wfn.org | Editorial: May the nations be blessed by evangelists

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

>      Taiwan Church News

>3043 Edition

>June 21~June 27, 2010

Editorial: May the nations be blessed by evangelists

>Translated by Lydia Ma

As strains of Auld Lang Syne resound in seminaries, signaling the  time has 
come for

seminarians to leave for their respective churches, we can almost  picture 
these new pastors

or missionaries as virgins with their oil lamps – ready to  shine and serve to 
the very end. We

know that every moment of their ministry will be remembered by the  Lord, who 
will reward

>each person.

The place in which these new pastors find themselves now is  reminiscent of how 
James

Laidlaw Maxwell might’ve felt when he first set foot in  Taiwan on a June day 
145 years ago.

We know Maxwell’s story well – it has been told and retold  for generations. 
After Maxwell

arrived to Tainan, he rented a small house just outside of Tainan  city’s 
Western Gate. He

transformed the front of the house into a chapel and the back into  a clinic.

Maxwell’s spirit of service and humility were apparent long  before he arrived 
to Taiwan,

evidenced by how he responded to life’s mysteries. After  bidding farewell to 
his fiancee in

1863, he left England on a ship headed for China. After arriving  to Xiamen, 
China, on January

2, 1864, he began studying local languages with great diligence  and sharing 
the gospel with

>locals through meeting their medical needs.

Maxwell must have been shocked to learn that Presbyterian Church  of England 
(PCE) bylaws

at the time required at least one credentialed PCE minister in  every region 
that PCE planned

to start a ministry. Since Maxwell wasn’t a minister, he had  to wait in China 
for a credentialed

minister from PCE to arrive and partner with him before he could  sail for 
Taiwan.

Though Maxwell disagreed with this bylaw, he chose to abide by it  and wait. 
After spending 16

months in China, a civil uprising in China finally turned  PCE’s attention to 
ministry in Taiwan.

So, on May 28, 1865, Maxwell, Rev. Carstairs Douglas, and others  finally 
sailed for Taiwan

>and docked at a port in Kaohsiung.

Upon their arrival, Maxwell could finally begin his medical  practice and 
ministry in Taiwan and

on June 16, 1865, he began a clinic and a chapel in his rented  apartment. The 
date is now

celebrated by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan as its  anniversary.

We are really grateful to God for blessing Taiwan with one of  Scotland’s 
finest young men.

Maxwell graduated from Edinburgh University and excelled in  medicine, 
philosophy, ethics,

mathematics, and physics. He worked at Birmingham General Hospital  and was 
also an elder

>at Broad Street Church.

To the world’s amazement, a smart guy like Maxwell chose to  become a “fool” by 
offering his

life to God’s service. Even though he encountered setbacks  due to church 
regulations, he still

chose the path of obedience and equipped himself as he waited on  God to open a 
door.

At the end of June this year and having completed training in  seminaries 
across Taiwan, a

new band of soldiers will enter the mission field or full-time  ministry. We 
hope that every PCT

member will bless them and pray for them. We also pray that these  new 
ministers will learn to

be “smart fools” attentive to the Holy Spirit’s  calling, just like Maxwell.

The lives of these new ministers will always be an adventure and  they mustn’t 
rely on their own

experience or wisdom when facing unknown futures. To these heroes  committed to 
serve

God, we exhort, “Go! Like doves, fly to every corner of this  land with God’s 
protection to

minister to oppressed women, workers, Aborigines, and disabled  people… and may 
the

>nations be blessed because of you!”

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