Local Presbytery in South Taiwan Plants a New Church
Taiwan Church News 2826 24-30 April 2006
Reported by Pan Hsiu-lian. Written by David Alexander
In 2001 the Tainan Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) established O-bi church. After much preparation, the presbytery is again ready to start another. It will be located in the Tainan suburb of Yong-kang, near Kun Shan Techinical University. This location is home to a transient population of students, in need of the Gospel light that the church will represent.
The Rev. Ting Chung-ho, head of the presbytery's new church work task force said, "Last year presbytery began to envision the establishment of a new church, and at the spring meeting this year approved the project. Members of our task force spent time in the Kun Shan neighborhood, walking the streets and praying. We implored the Lord to indicate a good location. One time, following a prayer walk, we began to discuss an open lot of 660 square meters. After inquiring about the owner, we discovered that he is an elder of a PCT congregation!"
"When our task force began to share our vision with him, he immediately offered it to us rent-free for ten years and contributed a million Taiwan Yuan (US$31,378) to the project. Had we needed to pay fair market value for the land rental, it would have been more than 100,000 Taiwan Yuan (US$3,137) per month."
Rev Ting says this shortened the projected time line for opening the church. Now that God has provided the land, the human resources are also flowing in. Ministers and elders from the Presbytery are thankful, and the executive committee has budgeted a further 500,000 Taiwan Yuan (US$15,689) to get things moving., I
Six congregations have pledged human resources and financial support to the project, and when a church-plant minister is called, he or she will be able to call on these churches to form a united committee to support the beginning of ministry in the neighborhood as early as the coming summer. For more information: Tainan Presbytery tnppctw@ms34.hnet.net
Ting Chung-ho TEL: +886 6 228 0229