Missionaries:

Alan & Janet

Bemo

Number 21, Lane 157

Hsin Sheng S.Rd.,Sec.l

Taipei 106, Taiwan
Fsbruary

fAtt fiAST
cKUSAaett

1972

Forwarding Agent:
Mrs.

Sandi Gant

R.R. 1, Box 3331*

Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma 77434

Notice new box # of

Forwarding Agent

February, 1972

Dear Christian Friends,

We are writing to you from Japan. Last year I was invited to go to Okinawa as a speaker at
this year's annual retreat there with all expenses paid. However due to the China situation
I wanted the whole family to go. Sue Rhodes also went with us. There were about thirty

people who attended the retreat, mostly members of the First Christian Church in Haha, Okinawa,
where Robert Schwab preaches.

Other speakers were Paul Pratt, missionary from Japan, and

Claire Boulton and Harlan Woodruff, missionaries in Okinawa.

The retreat lasted four days

(Feb.18-21) and was held on a military religious retreat center about an hour's drive from
Naha.

Before and after the retreat was over we stayed with Captain David Hammel and family.

They were very hospitable and we greatly appreciated the $50 which they personally gave us for
our trip. The retreat was a real spiritual uplift for all of us. The text for the retreat
was from the epistle to the Colossians and although I spoke three times I doubt that anyone
received as much of a blessing as I did. Since the Retreat Center is located very close to

many historic sights of World War II we were able to see some of them during the free times.
Janet and I rode bicycles about five miles to a place called Suicide Cliff where many Japanese
committed suicide just before the take over by American forces. We coasted down hill all the

way to the' cliffs but had to push our bikes halfway back because of the hills -- oh my aching
legs!!

Why did we come on to Japan? Okinawa, which is soon to be turned back to Japan is only twenty
hours by ship from Kyushu, Japan where we wanted to go. Passage for the entire family is only
$100 round trip between Okinawa and Kyushu and the gift of the Hammels paid for half of this.
We have long wanted to visit Janet's uncle Mark G. Maxey and his family who are missionaries to
Kanoya, Kyushu, Japan. Mark and Pauline have been a faithful witness here for twenty years and
they have long been an inspiration to us. We arrived at the nearest port of Kagoshima at 10:00

AM on February 22nd where Mark and his daughter, Hope Maxey met us in their car. After an hour's
drive which took us across the car ferry and around the smoking volcanic mountain of Sakuragima

(Cherry blossom Mountain) we arrived at their house in Kanoya.

house in back of theirs where we are staying.

They have a small Japanese style

Aunt Pauline has fed us with delicious and nour

ishing food during our stay here. Each night we have stayed up and talked about missionary
life, but only after their daily commitments were filled. This has been invaluable to us because
of the Maxey's long missionary experience. Also I have been going with Mark each day as he
makes his rounds of teaching, preaching, and visiting. I remember the time we went to the lepro

sarium to give a friendly witness to nine people maimed with Hansen's disease. Sunday, Feb 27th
wat the biggest day, of course, which started with a morning Church service at Kushira. Mark
usually preaches in Japanese at this indiginous Church but gave me the opportunity to preach.I,

retreaters in Okinawa

tired but happy

Ini

I... ;

i ?
iS

street preaching

Mark, Pauline & Hope at Kushlra

of course, preached

in English and Mark translated into Japanese.

After the sermon and closing

prayer there was a period of fellowship where everybody sat around talking while munching on
refreshments they had brought. This kind of fellowship is something I think is missing in our
Churches in Taiwan. Then in the afternoon we went to give Communion to the Yamashitas. Both of
them are crippled but it was such a joy to see the light of Jesus in their hearts. That night
we went to the Church of Christ at Tarumizu where we met Mr. Oda, professor at Osaka Bible
Seminary. He had come down to Kyushu to hold a week's Bible training course in Kanoya and a
one night training course in each of the six area Churches. That Sunday night he did this at
the first Church where he taught for two solid hours. We also had supper thereat the Church.
The biggest event for the children (I must admitt I liked it too) was the snow. It snowed for
the first time this year in Kanoya while we were here and us kids had a lot of fun. We are
planning on leaving Japan on March 2nd by steam ship back to Okinawa.Then we will go by ship
on to Taiwan to arrive there on Sunday morning, March 5th. We have had a very profitable time
in Okinawa and Japan but we are anxious to get back to our work in Taiwan,
In January I moved my study over to the back of the Fu Hsing Church of Christ. Mr. Lwo and I
have been going over there mornings, five days a week ever since. We start each morning out
with devotions and then work on various projects. Sermon preparation takes a lot of time for
me and of course I have to prepare for the four other meetings during the week. We will be
starting a new English Bible class on March 13th to be held every Monday night at the Fu Hsing
Church of Christ, and also a new class at the Shih-ling Church on Wednesday nights. I always
have a lot of correspondence to take care of too. Then at 10:00 every morning Brother Lwo and
I go out for some type of evangelism. Sometimes we pass out tracts in the market next to the
Church apartment. Once when passing out tracts a man spit at me. Some people laugh at us and
some scowl, but there are always some who accept the tract with a grateful smile. Sometimes
we pass Church invitations out from door to door and some times we go calling. One day we
preached in the market place. There were three of us: Brother Chu, a Mainlander, Brother Lwo,

a Taiwanese, and myself. First Brother Chu preached in Mandarin, then Brother Lwo preached in
Taiwanese. Lastly I preached in English and Mr. Lwo translated into Taiwanese. Each time we
got small crowds so we hope to do this more in the future. This work has been rewarding.
Before we had only 4 or 5 at Church but now we are having around twenty each Sunday.

This year the Lunar New Year fell on February I5th wich marked the begining of the year of the
rat. The two weeks previous to New Years were holidays for all schools so we had a special
English Bible class at the Chruch during this time every morning from 9:00 to 10:30. 1
FIVE

CHURCHES

Lately two more New Testament Churches have been discovered. Perhaps I should say they discov
ered us. One of them asked Ted Skiles to help them and the other asked Chuck Johnston to help
them. This means that we are now working with five Churches. Now the fortnightly Church paper
we used to put out has grown to a four page weekly which holds news of these five Churches
along with an article on the New Testament Church. Subscription is now 400. Praise God!
Yours In Christ,

Alan, Janet, Beth, Becky, and Jonnie Berao

/"ii-Tfur

FAR fiAST
cKasAOett

Missionaries:
Alan 6t Janet

Bemo

Number 21, Lane 157

Hsin Sheng S.Rd.,Sec.l

Taipei 106, Taiwan

March,

Forwarding Agent
Mrs.

Sandi Gant

R.R. 1, Box 333

Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma 77434

1972

Dear Christian Friends,

We started back for Taiwan on March 2nd by ship and arrived in Okinawa the next day.
Brother and Sister Woodruff took us around that afternoon to see the work they are doing
in Naha and then fed us a wonderful meal in their home.
Brother Robert Schwab put us up

for the night and while we were there we had the opportunity to meet one of Robert's
friends and also our Brother in the Lord, Larry.
I can't remember his last name but he
made a deep and lasting impression on me by his witness of how Christ delivered him from
a life of dope addiction.
I was especially glad to have this opportunity because Larry
is a beautiful black man.
He helped me a lot as how to more effectively to reach the
black men here in the prison that I am working with.

When we reached Taipei no-one was there to meet us because we decided to fly instead of
going by ship.
Although it cost more we were anxious to get back before Sunday services
on the 5th.
It was a good thing we did this too, because while we were gone for this
short visit to Okinawa and Japan some trouble had developed in the Shihling Church of
Christ.
Among other things the financial situation was critical and Elder Suen had cal
led an emergency meeting of all Church members and preachers of the other four Churches
here in the Taipei area.
It seemed to us that the Church was going to actually fall apart.
Because of the urgency of the situation each Church member attended the meeting
and had been praying for God to help.
The Scriptures say when we are weak, God is strong
and this was certainly revealed here this time.
The business meeting, which was conduc
ted by Elder Suen, was an encouraging example of what can happen if people will call up
on God for help and have faith in God to help them.
The Shihling Church is now stronger
than ever.
-

- ^

The preachers of the five area churches have decidad_j;o^rotatg^'preachers one Sunday each
month.

