Letter to our supporters

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Philippians 1:3-5

Dear partners in the gospel,

Thank you so much for all of the prayers, gifts, and love that you have shared on our behalf during our times in Taiwan, and even now as we start a new chapter of our lives and ministry. Your generosity and love is a wonderful testament to the unity and joy we have as Christians.

We are now officially off of our missionary support and we wanted to write you a quick note letting you know of what is happening in our lives and ministry right now.

Probably the biggest news that we have received in these past 3 months of being back in the States is that Amy is pregnant with our 3rd child. It was a surprise to us, but a welcomed one. She is now about 3 months into her pregnancy and the doctors expect that the baby will be delivered around the 15th of March. Please be in prayer for her and the baby’s physical health. We are overjoyed that God has blessed us in this way.

We have also been able to get an official diagnosis of Joshua’s condition from a specialist in Kansas City. They believe that Joshua has a mild, atypical form of Aspergers. This was also a relief for us to know what the issue is, and to help us know how to help Joshua learn to handle the situations that are stressful and challenging for him. He is doing very well in school and both he and Sean seem to be adjusting to life in back in the States really well. Our block has several boys that are Joshua’s age and our house has become the neighborhood hangout place for them all to come and play. We feel blessed that the boys can not only have friends but that we can use our home as a place to reach and befriend our neighbors.

Jon’s work at the campus house is going really well but very busy. The attendance at their weekly worship service is growing at such a rate that there is no longer seating available. It is not uncommon to see people in the hallway at the Student Union where they hold their worship service and so they are looking at different options that will enable them to continue to grow and make an impact on campus. The ministry also has about 15 different small groups going, English classes for international students, and much more. There never seems to be an end of things to do, but we feel blessed that Jon can be working with a wonderful team of staff and interns. If you want to hear any of his sermons or to know more about the campus house at CMSU, you can go to their website at www.digdeeper.org

Thank you to all of you who have been so generous in your financial support during this time of transition. Your gifts have truly been from God and we are so thankful to be able to have partnered with you. We will be sending out an official end of the year summary of giving to all financial partners for you to be able to have before tax time. If you have any questions to don’t hesitate to call or write.

Thank you again for your love and grace that you have given to us. If you want to keep up on our family you can check out our blog at www.wangjrpew.blogspot.com. If there is ever anything we can do to help serve you please let us know, and if you are ever in the Warrensburg Missouri area please stop by.

With much love and thankfulness,

Jon and Amy Ralls

A Very Special Note From Jon and Amy

As I (Jon) sit here typing this email, I am at a coffee shop that I
frequently go to. The owner's English name is Quincy and we have had
some great conversations recently about God, what happens when we die,
family, and much more. This is just one relationship that makes typing
this email so hard.

I want you to know what is happening in our lives. Let me start by
saying that I need to repent and ask for your forgiveness for not
being open enough to share with you all the struggles that our family
is having. Each month I send out newsletters and never really mention
any of our battles though I have shared a little in our newsletters
and internet blog. I have probably tried to put a positive spin on
everything so as to convince others and possibly ourselves that things
will just get better. They have not...in fact our main challenge has
continued to get worse.

That challenge for both Amy and I is Joshua's mental and physical
health. For nearly 15 months we have been taking him to doctors,
specialists, etc. to try and find out the cause of some behavior that
continues to digress. We have pulled him out of the Bethany school to
try and help him with his school work, and we have been taking him to
different therapy and testing but the end result is the same… he is not
getting any better. In fact he is continuing to get worse. We have
prayed and prayed and yet nothing has changed. We continue to feel
like we are slipping further and further and we see Joshua doing the
same.

It seems like everything is now a battle with him. From putting on his
clothes, to schoolwork, going to church...everything is a battle, and
a battle that we are tired of fighting. It is wearing us out, hurting
our marriage, and even having effects upon Sean.

A lot of the battles no one else sees. So much of it happens in the
home, or seems small by itself, but the total effect of it all is very
serious. The doctors seem to be at an end on how to help him, and it
looks like that Joshua has a milder form of a disorder called
Aspergers. Aspergers is not "curable" but is something that can be
helped when started at a young age.

I could type 2 or 3 pages of symptoms and
situations that we and the therapists have seen, but my desire is to
protect Joshua. It is our prayer that our fellow missionaries,
supporters, and family could all help us in this area by respecting
and praying for us, and by treating Joshua as normal. I could
tell you of many situations that I am sure would convince everyone of
what we have decided but I would rather talk with you in person if you
feel you need more explanation than what I have typed in this email.

We have talked with our teammates, doctors, family, and have even
heard from other Team Expansion missionaries who had to return to the
States because of health reasons for their children, and all have said
the same thing to us…we need to come back to the States.

