In November, news of high school and university students from several top educational institutions, who committed suicide, shocked and instilled fear in Taiwan. Coupled with this news was the suicide of three Taiwanese university students within a span of five days. Many articles related to these incidents followed and Jane started to receive several poignant messages:
“Students have committed suicide in the school where I teach. I don't know how to talk to the student about this matter. I’ve chatted with a few teachers, but no one seems know what to do. Thus, everyone is choosing to remain silent, like nothing happened and continued with classes as usual. Is this the best way to handle this situation?”

“Our school is holding an assembly. After the principal gave a speech, the counseling director gave everyone a CIS information sheet. The students were asked to talk about the relationship they had with the deceased for two minutes with a fellow student. Then the director went back on stage and spoke for nearly fifty minutes. But students later on went on the school’s Facebook to criticize how it was a waste of everyone's time.”

“As more and more students are attempting suicide, I’m quite worried that there would be a copycat effect. Nowadays, the general public often portrays suicidal deaths as beautiful and heroic because they sympathize with the suffering of those who chose this route. Social media has also applauded the courage of those who committed suicide.”

“Our school is a high-pressure environment. Both teachers and students are under a lot of pressure. Everyone wants to relax, but yet they don’t seem to have the right outlet. Hence, some students will choose suicide as a way to relieve themselves.”

“The report stated that parents said their children had no emotional abnormalities before committing suicide, then how would we know if they are considering taking their own lives? How do we prevent it?”

“We teachers are not very good at expressing our sadness. Like me, I was initially shocked, than I become sort of numb to it. It wasn’t until after reading the "Tear Soup" book you gave me did I feel like crying.”

“Many articles say that the students who committed suicide at National Taiwan University were top students. They had too little experience of failure since childhood and were unable to face setbacks. NTU only has a medical school and a few famous departments whose students are top students. Other departments are mediocre. And if you can enter National Taiwan University, how can you be less afraid of failure and be better at handling setbacks? People don't understand us at all.”

These messages clearly show that adults do not know how children view death, or why they would choose to commit suicide, or how to help them, or even how to support them in sharing their emotions. Therefore, Jane wrote the following articles for the Christian media:

Helping Children Walk Out of Stress Through Constant Caring and Listening

Death Seen Through the Eyes of Teens

Why Do Teens Commit Suicide?

Why Do Students From Top Schools Commit Suicide?

After reading the article, “Helping Children Walk Out of Stress Through Constant Caring and Listening,” a friend encouraged Jane to submit her article to Liberty Times. It is Taiwan’s largest circulated newspaper and the article will have a chance to help more people. Jane followed her suggestion, and Liberty Times has agreed to publish the article on their newspaper and online news website. The relevant link will also be published on Facebook and the official website of Lifting Hands Network.

Let us pray for the youth of Taiwan. Let the love of Christ enter their hearts and drive away the feelings of loneliness, emptiness, and hopelessness.

Thanksgiving:

1. The publishing of “Take Your Life Back Workbook”.

2. The agreement of traditional Chinese edition of the book Healing Depression for Life workbook for friends with depression has been signed and the book is expected to be published next year.

3. YWAM Taipei invited Jane to teach Group Crisis Intervention in January, 2021.

4. The courses of Walk Out of Grief and CISM in October received great responses from the attendants.

Prayer Requests:

1. As Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn are coming to Taiwan in June, 2021, may nothing hinder them from conducting the workshops and that they will not have to be quarantined for 14 days.

2. For God to provide a church with a common vision to co-host the Marriage Conference in Kaohsiung, Tainan, New Taipei City and Taipei.

3. May the Lord open the path for more cities and counties to start “Walking Out of Grief” and “Group Crisis Intervention” Courses.

4. May the Lord continue to use the books published by Lifting Hands Network to bless more and more Chinese readers.