Before these Churches were small independent Churche's ^Tilnioin'^ that they were the

only people really trying to follow the New Testament pattern.

They often got discourag
ed and felt defeated.
We are not trying to start a new denomination, and perhaps this is
a danger, but simply promote fellowship and mutual encouragement.
Although we just start
ed

this

month

it

has

been received well.

On Monday, the 20th, as I was at home relaxing and enjoying ray day off, a Chinese preacher
friend, who is a brother in an anti-instrument church, came over to see me.

He told me

about an independent Church in Kaoj^i^ung, a city where we have long wanted to establish a
work, which was without a preacfier"Arid needed help.

It just so happened that Sara Hazle-

wood came over just as we were talking about this matter and he was very interested indeed
since he himself had been to Kaohsiung previously to see about the possibility of working
there.
We decided to contact the Church to find out if we could help them.
Then on Sun

day morning, March 26th, just before I left for Church I got a call from the former preach
er of that Church saying that he was in town and would like to talk to us that evening.
Sam and I met with this man, Mr. Lo, that night and talked to some detail about the Church
situation.

He was still preaching there but was planning on going overseas and wanted to

leave the Church in good hands.

Hp. aa-iH -hha-fc^tiViA Chur-chr-wa^-ten_years old and owned their

own building. He said that they had asked a denomination to help them but when talking
to them the first thing they had wanted them to do was to sign over their building. They
refused to do this and came to us for help.
We were very happy indeed to hear of their
faith and to have this chance to work with them so ^/e set up a meeting with them in Kaoh
siung, at their Church building, to be held April l4,15j and 16. Sam and I want to go
and preach four sermons to let them know exactly what the Church in the Bible is like
and what we stand for. If they agree with what we preach they will formally ask Sam to
come and help them.

Please pray about this meeting.

t^at we are working with 6 CHURCHES.

I would like to report next month

On March 25th the .five'Ch-urches had our

first combined.-y6'uth rally.

There were

representatives from four of the Churches

and we had a total of 39. JQUth.
This
first rally was held at Shih-ling and we

all felt that this was very good.

The

next host of the rally will be the Chang

Chwun Church and we hope for many more in
the month of April.
We have set i t up to
have a combined youth rally the last
Saturday evening of every month.
I was
asked to speak at this meeting and since

I already knew there were going to be

some baptisms I chose the topic, "Born
Again." One of my students, Miss Hwang
Mei Hwei was baptised along with a new
girl by the name of Jyang Pei Lei. She

Women's meeting at the Fu Hsing Church

had come over to the Church office at Fu Hsing a week earlier with her friend, Mr. Jyang
Jr Chyow, and I had an opportunity to talk to her about being baptised. She had been
sprinkled as a baby and since she wanted to follow the Bible she readily wanted to be
immersed wheh~~^e "heard wnat the "Bi~ble s"aid"ab~out bapfism.
'

Also the women of the five Churches have ajto^n's meeting each, month.

On March 28th it

was held at the Fu Hsing Church of Christ where we are working. There are only five
women in the congregation and Janet was especially proud of them as they completely took
everything over. Of course I am proud of the part .Jan_ei.. took in the program as she did
work hard too and spoke to them on the subject of "In God's Hand." About thirty women

attejided thia-meeting.

---

CJanet
and I are very busy now as we are teaching and preaching God's Word in acombina
tion of el_ey^.n_fflgetings a week. Janet is teaching two English Bible classes a week and

a new-Christian's cla^s for those who have recently been baptised. I am preaching each

Sunday, teaching five English Bible classes, leading prayer meeting and youth meeting
each week.

I try to make it to the prison each week but I can't always.

We have had some pretty big expenses lately and the biggest of these was our Taiwan

income taxes of U.S.$300. Ouch! An expense which is coming up is summer camp. I am

hoping that some of you will be able to help us with these expenses.'""'This' is^a wonderful

opportunity to reach people for Christ and it always has to be subsidized.

It usually

winds up costing each missionary here about $75 so if you would like to donate toward the

expense of Camp I would urge you to.

If so please designate offerings as such when you

send them to our forwarding agent.

Please be praying for our work here in the future and thank Him for His leading in the
past.
PLEASE NOTICE CHANGE IN FORWARDING

AGENT'S ADDRESS == BOX 333

Yours In His Service,

tf.a. PosTAa*

Alan, Jane.t, Beth, Becky, & Jonnie Bemo

Return Requested:
Mrs.

Sandi Gant

R.R. 1, Box 333

Fort Gibson,

Oklahoma 77^3^

'

;p<2eavc L

U3 . fc. )Y]c G / Jiierc

r
'fecY /77
'/

Missionaries:

Forwarding Agent:

Alan & Janet Bemo

Mrs.

Number 21, Lane 157

Hsin Sheng S.Rd.,Sec.1

R. R. 1, Box 333
Fort Gibson, Okla,
77^3^

Taipei 106, Taiwan

Sandi Gant

cnusAaetc
April, 1972
Dear Christian Friends,

When I got home from the office on April the 11th

there was a long-distance phone call from America
waiting for me.
As I sat at the phone waiting for
the connection to be made all kinds of things went
through my mind.
I was both relieved and happy to
finally hear my mother's cheerful voice saying hello.
She told me that she was going to arrive at the
Taipei International airport at 10:30 AM on the 17th
the following Monday morning.
We were really
surprised because we had had no idea of the possi
bility of her coming.
We found out later that i t
was almost as much of a surprise for her as i t was
for us.
Mother had Just decided to change Jobs and
since

there would be

two week intervention between

Mother and some

Jobs she decided to try to use this free time to

visit us. She didn't want to get our hopes (or even
her own) up too high so she didn't mention it to us until she was sure.

students

She got her pass

port, shot records, and visa in a record time of ten days and called us on the day she got
her plane reservations made to let us know when she was coming.
Mother was only able to

stay until the 28th but we thank God for the time we had together.

She gave a testimony

in all my classes, spoke at two women's meetings, and sang a trio with Janet and I at
Church.
I felt it a great privelege to translate for her in my classes and I know that
Christians and non-Christians alike were influenced by her teaching.
I couldn't take off
work while

she was here but we

did do

our

best

to

show her around.

We praise and give God all credit that there were four baptisms this month.

(King) was baptized on April 2nd.

Mr. Wang

Miss Feng and Mr. Peng were immersed on the l4th and

Miss Yang on the 27th.

Mr. Peng is in his sixties and has been coming to the Church for
about three months.
It is seldom that we see an elderly person accept Christ in the Orient
so we especially rejoice for him.
The other three are all people we reached through the
English Bible classes.

Last month I told you about Sam Hazlewood and me planning a trip to Kaohsiung to see about

helping an independent Church there who asked for help.

Services at Tso Ying

We did go on April 14,15 and I6

Beth's 5th birthday

as planned and had some wonderful meetings there.

of Kaohsiung called Tso Ying.

Actually the place we went to is a suberb

We left Taipei on the l4th, Friday morning, and arrived at

noon in Kaohsiung where the preacher who had asked us to come and help, Mr. Lo, was there
to meet us. - We went by taxi to Tso Ying, checked into an inn, and had lunch together. We
set a time to meet them at the inn that night before the meeting and then went to Kaohsiung.
to make return-trip train reservations and to go see Mrs. Lillian Martin, our co-worker
there. She had recently had a theft and was in the process of moving and we thought we
might by able to help her.
That night I presented a slide program at the church in Tso
Ying describing the Church in the New Testament through scriptures and then preached for
just a few minutes.
Mrs. Martin also attended and after I spoke the preacher asked Mrs.
Martin to give a testimony.

genuine.

There were 35 people there and their reception was warm and

I showed slides on Saturday night also on the topic of Chruch History and the

causes of denominationalism.