To be honest, this has been very hard to accept because we love the
people of Taiwan, we love the 16+ people that we have or are now
teaching, and we love sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, but in
the end we love our children more than anything.

To some it may seem that this result has happened quickly, but let me
assure you that for these 15 months we have pursued every option, and
prayed more than any other time in our life. The process has been
long, but the end has come quicker than we thought. I (Jon), kept
holding out hope for some other way but God has made it very clear
what His will is in this area. We don't understand it, but we will
obey.

At first we thought that maybe an extended furlough would help, but
the doctors, and books on Aspergers have made it very clear
that this is not something that will "go away" in 6 months or even a year.
In fact one missionary family that has gone through this same situation
wanted to make sure that we knew that this extended furlough option would not be wise
or a help at all.

The Aspergers is something that we have to accept
will be there in some form and intensity for Joshua's life.
We also have to accept that it will require
a life change from our whole family. Our
desire is the same as any parents for Joshua to grow up, get married,
have kids, and live a normal life in God's blessing. This is still
possible, but we must act upon the treatment course now while he is
still young.

The treatment is multi-faceted and will change as he matures. It is
also something that will be fairly expensive. From what we have heard
from other families, some of the medicines can be as much as $100 a
month, and visits to the specialists can be several hundred dollars.
As of right now, we don't have any insurance besides catastrophic
(high deductible) insurance in the States and so we need you to
continue to pray for us as we seek employment that will allow us to
continue to minister for the Lord as well as provide the finances and
time to get the help that Joshua needs.

Since we already had our furlough planned, we are using the same
timetable for returning to the States. We should arrive in Kansas City
on May 8th. It is our desire to still visit as many of our supporting
churches, Team Expansion home office, and friends as possible. We
would love to share with you more in person about our situation, the
work here, and how you can continue to help see more come to know
Jesus here in Taiwan.

Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have
visited all who desire us to come and share with them as well as
arrange treatment, housing and employment in the States. Thus we are
hoping that you, our supporters, will continue your support through
the summer.

The work will continue here and our teammates have already begun to
step up to this next challenge. Though we can't help them in person
our hearts will be still be here in Taiwan with them.

We could also use your prayers. Please forgive us for not previously
being as open enough with you all, and know that we have done this to
try and protect our kids. Thank you for standing with us, supporting
us, praying for us, and being such a wonderful part of our life.

As our regional coordinator said "God is not up in heaven wringing His
hands not knowing what to do…God is in control." That is an
encouragement to us to know that God still is in control and that He
loves our children even more than we do.

Thank you again for all of your love and support. Please continue to
pray for us. Pray for all of the details to be arranged. From moving,
finding medical help, finding employment, and through it all being
able to be faithful to God and bring glory to Him.

We love you all. Please let us know if you have any questions that
this email didn't explain.

God bless,

Jon and Amy Ralls

A Very Special Note From Jon and Amy

As I (Jon) sit here typing this email, I am at a coffee shop that I
frequently go to. The owner's English name is Quincy and we have had
some great conversations recently about God, what happens when we die,
family, and much more. This is just one relationship that makes typing
this email so hard.

I want you to know what is happening in our lives. Let me start by
saying that I need to repent and ask for your forgiveness for not
being open enough to share with you all the struggles that our family
is having. Each month I send out newsletters and never really mention
any of our battles though I have shared a little in our newsletters
and internet blog. I have probably tried to put a positive spin on
everything so as to convince others and possibly ourselves that things
will just get better. They have not...in fact our main challenge has
continued to get worse.

That challenge for both Amy and I is Joshua's mental and physical
health. For nearly 15 months we have been taking him to doctors,
specialists, etc. to try and find out the cause of some behavior that
continues to digress. We have pulled him out of the Bethany school to
try and help him with his school work, and we have been taking him to
different therapy and testing but the end result is the same… he is not
getting any better. In fact he is continuing to get worse. We have
prayed and prayed and yet nothing has changed. We continue to feel
like we are slipping further and further and we see Joshua doing the
same.

It seems like everything is now a battle with him. From putting on his
clothes, to schoolwork, going to church...everything is a battle, and
a battle that we are tired of fighting. It is wearing us out, hurting
our marriage, and even having effects upon Sean.

A lot of the battles no one else sees. So much of it happens in the
home, or seems small by itself, but the total effect of it all is very
serious. The doctors seem to be at an end on how to help him, and it
looks like that Joshua has a milder form of a disorder called
Aspergers. Aspergers is not "curable" but is something that can be
helped when started at a young age.

I could type 2 or 3 pages of symptoms and
situations that we and the therapists have seen, but my desire is to
protect Joshua. It is our prayer that our fellow missionaries,
supporters, and family could all help us in this area by respecting
and praying for us, and by treating Joshua as normal. I could
tell you of many situations that I am sure would convince everyone of
what we have decided but I would rather talk with you in person if you
feel you need more explanation than what I have typed in this email.

