Reconnecting with Friends

A Letter from Jonathan and Emily Seitz, serving in Taiwan

Summer 2022

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Dear friends in Christ,

Our family has just returned from a busy yet refreshing summer in the U.S. After three long years away due to COVID, it was truly a blessing to be able to spend time with family and friends and to reconnect with our partner churches stateside. A few days after we arrived in the U.S., the twins and I were able to participate in a fun week-long VBS program, with over 100 children participating, at Northminster Presbyterian Church in my hometown of Cincinnati. Northminster, located just across the street from my parents’ house, is my parents’ church and the church Jonathan and I were married in 21 years ago. I helped with the twins’ group – fifth and sixth graders – and I loved working together with one of my mother’s high school classmates. The kids in my group were so enthusiastic, and when they found out we lived and served in Taiwan they asked lots of interesting questions. Somehow the topic of natural disasters came up, and one boy wanted to know what an earthquake felt like. I amused them with the story of a recent small earthquake in which one of our guppies splashed out of its tank and landed on the windowsill, but we scooped it up, plopped it back into the tank, and it was fine!

After our sojourn in Ohio, we visited my aunt and cousin in Washington D.C. While the kids and I spent time visiting the Smithsonian museums and monuments, Jonathan cared for his uncle, who had late-stage cancer, in his uncle’s home in Maryland for a week. Near the end of the week, the kids and I took Amtrak from Washington D.C. to Maryland and were able to spend a day with them. Uncle Paul was in pain, so we could only talk with him for a short while, and the kids were able to play in the creek behind the house where Jonathan played when he was a child. We all felt God’s presence as we walked along the creek, admiring dragonflies, water striders, and the sunlight filtering through the trees and shining on the water. Uncle Paul, who was a scientist – a government physicist, and his wife, Joan, an artist (who died last year) loved to be outdoors working in their yard; thankfully, Uncle Paul was able to spend some time outdoors every day up until the end. I am so glad we were able to see Uncle Paul one last time and to say goodbye, as he died just five days after we left.

We spent the last part of our U.S. summer in Alabama visiting Jonathan’s family. His parents are in the independent living section of a Presbyterian retirement home. As retired PC(USA) pastors, they have already contributed so much to the community. They loved taking us – and especially their grandchildren – to chapel, and our daughter, even in the short time she was there, managed to get to know the two retirement home chaplains and many of the residents. Jonathan did a presentation on our work in Taiwan for residents and fielded many good questions.

Jonathan and I left the kids with his parents for a few days and were able to spend some time alone together at Mission Haven, a place run by Presbyterian Women with inexpensive housing for returning missionaries in Decatur, Georgia. We had not taken time like that for quite a few years – due in part to the chaos of COVID and also living abroad and not having family nearby. We are so grateful for the time we had to strengthen our relationship and have calm and quiet away from the kids. While there, we also enjoyed visiting the Atlanta Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, where Jonathan presented for both the youth and adult Sunday schools and also preached for worship. I was delighted to meet the young adults, many of whom have only been to Taiwan a few times to visit family, but, like us, love both Taiwan and the U.S.

If we did not visit your church this past summer, please keep in mind that we are planning a trip to the U.S. again next summer. The quarantine has now been reduced to just three days, so our return to Taiwan was relatively stress-free, and we expect the same will be true next summer. As always, we are grateful for your support. We especially ask for your prayers as we begin a new busy season of teaching, ministry, and serving in various roles with our partner denomination, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.

Our three children are starting a new school year at the Christian international school they attend. For Sam, it is his first year of high school, and the twins, Eva and Eli, are in sixth grade, starting middle school. In mid-September, Jonathan and I will begin a new semester of teaching at Taiwan Theological Seminary, and we are praying that all will go smoothly.

We also ask for your prayers for Taiwan as it emerges from a COVID surge, and as it faces an increasingly challenging geopolitical situation. Taiwan and the churches and people of Taiwan need your prayers more than ever at this moment.

Emily and Jonathan

Please read the following letter from Rev. Mienda Uriarte, acting director of World Mission:

Dear Partners in God’s Mission,

What an amazing journey we’re on together! Our call to be a Matthew 25 denomination has challenged us in so many ways to lean into new ways of reaching out. As we take on the responsibilities of dismantling systemic racism, eradicating the root causes of poverty and engaging in congregational vitality, we find that the Spirit of God is indeed moving throughout World Mission. Of course, the past two years have also been hard for so many as we’ve ventured through another year of the pandemic, been confronted with racism, wars and the heart wrenching toll of natural disasters. And yet, rather than succumb to the darkness, we are called to shine the light of Christ by doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God.

We are so grateful that you are on this journey as well. Your commitment enables mission co-workers around the world to accompany partners and share in so many expressions of the transformative work being done in Christ’s name. Thank you for your partnership, prayers and contributions to their ministries.

We hope you will continue to support World Mission in all the ways you are able:

Give – Consider making a year-end financial contribution for the sending and support of our mission personnel (E132192). This unified fund supports the work of all our mission co-workers as they accompany global partners in their life-giving work. Gifts can also be made “in honor of” a specific mission co-worker – just include their name on the memo line.

Pray – Include PC(USA) mission personnel and global partners in your daily prayers. If you would like to order prayer cards as a visual reminder of those for whom you are praying, please contact Cindy Rubin (cynthia.rubin@pcusa.org; 800-728-7228, ext. 5065).

Act – Invite a mission co-worker to visit your congregation either virtually or in person. Contact mission.live@pcusa.org to make a request or email the mission co-worker directly. Email addresses are listed on Mission Connections profile pages. Visit pcusa.org/missionconnections to search by last name.

Thank you for your consideration! We appreciate your faithfulness to God’s mission through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Prayerfully,

Rev. Mienda Uriarte, Acting Director
World Mission
Presbyterian Mission Agency
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

To give, please visit https://bit.ly/22MC-YE.

For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6