Their Sunday service is on Sunday afternoon at 3^00 P.M.

and Sara preached a challenging message to the Christians at the meeting.

are a little different from those we were used to.

These Christians

For example they all prayed at once

aloud during prayer times and they partook of communion with fermented wine.
However I
am sure by their fruits that they are in Christ and therefore they are my brethren. Praise
God! These people have paid for their own Church building with their meager offerings,

and they call themselves the Fu Hsing (Pestor'ation) Church of Christ. This is the same name
as-- on

the Church building -where I work.

We call ourselves this because our mee-t-in-g

place is on Fu Hsing Street. They call themselves this because they are in the Fu Hsing
district of town. We praised God all the way back to Taipei and joyously told the brethren
here of our trip. We are now working with six Churches.
While we are on the subject of Churches I would like to mention that on the 23th a preacher

of a before, unknown independent Church of Christ, came over to the office to interview us
to see what we believed. He then said that he too simply wanted to follow the Bible plan
and wondered if we could help their congregation. I have not investigated this possibi
lity yet but I would like for you to pray about this too and I hope we will have some

news to report to you next month. By the

in any financial way. Thay have asked us
are doing. We are not trying to get them
way) as such. When we go to help them we

way, we
to come
to join
make it

are not helping any of these Churches

and teach or preach and this is all we
our group (we don't have a "group" any
plain that we are not giving any fi

nancial aid. Our only hope for these congregations is to give them the Truth of Jesus
Christ -- unadulterated by man's doctrine and we have faith that it will make them free.
Our prayer is that Churches all over this island -- where there is the greatest concentra
tion. of "missionaries" and therefore denominationalism from all over the world will
be freed from denominationalism and have the unity that Christ prayed for.
Up to the

present those Churches which have pulled out of denominationalism have been ostracized
and have neither any kind of unity or fellowship.
However the Lord seems to be seeking
them out now and we praise Him for our part in His plan here.

Beth became five years old on the l8th. It was kind of special getting to have her Bemo
grandmother here with her. I look at Beth with real joy and pride as I see her getting
older. It is really hard for me to comprehend that she is really getting more grown up
all the time until I see her express some deep spiritual truth or take on some real responcibility.
We are looking forward to writing our next newsletter so we can tell you how working with
this other Church turns out.

Yours In His Service,

Please be praying about i t in the meantime.

^OTVrvOL.

NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE
1.7(S PAID

Return Requested:
Mrs.

FtGibson,Okla

Sandi Gant

R.R, 1, Box 333

Fort Gibson,

Oklahoma 77^3^

Permit no. 3

7 ^ 2

rAtt EAST
CKaxAoetc

Field Address:
Alan and Janet Bemo

Number 21, Lane 157

Hsin Sheng S. Rd., Sec. 1
Taipei 106, Taiwan

Forwarding Agent:
Mrs. Sandi Gant

R. R. 1, Box 333
Fort Gibson, Okla.
74434

May, 1972

i
Summer is here again

youth and watermelon go together

Dear Christian Friends,

It has only been a month since I wrote to you last but it seems like at least two. So much has happened that I am going to have to
write a little smaller this time to get it all in.
I remember that I had asked you to be praying about the possibility of working with a preacher named Mr. Ling who had asked us to
help him. After much prayer on the part of all of us I went over to interview the man. Upon just seeing this man watching his ner
vous actions and listening to the way he talked I became a little uneasy about him. Although I had asked the Lord for guidence,
at the same time I didn't want to put any stock in intuition. According to what he said he was doctrinally straight, although we did
discover that his house, where services were held, was very close to where brother Chuck Johnston is working with a Chinese preacher,
also named Ling (a very common sur-name in China). I also found out that there was dissension between these two men. My second
step was to contact all the foriegn missionaries and local Chinese preachers I knew to find out anything I could about this man. I
found out that he had been over to see one of the American anti-instrument brethren just five days before, asking him to do the same
thing. Then one Chinese preacher told me, "I don't like to run anyone down but just be careful of this man." My estimation of the
Chinese being a judge of character is pretty high especially as far as their own goes. Then I found out that Mr. Ling had been working
with a Holiness missionary for several months. This missionary was teaching English Bible classes there but It was suspected that Mr.
Ling was collecting tuition for this on the sly. I also talked to Chuck Johnston about this matter since he was working in the area. We
were very leary of this man but we decided to at least give him a chance. We told him that if he was really wanting to work with us
that we suggested he work with Chuck in a combined effort in that community. We figured that in this way that nothing could happen
to endanger our fellowship. Mr. Ling aparently did not like this arrangement for he did not pursue our help any further. We thank
God for His leading. You may wonder about all this precaution of investigation but you may recall the mess I got into with working
with a certain Mr. Jeng just over a year ago. I got an ulcer from that experience. As one of Chinese brethren said when hearing of my
checking, "Brother Bemo is growing up."
On May 5th I was operated on for a hernia. It wasn't serious and I was discharged from the hospital exactly three days later. When I
got home our house was in the process of being painted so we went out to eat that night. The next night I taught two classes as I
usually do on Tuesday nights. For the first week I didn't keep office hours but did fulfill all my teaching and preaching responsibilities.
I was not allowed to lift anything (not even my Children), or ride the motorcycle or bus for the month of May. Now everything is back
to normal, thank God.

Just before going to the hospital Ted and I had gone over to San Chung where he had been working with the Church of God. I have
previously mentioned this Church a congregation following the New Testament pattern but a member of a fellowship of five
Churches which all call themselves Chruches of God. After Ted had worked with this congregation for several weeks he had had to
quite going because of the starting of evening services at Shr Ling which conflicted in time. Now Ted and I went over to see if it would
be possible for me to start this English Bible class again since I had Sunday evenings free. We wanted to keep the contact with this con
gregation. Mr. Chen, the preacher, said that although the work had actually been increasing it was good that the class had been discon
tinued because some of the people in his fellowship had been criticizing him. They were saying that he was getting ready to join our
denomination. When he told them he wasn't they said that we were trying to influence him to do so. Ted and I assured him that we
were not a denomination and that we had no ideas of trying to steal either him or any of his congregation we were only trying to
help him. We told him that if there was anything we could do for him that we would be happy to do it and that we could still have

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fellowship among ourselves In Christ. We prayed with him before leaving and Ted and I prayed fervently about this. Five days later I
got a phone call from Brother Chen saying that he wanted me to come over on Sunday nights to continue the English Bible class that
Ted had previously taught. We praised God and I went. Then on Tuesday, May 16th, Brother Chen came to see me to tell me that he
was again receiving opposition from his brethren about us working together and what should he do. "Should I leave this fellowship?
They seem to think that if you aren't called 'Church of God' that you aren't saved and they are very closed-minded." Now, I hope you
can appreciate our predicament in a time like this. I told him that I considered that he and his brethren were Christians and that if he
left them th_at he would onlv be gaining our fellowship at the cost of theirs. I suggested that we again cancel this class and that in this
way his brethren could see our genuine love for the brethren. We could put this matter before the Lord in prayer and He might cause
something really beautiful to happen. I also told him that we always welcomed any Bible believing and practicing, undenominational
congregation into our fellowship but that we offered no financial help and they could not be considered as a part of any denomination
since we had no earthly headquarters or head but Christ. He agreed with my suggestion and then said that If things didn't work out
soon that he was considering leaving this group of five Chruches. I also suggested that if he did so that the congregation continue to
call itself the Chruch of God a very scriptural name.