We have talked with our teammates, doctors, family, and have even
heard from other Team Expansion missionaries who had to return to the
States because of health reasons for their children, and all have said
the same thing to us…we need to come back to the States.

To be honest, this has been very hard to accept because we love the
people of Taiwan, we love the 16+ people that we have or are now
teaching, and we love sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, but in
the end we love our children more than anything.

To some it may seem that this result has happened quickly, but let me
assure you that for these 15 months we have pursued every option, and
prayed more than any other time in our life. The process has been
long, but the end has come quicker than we thought. I (Jon), kept
holding out hope for some other way but God has made it very clear
what His will is in this area. We don't understand it, but we will
obey.

At first we thought that maybe an extended furlough would help, but
the doctors, and books on Aspergers have made it very clear
that this is not something that will "go away" in 6 months or even a year.
In fact one missionary family that has gone through this same situation
wanted to make sure that we knew that this extended furlough option would not be wise
or a help at all.

The Aspergers is something that we have to accept
will be there in some form and intensity for Joshua's life.
We also have to accept that it will require
a life change from our whole family. Our
desire is the same as any parents for Joshua to grow up, get married,
have kids, and live a normal life in God's blessing. This is still
possible, but we must act upon the treatment course now while he is
still young.

The treatment is multi-faceted and will change as he matures. It is
also something that will be fairly expensive. From what we have heard
from other families, some of the medicines can be as much as $100 a
month, and visits to the specialists can be several hundred dollars.
As of right now, we don't have any insurance besides catastrophic
(high deductible) insurance in the States and so we need you to
continue to pray for us as we seek employment that will allow us to
continue to minister for the Lord as well as provide the finances and
time to get the help that Joshua needs.

Since we already had our furlough planned, we are using the same
timetable for returning to the States. We should arrive in Kansas City
on May 8th. It is our desire to still visit as many of our supporting
churches, Team Expansion home office, and friends as possible. We
would love to share with you more in person about our situation, the
work here, and how you can continue to help see more come to know
Jesus here in Taiwan.

Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have
visited all who desire us to come and share with them as well as
arrange treatment, housing and employment in the States. Thus we are
hoping that you, our supporters, will continue your support through
the summer.

The work will continue here and our teammates have already begun to
step up to this next challenge. Though we can't help them in person
our hearts will be still be here in Taiwan with them.

We could also use your prayers. Please forgive us for not previously
being as open enough with you all, and know that we have done this to
try and protect our kids. Thank you for standing with us, supporting
us, praying for us, and being such a wonderful part of our life.

As our regional coordinator said "God is not up in heaven wringing His
hands not knowing what to do…God is in control." That is an
encouragement to us to know that God still is in control and that He
loves our children even more than we do.

Thank you again for all of your love and support. Please continue to
pray for us. Pray for all of the details to be arranged. From moving,
finding medical help, finding employment, and through it all being
able to be faithful to God and bring glory to Him.

We love you all. Please let us know if you have any questions that
this email didn't explain.

God bless,

Jon and Amy Ralls

When The Angel Came...

This morning (Easter Sunday) around 6:40 am we had an earthquake. Amy's first thought was to say "Earthquake" and my (Jon) first thought was this verse from Matthew 28...

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

How ironic that early on Easter morning we would have an earthquake. I wonder what stones were rolled away today?

We went to the church and had a great time of worship and fellowship. There were many many people and some of our friends (Carrie & Dung Hwang) came with their children. We were very excited to see them and invited them over this afternoon.

Dung Hwang is a very good chess (chinese style) player and so we played for about 2 hours as the kids played and Amy and Carrie chatted. It was a great time. For those of you keeping score at home...Dung Hwang won 3 and we tied on 1. I am very excited just to tie with him!

We talked about creation, science, B.C./A.D. meanings, scuba diving, and much more. They (especially Carrie right now) have become good friends and it is such a natural way to share "The Way" with those who we care about.

May God continue to shake our lives and roll away the stones!

Took A Spill...

Well I (Jon) went for a longer run this afternoon down by the river and had quite the time. About 2.4 miles into the run I somehow slipped and fell into a concrete pole. I'm not sure why I fell, because I wasn't that tired but the ground was uneven and that is the best guess that I can come up with.

I banged and scrapped up my knee and shoulder but I'm actually ok. I turned around at this point and thought "well it can't get any worse than this.." and then it started to rain...and then my ribs started to hurt...yuck.

At about the 4 mile mark I must have had an adrenaline rush because I ended up running 6 miles and besides a few scrapes and some for sure bruises I am fine. I don't think I will make the olympics in 2008.

Oh well there is always 2012.