CHAPTER FIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSION PROJECTS LEADING TO SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN A TAIWANESE CONTEXT

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CHAPTER FIVE

DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSION PROJECTS LEADING TO SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN A TAIWANESE CONTEXT

Empowering the Local Churches and Congregations for Social Transformation

The Theological Perspectives of the Projects Described in This Writing Project

The community is called out, elected by God, to witness God’s goodness and to proclaim the kerygma.1 “The task of the church” is the main topic of Karl Barth. Barth indicated that the tasks of the church are: 1.) to help the people to know the world and their existence; 2.) to help the people to know God—to know directly the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the goodness of God; 3.) to help the people to enjoy the love and grace of God—to embrace the gift or endowment or grace of liberation; 4.) to denote and portray the likeness of the Kingdom of God; and 5.) to accept the prophetic ministry—is to take people to God, and let God present them a very different future.

Moreover, in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s lectures, “The Nature of the Church,” we were set in a political-ecclesial tension.2 The church, he insisted, is not called to be a tiny, sacred haven from the world but like Jesus, a presence in the very midst of the world. For Bonhoeffer, the tasks of the church are: 1.) to respond with “costly grace”—to be the disciple of the cross; 2.) to live together—live in the

1Karl Barth, Church Dogmatic, 4-3 (Edinburgh, England: T. & T. Clark, 1968), 802.

2Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Testament to Freedom, ed. Geffrey B. Kelly and F. Burton Nelson (San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1990), 87.

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divine reality and share the fellowship of the table; and 3.) to pray for the Kingdom of God.

For Bonhoeffer, “solidarity” means:3 1.) to identify with the oppressed; 2.) to join in solidarity with the weak, the insignificant, and the suffering people; 3.) to be the incarnated church—disciples of Jesus; and 4) to be the fellowship in the Kingdom of God. This solidarity unites the church with its context.

Both Bonhoeffer and Barth lived in the specific political context of Nazi Germany. But I believe that their theological perspectives, actions, and beliefs did not just guide the church in their days, but they continue to influence the Church today. I do feel that people cannot discuss their ecclesiology without talking about their political attitudes.

I will base the practical projects of this project on four theological perspectives:

Mission for social transformation: based on the theology of the Kingdom of God

I have offered my theological reflection of the Kingdom of God in Chapter Three of this project. I indicated the practical concern of “Preparing the church for the ministries of Kingdom of God” and “Actualizing of the Kingdom of God.” Moreover, I have discussed “Missiology and social transformation” in Chapter Four. As disciples of Jesus, the church today should be the incarnated church of the marginalized, the poor, the illiterate, the left out, and the oppressed. The church intended to be in and with the world.4 At the same time, the church is also the seed

3Ibid., 348.

4John 17:15, 19. “My prayer is not that you will take them out of the world . . . . that they also may be sanctified by truth.”

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of grain,5 and should grow the fruit of God’s Kingdom.

Empowerment of the church and congregation

Most Taiwanese Presbyterian churches are small congregations of 80 members or less. As a congregation of less than 80 members, it is very difficult to promote a powerful mission for the community. The basic issues or questions for those congregations, which are also suffering from low esteem, are how to become a powerful congregation and how to bind together small congregations into a larger congregation. Empowerment is a very important task of Taiwanese mission.

There is a rich discussion about the task of empowering the church in the fourth chapter of this project. The concept of “Empower the congregation” is derived from the theological reflection of “Making Disciples.” There are some practical paradigms of empowerment, such as “education, organizing, and development,” that in turn provide the theoretical framework of the practical projects. This project will address the project of “Empower the regional congregation” later in this chapter.

Cooperative mission: reconstruct the relationship of local churches

a. As we see from an earlier sketch of the Taiwanese rural church, these congregations are “small size, suffer from low esteem and are isolated.” Therefore, cooperative mission is a very important and helpful way to empower the rural churches. Cooperative mission makes the individual churches become the one body of Christ. Moreover, it can transform the relationship of the local churches and mission in dramatic ways for both the ministers and congregations. These transformations include movement from the separate-relationship to united-relationship, from the mono-relationship to sharing-relationship, and from

5John 12:24. “Truly I say to you, if a seed of grain does not go into the earth and come to an end, it is still a seed and no more; but through its death it gives much fruit.”

