Dear Rev. Lim, Peng-an,

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your family.

Thank you for sending us Christmas greetings from the TCCCNA and for your kind and generous gift. We are so blessed to have many friends in the Taiwanese Church community, both in Taiwan and in North America. Here is a copy of our recent family newsletter plus a photo.

I leave this Friday for another 5 week visit to Taiwan. The Hakka Bible translation team and I hope to finalize our work on the Minor Prophets. Thanks for your prayers. May God continue to bless you and all the churches in the TCCCNA and in Taiwan. May God's kingdom come and will be done more and more in 2010. Your brother in Christ,

Paul / Mak Yuk-tho

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas from our clan in an unusually warm and snow-less Toronto.

We are grateful to God for many blessings through 2009, and trust that you have been blessed in numerous ways too.

Mark completed the 3rd year of his Business program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Jan-April he was a research assistant for a professor studying organizational behaviour and how to cope with injustice in the workplace. Attending lectures during the summer semester was a new experience for Mark, but he still managed time for ultimate Frisbee and photography. He also helped build a community centre in Costa Rica over two weeks in August as part of a group from Laurier called Students Offering Service (SOS). For the fall semester he worked at Sustainable Waterloo, a not-for-profit company which helps local organizations reduce their CO2 emissions through collaborative learning and networking. Mark plans to attend Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship's "Urbana" mission conference between Christmas and New Year, then finish his 4th year of studies in Jan-Aug 2010.

Peter now has a year and a few months experience at BioPed Footcare a local franchise where he works Tuesdays-Saturdays as a certified pedorthist. Mid-week he enjoys leading a university and career-aged Bible study group that is part of Knox church. One week in August he served as a cabin leader at Knox's overnight camp near Haliburton, and led the early morning charge for the daily polar bear swim. During another week of holidays in November, he bussed to Boston, took in the sights, savoured clam chowder, and attended a concert by a favourite band called Mute Math. He finished his holidays exploring tourist attractions in Toronto: the Body Worlds display at the Ontario Science Centre, the King Tut exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), and the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).

Shift-work at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre keeps Andrew and Heather quite busy. Heather enjoys nursing and caring for her patients on the General Internal Medicine ward. Andrew starts and finishes his paramedic shifts at Sunnybrook, but he is usually out on calls helping people in distress anywhere in North East Toronto. Much of Andrew and Heather's free time last year was spent renovating the basement in their little brick bungalow. They also managed some holidays hiking in Algonquin Park and relaxing beside some of the beautiful lakes and rivers of Ontario. In the New Year they are planning a whirl-wind tour of New Zealand, Australia, China, Taiwan and parts of Africa.

Mary Beth continues to work four days a week in International Ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. At Knox church she coordinates the prayer chain where she has seen people experience God's love and care in many diverse situations. Last year she took on added responsibilities at Knox as a Trustee and member of the church's Personnel Committee. In warmer weather she loves to putter in our small back garden. A wet summer yielded fewer tomatoes this year, but the purple clematis, three Roses of Sharon, a newly planted holly bush, and lots of annuals & perennials all thrived. For our 29th wedding anniversary, we relaxed for a couple of days in Niagara-on-the-Lake, then in the summer we saw two plays in Stratford: Cyrano de Bergerac and Macbeth. We also enjoyed visits with Mary Beth's brother Peter and his family in Peterborough, plus visits from other family members who passed through Toronto.

Paul made two 5-week trips to Taiwan in Mar/April, July/Aug. The third trip, originally planned for Nov/Dec, had to be postponed after he caught the H1N1 flu just a few days before departure. (Mark had the worst bout of H1N1, then Paul, while Peter and MB had milder cases. Thankfully we are all better now.) This past year Paul and the Hakka Bible translation team finalized their work on Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea and Amos. The one-book printed edition of Amos has been delayed, while the Bible Society in Taiwan develops several different ways of typesetting Roman and Han character text. The extra month at home gave Paul time to complete his review of the draft translation for the other 10 Minor Prophets—all very challenging books to translate! He and the Hakka team hope to finalize these in Jan/Feb 2010, then press on with their review of the New Testament, Psalms & Proverbs (first published in 1993 and 1995).

Gramma McLean was blessed with another year of good health and well-being. Cataract surgery on one eye was very successful. She remains active in her home church in Brampton. She and our family enjoyed a couple of visits from Paul's sister Dianne whose home is in Calgary. Gramma will spend a few days with us over the Christmas holidays, always a happy time.

May our loving and gracious God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—bless you abundantly this Christmas and throughout the New Year as you love and serve the Lord with joy and thanksgiving.

Love from us all,

Paul, Mary Beth, Andrew & Heather, Peter and Mark