Friday Night Bible Study Students

With students (left to right) Harry, Cindy and Rebekah. The handsome guy in the back with me is my trustworthy assistant, Teacher Bill Quinn.

Pingjhen High School in Taoyuan

The front of Pingjhen High School in Taoyuan. This is one of the area schools that subscribes to Studio Classroom magazine. With subscriptions, we offer other services like English rallies, teacher trainings and speech contest judges. On this day, I (Phil) was sent to judge an impromptu speech contest here.

Here I am with some of the speech contest winners. Each of them was quite expressive in English. If you didn't know any better, you'd think we were in Thailand. For you folks who don't know any better, it's TAIWAN, not Thailand!

Ming-Luen High School Class

Here are some of the students in my (Phil's) English class at Ming-Luen High School (Taipei, Shi-Lin). Here we see the everpresent "V" sign that seems to be so popular with Taiwanese youth. Some students are real characters, if you know what I mean. Xavier is the "masked man" barely visible behind Hope in the right row, middle. Either Chanel (across from Xavier in the middle row) really likes her "Talking In Class" textbook or is a little camera shy. The textbook is good, but my guess is that it's probably more of the latter.

Hospital Visit With Liz's Sister Mary

Liz and her dad next to Mary's bedside. This picture was taken just a few days after her heart surgery at Zhongshan Hospital in Taichung. The surgery filled a hole in her heart that had apparently been there since she was young. We're all glad that the surgery went well. And Mary looks forward to having more energy in the future.


Mary can't say "I did not inhale".


Hmmm, I wonder what kind of drugs they put in there.


Perhaps Mary's not the only one inhaling.

Shi-Chien University

Students and banner at the front entrance of Shi-Chien University. The university is located just across the street from our ORTV/Studio Classroom office building. These pictures were taken by Liz from her office balcony. Currently Phil and other Studio Classroom teachers are teaching four English classes at the university.

Close up of some students and the banner which welcomes a visiting delegation from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Pastoral Visit

With pastor Alexander Kowles at his apartment in Tien-Mu, Taipei. Pastor Kowles is 95 years old (born in 1910). He went to China in 1932 and has been a missionary to Asia ever since. He also spent time in Vietnam and Cambodia before coming to Taiwan. On the left is ORTV's Jack Lin. In the middle is Susie Wen. We helped Pastor Kowles to complete and process his new U.S. passport application. He is originally from Buffalo, N.Y.

The Doggie (Do Do) Cafe

The place is called Do Do Cafe. The name looks funny, right? Well, it's not what you think. It's their best attempt at spelling the Chinese name which they gave to their white lab. It sounds more like "Dwoah Dwoah". Hard for them to translate into ABCs. Anyway, in this cafe are four very nice dogs (the white lab and three golden retrievers). The whole cafe has a "doggie" theme (lots of dog pictures, etc.). In the picture above, Liz plays with one of the retrievers.

Here's the white lab trying to take a snooze.

Some of the retrievers on the spiral staircase which leads to the upper levels. There's even seating outside on the rooftop. We'll have to try that when the weather gets a little warmer.

Now someone's up and ready along with the others. Perhaps a morsel will come flying out the window.

Hey, what's for dinner?

Hmmm, I wonder. Did he leave any for me?

Mikayla Fry at our table with Vance and Marci. Watch out Mikayla, don't kick over any glasses.

Mikayla with a new friend.

Hsiu-Feng High School English Rally

View from behind the curtain during the English rally at Hsiu-Feng High School. In the picture, Jessie Vogel is giving a motivational "Word of Encouragement" while Joshua Hong translates in Chinese. Seated are Jason Lin and Libeck Kadu from our "Sunshine Singers" group. All total, we had about 2,000 students from the Junior and Senior High classes at this rally.

Girls from the softball team at Hsiu-Feng High School. I (Phil) watched the team practice, and these girls didn't "throw like a girl." They were throwing hard. I wouldn't dare try to play with them, especially after having been away from softball for so long. They would have showed me up. Maybe some of them could end up on Taiwan's Olympic team some day. They even have the Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) team's colors (blue and orange).

Students during recess at Hsiu-Feng High School. In their baby blue uniforms they look like a bunch of UNC Tar Heel fans on the court.

New Semester Teaching at Ming-Luen High School

Students walk along during a break between classes. This is the building where I (Phil) teach every Friday afternoon.

Weekend Hike

With nice weather on a Saturday, Liz and decided to head back up to the "Stone Throne" with co-worker Lisa Holl. From there, we got another great view of Taipei with the Taipei 101 in the distance.

Bible Study Students

With "Farmer John", a Friday Night Live and Bible Study regular. "Farmer John" is originally from mainland China and probably close to 80 years old. He came to Taiwan in 1949 when the communists seized power on the mainland. He speaks English very well and always likes to recite proverbs, some which he himself makes up.

With Kerby who has been a faithful attender of Phil's Friday Night Live Bible Study class. He brings a lot of enthusiasm and humor to the group. Kerby has diligently studied with Let's Talk In English for 3 years. Recently, with encouragement, he made the step up to Studio Classroom magazine.

Recent People Pictures

With Joseph Fan and his son "Wei Wei" after a service at Dazhi Methodist Church.



Liz with Yvonne Kao outside her home in Dazhi. Yvonne now works at ORTV's Kaoshiung branch office. She occasionally makes it back to Taipei to visit family and friends.


Yvonne with Mikayla Fry at the Cafe India Restaurant.



Liz with Andrea and Melissa at Matt Sawatzky's birthday party.