Mr. Chen has been to our house since, giving us the names of four congregations which are independent and call themselves Church of
Christ. We are at the present trying to make contact with these. Two of them are in the Kaohsiung area where Sam Hazlewood is
working and two of them are in our area. Perhaps I will have more news next month.
Why are we so concerned about fellowship? Why not just do our own thing and let everyone else alone? BECAUSE I AM PART OF
CHRIST'S BODY! I lovethis body and I want it to be one co-ordinated and one in its purpose. When my toe hurts my fingers
do all they can to help the toe because it is of the same body. Yet we have the concept of the Chruch as a body divided one that
can't possible help itself because it is dissected. I also am convicted that it is of utmost importance because Christ prayed that we be
one so that the world could come to be saved. If my Lord prayed for it has servants ought to use every last bit of energy to see this

wish fulfilled, at the same time praying that the Lord himself will give us strength to do His will. Many people's concept of the Chruch
is something like the pictured cartoon. I hesitate to picture the Church as a sinking boat except that if a congregation, an assembly, a
Church, is sinking, just because we are the members of another congregation doesn't mean we aren't sinking too. If that congregation
is in Christ they are part of the same body we are in the same boat. If we don't feel for them it may just prove that we are the ones
not connected to the head. We are lacking the nerve connection of love which tells us to help a fellow member of the body.

The Fu Hsing Chruch of Christ, which we are working with, was host to the monthly youth rally in May. It was held on May 27th.
The apartment was packed with 96 young people from four congregations. An Attendance banner went to the congregation with the
most youth represented which was Shr Ling with 41. We praise God for this great gathering.
Also, the Fu Hsingyouth are starting to meet on Sunday nights where they have no English study but-sing, study the Bible, and have
youth activities. On May 28th Janet and I had seven of the youth over to our house for a Bar B Q in our yard, with watermelon later.
One thing which has been very successful in youth work here is music. Lately we have been using as many modern Christian songs as
possible such as, "Put Your Hand In the Hand of the Man Who Stilled The Water." The youth really go for this and so do I (I am still
young too). When I knew I was going into the hospital Janet encouraged me to buy a guitar which I had been wanting to get. I have
been practicing on it ever since and I can now play a few tunes. I hope that this can also be used for the glory of God.
Janet had her twenty-seventh birthday on May the 24th. Beth and Becky and I spent about an hour making a cake for Mommy and

then Beth made little paper airplanesfor name cards. She gave me the names of several of Janet's friends to come to a party. She did
this completely on her own, which made Janet very happy. Janet and I celebrated her birthday two days later by getting a baby sitter
and spending the afternoon and evening by making last minute preparations for the youth rally. It was very enjoyable for both of us
since we don't get to work together like this often.

I am writing this May report on June the 2nd and already some new things have happened this month that I want to tell you about.
However this will have to wait. I am anxious to write to you again. Your prayers are being answered. Praise God!
Yours In Christ,

NON-PROFIT

Return Requested:

Alan, Janet, Beth, Becky, & Jonnie Bemo

'rBo
Box

Gant

333

Fort Gibson,

Oklahoma 77^3^

ORGANIZATION

MiSSfCAJ
0,

/ 77

U.S. POSTAGE
1.7^
PAID

Ft.Gibson,Okla
Permit no* 3

fAK GAZT
cttasAoeK

Forwarding Agent:
Mrs. Sondi Gant
R.R. 1, Box 333

Fort Gibson, Okla.

74434

June. 1972

Dear Christian Friends,

We have been anxious to write to you this month but have waited till the
month's end in order tell you about the whole month.

"Vatican City; on June 7th, released ostatement of the Pope's to adelegation

^figgl^^SyS

from Thailand representing the world's 177 million Buddhists. He said, "We
have a profound regard for the spiritual, moral and socio-cultural treasures
that have been bestowed on you through your precious traditions." We con

see how the Catholic Church has made such vocal compromises down

through the ages in order to gain the confidence and favor of the "religious
world." To those who ore Buddhists here in Taiwan it is another voice

telling them that their religion is good and that they need not change. But

*
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God's message to the world is that Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life"
and that "no man comes to the Father except through Christ." Our goal is
not to try to graft man-made religions but simply to seek fellowship with
those whom God has grafted in. One day we had a visit by two "Mormon"
missionaries. I couldn't let them into the house (11 John 10) but I did go with

X a meeting
XI
ix two
X teaching
X u
-xu them
xu
xu
them to
place
andj after
sessions
with
they

o d au
.mi
Elder Jwang
God"& Brother Lwo at House-

would not study with me any more because "Our Church will not let us
study anti-mormon material." It is impossible to work with people like this. On the other hand, on June 19th, Mr. Jong,
(the former baptist preacher we baptized last year but could not work with because he was working in the Presbyterian
Church) came over and told me that he was wanting out of the Presbyterian Church because it was a man's Church not
Christ's. One problem was that some people wanted to be baptized but the Presbytry wouldn't let him immerse them. I
really believe that this man is seeking to follow the New Testament more closely but at the same time I must reolize that,
at least in the past, he has been a professional preacher preaching in different denominations wherever he con get a
job. We genuinely wont to help'him but we don't hove money to "hire" him, and I believe this is just as well. All we can do
is to encourage him to start a New Testament work of his own and then help him in whatever way we can.
On June 1st, we were contacted by a Church that wanted us to help with a youth evangelism program. I went to
investigate and found these interesting facts. They have no preacher or "pastor" (Chinese word for preachers), but the
man who preaches and leads in Bible studies is an Elder in the Church. Very scriptural. They baptize by immersion and
they hove the Lord's Supper every Sunday., This group call themselves "Household of the Eternal God." In the New Test-

ament the Church is called the "household of God." This group of Christians do
not belong to any denomination so we decided to help with the youth. I teach
an English Bible class on Tuesday afternoons at 4:30. After ten weeks of this
we will put phase two of our youth evangelism program which will consist of

leading these young people who remain and ore Interested in a program of
fellowship and Bible instruction all in Chinese....in other words a youth group
which can be led entirely by the church leaders.

fm

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WORfC FA/LS AFTER A YEAR OF HARD WORK

H
IH

I have been working with the Chang Chwen Church of Christ youth for almost a

y
' '?* '

year
nowhave
andwe
webeen
haveable
neither
had the
a baptism
transferwho
of membership.
Neither
to reoch
college or
agea people
hod grown up

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apeak but instead allowed our weekly lessons to drag on to a montonous

1 ordeal. This has led us to try this 10 week English Bible course which will bring

P '

One tooth missing and proud of grow

ing up

in that church. We are not, however, discouraged but have tried to analyze
work failed and are determined to try again. Ithink the main failure
was that we failed to move them for a decision for Christ when interest was at

in the youth and contacts and a few baptisms with which the Chinese church
leaders can continue a youth program.

We are also encouraged because of the success of youth work in other places.

I' i*

a'
: t

f ''I^L i

WB.

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these have all been faithful to the Lord and have attended Sundoy

night youth
werenon-Christians
started the first
June.present
Besides
fh^se
there meetings
have beenwhich
several
whoweek
haveofbeen
at
these meetings where we sing lively Christian songs, discuss their pro-

I ^ ig

have hod a total of five responses at the Fu Hsing Church of Christ

hiems from a scriptural point of view, and have various activities.

We have had cottage meetings in two of the Christian's homes on

Wednesday nights in June. I hope that before long that this will become

||

a regular part of the Christian fellowship at the Fu Hsing Church.

i 1^ ^ ^

f j

In June Ifinished preaching a series of sermons through Colossions and

ii'WmP

a '

Started preaching a new series through Phillippians.

A new

'EnoiB
responsibility has been my helping in the Sunday School program for
K u B c h i l d r e n which includes teaching once a while.
J E ' E a r l y in June when Janet and Igot home from an evening out, we had a
Baptism in a cistern
phone call from Ted Skiles, a fellow missionary, who had a student that
wanted to be baptized. The baptistry wasn't filled so I suggested the

possibility of immersing him in the cistern which supplies our house with water. Ted brought Joei over with classmates
and he was baptized that very~hour of the night, while it was raining. His classmates watched through our bedroom win
dow and i photographed the event from on top of a wall which surrounds our house. We were certainly happy for Joel and
Ted. We also praised God for two other baptisms lately of Mr. Hwang (Yellow) and Mr. Lyou. These two boys were led to
the Lord by Mr. Wang, a convert from our English Bible classes back in April.

