Activated Magazine 2004 / 01

(Traditional Chinese Activated mag 1 -English text mostly from Reflections & one article from English mag issue 1.)

Cover page:

Real Love

Date with a Stranger

The Power of Love

Page 2:

This is the first issue of Activated magazine. If you are interested in receiving more issues or ordering some of our inspiring and strengthening Bible-based publications, please write, phone or e-mail us today! Thank you!

Editor: Sunny Hsu
Graphic Design: Giselle LeFavre, Marcus
Illustrations: Hugo Westphal, Ana Fields

Golden Sunrise Production
(address)
e-mail: info@goldensp.com
Website：www.goldensp.com
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Name of Account：Golden Sunrise Production

Personally Speaking

Life sure can be confusing! We search for answer, but often end up with more questions. What are we here for? Why is there so much pain and heartache in the world? Where can we find hope, even when things seem to be going all-wrong? Where can we find the strength to face life’s challenges? Where can we find joy that lasts? Have you ever wondered about what are most important things in your life? What is your priority in life?
Mother Teresa said, “Unless we can do little things with great love, or else we can’t do any great things.” Dr. Martin King said, “Everybody can become great…because anybody can serve others. You don’t have to have university diploma to serve mankind. You don’t need to be great with speech or words to serve mankind. All you need is a heart full of grace, and a soul inspired by love.” I believe we all wish to live a happy life full of meaning, and bring some good to others. Deep from our hearts, we want to reach out, open our hearts to love, care & serve others. But where should we start? Sometimes we feel that we’re so limited, can we actually do it?
Through “Activated” we’re making some true discovery & actual evaluation of life. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what kind of job you have, or what role you’re playing, we sincerely hope that through “Activated” will bring the answers that you need.
In this issue of “Activated”, we’ll be talking about the above topics that we mentioned, and more! And the most essential subject that we like to share with you is the “true love” that we all need. We also hope that you can find that true love as well! And by finding that “true love” will give you happiness, joy, peace, freedom & contentment.
Sunny Hsu
Your “Activated” editor

Page 3:
Date with a Stranger

Have you ever considered the following questions: Can love be measured? I heard a very touching love story, which made me to think deeply that if my love for others is conditional. Is my love for others able to endure tests & trials? Let me explain my feeling by the following story:

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.
His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he had found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.
In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.
During the next year and one-month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like.
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. "You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel." So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen.
I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened:
A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my way, sailor?" she murmured.
Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes.
The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.
And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful.
I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," A wise man wrote, "and I will tell you who you are."

* * *

pages 4-5:

Reach Out…

(mostly from Reflections 146).

God’s Wife
It’s a cold day in December in New York City. A little boy about ten years old was standing before a shoe store on Broadway, barefooted, peering through the window and shivering with cold. A lady approached the boy and said, “My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window?”
“I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,” was the boy’s reply.
The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get a half dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of warm water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with a towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks.
Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she then purchased a pair of shoes for him, and tying up the remaining pairs of socks, gave them to him. She patted him on the head, and said, “No doubt, my little fellow, you feel more comfortable now?”
As she turned to go, the astonished lad caught her by the hand and, looking into her face with tears in his eyes, he answered the question with these words: “Are you God’s wife?”-Author unknown

Finding New Zest in Life!
One morning as I neared the hospital where I worked, I noticed a frail, stooped, elderly man hurrying in the same direction. I wondered where he was going in such a hurry and at such an hour. I also questioned whether it was safe for him to be out alone in his obviously poor state of health.
Later that day, I was surprised to see the same man walking down a corridor in the hospital. I found out he had always enjoyed helping other people, so one day he had come to the hospital and offered to work as a volunteer. He comes two mornings each week to work in whatever way he is needed. He enjoys the interaction with the staff, the patients, and their families. By helping others, he has been able to forget his own health problems. In giving of himself, he has found a new lease on life and a new reason to get up in the morning.

---
As the old man walked the beach at dawn he noticed a youth ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Finally, catching up with the youth, he asked him why he was doing this. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. “But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish,” countered the old man. “How can your effort make any difference?”
The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to the safety of the waves. “It will make a difference to this one,” he said.

