Taiwan Brit

Amongst the first people I met when I started going to GBC. Paul was the 'enforcer' for the after-service meal and turned out to be an excellent chap as well. My biggest memory of Paul is disagreeing with him over politics. We had all been round at (Pastor) Dave Brown's house to celebrate someone's birthday and Paul came out with something that just seemed so narrow-minded. I got wound up and left in a huff. The problem was, I couldn't find my shoes amongst the mass outside the door, so I started walking to the MRT station in my socks. At some point, I realized just how ridiculous this was, so turned around and went back. I sort of apologized to Paul, but I left (much more politely this time!) not too long afterwards. When I arrived home, I was still upset. I tried praying about it, but struggled to get any sort of breakthrough. The next day, there was an email in my inbox from Paul, which contained a very humble apology. This, for me, spoke volumes about what sort...

Having followed politics for a long time, and seen how the 2000 US presidential election unfolded, I've always had a bit of an 'issue' with Americans. Despite having American cousins, listening to American music and so on, I've seen the country as arrogant, insular and narrow-minded. Christianity in the USA certainly plays a much bigger role in politics than in the UK. High profile Christian leaders in the US always seemed to align themselves with the Republicans when I instinctively sympathized with the Democrats. So when I became a Christian and first started attending Grace Baptist Church (GBC), led by an American, some of my inbuilt preconceptions / prejudices began to be challenged. First of all, Dave Brown didn't seem to fit the mould I had prepared for him! He was open, honest, humble and much more open to the world than I had expected. His sermons were very practical and inspirational, and not full of an American / Republican world view. As it turned out...

He was due to arrive on 15th October 2008, but Joelle developed preeclampsia and the doctor recommended induced labour 3 weeks early. Long story short, our first child Samuel Chi-en Keith Jackson was born at 11.19pm on Wednesday 24th September! His Name: It might seem long, but each part is important: SAMUEL: His first name was the hardest part to decide, but I liked it and Joelle thought it was OK so it 'passed'! I really wanted to give him a Biblical name that was prophetic and came across these verses in 1 Samuel 3:19-20: 'The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD' These verses certainly reflect our hopes for him, that he would grow up honouring God and that he would be a prophetic voice to Taiwan, the UK or wherever else he might be living. The Bible notes also say that Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard of God . CHI-EN...

Joelle and I were delighted to become aunt and uncle for the first time on 3rd April 2007. Rachel gave birth to a 4 kilogram baby and, when I asked her "how was it?", told me all about it! It's at times like these that the vast distance between the UK and Taiwan is the most frustrating... Still, we got the chance to see little Jack(son) in July, along with the rest of the family. Seeing Jack just served to convince me that I wanted to be a Dad too!