October 5, 2007

Our identity

The Lims in front of the mission center where they work in Taiwan.

As the 62nd U.N. General Assembly opened in September, Taiwanese held rallies in New York City and Kaohsiung City in Taiwan. A record number of more than 3,000 Taiwanese living in the United States attended the rally outside U.N. headquarters to promote Taiwan’s bid to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan. This is the first time that it seeks a U.N. seat under the name Taiwan. In Kaohsiung City, more than half a million Taiwanese rallied for the same reason.

Taiwan’s national identity will be a major campaign issue in the coming presidential elections next March. President Chen Shui-bian wants to hold a U.N. referendum to push for Taiwan’s membership in the world organization under name of “Taiwan.”

Sometimes we missionaries in Taiwan are confused by which national identity to use. When we send a letter out of the country, in the return address, we either put Taiwan, the Republic of China, or both Taiwan and the Republic of China together. We pray that the Taiwanese find peace in this issue and have a firm identity. Please pray for it.

The PC(USA) also has an identity problem. I got a letter from a supporting church recently that said they’re leaving the PC(USA) to join an independent denomination. Let’s serve Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, with our hearts and minds together. That is our true and firm identity. Believing this, we can be a big family and still have our differences. In the history of our church, there have been differing opinions on biblical issues emphasizing emotion or intellect, monasticism or scholasticism, pietism or liberalism, but our core faith remains firm throughout our history. With faith, we can work together to spread the good news to others.

Since our 2007 student ministry’s theme is “Fix on Jesus,” we are going to have a speed-reading Bible camp in our center on October 5 and 6. About 20 students will get together to read a part of the Old Testament and the New Testament without eating for two days. This is a big challenge to college students because they are always hungry. But they are the ones who made this decision. (Choon stayed out of it). That is why he gives a big thanks to God.

Special praise night at the Taroko tribe's Gi-want Presbyterian Church.

On October 7 we will start the college worship service. The following Saturday we will have the new students’ welcoming party, one of our most well attended activities. On November 17-18 we will have our fall college retreat. On December 2-3, a special praise night will be held at the Bunun tribal village (two hours from our center by car). We will end our 2007 activities with a Christmas party in our center. Please pray for all the programs.

Again, we give thanks to God and you who support us financially and send us spiritually to this mission field, and we humbly and joyfully serve our students and our aboriginal people in Taiwan. As our PC(USA) faces financial difficulties, please help us more during the coming year.

Faithfully in mission,

Yen Hee and Choon Lim
Hualien, Taiwan

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 253