Love cannot be wasted. It makes no difference where it is bestowed, it always brings in big returns. A little bit of love goes such a long way. -David Brant Berg

Give a Rose

My friend Bruce was a welfare officer. One summer day he cut an armful of roses from his garden and took them to a deprived area. He gave some to a blind lady who smelled them eagerly. “Such a change from the smells around here!” she exclaimed.
Bruce’s last visit was to what is nowadays called a problem family. The eldest girl was on two years’ probation. She stared sullenly when Bruce offered her his last rose. To his surprise, she snatched it and held it to her cheek. “No one’s ever given me a rose before,” she said. “I’ve never seen one close up.”
My friend was touched by the reverence with which the girl fingered his gift. “My heart went out to her,” he told me, “and I thought how different her life might have been if, earlier on, someone else had cared enough to give her a rose.”
Sometimes it takes so very little to bring joy and beauty into another’s life-and it can make so much difference.

Page 6:

A Great Act

-Edison’s Second Light Bulb

Everybody knows that Edison is a famous inventor who invented the electric light bulb, so that we can enjoy its convenience & benefit today. But I wonder how many people heard about his being kind & forgiving to others. The following is a true life story about him, we wish we also can learn the true meaning of love through his sample.
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light bulb. At one point in his experiments, he had at last produced a perfect bulb--the final result of hundreds of trials. It was the first electric light bulb that had ever been made & Edison was full of pride & delight. He had been dreaming of this moment for years.
"Take it upstairs, Jimmy," he said, handing it to his assistant Jimmy Price. Then suddenly there was a crash & Edison turned to see the precious bulb lying in fragments on the floor. Jimmy had let it slip through his fingers!
Edison said nothing--what his thoughts were can be imagined. He went back to his work bench & set to work once more to make another bulb. It was days more before at last this second bulb was ready. There it lay on the bench before its maker, fully completed.
Then Edison did a very big thing--as a sign that he had forgiven his apprentice for breaking the first bulb. With a smile, he handed the new bulb to Jimmy. "Careful now," he said. He was giving the boy another chance. Jimmy did not break that bulb--& so we have them in their millions in the World today.

page 7:
“Dad’s Christmas Gift”
(By Liu Lee)
Are you also troubled by what to give to your loved loves & friends for holidays? The following story turns this difficult task into a thrilling challenge:
When Robert was fifteen years old and still on his father's farm, he overheard his parents’ conversation a few days before Christmas. That caused him to realize that he loved his father.
“Mary, I hate to call Rob in the mornings. He's growing so fast and he needs his sleep. If you could see how he sleeps when I go in to wake him up! I wish I could manage alone.”
“Well, you can't, Adam.” His mother's voice was brisk. “Besides, he isn't a child any more. It's time he took his turn.”
“Yes,” his father said slowly. “But I sure do hate to wake him.”
Neither his father nor his mother talked about loving their children--they had no time for such things. There was always so much to do on the farm. Therefore, when Rob heard these words, something in him woke; his father loved him!
Now that he knew his father loved him, there would be no more loitering in the mornings and having to be called again. He got up after that, stumbling blind with sleep, and pulled on his clothes, his eyes tight shut, but he got up.
They were poor and most of the excitement was in the turkey they had raised themselves and the mince pies his mother made. His sisters sewed presents and his mother and father always bought something he needed, not only a warm jacket, but maybe something more, such as a book. And he saved and bought them each something, too.
And then on the night before Christmas, that year when he was fifteen, he lay on the bed, looking at the bright stars outside the window. He wished that Christmas that he had a better present for his father. As usual he had gone to the ten-cent store and bought a tie. It had seemed nice enough until he lay thinking the night before Christmas. His thought went back when he was young, his father would tell him the story of how Jesus was born in a stable. His father would explained, “It's just a barn, like ours.” The thought struck him like a silver dagger. Why should he not give his father a special gift too, out there in the barn? He could get up early, earlier than four, and he could creep into the barn and get all the milking done. He'd do it alone, milk and clean up, and then when his father went to start the milking, he'd see it all done, and he would know who had done it. That night, he must have waked twenty times, striking a match each time to look at his old watch--midnight, and half past one, and then two o'clock. At a quarter to three he got up and put on his clothes. He crept downstairs, careful of the creaky boards, and let himself out.
The cows looked at him, sleepy and surprised. It was too early for them too. He had never milked all alone before, but it seemed almost easy. He kept thinking about his father's surprise. The task went more easily than he had ever known it to go before. Milking for once was not a chore. It was something else--a gift to his father, who loved him.
He finished, the two milk cans were full, and he covered them and closed the milk house door carefully. Back in his room he had only a minute to pull off his clothes in the darkness and jump into bed, for he heard his father up. He put the covers over his head to silence his quick breathing. The door opened. “Rob!” his father called. “We have to get up, son, even if it is Christmas.” “Awright,” he said sleepily. The door closed and he lay still, laughing to himself. In just a few minutes his father would know. His dancing heart was ready to jump from his body. The minutes were endless--ten, fifteen, he did not know how many--and he heard his father's footsteps again. The door opened and he lay still.
“Rob!” His father was laughing, a queer, sobbing sort of laugh. “Thought you'd fool me, did you?”
“It's for Christmas, Dad!” He found his father and clutched him in a great hug. He felt his father's arms go around him. It was dark and they could not see each other's faces. “Rob, I thank you. Nobody ever did a nicer thing!”
“I love you, Dad!” The moment he said these words, his heart was bursting with love.
“The best Christmas gift I ever had, and I'll remember it, son, every year on Christmas morning, so long as I live.”
Though now that his father has passed away for 30 years, Robert still remembered it alone: that blessed Christmas dawn when, alone in the barn, he had made his first gift of true love.

