August 22, 2007

Two-way mission

Dear Friends,

This summer I have had many guests from the United States visiting Taiwan. Three of these families brought their children, and it was exciting to see how the people here impacted them.

One family brought their two sons, ages 12 and 16. The 16-year-old, Andy, brought his iPod and, like many Taiwanese and American youth, listened to his music as we traveled through the city the first two days. We visited a Taiwanese folk-religion temple, the world’s tallest building, and several museums. He was interested, but was not overly expressive.

Tahus with his mother. 

On the third day we took a train to a city south of Taipei, where one of my aboriginal students picked us up. He drove us to his tribal village in the high mountains. As the car climbed the mountain, we opened the windows and found that we had left the hot air of Taipei behind us. A gentle breeze was blowing. Little did I know how the wind of God’s Spirit was going to blow and open up this 16-year-old.

The aboriginal student, Tahus, is doing his field education in his village this summer, and part of that job involves leading the youth. Andy immediately took to Tahus. When Tahus would speak to him in Mandarin, I would translate, and Andy would listen with a broad smile.

We arrived in the village at night and Andy and his parents and younger brother all slept on the floor in a common bedroom. When they awoke in the morning, they saw a beautiful view of lush, steep mountains with a deep blue sky.

Andy and David on the right side of the law.

The next morning we attended a wedding at the church and then the banquet in the parking lot of the church afterwards. Andy was willing to try the delicacies. That afternoon we drove up to another village where we drank tea with a local police officer who is also a member of the church. The broad smile remained on Andy’s face. Saturday evening we joined the youth fellowship meeting, and Andy and his brother, David, shared something of their lives with the aboriginal youth. I then asked two of the aboriginal youth to tell us about their lives. Andy and David then gave each youth a cross that had been made by children at the New Wilmington Mission Conference in Pennsylvania the week before.

The night before they were to take their plane back to the United States, I asked each member of the family to share their deepest impression of their time in Taiwan. David, the 12-year-old, shared that he was most impressed by Tahus’ mother. She is a single parent who is a farmer. She grows peaches, tomatoes, green peppers, and persimmons. Each morning we would hear her head to the fields at 5:00. She would then come back and fix us breakfast. On Saturday she attended the wedding and after the banquet stayed behind to help sweep the church and prepare it for Sunday. She then went home to prepare an abundant dinner for us. David said he was impressed by her servanthood. I was amazed that a 12-year-old would notice that.

I came to Taiwan to share the good news of Jesus Christ. But often I am the recipient of that grace. It was thrilling to see these boys also receive God’s grace from unlikely folks. Actually, they may be the most likely folks to share good news, because they live on the margin without much financial security, knowing that their help comes from God. They have little, but share much. They open their homes to guests from the West and share God’s love through their food, their laughter, their faith, and their love. Mission is always two-way. We come to share and to receive God’s love in the hospitality of an aboriginal woman and her son. We never know how the wind of God’s Spirit will blow. But even through the earphones of an iPod, God is able to speak, and if we are willing to listen, to change us. Thanks be to God.

Faithfully,

John McCall

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