wfn.org | Church on Kinmen (Quemoy) to Install Taiwanese

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

Presbyterian Minister
Taiwan Church News 2669, April 27, 2003
Reported by Li Hsin-ren. Translated and rewritten by David
Alexander

   The small Christian minority among the 54,000 people who live
on Kinmen (Quemoy), a Taiwan controlled island only a few
kilometers from the coast of China, is served by 7 Protestant and
2 Roman Catholic chapels and churches.	Soa-bi (Sha-mei)
Christian Church, founded 109 years ago by Christians from the
Chinese city of Xiamen, became part of the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan (PCT) in 1999.  The church had operated without a resident
minister for many years, even after it was accepted into the
PCT's Tainan Presbytery. On April 26th the Rev. Mr. Tan Gi-chiao
will be formally installed as the first PCT minister to serve the
congregation. He has been working at the church since February.
   Kinmen has long been referred to as a "frontline" island in
the political and sometimes military struggle between Taiwan and
China.	In the late 1950's it had a brief moment of fame when the
United States Navy was put on alert over artillery battles
between the two sides.	As its ministry is revitalized, the
congregation of Soa-bi Church sees itself as a front line outpost
for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
   The church, located in the northeast quarter of the island,
has 40 members, most of whom work in local distilleries or on
farms.	Soldiers from Taiwan who are stationed in the area
sometimes worship with the congregation.
   Rev. Tan sees a need for re-developing the congregation from
the most basic aspects of Christian faith.  He is in it for the
long haul.  He sees the people of Kinmen as pure and honest in
their willingness to cooperate with an outsider for the sake of
the gospel.  Since the church, after several years of operating
independently, only recently came into association with the PCT,
he sees one of his tasks as educating its membership in
"connectional polity." Election and ordination of elders and
deacons will be one of the first steps.
   At Easter the congregation joined with some of the other
Christian churches and chapels on Kinmen for a joint service of
worship.  Plans are already afoot for a joint Vacation Bible
School program in July.  Rev. Tan calls on believers on the "big
island" of Taiwan to care and pray for this "remote outpost."

For more information: Soa-bi Presbyterian Church  FAX +886 82
354366
Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local
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