Captions of the cartoon:
Wow, it’s all finished!
Quote:
Unselfish giving from the heart is something that everyone can do, a little bit of love goes a long long way.

page 8-9:

Big Rocks

An expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students. He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar, and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes?
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.
Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "That's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is this: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all"
What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Are you putting them in first?

What are the 'big rocks' in your life?

work
make money
have business meetings
study
shopping
spend time with my family
take time to appreciate & praise my loved ones
take time to show my love for my family
listen to friend’s heart cry
help to meet the needs of others
work hard to improve the quality of my life
traveling
others

Answers to your Questions..
Q: How can I improve my relationship with others in general?
(the answer is taken from Living Water)

First of all, you can try one of the secrets to SUCCESS WITH PEOPLE: Smile Power!
ACTIONS speak louder than words, and a smile says, "I like you! You make me happy! I'm glad to see you! I'm so happy you're here! This is why dogs are such a hit. They are so glad to see us they practically jump all over us! So naturally, we're glad to see them. A baby's smile has an even greater effect.
The personnel manager of a large New York department store said she would rather hire a sales clerk who hadn't finished high school, if he or she had a pleasant smile, than to hire a Ph.D. or an MBA with a somber face.
The effect of a smile is powerful even when it is unseen. Telephone companies suggest you smile when talking over the phone. Your smile comes through in your voice.
You must have a good time meeting people if you expect them to have a good time meeting you. Smile! Nobody needs a smile as much as those who have none left to give!
PHILOSOPHERS have been speculating on the rules of human relationships for thousands of years, and out of all that speculation there has come one important precept. Jesus taught it twenty centuries ago and summed it up in one thought: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you? (Matthew 7:12). So let's give unto others what we would have others give unto us.

