Depew Internship in Taiwan!

Dear Friends and Family,

When I was seventeen years old, I surrendered my life to take the gospel to people who did not have it.  Since then God  has been very gracious to me and has allowed me to go on several missions trips to the countries of Morocco, China, Hungary, and Romania.  With each opportunity to visit another country, I was continually reminded of how desperately this world needed the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

I got married to my high school sweetheart, Tiffany, in the summer of 2012, and since then we have been training at our home church to become church-planting missionaries on the foreign mission field.  

It is with much excitement that I want to share with you where the Lord is now leading Tiffany and me.  Lord willing, we will be leaving in December of 2014 to go to the country of Taiwan for a six month internship.  This internship will consist of practical missionary training, language school, cultural adaptation, life-on-life discipleship and much more.  Tiffany and I will be serving with Jake and Stephanie Taube, veteran missionaries in China for seven years.  The Taube family started four churches in Harbin, China, before the government revoked their visas for illegally preaching and starting churches in China.  They are now planning on moving to Taiwan to plant churches.  We are thrilled to have the opportunity to spend six months with a couple that God is clearly using in a mighty way.  We believe that this internship is extremely important in order for us to become effective church-planting missionaries.  

The approximate cost of this trip will be $14,000.  We are confident that the Lord is in control and will provide the funds that are needed.  We are fully committed to this internship and what the Lord has for us. Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us in this endeavor?  We would greatly appreciate your prayers and financial support.  If you are interested in investing in our internship, you can send all financial support to Grace Baptist Church, P.O. Box 44777 Middletown, Ohio, 45044.  All checks can be made out to Grace Baptist Church, Memo: Depew Internship.  Thank you and God bless!

In Christ, 

Tom and Tiffany Depew

1 Thessalonians 1

1 Thessalonians 1:5-9

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God- ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

As I read this passage I kept wondering what Paul and the other men were thinking when these individuals in Thessalonica turned to God from idols and then started serving the living and true God! What a thought! This truth challenges me greatly. I have known The Lord for almost six years now, how many people have I told about Jesus during that time? The answer only God knows but sure does convict me even to think about. Paul's purpose in this chapter was simple, He intentionally lived his life so that others would believe. It was that important to him, more important than his popularity,comfort and even his life!

This passage reminds me so much of what I witnessed on my two missions trips The Lord allowed me to go on. In China we went to a Buddhist temple and literally saw people bowing down to different idols. In Morocco I witnessed grown men bowing down and praying to Allah. Both instances broke my heart, but In both countries I also met men who once lived their life serving false gods and idols but heard the gospel of Christ and turned from their sins and received Christ as their personal savior! What an amazing God we serve! 

Father, please forgive me for not sharing the greatest truth ever known to man like I should.Thank you for sending Christ to turn men from idols to the true and living God! Lord that was me six years ago, you saved me from my Hell bound life and broke the chains of sin and set me free! May I not live in chains anymore but live in the newness of life that your Word teaches.