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November 2002
Amazing Grace
Dear Friends,
Two year ago, I read in a history of the Taiwanese church that
in 1954 our missionaries established the first campus ministry
in Taiwan, at first in the southern part of Taiwan and then in
the northern. Until 1980, there weren't any colleges in eastern
Taiwan. Now there are six colleges here, including two universities.
At first, I did not understand why the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan (PCT) asked me to establish campus ministries in the east
since, nowadays, missionaries in Taiwan only help local churches,
the G.A office, or seminaries. It is very rare that the G. A.
office asks a missionary to establish an organization.
Now I understand why they asked me to do it. There are 10 aboriginal
tribes in Taiwan. If one of the aboriginal tribes wanted to establish
an aboriginal campus ministry in Hualien, the other tribes wouldn't
help or would participate less. But if a missionary starts it,
they would be no competition. Of course, I have different kinds
of problems. I struggled to learn their official language, Mandarin,
and their culture, etc. Many times, I wanted to give up and go
back to the States. I said myself, "I don't fit. I made a
mistake to come here. This is not God's call for me. I should
let the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan do it." At the beginning,
the G.A. office and aboriginal local churches tried to help establish
a Christian group in a college, but it didn't work. To make a
long story short, with God's mercy, I was able to establish the
Hualien Aboriginal Campus Ministry (HACM). Now we have a Christian
group in each of the six colleges as well as the Hualien Aboriginal
Student Committee, established this year, which consists of 12
representatives, two from each school. We have monthly meetings
in the center (our residence) and plan our activities.
As I have established it in Hualien, the PC(USA) has a new chapter
to organize it in other parts of Taiwan. There is a secret where
my energy comes from to accomplish this. Before I came to Taiwan,
our evangelism coordinator encouraged me to go and see a former
PC(USA) missionary in Taiwan, the Reverend Don McCall, who passed
away five years ago. I went and stayed the night in his house.
When I was leaving, he told me, "Now I give you a mission
torch, please carry it in Taiwan continually." At that time,
the word was too heavy for me to respond and I did not say anything
and left. But I have never forgotten what he said to me. Later
when he passed away, on that day, accidentally or with God's plan,
I was near his house in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and I
silently said to myself, "I will." Now I have to carry
the mission torch in Hualien, which happens to be the HACM. Coincidently,
the new HACM center will be in Don McCall's former residence,
where he lived until he retired. We will move to it on July 1,
2003. Amazing Grace from God!
One memorable event in 2002 was the third anniversary of establishing
the HACM, which we combined with the party welcoming new students.
We began on October 4 by decorating the auditorium with traditional
Taiwanese aboriginal items, including four betel nut trees. We
put up a photographic display to show the previous years' activities
and programs. Our intent was to allow all guests to wander at
their leisure and see the pictures during dinner. On that night,
380 people came to the event. We had been expected about 200 people
(amazing grace from God!). Two Amis and one Taroko tribe choirs
wore their beautiful traditional clothes and sang their traditional
gospel songs to help us praise God. A moderator of the Amis and
Taroko presbytery and a secretary of the PCT gave a congratulatory
speech. Our special speaker was the Rev. Dr. C. M. Kao, the former
executive secretary of the PCT and the Yushan Theological Seminary.
Twenty-one years ago, he was in the front line of advocates for
democracy in Taiwan, and for this he suffered imprisonment. Now
he is retired as a minister but works for the president of Taiwan
as a consultant. He encouraged the students to have faith in Christ
and a vision for Taiwan's future. His sermon touched all the listeners'
hearts. After the worship service, our student committee led the
new student welcoming party. All six colleges groups participated
in and performed a skit, song, or dance. Together, we sang songs
and danced until late into the night.
Besides the HACM, Yen Hee works for the Mennonite Hospital as
a volunteer nurse, and she works with disabled children in the
Bethesda Home. It is depressing job to take care of the disabled
children because they are not progressing but getting worse each
day. But with God's love she's glad to take care of them.
We humbly say to our Lord, "thank you" for all the
provision. We also thank you, all the supporting churches. Without
your support and prayers, we would not have been able to have
all the programs. We are very grateful for the support of the
PC(USA). During this Christmas season we join with Christians
around the world in joyfully proclaiming, "Jesus Christ is
born! Hallelujah!"
Yours faithfully in mission,
Yen Hee and Choon Lim
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
187
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