Page 10
Life from a Hug
(rewritten from a true story)
Recently I’ve been doing some research concerning love as the main topic. Incidentally I found this true story in the Internet, and I’d like to share with you all.
Have you ever asked yourself what love is? What’s the definition & how much power of love is? Can a little bit of love really affect in a lot of ways? This story is about 2 new born twin sisters, how through the older sister’s hug, that the younger sister’s life was rescued.
This set of twin girls were born October 17, 1995, 12 weeks ahead of their due date and were placed preemie twins in separate incubators. The larger sister at two pounds, three ounces was growing & making progress steadily. But the younger one who weighed only two pounds at birth, couldn't keep up with her. She had breathing and heart-rate problems. The oxygen level in her blood was low, and her weight gain was slow.
Suddenly, on November 12, the younger went into critical condition. She began gasping for breath, and her face and stick-thin arms and legs turned bluish-gray. Her heart rate was way up, her weakened body didn’t seem to be able to keep going that she might die anytime.
At that time, the nurse who was taking care of the twins tried everything she could think of to stabilize the baby. Then she remembered something she had heard about a procedure, common in parts of Europe, that called for double-bedding multiple-birth babies, especially preemies. So with the permission from the parents, she put the twins in the same incubator.
They observed the twins development closely. They noticed that no sooner had the door of the incubator closed, the younger one snuggled up to her older sister and calmed right down. Then within minutes the younger sister's blood-oxygen readings were much better. As she dozed, the older sister wrapped her tiny arm around her smaller sibling.
The younger twin’s condition stabilized day after day. The way she slept peacefully in her older sister’s arm is so touching & unforgettable. It shows the love between the sisters.
Even as young as babies like that can show love for each other, how much more we can do that too?

HUGS
(a poem taken from Reflection “Love Reaches out”)

It's wondrous what a hug can do,
A hug can cheer you when you're blue.
A hug can say, "I love you so."--
Or, "Oh, I'm sad to see you go."

A hug is, "Welcome back again!"--
And, "Great to see you!" or,
"Where've you been?"
A hug can soothe a small child's pain
And bring a rainbow after rain.

The hug! There's just no doubt about it,
We scarcely could survive without it.
A hug delights and warms and charms,
It must be why God gave us arms!

Hugs are great for fathers and mothers,
Sweet for sisters, swell for brothers.
And chances are some favorite aunts
Love them more than potted plants.

Kittens crave them. Puppies love them.
Heads of state are not above them.
A hug can break the language barrier
And make the dullest day seem merrier.

No need to fret about the store of 'em,
The more you give,
The more there are of 'em.
So stretch those arms without delay
And give someone a hug today!
--Author Unknown

Pages 11-12
The Man of Love part 1
Jesus was no ordinary man, nor was He merely a great teacher, rabbi, guru, or even a prophet. In a way, He was all of these, but much more. For unlike the other great religious teachers who came before or after Him, Jesus not only spoke about love and God, but He was love and He was the Son of God, so He really knew what He was talking about!
The Bible tells us that "God is a Spirit," and that "God is love."(See John 4:24; 1 John 4:8.)
God is the Almighty Spirit of love, the Creator of all things. He is the power of the universe, so great and so mighty that He is far above and beyond our limited human understanding.
God is all-powerful, all-knowing and present everywhere. And that's just too big a concept for us to grasp! But He loves us very much, and wanted us to be able to know and love Him. So to show us His love and to help us to understand Him, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to Earth in the form of a man, so that we could see through Jesus what God Himself is like. Jesus brought God down to our level.
Think of it! Two thousand years ago God sent His own Son, the very Lord of Heaven, the Master of the universe, down to Earth to be-come one of us! He was miraculously conceived in the womb of a humble virgin named Mary, and took on the form of human flesh just like ours. Therefore He was the Son of Man as well as the Son of God.

Doing good to all

Jesus not only adapted Himself to our bodily form, but He also conformed to our human ways of life, customs, language, dress, and living so that He might understand us better and be able to communicate with us on the lowly level of our own human understanding. He became a citizen of this world, a member of humanity, a man of flesh, so that He might reach us with His love, prove to us His compassion and concern, and help us understand His message in simple childlike terms that we could grasp.
He came down and adopted the life of a lowly carpenter. Then, at the age of thirty, He began His ministry as a wandering prophet and religious teacher. He lived like us, worked like us, had to sleep like us, eat like us, and do everything that we have to do. There were times when He was weary, tired, and footsore, when He was hungry and thirsty, sad and discouraged. He became one of us and, as the Bible says, “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus spent His time going around everywhere doing good feeding people who were hungry, healing those who were sick, cheering and comforting those who were sad and brokenhearted. He loved every-body, even those whom everybody else looked down on.
He never had any religious buildings, denominations or formal congregations. He simply went out and met people on the streets, by the seashore, in the market places--wherever He could reach them and shared His message of love with all who would listen to it. He befriended even the most despised and rejected members of society: tax collectors, drunks, prostitutes, and sinners.
His religion of love was so simple that He said that you must become as a little child to receive it. (See Matthew 18:3.) He never preached or taught any complicated ceremonies or difficult rules. All He did was preach and show love. (See Matthew 22:36-40.)