We have been blessed with a number of visitors this month^Tibe Stevens'^

were here from Okinawa where they are in the Service. They visited all
of the mission work that we are all doing in the Taipei area and were a

>

joy to us. We always like "Tourists" like this. They said, "We find that the

^ost enjoyable thing about every country Is the work our missionaries
are doing - we really get to see what the country is likethis way." LaVerp.
Morse of Cincinnati Bible Seminary was here for afew days on business

V,

'

and itis always a joy to seehim. While he was here he was able to meet

Corey Lin, our prospective stujient to C..B.S. He was able to help Carey a
lot for enrollment to the Seminary this fall. Also, Christian business man,
^irn Banta. of Minnesota, was through here again with his family and
treated us

/ ^
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|^'

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.w

I
.

to a Chinese meal. Then we have had the chance to meet

young man, Stanley Stephenson, relative of a friend of

in the States.

Stanley is stationed here so we look forward to much more fellowship

with him in the remaining months that he will be here

Break at Missionary workshop

MISSIONARY ACTIVITY

Through the month of June we have held a joint missionary prayer meeting every Friday ofternoon from 1:30 to 2:30. We
have seen a lot of answered prayers come from this already. On June 26th and 27th we hod our first missionary "spiritual
workshop." This was two days of discussion sessions on missionary policies, and future plans. We spent much time in
prayer and singing also, and we had such a spiritual feast that I personally hope that we can do something like this each
year. Jonet and Icame back home with a better idea of what we are doing and more determination to serve our Lord. The
Skiles' will be leaving on furlough at the end of July.
NEXT ISSUE

In July we have a lot of things planned but these are all planned with an "if the Lord will' attached. One of these things
is summer camp from the 9th to the 15th. More about this next month.
Yours In His Service,

Field Address:

Forwarding Agent:

Alan and Janet Bemo

Mrs. Sandi Gant

Number 21, Lane 157

Hsin Sheng S. Rd., Sec. 1

Taipei 106, Taiwan

citasAaett

R. R. 1, Box 333
Fort Gibson, Okla.
74434

July, 1972
Dear Christian Friends,

SEP 1 1 t97E

A TRAGEDY AT SUMMER CAMP

I have something very sad to report to you this time. A 22 year-old man drowned at our summer camp this year. We had gone to a
camp-site south of Taipei in a little mountain village called Gu Gwan. Camp started on July 9th and was to continue till the 15th. One
boy, Jang Tsung Da, was baptised on the second night of camp and the camp spirit had never been better. Then on the third day of
camp I went to the swimming hole, a wide place in a small creek near the camp grounds, at 1:30 P.M. Then at 3:00 five swimmers
came to swim along with another missionary. Chuck Johnston. This was all done according to camp rules as any swimmers had to wait

at least an hour after lunch and had to be accompanied by a life-guard. Chuck and t were at the side of the pool talking when one of
the swimmers yelled to us that his friend, a boy named Jan Yan Hwei, had just sunk into the water and had failed to surface. Chuck

and I immediately dove in to search for him. Although the pool was only forty feet across and eight feet deep in the deepest part, it
took four dives before I could find him. I pulled him to shore as qui^Kly as possible and started giving him mouth-to-mouth artificial
respiration immediately* Chuck checked for a heart beat and said there was a pulse. Everyone was praying and after no longer than
five minutes he started breathing by himself. One boy went ahead to call a doctor to meet us and the other five of us put him on an
air mattress and started carrying him to the road. We were careful to keep his feet higher than his head and we kept him covered with
all the towels and dry clothes we had. It took us about twenty minutes to get him to the road, where the doctor was waiting. He ex
amined the boy, gave him two shots and said he was in good condition, even though he was still unconscious* A man volunteered his
station wagon and drove us to the nearest hospital, forty minutes away. We entered the still unconscious boy in the hospital at about

4:10 P.M. and the doctor gave him two more shotsand then at 4:20 put an oxygen tube in his nose. He took one breath of oxygen
and it was his last. Iagain gave him artificial respiration for about five more minutes as the doctor gave him a shot directly into the
heart, but it was to no avail. It is hard to describe the emotions of the four of us who had been his fellow campers and had brought
him to the hospital to see him die. My own was one of emptiness, confusion, and disbelief. From the time this had started to happen
I had not thought about the possiblility of him really dying, or the consequences. We all had done what had to be done mechanically
without thinking. Now it was over. As complete consciousness came back to our numbed minds the thing that hurt the most was

that this boy was not a Christian. In the midst of an effort to call him into Christ who wants to give us victory over death, he had died.
We were heart broken. Now there were other things that had to be done. Notify the parents, weep, notify the fifty other campers,
weep, dismiss camp, meet the parents, weep, appear at a legal hearing, and take care of funeral arrangements.

We volunteered to, and did, pay for all the funeral costs. Although we cannot understand why God allowed this to happen we see His
leading in many areas. The father's attitude toward us was very understanding. He said, "He is my son. I want to take care of every

thing myself." At the legal hearing we were absolved of all responsibility. Even though camp was dismissed early almost every camper
has beencoming to Church meetings even non-Christians, and they are thinking much more seriously about their need for a Savior.

One has said, "I want to believe very much, but Istill doubt a little." Another has said, "If we have camp next year, Iwant to go for
sure" Please pray for these campers and for everything involved with this boy's death.

Taiwan six years ago I have constantly encountered an at

prayed for. Most missionaries say, "Why try for unity be

States as several groups, each going its separate way?" This

now for two yXtsjio put out amagazine to try to^eal

. *.

with this problem; Now we are finally starting to put our

plans into effect. Starting in August we are laying out

fourteen issues of a magazine we will call HIM. We will..,

'
.. ..

start publishing this magazine In October and will put it

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out fortnightly till April of 1973. We plan to send this to

every denominational and undenominational church on the

island. We hope to send it to as many church leaders as pos-

sible. Others have had great plans for ecumenicity here a

mong this, the country of the greatest concentration of mis-

Swimming
Swimming site
site

:....

sionaries of almost all denominations in the world. In the

come presenting the restoration plea but have

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9B^I

BB of
the time we very much deserve this appearance). But we
hope that this magazine will, by the power of God, help in

W-

been looked upon as just a newforeign denomination {most

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some way to foster a movement here in Taiwan, to compare

There are many problems concerning this work. (1) We have

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to have $ in the bank to be able to receive the proper author-

^ B H meet
ity from
the government to publish this paper, (2) we must
monthly expenses of printing, paper and salaries, (3) we
need some way to address the thousands of magazines we will

Class at camp

l^g rnailing out, and (4) we most of all need God's blessing

Hroi this magazines might be thought-provoking and stimulating. We don't want this paper to be so much popular as it is probing. Wa
don't want to entertain but to inspire. Please pray for this. The Lord can provide all if it is His Will.
On July 27th Ron Hoffman of the Philippines came to Taiwan to talk to us concerning an"Asia for Christ" program. It is basically a

program where an Asian evangelistic team goes into different Asian countries to hold an evangelistic meeting with the ideal of getting
a nucleous of people together to start a church. In almost every Asian country it is possible to fine Chinese, Japanese, and Philippinoes
living in groups so i I is hoped that this evangelistic team can be made up of preachers of at least these three groups so that every part
of society can be reached. Ron is hoping that all of the missionaries in Asia can co-operate together to evangelize in this way, countries
or communities which have not had a New Testament witness. Ron and a Philippine preacher, on this trip, are on their way to Guam
where he will be holding this kind of meeting."
July 30th was Jonnie's second birthday. This time, instead of inviting his little friends, we invited three of his favorite "buddies", Julia
Ling, Angel Yu, and Alan Lwo, to come over and share his cake (Grandma Dittemore has sent the cake and frosting mix and candy) with
him, along with his family. He had a great time showing off his new cover-alls, toy watch, fishing rod, and trucks to all us big people.
Please remember to pray for us and the work for our Lord here.

Yours, because of Christ,

Alan, Janet, Beth, Becky, & Jonnie Bemo

NON-PROFIT

Return Requested:

ORGANIZATION

Mrs. Sandi Gant

R.R. 1, Box 333

U.S. POSTAGE

Fort Gibson,

1.7c PAID

Oklahoma 77434

Ft. Gibson, Okia.

