wfn.org | Urban aboriginal church coming to Kaohsiung City soon

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>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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