Do you know that you also can have the everlasting love from Jesus? All you have to do is open your heart to receive Him. You can simply do the following prayer:
“Dear Jesus, thank You for Your love for me and forgive my sins & mistakes. Now I open my heart & invite You to come in. Jesus, please come into my life, and give me Your Love & eternal life. Help me to love others like You do. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.”

--For more amazing exciting life story of Jesus, please read “Activated” magazine #2 !

Page 13
“Greater Love Hath No Man Than This ...”
(taken from Reflection 10, with minor changes)

Whatever their planned target, the mortar rounds landed in an orphanage run by a missionary group in the small Vietnamese village. The missionaries and one or two children were killed outright, and several more children were wounded, including one young girl, about eight years old.
People from the village requested medical help from a neighbouring town that had radio contact with the American forces. Finally, an American Navy doctor and nurse arrived in a jeep with only their medical kits. They established that the girl was the most critically injured. Without quick action, she would die of shock and loss of blood.
A transfusion was imperative, and a donor with a matching blood type was required. A quick test showed that neither American had the correct blood type, but several of the uninjured orphans did.
The doctor spoke some pidgin Vietnamese, and the nurse a smattering of high-school French. Using that combination, together with much impromptu sign language, they tried to explain to the young, frightened audience that unless they could replace some of the girl's lost blood, she would certainly die. Then they asked if anyone would be willing to give blood to help.
Their request was met with wide-eyed silence. After several long moments a small hand slowly and waveringly went up, dropped back down, and then went up again.
"Oh, thank you," the nurse said in French. "What is your name?"
"Heng," came the reply.
Heng was quickly laid on a pallet, his arm swabbed with alcohol, and a needle inserted in his vein. Through this ordeal Heng lay stiff and silent.
After a moment, he let out a shuddering sob, quickly covering his face with his free hand.
"Is it hurting, Heng?" the doctor asked. Heng shook his head, but after a few moments another sob escaped, and once more he tried to cover up his crying. Again the doctor asked him if the needle hurt, and again Heng shook his head.
But now his occasional sobs gave way to a steady, silent crying, his eyes screwed tightly shut, his fist in his mouth to stifle his sobs.
The medical team was concerned. Something was obviously very wrong. At this point, a Vietnamese nurse arrived to help. Seeing the little one's distress, she spoke to him rapidly in Vietnamese, listened to his reply and answered him in a soothing voice.
After a moment, the patient stopped crying and looked questioningly at the Vietnamese nurse. When she nodded, a look of great relief spread over his face.
Glancing up, the nurse said quietly to the Americans, "He thought he was dying. He misunderstood you. He thought you had asked him to give all his blood so the little girl could live."
"But why would he be willing to do that?" asked the Navy nurse.
The Vietnamese nurse repeated the question to the little boy, who answered simply, "She's my friend."

"Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend" (John 15:13).

