wfn.org | Retired man reaches out to train commuters every week

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

>      Taiwan Church News

>3031 Edition

>March 29~April 4, 2010

Retired man reaches out to hundreds of train commuters every week

>Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Reading something while on a train can be an excellent way to  drive away 
boredom and kill

time, and it can also be a great opportunity to share the gospel  with someone. 
Liu-Chin-

cheng, a retired man from Luju Presbyterian Church, grasped this  concept and 
has been

handing out Heart Farmer brochures for the last two-and-a-half  years. The 
brochure, published

by Taiwan Church Press, is a weekly publication containing stories  and 
testimonies.

Several days a week, Mr. Liu gets on a train departing from Luju  to Chiayi and 
to distribute

Heart Farmer to every passenger he meets. He usually manages to  hand out 
hundreds of

brochures per week. Whenever he runs into pastors while  distributing Heart 
Farmer, they

always compliment him for his courage and perseverance in sharing  the gospel 
with others.

According to Mr. Liu, he settled down in Luju Township, Kaohsiung  County, 
after his

retirement. Soon after his retirement he felt a burden to share  the gospel 
with others and

began distributing Heart Farmer a few times a week to commuters  traveling from 
Luju to

>Chiayi by inter-city train.

“Hello, do you believe in Jesus?” is usually how Mr. Liu  starts off his 
conversation with

commuters. He proceeds by giving them a copy of Heart Farmer and  briefly 
introduces the

>gospel to them while he has their attention.

According to Rev. Kuo En-hsin from Luju Presbyterian Church, Mr.  Liu 
distributes so many

copies of Heart Farmer that the church doesn’t have enough  copies to meet his 
needs.

Oftentimes Luju Church has to call other churches to ask them if  they have 
extra copies of the

>brochure.

According to Rev. Kuo, Mr. Liu had shared with him previously that  
distributing gospel tracts or

Heart Farmer at night markets or parks wasn’t an effective  approach. He 
explained that

people strolling in parks usually throw pamphlets away, while  people in night 
markets are too

busy trying to decide and buy what they want to eat to really pay  attention.

However, commuters are usually not as busy and will skim through  whatever 
reading material

they can find. Having observed this phenomenon, Mr. Liu decided to  devote 
himself

wholeheartedly to sharing the gospel with train commuters.

As inter-city trains are still the main mode of transportation for  commuters 
travelling short

distances, Mr. Liu often runs into pastors too while delivering  Heart Farmer. 
Rev. Kuo added

that many pastors have called him to compliment on Mr. Liu’s  efforts in 
sharing the gospel.

Though it is indeed an honor to serve God this way, Mr. Liu shared  that he has 
encountered a

few obstacles in the past. He was sometimes forced to get off from  trains in 
the past because

train captains or security guards felt he was disturbing  passengers.

After encountering a few such incidents, Mr. Liu began praying to  God before 
getting on trains.

Miraculously, a few captains or security guards began smiling and  nodding at 
him whenever

they met him aboard a train. Now, he is no longer reprimanded or  forced off 
from a train for

>distributing Heart Farmer.

Deeply encouraged by Mr. Liu, some members from Luju Presbyterian  Church began 
offering

>money to cover his weekly train fares.

According to Rev. Kuo, Mr. Liu currently lives in an apartment he  rents from a 
fellow church

member. After his retirement, his main source of income is a small  pension 
from the

government. Though he doesn’t have much income, he still  manages to serve God

wholeheartedly and with joy. His fervor for evangelism is truly  admirable and 
worth emulating,

>says Rev. Kuo.

>********************

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