July 21, 2003

Dear Friends,

This past weekend, I had a wonderful experience preaching for a prayer-and-fasting weekend in the rugged mountains of central Taiwan. Seven aboriginal churches of the Tyral tribe invited me to preach at a joint activity.

A tribal pastor and his wife and two sons drove me from Puli, the geographical center of the island, along roads that have mountains on one side and a steep drop-off on the other. We stopped on the way to the village at a mountain hut of one the church elders. They grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, peaches, and cabbage on the sides of the mountains. This church elder and his wife told me that they have three children who are all involved in the church. The church elder is a telephone "lineman for the county." The view from their hut was spectacular. The flies were numerous.

After drinking tea, we continued driving up to the village. When we arrived we went to a wooden traditional home (most homes in Taiwan today are all made of concrete). We had dinner and then drank more tea. Around 8:00 p.m., a pastor from the neighboring village came by so I could let him know what the content of my two sermons would be. I would preach in Mandarin and then he would translate into the Tyral tribal language. I have learned from experience that it is always better for the translator to know what's coming. I learned the next day when he translated for me that he did so with great enthusiasm.

We then took a walk around the village. Because the buildings in these villages had been badly hurt by the big earthquake in 1999, the government built a beautiful new school for the village. As we drove through various villages, I was pleased to see that the government had really put some thought into the style of the new buildings.

Most Taiwanese bathe at night before going to bed. The homes in this village do not have hot water so the entire village goes down to the riverside where there is a communal hot spring. Every evening the whole village bathes there. Since I like to take my showers in the morning, when I arose early and went down to the hot spring, I was the only one there. It was a wonderful experience, to soak in the hot springs and see the towering mountains around me.

I got up very early because a rooster just outside my window got up around 3:00 a.m. and sang all morning. It has been extremely hot and humid in Taipei, but Saturday night in that village I needed a blanket. It felt wonderful to walk and not sweat.

Sunday morning all seven churches had decided to fast from food. This ancient custom helps Christians focus on what is controlling them and also reminds us that all gifts come from God. It is also related to repentance and asking God for strength to do God's will.

We drove about 45 minutes to the village where we were to worship. When we arrived at the church I saw several non-aboriginals I knew from Taipei. I had spoken in their church in early July. I discovered that their young adult group had been in one of the other villages this past week running a tutoring camp for aboriginal children.

The church sanctuary had clear windows so the beauty of the mountains surrounded us as we worshipped. I thought about all the aboriginals who have had to leave their beautiful villages and now live in the density of a concrete Taipei County with little nature surrounding them. The flowers in front of the sanctuary had stalks of millet, a symbol of God's grace to the aboriginals.

We began with lively singing with drums and tambourines. They had asked me to preach twice, each time for an hour. I am not accustomed to preach that long, but with translation doubling the time, each sermon was only about 30 minutes. After preaching the first time, we prayed for an hour and then sang some more. I then preached a second time. We then prayed for each church and its particular challenges. We ended by singing the African song, "We are Marching in the Light of God." The aboriginals love to dance, so that song was accompanied by a lot of movement.

It took eight hours to get back to Taipei. Someone drove me to the train station in a city about five hours away. I then had a two-our train ride back to Taipei. There was a lot of traffic. Many city folks escaped to the cool mountains for the weekend and were returning home.

Next week I will be speaking four days at a college-student conference on the topic of “Living a Simple Life in God's Kingdom.”

Wishing you grace in these summer months.

John

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 181