Melissa, Jessie, Julie and Andrea at Matt Sawatzky's birthday party. These four recently went to Vietnam together. Julie is wearing a tradtional Vietnamese ao dai that she got there.

Dinner at Rose and David's Place

Recently some of our ORTV/Studio Classroom staff went to have dinner at the home of Rose and David. They are two of our long-time Friday Night Bible Study students. David is standing to the right of Liz and Rose is just to the right of Doris and Hazel (holding the bottle). They were so nice to host us and Rose's cooking was great. David just turned 89 and Rose is close to 80, but she persists in learning English. David has some hearing loss, so communicating in English is difficult for him, but he has a gentle and sweet spirit. We really appreciate their hospitality and continued presence at Friday Night Bible Study. Rose and David live not too far away from us in Da-zhi. The baby on the right is Mikayla Fry, daughter of Vance and Marci. The "monkey" on the steps is Steve Marth.

Shi-Chien University Class

Here's a photo of the students in my (Phil's) English class at Shi-Chien University this semester. The university is just across the street from ORTV/Studio Classroom. In the upper right corner (last row) is my teaching assistant, Naomi Biesheuvel, from Canada. She's one of our newer employees at ORTV and has been a big help with classes at Shi-Chien. Right now Studio Classroom teachers are teaching four English classes at the university. Ours is one of them. Studio Classroom hopes to develop a good relationship with the university and these students. And, of course, we hope some of them will come to our Friday Night Live program.

Friday Night Live 2006

Worship time at a recent Friday Night Live gathering. The song lyrics on the blue screen read, "Everybody praise the Lord
He gaves his life
To save us all"

Taipei International Book Exhibit

Part of our display showing the Studio Classroom Advanced team.


Liz and Hazel watch a group from an area temple go by in the crowd.


Liz and Vance with some of the fun flowers for sale.


Meeting with one of my former students, Roger, from the National Defense Management College. It was good to get back in touch with him. Roger showed up at our Friday Night Bible Study the following week.

High School Students Visit Studio Classroom

Students (and teacher) from Blessed Imelda Catholic Girls School recently visited Studio Classroom. Co-worker, Naomi and I (Phil) conducted some English activities with them in the chapel. These students also performed a short drama for us which was very good. School groups like this regularly visit Studio Classroom throughout the year. We give them tours and provide activities. It's part of our effort to maintain good relationships with schools, teachers and students here in Taiwan.

North Carolina Visit (hometown U.S.A.)

Liz and I shared about our work in Asia at First Baptist Church, Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Here we are after the service with our nephew, Luke (age 1) and niece, Faith (age 6 and a half). Like us, they wore their Asian style outfits for the occasion.

Friday Night Bible Study Students

With Melvin, Sharon, Harry and Cindy. These four friends have been regular attenders at our Friday Night Bible Study. Cindy is already a Christian. Hopefully, the other three can make a decision to follow Jesus too. Pray that our Bible Studies will continue to reach out to students like these.

Studio Classroom TV Set

Liz is doing the new "Usage Tips" for Studio Classroom's 2006 TV program. She'll help students with useful as well as difficult language structures/phrases. For this, she does much of the explanations in Chinese. Here she is on the set during one of the recording sessions.

Amy's Visit to Taipei

Liz's youngest sister, Amy, recently visited us for a few days. Amy is currently a Ph.D. student in Political Science at Emory University in Atlanta. She brought along a friend, Kelly, who works at the Library Of Congress in Washington, D.C. Kelly is originally from Rural Hall, N.C. (near Winston-Salem). It was her first visit to Asia.

Studio Classroom Programs

This year Phil is one of the panelists on Studio Classroom's Advanced program that broadcasts throughout Taiwan, to China and other parts of the world. We hope to interest people with English and a variety of topics. And most importantly, we hope to touch their lives. Pray that Phil won't experience allergies or irritation to his voice. Taipei's air can be rather rough on one's throat.

Liz will continue to have a role on Studio Classroom's TV program. This year she'll be doing a new feature for TV - Usage (Grammar) Tips.

Check out info. on our Studio Classroom website:

Liz
http://www.studioclassroom.com/sc/sc_tv.php

http://www.studioclassroom.com/sc/sc_liz.php

Phil
http://studioclassroom.com/ad/ad_phil.php

Friday Night Live 2006

We've started our 2006 Friday Night Live (FNL) Rallies and Bible Studies. At FNL, we have large group activities, singing and Christian talks followed by English Bible Study. We're now meeting at a newer, more central location in Taipei. It's held at the Home Of Christ Church pastored by Rev. Andrew Ko. Pastor Ko is well-known in Taiwan and often appears on Good TV , a Christian network here. Our goal at FNL is to help students with English and get them interested in the Bible and its message. We've had many students become Christians and join the church. Please keep this ministry in your prayers.

Liz and Rebecca

Liz has helped our front desk worker, Rebecca practice her English. Rebecca will often prepare and wait for these encounters. She recently made a decision to follow Jesus. However, her mother practices traditional Taiwanese religion and is resistant. Keep Rebecca in your prayers. We want to disciple her and get her involved in our Friday Night Bible Study. She is a student at Shi-Chien University (across the street) and hasn't been able to come to Bible Study so far because of classes on Friday night. She says that next semester she'll be free to join us.

Taipei's Ming-Luen High School

This semester I've been teaching at Ming-Luen High School in Taipei every Thursday morning. I'm starting to enjoy it a lot more. Here's a picture of the school and some of my students. Fortunately, I've been able to build a good relationship with them. And I hope to get some of them to attend our Friday Night Bible Study.