Taiwan – Our Most Amazing Trip Yet

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First, our trip to Taiwan was one of the greatest governmental trips ever. My heart is overflowing with what I call the recent “big three:” (1) our best trip to Israel, (2) followed by a stunning trip to Armenia (read about it here), and (3) now this trip to Taiwan. I so wish I could pack you all up and take us with us on these trips. 
 
Secondly, I want to thank all of you who prayed for us. We really sensed it. Strongly! A “thank you” seems so inadequate, but thank you!
 
Thirdly, what do we do when we meet with high level government leaders? Answer: We take them to Psalms 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” and then we explain what that means. We give them a copy of Well Versed and Reversed, explaining that God has all the answers for how a government is supposed to function in the Bible, and that is how a nation can be blessed. (We have never met a government leader who did not want God’s blessing on his or her nation.)
 
Then, we pray God’s blessing upon them. (We always respectfully ask permission to prayer for them. We have never had a government leader refuse prayer.) We are totally open spiritually regardless if they are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist or whatever. We are respectful, but we are also share freely. We have been wonderfully received in every single meeting. We left sensing a wonderful friendship. (And please see below what the Taiwanese Deputy Ministry of the Interior said at the end of our meeting.)
 
Fourthly, I want to thank all those who financially supported us. Without your help, we cannot do this. You have so blessed us. Thank you! If you would like to join with us for the next governmental faith-diplomacy trip, please donate here. Your year-end giving would be so appreciated. And wisely used.

We traveled over 18,000 miles. We had extra favor with the airlines in that we got “bumped up” from our economy seats, to our surprise, to business class for the 13 hour flight to Taiwan. And eight days later, a ticket agent graciously protected a “center seat” between us, to give us more room on our six hour flight from Washington DC (we went from Taiwan directly to DC for the Israel Allies Caucus event, and then home) to San Diego. 
 
Now, I want to take you on a quick “newsletter trip” to Taiwan with us, by way of some pictures and brief commentary.

We had some remarkable private meetings with numerous government officials. By the way, we only report those meetings for which we have permission to share, along with photos. There are some wonderful meetings that took place on this trip, for which we were sent the official photographs, but we are not at liberty to share those meetings. Suffice it to say, those meetings were spectacular. We will, however, openly discuss the meetings for which permission was granted.

The original connection point to Taiwan came through Bob Fu. He is a hero to us. He was at the famous Tiananmen Square, during those historic days in 1989. (Read here) Both he and his wife were later imprisoned by the Communists for their faith in Christ. Read his story here.  As we prepared to make this trip, Bob is the one who alerted Taiwanese governmental persons in Washington, DC, who then assisted us in making appointments while we were in Taiwan. 
 
Tragically, since January 1, 1979, the U.S. government does not officially recognize the country of Taiwan, thanks to President Jimmy Carter, and (unfortunately) only officially recognizes the Communist Peoples Republic of China, as opposed to Taiwan (the Republic of China). Therefore there is no official Taiwanese “Embassy” in Washington, DC. Taiwan is not even allowed to have an ambassador at the United Nations. 
 
Instead, in Washington, DC, the building is referred to as the Taipei Economical and Cultural Office (TECO). We are immensely grateful for the wonderful assistance of TECO, and also from the Office of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan which coordinated so many profitable meetings with high level government leaders. In addition, they graciously provided us a van and driver to assist us to all these meetings. We so appreciate them.

Also traveling with us was Charles Huang. He was born in Taipei, but has lived in California since age 12. Like many Asians, he come to America on his own at the age of 12, so he could learn American ways, and have an American education. This is not unusual for Asians. Many come at age 12 or 13. He has been a “spiritual son” to my wife Rosemary Schindler Garlow for many years. He translated for us when the government-provided translators were not with us, and looked out for us (along with Bob Fu), keeping us organized during the trip.

Meetings at the Presidential Palace - Taipei Taiwan.

We had a remarkable time with Lin Chia-Lung, Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs. Met with him and other high ranking government officials. It is so important that the U.S. continues to stand with Taiwan as they face the threats from Communist China.

We LOVED being with Deputy Minister Tang-An Wu. He shared something that deeply moved our little group. He said, “I receive many delegations from the U.S. This meeting was the most moving one I have had in the entire year of 2025.”

We so loved being with all of these amazing people. We LOVE Taiwan. May the US stand with them!

We had an incredible - truly incredible - meeting with Pusin Tali, the Taiwan Ambassador at large for Religious Liberty. He was such a joy talk to!

We had a superb time with former Minister of Finance Joseph Lyu, asking him questions nonstop for 90 minutes. He is not only economically brilliant, serving on many international financial groups and banks, but is a profoundly strong follower of Jesus.

With Legislator Ju-Chun Ko, member of the Yuan (their Congress) and he is a brilliant high tech, AI expert. It was a fabulous meeting.

In front of the Legislative Yuan (Congress) of Taiwan - 113 Members - with Legislator Ju-Chun Ko.

