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July 9, 2001
Dear Friends,
God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach the word of God,
but he ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish by ship.
As a result he met a violent storm, the ship threatened to break
up. Each cried out to his own god. Finally they decided to cast
lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity and the
lot fell on Jonah. And they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible
for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you
come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"
He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God
of Heaven, who made the sea and the land."
One of the major problems aboriginal college students have is identity.
Last week I attended the aboriginal college students retreat near
Taipei. They invited me as one of their speakers. Using the book
See Through the Scriptures, which I translated into Chinese, I
taught on "How to study the Bible." I also worked as
a group counselor and heard how they suffer about their identity.
When Japan controlled Taiwan, the Japanese military forced aboriginal
people to stop using their language and their name. So they learned
Japanese and used Japanese names.
After Japan’s surrender, the Chinese government (Kuo Min
Tang) made a law that the aborigines must use Mandarin and change
their names to Chinese names. A lot of people picked the last
name of "Lin," which means forest. They chose this last
name from many Chinese last names because they are mountain people,
and they liked the meaning of the character, two trees together.
My last name is the same as theirs.
When I came to Hualien for the first time, I was accompanied
by an aboriginal member of the General Assembly staff of the Presbyterian
Church of Taiwan. His last name is Lin. In Hualien we were picked
up at the airport by another Rev. Lin, and then the three of us
went to lunch with an elder also named Lin. We laughed about the
coincidence, four Lins in the table. Later they considered me
their brother and helped me a lot. I did not know there were so
many Lins in Taiwan. Praise the Lord!
In 2000, the new democratic government in Taiwan permitted aborigines
to use their original names. This created confusion for the the
aboriginal students. They could not decide which name they should
use. Parents want their children to use their aboriginal names,
but all their friends know them by their Chinese names. Some refuse
to change their name again. I am also confused about which name
I should choose to call them.
Jonah was clear on his identity. He said, "I am a Hebrew
and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and
the land." This is the answer for all of us, including the
mountain people. We belong to one country, but ultimately we all
belong to God, the Creator who made the sea and land. I pray that
the aboriginal college students find peace in this Word of God.
A lot of things are happening in our Campus Ministry Center.
I started a Bible study at the Buddhist Nursing School in February
2001. Every Monday at 5:45 p.m. I teach at the nursing school
dormitory’s basement. Normally, no men are permitted here,
and I am required to sign in and out. Who can believe I can teach
the Bible at the Buddhist school dormitory? Even I did not think
that I could. It is a long story. Let’s simply say that God
provided. There are 12 to 20 students attending the Bible study.
On Thursdays at 6:00 p.m., I have a group of about 45 to 55 students
I teach as part of their school activities program. Though this
is a Buddhist nursing college, the education law allows Christian
gatherings as part of the school activity program. Many in this
group are not Christians, but non-Christian students love to sing
gospel songs and play games. By their actions, the Christians
show them the light of Christ without the Word.
Last April we started another small group at the Gingchung Business
Junior College. I met an Amis tribe English teacher in that college,
and she helped us to start the group. Now 7 to 10 students participate
in our activity. This is our fourth college group in Hualien.
This fall we want to start another group in Donghua National University.
This is the largest university in Taiwan and it is our biggest
challenge. Please pray for it. I did some groundwork already.
I met a director in the national culture department in the university.
He is a Bunong tribe professor who is very interested in my plan.
Next spring I want to start a group in Tahan Technical College,
which would be our sixth college group and last one. This is our
vision of a student body in Hualien this coming fall. This year,
since we are going to have five Christian groups in five colleges,
we can establish a Hualien Aboriginal Student Body (HASB), and
then this student body can make their own plan and do their own
activities. Each college will send two student representatives
to the HASB and then they elect their moderator and other officers.
To do this we need a lot of energy, especially from God. Please
pray for it.
While working with the aboriginal students, I found out that
they lack a deeper understanding of the Bible and how it relates
to daily life. That is why I translated Bible study material called
See Through the Scriptures into Chinese. It took a year to translate
and publish it. This book has forty pictures with illustrations.
It takes us on a guided tour of the biblical narrative and its
major themes in Old and New Testament. This book will serve as
a tool to convince the students that they need to read the Bible
and then apply it to their lives.
Yen Hee works at the mobile clinic at Mennonite Christian Hospital.
She goes with the medical staff to remote mountain villages, and
they treat the patients. This year she started a new job, working
at Bethesda, a treatment center for handicapped people. They asked
her to help the handicapped children, and as she serves them,
she finds joy in them. So she has not missed a day since she starting
working there because they are waiting for her with smiling faces.
Now we are beginning to understand why God put us in this land.
We also know that we receive this kind of Grace from God because
of prayer supporters. Thanks for your prayers and support. Your
prayer has given us enough energy to do the work God called us
to do. We humbly thank for it.
In your Service,
Yen Hee and Choon Lim
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 187
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