O

'

Permit No. 3

///

Field Address:

Forwarding Agent:

Alan and Janet Bemo

Mrs. Sandi Gant

R. R. 1, Box 333
Fort Gibson, Okla.

Number 21, Lane 157

Hsin Sheng S. Rd., Sec. 1

Taipei 106, Taiwan

74434

Dear Christian Friends,

Missionary life Is not all excitement and roses and this

month has definitely not been. It has not been

(.

month
preparation. However there
quiet
satisfaction in knowing that we have been faithfully

discouraging but it has been slow in that it has been a

serving our Lord Jesus.

The main thing we have been preparing for Is the new

magazine wetalked about last month. We have o staff of

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two people working on the magazine now; Julia Ling and

Angel Yu. Julia has hod a lot of experience in working

^
.

, ,

^
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with the Church paper and Angel is a graduate of World School of Journalism. Both of these girls are very earnest

Christians. We have decided to call the magazine HIS KINGDOM. The word for "HIS" in Chinese is very interesting in
that this character, In this case, has a radical within it which signifies that It is referring to Diety. When people look at

the title they will know that it has something to do with God's or Christ's kingdom. We hope that the magazine can
make it very clear what His Kingdom is.

Some of the articles which we have already written for the first few issues are: "What is our problem? "An impossible
prayer?" (referring to Christ's prayer for unity) "Humility, a necessity for unity", and "Unity-a mandate.
We think we have the problem of addressing solved but there is still a problem of registering so please continue to
pray.

We have also been preparing for youth octivities since school will be starting in September. Ireally don't knovv how it is

in Americo, but here, even though young people are out of school and have more time in the summer, it is harder to get
them involved inChurch activities. 1suppose theyare "busy" relaxing and playing. There has been quite a interest

in the Jesus movement here and we are trying to find ways to reach more young people with the gospel. We iave come

up with a fish symbol of Christ which they like a lot and we are planning on putting it on T-shirts to sell to Christian
young people. This fish is actually the two Chinese words for Jesus in the form of a fish.
On August 20th the Shih Ling Church of Christ youth
group where Sam Hazlewood is working, invited our

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youth group
join them at
onthe
a Bar-B-Q
Theyhours
asked
give atodevotional
end so outing.
after four
of

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"Bar-B-Q in the Bible." 1talked about sacrifices of the Old

Testament
and the need for us to make a sacrifice of our

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given a young man stood to confess Jesus as Christ

under the star-lit sky. One of the other young people had
been witnessing to him for months by letter and he had

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August 117th' 8o happy
years together
9

games and good eating by a riverside I spoke on

own lives if we are to be saved. When an invitation was

taken this opportunity to accept Christ as he was in town

on a week-end trip. While everyone else was finishing up

Iwent ahead and prepared the baptistry and Chen Hang
Jen was baptised into the death, burial, and resurrection

of Christ that night.

On
August 26th, at 7:30 AM., Janet, Jonnie, and igot on
a train for Kao-Hsiung. We had left Beth and Becky with
friends for the week-end and we were going to
Koo-Hsiung
to visit
two Churches
there which
ore
without
preachers.
Previously
Sam Hazlewood
had been
going down there every week-end but this had become

T AKE

A DIVE

STICK

3
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too much of a hordship and expense. We found out

why when we arrived back in Taipei the next night at
midnight exhausted and several pounds lighterreally. While in Kao>Hsiung we led in three services
and went to visit one of the Elders of one of the

congregotions. However tired we were it was a |oy to

go there and we plan on going again in a couple of

months, as Sam is asking several of us to help him by
going for him once in a while.

August 30th, 28

years old and

a new guitar

bought by friends.

On the train coming back I went to the back of train to

watch the tracks and as I was doing so I got some fine

pieces of steel in my eyes. I didn't think much of it as it

was only slightly uncomfortable but on arriving at

home my eye began to hurtterribly. Finally at three in the morning I couldn't take the pain any more and called up the
doctor. He told me to come right over and extracted five pieces of steel from the cornea of my right eye. Thank the Lord
this was taken care of quickly and everything is all right now.

Beth and Becky are both in school now. Beth started attending American Kindergarten on August 21st at the Bethany
Christian School. She is so happyto be going to school with other American children. Becky is going to Chinese nursery

school and very happy to be following in her big sister's footsteps. We are especially proud of her as she was selected
among one hundred out of four hundred applicants on the basis of a test given in Chinese.

In September we ore starting to hold Sunday services in the home of the Elder at the Fu Hsing Church of Christ. This
service is not taking the place of the former service but is something extra. Iam anxious to tell you more about this and
will in September's report, after we have done it for a month.

Alan, Janet, Beth, Becky, & Jonnte Bemo

NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION

Return Requested:
Mrs. Sandi Gant

R. R. 1, Box 333
Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma 77434

U.S. POSTAGE
1.7c PAID

Ft. Gibson, Okla.

Permit No. 3

4L-0j/-9

Field Address:

Alan and Janet Bemo

Number 21, Lane 157

Hsin Sheng S. Rd., Sec. 1

Taipei 106, Taiwan

rAK fiAST
ettasAueit

Forwarding Agent:
Mrs. Sandi Gant

R. R. 1, Box 333
Fort Gibson, Okla.
74434

September, 1972

"No distrust made him (Abraham) waver concerning the

promise of God, but he grew strong In his faith as he gove

glory to God, full convinced that God was able to do what

We aren't saying that we have the faith of Abraham but our

faith has been Increasing these months. For some reason

^fSm

our support has dropped off lately as our expenses hove

Increased. We had been cutting corners every way possible
would get there before the checks did. Well, the first one,
the
biggest
one

. .

i j

the Lord honored, but I guess He thought He better teach us a lesson on the other two and they came right back marked
INSUFFICIENT FUNDS. Because of this the bank here wouldn't let us write any more personal checks, so now Sandi, our

forwarding agent, is starting to send our money by money orders. This took eleven days and we had needed for a long
time money for food, transportation, co-worker's salaries and other work expenses. Faith Is always Increased with
trials and this was no exception. We tried to see If we could cut some more corners and finally let Mrs. Wu, our

household help, who helped Janet to be able to teach and work on the "Courier", off. We actually did not know where

our next meal was coming from and I drove the motorcycle around on reserve tank all the time. I ran out of gas three
times and theLord amazingly provided. We were absolutely helpless like the children of Israel In the wilderness, but
theLord provided His mannah. One evening on American came over whom we hod met only once and handed us an
envelope which had been given to him to give to us by someone he didn't know. It had N.T. $1000 (US$25) in It. One
evening Janet told me that we only had enough food in the house for breakfast and 1lightly said that the Lord will
provide. Janet used the lost egg and the last bitof flour for pancakes the next morning for breakfast. That morning in
ourdevotions as we prayed for God to once again provide we wondered what was going to happen. It was getting to be
onexciting waiting game. That day when Icame home from the office at 12:30 Janet told meto look In the refrigerator.
There must have been $25 worth of food there. She told me that when the delivery boy delivered it to our door, Janet

said, "You must have the wrong address", but he told her that someone had bought the groceries and told him to
deliver them to us. Janet told the kids that God hod sent it, and when Becky saw some Kool-ald in the sacks (which Is

very special here) Becky's eyes got big and she said "Oh, mommy, look, God even sent me some Kool-ald". Isn't It like
God to put the special treats in, too?