Allow me to give you a quick history of Taiwan:

• 1600s – the Dutch took control of the island, calling it Formosa 
• The Kingdom of Tungning wrestled control from the Dutch
• 1683 – the Qing Dynasty took control
• 1895 – Japan took control for 50 years, until 1945
• 1947 – Feb 28th – called “228 Massacre” in Taiwan – ordered by Chiang Kai-shek
• 1949 – 1980s – the “White Terror” – martial law
• 1987 – martial law ended
• 1996 – 1st direct presidential election 

Summary: Like Israel, Taiwan experienced much subjugation and oppression from outside forces.

Also, Taiwan is profoundly advanced in technology. Of the nearly 200 nations on the earth, the three top technologically advanced countries are:

1. United States
2. Israel
3. Taiwan

As a 7 or 8 year old, I remember hearing about him as a great warrior against Communism - before he was forced out of mainland China to Taiwan.

To younger generations, he is viewed as a ruthless autocrat. Like all political and military leaders, it is a “mixed bag.” The slaughter of Feb 28, 1947 was horrific. That is indefensible. And he was autocratic.

On the positive side, he was bold and courageous in fighting against the oppressive 50 year Japanese rule (1895-1945) over Taiwan, and he battled hard to keep Communism from overtaking China. He was forced to flee to Taiwan (called the Republic of China in contrast to the Communist Peoples Republic of China) in 1949.

I prefer to maintain my innocent childhood memories of him for the good things he did.

Looking to the future, and on a profoundly serious note, we heard from several persons that Communist China (called the Peoples Republic of China) plans to invade Taiwan (called the Republic of China) on or before 2027. We were given several reason for this timeline. Here is a timeline that was produced in the United States.

We will discuss this more in a future newsletter and a future World Prayer Network broadcast. This is a serious prayer concern.

Interviewed by Radio Taiwan International - the equivalent of our NPR (National Public Radio) - where I was totally free to share the truth of the Bible - broadcast all over the world - and especially into China - also by shortwave radio as well.

Fabulous visit with the brilliant Senhong Yang, called by some “the Sean Hannity of Taiwan.” He has an extensive academic background in medicine, dentistry and toxicology in universities in Taiwan and UC Berkeley. When he learned what poisons were going into our bodies daily, he left medicine and became an investigative reporter so he could warn the public what is happening to them.

Thanks to Ginny Chan for introducing us to Pastor Gordon Huang - whose church is called “Taipei 101 Church” - because it is located in Taipei 101 tower (101 floors), the tallest building in Taiwan. And thank God for Facebook. We walked in and Linda (pictured) greeted us as if we were best friends, with the words, “I know all about you. I follow you on Facebook.” Thank God for technology.

“Taipei 101” - in Taipei, Taiwan - with its 101 floors was the tallest building in the world at one time. Elevator goes from ground floor to the 88th floor in 37 seconds!

The pictures here are taken from the 88th floor observatory - beautifully decorated for Christmas.

One of the fastest growing churches and movements in Taiwan is Bread of Life Church. Pastor Nathaniel Chow has an apostolic anointing on him, and is considered a primary “spiritual father of Taiwan.” His son Jonathan Chow pastors one of the largest churches in Taipei.

Pastor Lily Pan, who is a Lutheran Pastor, leads up a large Taiwan intercessory prayer network. I spent a lengthy time with her, trying to understand the “lay of the land” in the Taiwanese church.

In Taipei, Taiwan, with James Hudson Taylor IV (“Jamie”), the great grandson of one of the most famous missionaries ever - the great Hudson Taylor who died in 1901.

Taipei is a breathtakingly beautiful city and, in contrast to most large American cities, is profoundly clean. It has so many remarkable structures. I will just add one more, the amazing Grand Mayfull Hotel. 
 
We had very little time to sightsee, but for a portion of a day, we got to take in the beauty of this island. The Dutch called it “Formosa,” meaning “beautiful island.

Pacific Ocean - northeast Taiwan - and Yangmingshein National Park / Yangwing Mountain complete with water buffalo, near Taipei, Taiwan.

Albert Veksler founded the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast, which has been held annually in Jerusalem nine times, and another 27 times in cities around the world. It was held in Taipei the first days of December. Albert and his family live in Jerusalem, and oversee this international operation. However, local leaders are raised up to lead it in each city. In Taipei, the leaders were a remarkable couple, Carl and Ginny Chin, along with a prominent Jewish leader, Jeffrey Schwartz, who founded the magnificent Taiwan Jewish Cultural Center.

Rosemary and I had the privilege of speaking at the 3 day JPB several times.

Our “scheduler” Bob, driver Cody and guide Andrea. The wonderful guide prayed to receive Jesus. What a team.

Our excellent Taiwanese government-provided driver and Mercedes Benz Sprinter which carried us luxuriously from meeting to meeting, reducing all stress in spite of a packed schedule of meetings. This driver and our little team - Dr. Bob Fu & Pastor Charles Huang - served us so wonderfully.

Once again, I cannot adequately express my appreciation for your prayer and financial support for the Well Versed ministry. As noted above, the last few trips have been the most spiritually productive. We strive to encourage political leaders. You made it possible for us to do that. Thank you so much. We have grateful hearts.

Consider giving a tax-deductible donation to Well Versed, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, to continue bringing biblical principles of governance to government leaders and YOU!