wfn.org | Leaky Roof Sends Taiwan Pastor on Tour

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Taiwan Church News 2760   17-23 January 2005

Reported by Chen Yi-shiuan. Translated and Rewritten by David Alexander

Sha Mei Church on Kinmen (Quemoy) Island has been proclaiming the gospel
for over 100 years.¡§hit the road¡¨ visiting other congregations for
donations and prayers.

   On all of Kinmen there are now 7 Protestant and two Roman Catholic
Churches. churches. There has been good cooperation over the years. All
have experienced a decline in vigor as younger generations of local
residents move to Taiwan for better employment opportunities. Kinmen has
become a society of the very old and the very young. Since 1950 the island
has been a military forward defense zone in the standoff between Taiwan and
China.	Soldiers rotate through on year-long deployments.  The high
turnover rate in population and the war footing of the local economy
produced many emotional problems among the resident population over the
past decades.  Pastor Chen sees the Gospel of Christ as a cure for the ills
of his community and invites churches from Taiwan to send short-term gospel
teams to perform evangelistic work during the upcoming month of winter
vacation from schools.

   Tensions between Taiwan and China ebb and flow, but in general there is
less need for the high military alert that Kinmen lived with for so
long.  As the number of troops stationed there is drawn down, the island is
being turned into a tourism zone. In the long run, Mr. Chen hopes that the
church can become an agency through which service groups from Taiwan work
for the good of the people of the community.

   The matter of the roof was referred to Tainan Presbytery. Though the
building has landmark status, the county government will not subsidize
repairs. The presbytery authorized Sha Mei to make direct appeals to its 80
member congregations in Taiwan. All things suddenly became more urgent
because Chen has been diagnosed with cancer. His ability to get out and
find the money has been severely curtailed.    Sha Mei members have taken
up some of the load of church management and gospel work, enlivening the
life of the congregation. Donations and prayers are now sought from
wherever they might come.

For More Information: Sha Mei Presbyterian Church FAX +886 82 353597

Tainan Presbytery tnppctw@ms34.hinet.net

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages.

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