The time we were most touched was when Peter Suen come over and gave us NT$500 which was an offering which his

family had taken up for us. This was really a sacrifice for them since all four children hove heavy school expenses.
Another expeclolly needy time, the Lord raised up a Christian young man, McGill Lee, who handed us NT$400 one
evening after youth meeting. He is in the army and I know he didn't have this to spare. Julia Lin and Angel Yu, whom
we need to pay each week, have been gracious about not receiving their salaries and even volunteered to pay for the
church papers themselves. Even so, the Lord has never allowed them to hove to wait more than three days for their pay.
Every specific prayer of need has been and is being answered. Praise God.
Now our checks have started coming but they have both been under what they should be. And still God provides! Janet
and I wrote some very Important letters last night and I started writing this newsletter this morning, not knowing when
we would have enough money to moil them. Just now Janet called me Into the bedroom where she found an envelope
with NT$400 ($10) In It. It said "The Lord bless you", on it. . . .He has. We will be able to send this to you now, and buy
some groceries for today. We has a visitors this morning and we are pretty sure it was him who the Lord used to give us
this gift.
Although we have been low the last few months I believe things are going to level off now and we are still going ahead
with plans for the magazine, HIS KINGDOM* to be put out In October. Everything is ready for the first issue to go to the
printer. We hove faith that God will provide for this for we ore convinced that it Is His will.
You may remember that we missionaries had a spiritual work-shop last June where we talked about starting churches
in people's homes instead of "church buildings". We decided that we would try to establish church using both

approaches, rather than becoming anti-church building, and see what happened. In August the Elder at the FuSyIng

church said he couldn't come to Church any more. It

j ,iy N'a|teJ|

went to coll on him and found that his business had

*9

been failing and that he had had to lay off all his help.

^9

He explained that now he had to work seven days a

week to keep up with production at his small fiber

x^<i

factory. He said that when he went to Church, because

It was such a long way, it took him and his family half
a day to get there ond back. I asked him if he would '

like to have a^service in ^his home on S u n d a y g

started thot he thought that this was the way it should

have been done In the first place. As he explained his.^|||||Bp||^'

worshipped I just satthere saying Amen! Starting ini^^^ ^ .

1
mk^i\

September we have been having a servicethere everyel>^

S/T"''.
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Sunday and have from nine to ten people each time,
91
V.

where we have been studying through the book of String

String Bean
Bean Band
Band

^
^

Romans and partaking of the Lord's Supper t o g e t h e r . w m

'-

Another new thing which has just started this month is our music club. Since I got storted on the guitar, a lot of other
young people in the churches have become interested. On September 3rd we met for the first time ond started playing
some songs together. Besides Alan Lwo, none off them could play at all. All of them bought instruments and we started

from the very basics. We now have five guitar players (not counting myself) and seven ukuleles. It is really something.

After the first three times most ofthem could play well enough to lead in song services. We ore now ploying Christmas
songs and inDecember we are going to tryto get ourgroup into some orphanages and o leprosarium. Ihope that all of
them can get involved in helping in Sunday Schools in different churches.

On September 8th I got a phone call from a preacher with the non-instrumental brethren, Mr. Hwang, who is also
President of their Bible College here. He asked if I would be willing to teach English in their Bible College. Iwanted to

do this but since I couldn't take care of the whole English department I asked Chuck Johnston to help. He agreed to
teoch six hours and I would teach the remaining eight hours a week. They had all the classes lined out and had given
me a schedule with "Brother Bemo" written on it. That made us feel great! Then on September 25th, just before the
school term semester we got a call and Brother Hwang said he was sorry but the wholething was off. When I asked him

why hesaid he couldn't tell me right now. I'm afraid I already know. Once before we have had an opportunity to work
with these brethren butthe problem of the instrument kept us apart.Someday, Ipray, wewill be one. Actually Ibelieve
we already are, in Christ, but just aren't admitting it.
Do you remember the "Jesus Fish" I had in our last newsletter? We are just starting to have these put on sweat-shirts

and stickers. We will be readyto sell them at the end of October, Lord willing. Right now we don't haveany money to do
this and they take a month in making but I believe that God will provide a way in the next few days to get started on
this. We need US$365 deposit just to get started and another $430 when It is finished. Also, in connection with this, we

are planning on starting a book-store inOctober. Probably SueRhodes will be taking most of the responsibility for this.

October promises to be a big month so please pray about it.Ll

We praise God that we had two baptisms on September 3rd. One, Mr. Lee, was a young man who had been sprinkled as
a boby and the other, Mr. Peng, is the 30-year old son of the old Mr. Peng who was baptized earlier this year.
We just received word that Janet's mother, Mrs. Isabel Dittemore, who has been on furlough since December, 197t has
a bleeding iris in her left eye due to a whip-lash in an automobile accident. We haven't heard vet how this will affect her
coming bock to Taiwan as she is scheduled to arrive here October 23rd. Please pray for her also.

Alan, Janet, Beth, Becky, & Jennie Bemo

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rAK GAXTCttaSAaCK
'o o
Field Address:

Forwarding Agent;

Alan and Janet Bemo

Mrs. Sand! Gant

Number 21, Lane 157

R.R.I, Box333
Fort Gibson, Okla.

Hsin Sheng S. Rd., Sec. 1

Taipei 106, Tawlan

74434

JAM

5 '.J73

October & November 1972

Dear Ct^ristian Friends,

I broke a perfect record for 1972 last month when I didn't get our October
report out to you on time. Now I am combining October and November in
one report. I thank God foryourcontinued prayers, thoughts and support
in spite of this.

The first of October the Shih Ling Church of Christ decided they wanted to

invite a Chinese preacher, Mr. Jang, to start working there the first

' '^J^hSeSI

Sunday in November. You may remember that I have spoken of this man
often. He formally has preached in the Baptist and Presbyterian
denominations but was baptized at Shih Ling in the Spring of 1970, and has

had close contact with us ever since. Because of the Church wanting to
hire him a Faith-Promise Rally was held on October 27, 28, & 29 in order
to encourage the members to take on this financial responsibility by faith.
Previously the Church had given an average of about $5.00 a Sunday. One

Sunday there had been an offering of only 50c! A goal for three months

a < -

giving wassetfor the raliyofdouble this previous giving -- $307. This was
a big step but even with this the Church would have to depend on $62 of
missionary support monthly. Chuck Johnston, Sam Hazeiwood, and

myself preached on faith at the three day rally. There was also a

businessmen's luncheon, a youth banquet, and a women's tea in

connection with the rally. All of us were apprehensive as to whether this

"impossible" goal would be reached and waited tensely as the

Faith-Promisecards wereadded upon an abacus. We hada thermometer

J
I J

r^

is
^8

^
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made for the occasion and we watched it go up quickly to $512!! This was

more than enough for the Church's expenses not counting any mission support. At the end of November this giving
came to$145. This is a little behind schedule but there are still nine Sundays in this period. Also Church attendance
has picked up and people are becoming really joyful in their work.

pother (Mrs. Isabel Dittemore) arrived back in Taiwan on October 19th just in time to take part in the
^Faith-Promise Rally. After being gone for almost a year our children were really excited to see their
grandmother. We had a room of our house all fixed up for her and Beth and Becky had made a "Welcome Home"
sign for her. Mother is staying with us till she can find a suitable apartment. We are trying to talk her into staying
with us all the time.

Earlier this year we had tried to help brothe^^reyJCnrgo-iQ..Gncinnati Bible Seminary graduate school. At the

last moment he wasn't able to go to C.B.S. because of complicattOBS_tr^ so accepted the invitation of a school

which offered him full Scholarship, even though they had not sent him any-ma.t?rial indicating the nature of their

institution. Then the first of November we got a letter from Carey which said h"ChaLmada-a,4'"^''^' "T^'stake
because the school there was Pentecostal. He is now making arrangements to change to C. B.S.^at mid-term this

year. Please pray for him. The tuition is difficult for him to manage so if any of you feel moved to help him you
could send checks to Mr. Carey Lin, c-o Cincinnati Bible Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45238.
On Sunday morning, October 29th, I was awakened by a phone call from Ron Hoffman, missionary from the
Philippines and an organizer of ASIA FOR CHRIST. He had-been in.Guam working with a newly started Church

there and was asking me if I could go there for three Sunday:'" if-they paid for my expenses. I accepted the
invitation and on Octoberllth I got on a TWA 707,jet for Guam. I regreted not being able to take my family with me
and It had taken some planning to get my. Taiwan responsibilifies taken care of. I arrived in Guam at 1:30 AM

where Ed Tolosa, whom I stayed with in'TSTJ^m^ffrrd'Tsaac Johnston, met me at the airport.

