stay for several days in the city of Hualien to bring the Christmas spirit to the communities in the city.

At each of the hospitals, orphanages, and schools that we visited, we distributed the beautiful Christmas posters, CD’s and Christmas story books – all sponsored by Activated Ministries. This added a special touch to each of our visits and we know that these materials will be an inspiration and source of joy to those who received them.

Mennonite Hospital

On the 10th of December we performed one of our first Christmas programs at the Mennonite hospital in Hualien. Our children’s singing and dancing troupe performed in the lobby of the hospital and later in the children’s ward. Two of the songs were acted out by the children depicting a nativity scene explaining Gods special gift to us all; the birth of his son Jesus.

The audience of our first program was happy to be relieved from their healthcare concerns and eagerly stopped for a few minutes to enjoy our performance. We received a very enthusiastic response, with many of the audience clapping and singing with us and then eventually joining us in prayer to receive the greatest Christmas gift, Jesus, into their hearts. At the end of this performance we were able to distribute beautiful Christmas posters which the audience was thrilled to receive.

Next we were escorted by a kind staff member to the children’s ward. The nurses and parents helped the sick children move from their wards to a communal area where we were able to do our performance for them. Not only were the children and parents inspired by this show, but also all the nursing staff, who gathered around to enjoy this bit of Christmas cheer.

Municipal Hospital

That same day we visited the Municipal Hospital. The audience was made up of children and teachers from the neighboring kindergarten, elderly patients, and nursing staff from the hospital. All the audience from young to old were inspired by our show and enthusiastically listened to the message of the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. All were eager to pray with us and receive Jesus into their hearts as their personal savior. Taiwan is a predominantly Buddhist country so this was the first time many of the audience had heard who Jesus is and why He came to the earth.

Tzu Chi Hospital

On the 12th of December we performed at the Tzu Chi Hospital. This was the seventh consecutive year we have visited this hospital for Christmas and at the end of our visit, several representatives of Tzu Chi presented us with special hand-made cards and a DVD they made of our performance last year, which they made to show their appreciation of our services. They mentioned how much they look forward to our visit and that they consider us a part of the Tzu Chi household.

Yilan Hospital

On the 13th, we visited the Yilan hospital in Taiwan to perform our Christmas show. We have been visiting this hospital at Christmas for approximately seven years and they are always eager to have us return.

Nan Ow Elementary School

On the 19th, we traveled from Yilan County to Nan Ow, a small but beautiful valley on the east coast of Taiwan. This tiny Shangri-La is populated mainly by the original Taiwan aboriginals of the Taiyatsu Tribe. The valley has high mountains surrounding it and to the north and south these mountains drop straight down into the Pacific Ocean. We traveled here to visit a local elementary school. We had performed a Christmas show at this school during the last Christmas and they had invited us to return as they had enjoyed it so much. The aboriginal children were very friendly and excited to meet us, while we were at the school usually everyone in our group was surrounded by a group of children hoping to talk to us and make friends.

Luodong Orphanage

The same day, we visited a Buddhist orphanage in Luodong to perform our Christmas show. We have been visiting this orphanage at Christmas for several years, as well as regularly distributing donated vegetables to them. They are always eager to see us. After the Christmas performance we took some time to play some interactive games with the children and spend some personal time with them. Many of them told us that simply spending time talking with them was the highlight of our visit.

Every one of these visits over the Christmas season was very meaningful to us. We would especially like to thank Activated Ministries for supplying the beautiful donated books, CD’s and Christmas posters, which were received eagerly by adults and children alike at each of our visits. We would not have had the means to purchase these products so without this assistance it would have been impossible for us to give such special gifts to these poor and appreciative people. Your generous help has gone a long way in aiding us to minister to the less fortunate.