wfn.org | Language and financial barriers prevent Aborigines from settling into city churches

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3020 Edition

>January 11~17, 2010

Language and financial barriers prevent Aborigines from settling  into city churches

>Reported by Li Hsin-ren

>Written by Lydia Ma

According to data gathered by PCT, it has lost more than 14,000  Aborigine members from 1995

to 2005. The reason for Aborigines leaving PCT isn’t decrease  in population or lack of interest

in the church, but rather, because Aborigines can’t find a  suitable church to attend once they

migrate to cities in search for employment or higher education.

According to PCT statistics, there were 76,798 baptized members in  1995, but this number

plummeted to 62,379 ten years later. During the same time frame,  Executive Yuan’s Council of

Indigenous Peoples (CIP) statistics revealed that more than  100,000 Aborigines had migrated

to urban areas and about 80% of these people were from the 18-40  age bracket.

When we piece together PCT and CIP data, we discover that most of  the 100,000 Aborigines

who moved to the city stopped attending church altogether, which  is the reason why PCT is

>losing Aborigine members so rapidly.

The reason why Aborigines quit church once they move to cities is  mainly because of language

barriers. Though PCT churches worship in 17 different languages  every Sunday and many of

these are Aborigine languages, the prevailing language used in  city churches is still Taiwanese.

Since Aborigines cannot understand Taiwanese, they will opt for a  church that worships in

Mandarin instead. However, using Mandarin is still not the same as  using one’s Aborigine

mother tongue to worship God. In addition to language barriers,  the lack of community or sense

of belonging, coupled with high mobility rates makes regular  church attendance a challenge.

Perhaps we can find solace in the fact that, despite these  discouraging statistics, whenever

holidays roll around and Aborigines head home, their home churches  are always filled to

maximum capacity. This goes to show that though more Aborigines  may live in cities nowadays,

their hearts are still with their home churches. So, Aborigines  haven’t given up on church, rather,

they are struggling to find a church to fit in when they return to  the city for work or study.

Currently the number of Aborigine city churches being built lags  far behind the number of

Aborigines migrating to urban areas. This problem is compounded by  the fact that many

Aborigine city churches don’t have enough financial resources  to rent a church facility or minister

>to their own flocks.

Many young Aborigines from PCT churches who’ve been living in  urban areas for a few years

say that city churches can do more to help Aborigines because  urban migration is a trend that

will likely continue. They suggest local churches help Aborigines  leaving home for the first time

by being more pro-active in outreach and providing helpful  information to Aborigines about their

>legal rights and benefits.

Bollosang, an Aborigine lady from Sandimen Presbyterian Church who  has lived in Tainan for

roughly 20 years said that many aborigines who come to the city  are unfamiliar with their legal

rights and many wind up going through unnecessary troubles simply  because they lack

knowledge, as life in the city is a sharp contrast to life in  reserves. Hence, if city churches can

reach out by providing information and support, it would be of  great help to Aborigines.

Another Aborigine lady studying in Kaohsiung said she eventually  found an Aborigine college

fellowship and found a great sense of belonging there. She now  wants to stay in Kaohsiung after

graduation because she feels at home there. She will continue  attending this college fellowship

even after graduation because she enjoys worshiping with fellow  Aborigines and serving God

with them. As long as there is a place for Aborigines to get  together and worship God, be it in a

church or in another setting, it would be enough for her and the  greatest gift from God.

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