wfn.org | City and Aborigine churches share resources to further God’s kingdom

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

>      Taiwan Church News

>3045 Edition

>July 5~July 11, 2010

City and Aborigine churches share resources to further God’s  kingdom

>Reported by Sam Lee, Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Shin-Sing Presbyterian Church in Tainan and Rukai Presbytery  signed a mission

partnership agreement on July 1, 2010, vowing to share their  resources with 
each other.

Shin-Shing Church will henceforth loan its old church building to  Rukai 
Presbytery

so the latter can start an Aborigine church in the southern region  of Tainan 
City.

Their agreement became another successful example of partnership  between

>Aborigine churches and city churches.

Shin-Sing Church moved to a new location at the beginning of 2010.  The church’s

former chapel, education building, and parsonage are located in  southern 
Tainan.

The church originally planned to sell its old property to pay for  the new 
building’s mortgage.

After much discussion between church elders and the church’s  pastor, Rev. Wu

Ke-hsun, the church decided to retain its old property because  they felt it 
would be

a shame if these buildings were torn down once the property was  sold. 
Ultimately,

they hoped the old buildings could still serve some ministry  purpose.

Aware that PCT General Assembly encouraged urban churches to lend  their

premises to Aborigine churches seeking to branch out in urban  areas and reach

Aborigines there, Shin-Sing Church contacted the General Assembly  and

expressed its desire to share its old properties.

After PCT associate general secretaries Lyim Hong-tiong and Sing  ‘Olam made

some calls and confirmed Rukai Presbytery was very interested in  partnering 
with

Shin-Sing Church, a tour of the church was quickly arranged for  July 1. Leaders

from both sides confirmed a deal the same day after visiting the  church. A

thanksgiving service marking the beginning of this partnership  will be held on 
August 1.

Commenting on this partnership, Wu said it was wonderful that his  church would

be partnering with an Aborigine church in furthering the gospel.  He was also 
glad

the old church building would retain its evangelistic purpose.

According to reports, Shin-Sing Church will loan its premises to  Rukai 
Presbytery

for free for at least 3 years. Rukai Presbytery’s Moderator  Rev. Kaynwane said 
he

was very grateful to Shin-Sing Church for helping Rukai Presbytery  further its

ministry in urban areas. Kaynwane hopes that Rukai Aborigines can  start their

own city churches in Kaohsiung and Taipei soon.

When interviewed about this partnership, PCT Associate General  Secretary Lyim

Hong-tong said statistics indicated that many Aborigine Christians  were 
migrating

to urban areas for work in recent years. PCT believed it was vital  for them to

continue attending church services that use these Aborigines’  own mother

tongues even though they may now live in cities.

He maintained that protecting ethnic culture and diversity and  bringing out 
every

ethnic group’s unique gifts were important core values of the  PCT. He hoped

more city churches would get involved in similar partnerships.

In related news, an Aborigine fellowship near Fongshan, Kaohsiung,  officially

became a church at the end of June 2010. Members of this new  church,

christened Kao-Fong Presbyterian Church, include Aborigines  working in

Kaohsiung area and those who’ve relocated there after Typhoon  Morakot

>destroyed their homes last year.

The fellowship had been hoping to build a church in Fongshan area  to minister 
to

Aborigines living and working in Kaohsiung. It’s a well-known  fact that many

Aborigines who leave their hometowns to work in the city  inevitably leave their

church and faith once they relocate. Guiding these lost sheep back  into the 
fold

>will be a prime concern for this new church.

Kao-Fong Church first began in February 2009, led by a retired  minister. Rev. 
Ibu,

who served as coordinator of South Bunun Presbytery during Typhoon  Morakot,

will become the church’s full-time minister starting July  2010. She asked that

Christians pray for this new urban Aborigine church.

On the eve of the 1st anniversary of Typhoon Morakot, Rev. Ibu  also asked for

prayers on behalf of Christians living in permanent housing units  operated by

>Buddhist Compassion Relief Foundation.

She disclosed that only one-third of Christians living there  continued to meet 
and

attend church services. Apparently, the remaining two-thirds had  either left

Christianity or embraced Buddhism and formed ties with Buddhist  Compassion

>Relief Foundation.

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