From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org
Urban aboriginal church coming to Kaohsiung City soon
From
"Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>
Date
Thu, 8 Jan 2009 18:17:42 +0800
>Taiwan Church News
>2967 Edition
>January 5~11, 2009
Urban aboriginal church coming to Kaohsiung City soon
>Reported by Chen Yi-shuan
>Written by Lydia Ma
According to statistics from the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT), over 80% of aboriginals between the ages of 18 to 45 reside in cities. This trend makes it imperative that churches consider how to reach out to aboriginals living in urban areas and tend to their spiritual lives. Hence, South Bunun and Kaohsiung presbyteries signed a partnership agreement last month that will enable South Bunun presbytery to set up urban aboriginal churches within churches belonging to Kaohsiung presbytery. Kaohsiung presbytery will assist in the project by providing meeting locations and human resources.
South Bunun presbytery wants to set up an aboriginal church in the city in hopes of preserving aboriginal culture and its unique expression of the Christian faith. The presbytery is looking at founding the new church near a college and Cheng Siu University near Fengshan city is by far the preferred location. According to the director of South Bunun Urban Evangelism Ministries Pastor Lituan, most aboriginals who move to the city either go to church irregularly or attend services at other denominations. Because many aboriginals do not understand Taiwanese, the main language used in PCT churches, they often go to Mandarin-speaking churches belonging to other denominations. When these people go home later on, they will not return to the PCT churches they attended while growing up. Therefore, the loss of aboriginal believers in urban areas is a problem that the PCT must consider because it has a significant effect on the growth and development of the PCT as a whole.
Furthermore, Lituan believes that evangelism among aboriginals should not be limited to tribal areas because more and more aboriginals are residing in other parts of the country. In other words, there is a big harvest waiting for us outside of the reservations. This is one of the main reasons why South Bunun presbytery hopes to set up an urban aboriginal church.
Kaohsiung Presbytery General Secretary Chiu Un-tek (Jou En-de) said that Kaohsiung presbytery will cooperate closely with South Bunun presbytery. It has already provided a list of churches located within ten minutes walk from Kaohsiung’s MRT stations so that South Bunun presbytery can decide where it wants to set up urban indigenous churches. One of the initial challenges facing both presbyteries is that most aboriginals in Kaohsiung area reside near Fengshan city, which explains why South Bunun presbytery hopes to set up a church near Cheng Siu University. However, that area is not within Kaohsiung presbytery’s jurisdiction. Hence, both presbyteries still need to work out many details before starting a church. For the time being, Lituan is working closely with Kaohsiung College Center Aboriginal Ministries Division and has found a meeting location near Cheng Siu University. He is also looking for other churches to donate tables, chairs, and equipment.
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