Page 14
“True Love Changed Me!”
--True Story of the Editor
Everybody wants to have a wonderful life, so do I. I was very fortunate, ever since I was a child, my parents showered me with lots of love & care. And I was doing pretty well with my school. Except it was hard for me to find some real good friends.(I found out later the reason why. It’s because I was too selfish, didn’t know how to make friends.)
I had a few boyfriends when I was in university. And I was getting quite serious with one of them, and even talking about getting married. But for some reason, no matter how hard we both tried, there seemed to be some barriers between us, maybe it was because our family backgrounds were different, the personal interest varied. Nevertheless, we were together for about 4 to 5 years.
During my university school years, I tried to participate different student clubs with all kinds of activities, such as dancing, martial art, drawing, etc. I often attend parties, excursions and other activities. I thought, since I was a college student, of course, I might as well enjoyed it! I would go out with my friends to watch movies, shopping, try different restaurants on weekends. On the surface, I seemed to have everything, but deep inside of my heart was emptiness. Whenever I got back home by myself, I could feel that loneliness & emptiness coming upon me.
Indeed, I had my parents’ love, my boyfriend’s love, “friendship” from my classmates. But they seemed not be able to touch my heart, neither gave me the satisfaction or contentment that I needed.
Just before I went to study abroad, I got to know Jesus & His love through my school friends. That was the turning point of my life, I found out that He was the “True Love” that I was looking for. He’s the One True Friend that will be always with me and will never fail me! Because of Him, that I was able to go through the very tough time when I was studying abroad. I was so thankful that Jesus was with me to see me through, to encourage me to keep going till I finally finished my study. During that time, He also helped me to understand the true meaning of life was not just thinking of self, making plans for self, but to give to others. He helped me to understand that the reason that I wasn’t happy & felt empty is because of my own selfishness. I started to understand His love for me, and the truth to lead my path of life through His Word.
After I came back home from broad, I was invited to go to different universities to teach. About the same time, I was also offered the chance to serve others doing volunteer work. I slowly understood that though teaching others knowledge will help them to learn some skills, but teaching people the love & Word of Jesus, can bring them endless benefit for life! I was very grateful that I made the best choice. Later through the Lord’s blessing & His arrangement, I got to know my husband who loves me, loves the Lord & others very much. Now we have 5 wonderful children.
Our little family is not perfect, all our personality & interests are also different. But we all get along & care for one another. We might not have the riches of this world, but we have the real lasting riches-God’s true love! This is a special blessing from God!
I’m very thankful for this blessing, I sincerely hope that you will be able to find this true love also. This love changed me, and I believe that it can change you too, it can make you into a happy person full of love & peace! Please try it!

Captions: Our family photo-Our oldest twin sons are in Kenya, 3rd son is in Eastern Europe doing volunteer work. Our twin girls are with us in Taiwan.

Page 15
Love Makes a Difference
(articles taken from the Reflection by the same title)

What does love look like? It has hands to help others. It has feet to go to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and sadness. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like!

If your heart is full of love, you always have something to give. (a quote)

Q: How can one person make a difference?
A:
Even the little things you do can mean a lot: A little bit of love goes such a long way! The light of your smile, the kindness of your face, the influence of your life, can shed light on many, and have an amazing effect on some people you think might be the least likely to be impressed.
-David Berg

The man had just been released from prison after serving a
three-year sentence for embezzlement. Back in his hometown
of Darlington, England, for the first time, he braced himself
for the ostracism he expected to receive.
On his first morning out, he and Darlington’s mayor, John
Morel, happened to pass on the street. “Hello,” said the mayor
in a cheerful tone. “I’m glad to see you! How are you?” The
other man appeared ill at ease, and the conversation ended in
an awkward silence.
Years later, Mr. Morel and the other man—by this time
an upstanding and productive citizen—met in another town.
“I want to thank you for what you did for me when I came out
of prison,” the man said.
“What did I do?” asked the mayor.
“You spoke a kind word to me that changed my life,”
replied the grateful man.
—Retold by Keith Phillips

Page 16
From Jesus with Love
The faces of My love
My love is manifested to you in many different ways. My love is manifested in every joy and pleasure that you feel in life, and in the supply of your every need Every time someone gives you encouragement or affection, this is My love for you. Every time you go to My Word and you find strength and inspiration to go on, this is My love for you. When you lie down at night, tired and weary from the labors of the day, and you find sweet sleep that refreshes your body and spirit, this is My love for you. In your times of relaxation, when you find recreation and enjoyment and laughter, this is My love for you. a In every new thing that you learn, and in every new experience, in every way that you find satisfaction and challenge, in every way that you feel contentment of heart or rest of spirit or bodily comfort all this is My love for you. a The more you learn to recognize Me in these everyday affairs of your life and the more you learn to appreciate these little things that I do to manifest Myself to you, the more you will grow to know and feel My love.

(End of file.)

ENGLISH TEXT FOR REFERENCE