wfn.org | Taiwan Church and Kiwanis Take the Chill off Winter

[Taiwan Church News <pctpress@ms1.hinet.net>]

Taiwan Church News 2650, December 15, 2002
Reported by Li Hsin-ren. Translated and rewritten by David
Alexander

   Ren-hsiung Presbyterian Church in Kaohsiung County, though
small, is embarked on a project to take the chill off of the
winter and the economy in aboriginal villages.	Church members
collect and repair recyclable clothes for donation to the poor on
Taiwan's East Coast.  The project has garnered support from a
local chapter of Kiwanis International.
   The Rev. Wang Kun-yi said that two kinds of winter, "climate
and economic" are currently bearing down on mountainl villages.
Recently an aboriginal pastor came to him asking  for clothing
for his people.  The pastor had his own economic difficulties as
well.  Rev. Wang personally checked things out.
   He reports that this winter, though not as cold as average,
has been a bad one for agricultural production in the mountains.
Income has dropped, and the market has collapsed.
   Ren-hsiung church has been recycling clothes for two years.
Last month, when the congregation hosted a neighborhood "Marriage
Day Festival" some Kiwanis members learned about and volunteered
to support to the clothing drive.  In a short time they and the
Nan-hsia Exchange Association put together a large shipment of
clothes.
   "Social concern work begins small and moves out," Rev. Wang
says.  The church itself has only 40 members, but all are
involved in concern for the weak. Together they have collected
and repaired a lot of garments.
   On December 16th the shipment went out. It will be distributed
from Lepa Presbyterian Church, a Tayal Aborigine Congregation.
Lepa is in Ren Ai Township where an earthquake destroyed much of
the livelihood in September of 1999.

For More Information: Wang Kun-yi wangkhunyi@kimo.com.tw
				  FAX: +886 7 3743734
				   Lepa Presbyterian Church: TEL:
+886 49 2955218

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