In February last year, Jane was invited to participate in a cross-network cooperation discussion meeting on suicide prevention in Yilan County. She learned that Yilan, with its beautiful mountains and rivers, has been among the top five counties and cities in Taiwan for deaths due to suicide for many years. Moreover, the number of youth suicide reported in Yilan County was 112 in 2017, and rose to 305 in 2019!

During the meeting, representatives of the Department of Health of Yilan County Government mentioned years of hard work and the sense of powerlessness. They had invested a lot of manpower and material resources in training case managers, counselors, etc., yet every time they receive a report, the individual had already committed suicide.

During the meeting, Jane saw many omissions. To reduce the overall suicide rate, schools and the community need to work together. Since young people spend a long time in school, it is imperative to improve teachers’ awareness of and sensitivity towards those with suicidal thoughts. The youth ministry of the community churches can also support those who are school dropouts. If every member of the church can participate in the "Early Detection of People's Suicidal Thoughts" workshop, it will definitely help the suicide prevention in the community.

Emotional/Interpersonal relationship ranks first as the cause of youth suicide. According to research, 1/3 of adolescents who break up with their partner will want to commit suicide. It is necessary to provide teachers and counselors with workshops on "How to Help Heartbreaks from Love Through the Journey of Grief".

Mental health/Substance abuse, one of the three major causes of youth suicide, has been on the rise in the past five years. According to research, about 2/3 of the suicide victims were depressed before they passed away, the population of adolescent depression is increasing year by year, and patients with severe depression are at risk of suicide 20 times more than that of the general population. Therefore, it is necessary to provide "No More Depression" workshops.

Jane has always had a heart for Yilan. In October, she began to contact the Departments of Education and Health of the Yilan County Government. She went to visit in November, but the Department of Education did not have any funding, thus Jane will not receive any speaker’s fees. On 11/29, the Department of Education announced the Educational Training Information to the county middle schools and high schools, as each workshop is three hours of study hours. There are eight national high schools and vocational schools in Yilan County, and Jane has sent letters to each school to inform them of the plan.

Someone mentioned to Jane that the teachers are very busy during the semester and have no time for further studies, and they want to rest during the winter and summer vacations. The Office of Academic Affairs has a lot of things to do, and having additional thing will be too much. We understand your intentions, but the schools may not respond.

The 11/18 Yilan Joint Prayer Meeting was held in Toucheng, and probably due to the location, not many pastors were able to attend that day. The participants were greatly surprised and shocked by the facts presented by Jane during the briefing. Jane invited the churches in Yilan to stand up and be equipped to become watchmen of the community.

Please pray for the Yilan County middle schools and National High Schools/Vocational High Schools, for them to see their responsibility in suicide prevention and be willing to take the time to receive training. Please pray for the Christian teachers who teach in Yilan, as they have expressed to the schools that they want to receive training. Please also pray for the pastors of the churches in which we have invited all members to accept training. Pray for the pastors are willing to learn Suicide Intervention and Postvention, and let Yilan exit from being on the list as one of the top five counties and cities of suicides. Your participation and support are needed.

Thanksgiving:

1. The meeting with the Departments of Education and Health of Yilan County Government went smoothly, and a lot of valuable information was obtained.

2. The proofreading of translation of " Sustainable Church" went smoothly.

Prayer Requests:

1. The editing and proofreading of traditional Chinese edition of "Sustainable Church" to go smoothly and to be published on schedule.

2. The proofreading and publishing of " Anxiety Reset" to go smoothly, and may everything that needs to be revised be revised.

3. The "Depression and Anxiety" Conference in 2023 may be properly arranged, and may the course content meet the needs of Taiwan.