Partner Updates

Faith in Adversity

Dear friends,

A number of years ago I was teaching at the Aboriginal Seminary on Taiwan's East Coast and a staff member told me that an incoming student had the same Mandarin name as me. When I came to Taiwan, I was given a Mandarin name (Ma Yueh-Han). Almost no one in Taiwan uses or even knows my English name. I am always referred to by my Mandarin name. Up to that point, I had never heard anyone else with my name. So, I called this incoming student, who is from the Bunun tribe. He didn't happen to be at home, but I met him on the first day of class. I told him that since we had the same name if I was ever sick, he could preach for me. He replied, "No if I am ever sick, you can take the test for me."

Dear friends,

I recently went to the Second Crematorium south of Taipei to participate in the funeral of a wonderful friend and mentor. I met Dr. Samuel Jang, an elder at the East Gate Presbyterian Church in Taipei, twenty-three years ago when we worked together leading an English Bible Study for that congregation. I was studying Mandarin at the time, so it was a gift to me to be able to lead a Bible Study in English.

Dr. Jang was a man who had a contagious joy. He became a Christian in China when he was very young. He went through a lot when China and Japan were at war and then managed to come to Taiwan where he continued his medical studies. He became a dentist. He married a Taiwanese and they had four children who all continue to walk in Christ's way. Dr. Jang always shared his faith with his patients.

Dear friends,

Several months ago, a friend who is one of the program secretaries at the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan national office asked me if I would be willing to visit his daughter's elementary school before Christmas to share the Christmas story with the students there. Even though only four percent of Taiwanese are Christian, it is a very tolerant culture here toward all religions. So, I was not surprised that the school was willing to have me come.

This pastor and his wife, who is also a pastor, have four children, which is double the norm for families in Taiwan. Their eldest is a first grader at this school and the youngest is just a year old.

Dear friends,

I got off the train after a four-hour ride along the Pacific Ocean and was met by a pastor from the Bunun Presbytery, an aboriginal presbytery on Taiwan’s east coast. I was on my way to lead the fourth pastors’ retreat in three weeks. We arranged these retreats a year ago, and it has been my joy, since returning to Taiwan, to meet so many of my former students and other pastors who are serving churches throughout Taiwan.

The Bunun tribal pastor (Bunun means “person” and is the name of one of the sixteen tribes among Taiwan’s indigenous people) greeted me and drove to a nearby restaurant where we met four other pastors for lunch. We then left the small town of Yu Li and went up steep mountain roads to the farming hut of one of the church elders.

Dear friends,

I am seeing a lot of the United States in the first half of 2018. I am traveling to fifteen states and twenty-seven churches to share the good news of what the Holy Spirit is doing in Taiwan. It has been wonderful to see many of you, and I regret that I have been unable to visit all of you. Last spring in one of my mission letters, I said that I would be coming to the U.S. on interpretation assignment this year, and my schedule filled up quickly.

I have seen some discouragement in the U.S. and in the church, but I have also seen that people are hungry for good news. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and other churches have a rare opportunity in a world of opioid addiction, global tensions, and overall fear of the future to share the abundant life that Christ offers to each person on this globe. It has been a joy to see folks here connect with Christians in Asia as they hear how God is changing lives and changing communities.

Dear friends,

I recently took the bullet train for a short half-hour ride from Taipei to a new city near the Taiwan Science Park. This area is Taiwan's Silicon Valley. Most of Taiwan's cutting-edge, high tech industry is located in this area. What used to be all rice fields is now many upscale, high-rise condominiums. While Taiwan's birthrate is dropping, this area has the highest birthrate in all of Taiwan. Many of the young engineers and software folks who work and live in this area are having children.

Thirteen years ago, the Presbyterian Church decided to start a new church development in this neighborhood. The founding pastor is a man who is full of joy and shares life with his church members. When I had dinner with the pastor and several of the members, one of the member's six-year-old son loved to sit with the pastor. This church is full of first-generation Christians who have come to know Christ's love through this congregation.

Dear friends,

Occasionally in life, we are able to experience a slice of heaven here on earth. I recently saw God’s Kingdom in technicolor.

For the seventh time, we took a group of 28 Taiwanese male and female university students, seminary students, and young pastors to a Christian community called Taize in the rolling hills of rural France. Many of you know Taize from singing Taize prayer songs. But Taize is so much more than a style of singing.

Last week, there were 2,300 young people from all over the world who came to Taize by bus, by train, and by bicycle. As we waited to join the orientation on that first Sunday, we met a large group of Indonesian youth who had traveled farther than us to get to Taize. Our group sang a song to them in Mandarin that says, “In Jesus Christ we are one family.” The Indonesians then borrowed a guitar from one of our students and sang the same song in Indonesian. During the week, we enjoyed learning some Indonesian from our new friends and also heard from them something of what it is to be Christian in that largely Muslim land.

That first night, I also met a very tall young man from Lithuania who plays on the national basketball team for his country. He told me that he loves music. I mentioned to him that we have a young Taiwanese man whose voice sounds like an angel.