wfn.org | More than 700 inmates in Taiwan baptized during Christmas 2009

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3018 Edition

>December 28, 2009~January 3, 2010

More than 700 inmates in Taiwan baptized during Christmas 2009

>Reported by Chen Wei-jian, Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

Prisons across Taiwan held baptismal services on December 25, 2009  at 10:00 a.m.

According to reports from Prison Fellowship Taiwan alone, more  than 700 inmates were

baptized on that day by local Prison Fellowship staff.

Among those who were baptized, the most renowned inmate was Huang  Ling-chi, who made

headlines last year when he threw his daughter into a pot of  boiling water after having a fight

with his partner while intoxicated. His daughter later died at the  hospital. Huang’s baptism was

also witnessed by former Premier Chang Chun-hsiung.

According to Chang, who is now a permanent volunteer at Prison  Fellowship Taiwan, he

visited Huang four times over the past few months. Huang was very  distraught at first over

what he had done and even contemplated suicide. After much prayer  and numerous visits

from Prison Fellowship volunteers, he slowly accepted reality and  repented of his actions.

Huang was able to pray with volunteers and share what he’d  learned from reading the Bible

when Chang visited him for the second time. At the end of that  visit, Chang promised that if

Huang decided to be baptized one day, he would attend his  baptismal service.

According to reports, after Huang entered the penitentiary, his  roommate gave him a Bible

and prayed for him. After a few months of interaction with Prison  Fellowship volunteers, he quit

smoking and turned his behavior around. His transformation made an  impression on two other

>roommates who were also baptized on that day.

One Prison Fellowship volunteer said that although these inmates  live inside prison walls,

volunteers still take very seriously a decision to follow Christ  and be baptized. They always

meet with inmates at least twice before the baptism and teach them  the basics of the

Christian faith so that inmates truly know what their new-found  faith.

Prison Fellowship Taiwan Secretary-General Rev. Huang Ming-chen  emphasized that getting

baptized while in prison is only the beginning of a journey. The  real work for volunteers is

reaching out to these inmates once they are released and helping  them find a church where

>they can be rooted in their faith and grow.

Volunteers are well aware that the rate of re-incarceration is  about 50% on average, and as

high as 90% among drug addicts. However, only 5% of those who  truly commit their lives to

Christ are re-incarcerated, a powerful testimony of the impact of  faith in a person’s life.

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