The congregation there had been started by Ed Tolosa - A Philippine who had become an American citizen and is
now stationed in Guam with the Air Force. He has been a very earnest member of the New Testament movement
in the Philippines for many years and the first thing he wanted to do when he arrived in Guam was to start a New
Testament work there. He gathered together others of like-precious-faith - a congregation of about thirty which
consisted of five Caucasians and the rest Philippines. Then ASIA FOR CHRIST was asked to come and help them
AFC has been supplying preachers and is now looking for a missionary to go there and work full-time.

I enjoyed preaching there on Sunday and Wednesday nights and doing a little calling. At first my only

transportation was hitch-hiking but this turned out to be a blessing. The first day 1was picked up by an
oriental-looking man and Iasked him if hewas Chinese . I had heard that there were many Chinese in Guam and
was very anxious to meet some/ but so far no one knew of any. When this fellow told me he was Chinese/ I asked

him in Chinese ifhewasfrom the Republic ofChina. He was very surprised to say the least. He said that he had

never picked up a hitch-hiker before and had principles against it but that day/ as he saw me standing beside the
high-way he, for some strange reason, felt that he should pick me up. Although he himself was extrernely
antagonistic towards Christianity he took me to his office where he introduced me tohis very receptive co-worker.
Later Iwas able togoback andtalktothis man. He told me that hefelt a greatspiritual need and that hebelieved
thatperhaps the Bible held the answer. Although he didn't accept Christ at that time he promised tostart reading
the Bible and there is an open door there for future contacts.
Anew couple started coming to Church while I was there
who had been invited by one of the Church members. I
thank God for the faith of these people and hope you will
pray for them with us. I enjoyed the physical aspects of
being there for seventeen days In this island where the sun
first rises on America. I went shopping in Ben Franklin's

and ate a Big Mac at McDonalds. I was able to go SCUBA

B.

diving while there in the most beautiful waters I've ever

been in. While i was there I was able to get a driver's

license (I failed the testthe first time) and borrow one of the

Church member's car to go calling. The last day I was there

Im

rrSr'V

the Church had a picnic at the beach as a send-off.

Until I was in Guam I didn't really realize what a strain I

had been under from our work here in Taiwan. I really felt a

relief while there that I didn't really understand. I wished

^ f[B9K

Janet had been there with mebuti talked to her about these

feelings after I got back. I thank God that this little

"vacation" from the work here has helped me to get an

objective picture of things. Now that I am back I am happier

than ever and am more able to cope with the strains. I guess it will be good for us all to be on furlough next year.

I arrived back in Taiwan on November 27th and my familywas at the airport to meet me. After distributing gifts

from new friends in Guam and myself we all went out to eat. It was good to be home. That night Janet and Jonnie
came downwith measles! Janet and Jonnie are still confined to the house. In the nine years I have known Janet I
have never known her to be so sick but she was really sick this time. I am very thankful that her mother was here
to help, too. Janet is doing much better now and should be up and at 'em soon.

We want to send you Christmas greetings and wish youa happy New Year. The drawing of the heading was done
by Beth and Becky. Becky drew the angel and Beth drew the rest.

The Lord willing we will be back in the States in June of 1973. We are already starting to schedule speaking dates
while onfurlough sowehope you will let us know as soon as possible when you would likefor us to visit you or speak
at your Church. We are anxious to see you personally.

Alan, Janet, Beth, Becky, & Jonnie Bemo

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R. R. 1, Box 333
Fort Gibson, Okla.
74434

December, 1972
Dear Christian Friends,

As with most everyone else, I guess, Christmas pretty much dominated the month of December. But this Christmas
was without a doubt the happiest one of our lives.

The weeks prior to Christmas were filled with preparations for a Christmas program which was held at the Fu
Hsing Church on December 23rd.We had invited the three other Churches in the Taipei area to attend and we had
a total of 129 people there. The seating capacity is only 75 so you can know it was crowded. Never-the-less the
service lasted an hour and a half and everyone had a good time.
One of the events that made this Christmas such a blessing is that which took place on the evening of December
14th during the time when Iwas thinking about a Christmas sermon. I had gone in to help put the children to sleep
and this was a rare opportunity as I'm usually out to some meeting or calling in the evenings. That evening the
girls told me how excited they were about getting their Christmas presents and I told them it was really Jesus'
birthday and that we ought to be giving gifts to Him.When I asked the girls how we could do this I was thinking of

us giving ourselves to Him But Beth really surprised me when she said, "I know! We can give presents to Jesus
by giving to poor people." Maybe Janet had talked to the children about this recently in the nightly devotions but
this really hit me. The next day I prepared a sermon from Matthew 25:31-46 concerning giving to the hungry,
naked, sick, strangers, and imprisoned. All of us were moved by this teaching of our Lord to help people in a way
we had never been moved before. On Christmas afternoon about twenty of the young people from three Churches
went to a leprosarium to put on a Christmas program. That evening quite a few poor and lonesome from within
and without the Church came to our house for a delicious Christmas dinner which Janet fixed. Later that evening
our family walked over to a slum area not far from our house and distributed a large box of cookies, used clothing,
and toys, along with Christmas tracts. On December 28th I had a chance to sing at a Christmas party for the blind
and on December 30th we had another interesting experience. As I went to the Church building at 7:00 P.M. to
open the door for youth meeting 1discovered a large sock in the doorway. After I opened the door and turned on
the light I discovered there was a man in this sack, only discernable by a small patch of hair at the top and the fact
that he was shivering. I shook him and invited him to lie down on a pew at the back of the room. By this time two
young people arrived and we got him some noodles and water which he ate. We got him warm clothes and then
he went to sleep. We tried to talk to him but he just kept saying, "Okoy, just let me rest a minute." All through the
service that night we talked about helping strangers and after the meeting everybody got involved in helping this
fellow out. We found out that he was about fifty years old and had come to Taipei looking for work. He could only
speak the Taiwanese dialect so I couldn't communicate with him. We finally took him to a home provided by the
government for such people and offered to pay for any expenses. We have been changed this Christmas and we
hope this is only the beginning. May God make everyday a Christmas.

But thegreatest event which happened during this season was the reconciliation of Elder Peter Suen to us and the
Church. He and I had had a misunderstanding back in October. I had apologized but he refused to talk to me, let

alone forgive me, and quit coming to Church. Finally aftertwo months of prayer by everyone in theChurch (and on
his parttoo, I'm sure) on Christmas eve, when carolers from the Church went to the Suens's house, Peter broke
down. He called us up that night and we talked a long time. Janet and I had just finished having a birthday party
for Jesus with the kids but this really brought the joy of Christmas home to us. After talking to the Suens there
were tears of joy and gratitude for the restoration of this brother-truly the closest friend I have in Taiwan.

We did have onesad thing happen in December. You will remember that wewere having a Sunday meeting in the
home of a Mr. Chen in a suburb of Taipei. This man and the rest of his family of seven had not been emmersed but

hod been sprinkled in the Presbyterian Church. After we hod taught about the subject of baptism for two weeks,
we received a polite letter from Mr. Chen telling us it wouldn't be necessary to go back again. Janet and 1did go
over with some Christmas cake and had prayer with Mr. Chen. We are still praying that everything will work out.

As we look back on 1972 we see it as a year of winnowing the chaff, of burning away the dross. It has been a hard

year but we have learned and grown much. We thank God for the victories which have been won. The Lord has
increased the attendance at Fu Hsing from five to twenty five. There have been eight baptisms and all of these
have remained faithful thus far and for this we ore most thankful. The Shih Ling Church now has Its own Chinese

preacher and Is self-supporting through the victory of a Faith Promise Rally. We have had opportunity to witness in
Okinawa, Japan, and Guam. We have seen the Lord's leading as He has closed some doors and opened others.
We are looking forward to an even better year in 1973 and especially to the time when we will be seeing you
again. We already have some speaking dates lined up for our furlough and naturally our supporting Churches will
have top priority, so let us know when it would be convlenent for us to be with you.

Alan, Janet. Beth, Becky, & Jennie Bemo

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