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the solo-relationship to cooperative-relationship. The most wonderful result of “the cooperative mission” is transforming the solo churches to become one integrated area church.

b. The Erlin Rural Mission Project is a wonderful paradigm of Taiwanese cooperative mission. It was started by seven local congregations in 1995 and has operated since that time.

The holistic mission: both grassroots and ecumenical

There are many definitions of mission. Attempts to define mission are of recent vintage.6 Around the time of the Jerusalem Conference of IMC (1928), it became clear that most definitions were hopelessly inadequate. Jerusalem coined the notion of the “Comprehensive Approach,” which marked a significant advance over all earlier definitions of mission.7 We do need a more radical and comprehensive hermeneutic of mission. Mission is a multifaceted ministry, encompassing witness, service, justice, healing, reconciliation, liberation, peace, evangelism, fellowship, church planting, contextualization, and much more.8 Therefore, the missionary programs of the church need to be more open-mind, comprehensive, and relevant to the context. Even we know that it is very hard to do holistic mission, but the church needs to pursue a comprehensive and holistic mission.

Mission is the missio Dei which seeks to subsume into itself the missiones ecclesiae, the missionary programs of the church. Quite simply, the participation of Christians in liberating mission of Jesus (Hering 1980: 78), is wagering on a future

6David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shift in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991), 511.

7Ibid.

8Ibid., 512.

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that verifiable experience seems to belie. It is the good news of God’s love, incarnated in the witness of a community, for the sake of the world.

Three Active Projects

There are three active projects that make up this DMin project: 1.) Project One: The Erlin Rural Mission Institute—The new paradigm of Taiwan rural mission; 2.) Project Two: The Church Redevelopment Project; and 3.) Project Three: The Human Growth and Development Program. Each of these projects is explained in greater detail in the following sections.

PROJECT ONE: Empowering the Regional Congregations

The Erlin Rural Mission Institute—A New Paradigm of Taiwan Rural Cooperative Mission9

This project originated from the basic needs of small congregations. Most Taiwanese Presbyterian churches are small congregations of 80 members or less. As a congregation of less than 80 members, it is very difficult to promote a powerful mission for the community. The basic questions for those congregations, which are also suffering from low esteem, are how to become a powerful congregation and how to bind together small congregations into a larger congregation.

Theological Reflection

When we reflect on the purpose of social transformation through our mission, we face one challenge, which is “how to popularize the missionary concern.” We recognize that it is impossible to transform society by any one single congregation. Therefore, we ask ourselves how to bind the missionary concern together with people’s needs and how to popularize the missionary concern.

9For a visual depiction of the organizational structure and programs of The Erlin Rural Mission Institute, see Appendix E.

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A few theological assumptions come to mind. First, the Church cannot serve the community alone. All churches comprise the body of Jesus Christ. Second, cooperative ministry is the key to a holistic and successful mission. Congregations need to bind together into a larger and more powerful congregation, and not stay isolated. Third, cooperative ministry can empower and energize the small congregations. Fourth, we can promote holistic mission through cooperative ministry and missionary movement.

Moreover, there are two reasons why we need a network or organization of mission. One reason is to promote a holistic mission, and the other is to popularize the missionary concern. Therefore, the Project of Erlin Rural Mission Institute (ERMI) became our common vision. This attempted project has been revised and re-formed by seven local congregations in the Erlin district since 1995. It became a new missionary paradigm of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.

The Formation of the Erlin Rural Mission Institute (ERMI)

The beginning

There was a mission-working group (EMWG)10 for the Erlin area that started in 1995. The EMWG was formed by seven small and poor rural (or fishery) churches, most of which had fifty members or less. The ministers in these churches became conscious of the importance of team ministry. They tried to do mission together during the past ten years.

10EMWG is the Erlin Mission Working Group. Erlin is a district in southern Chang-Hua County.

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Mission statement

a. We are mission driven churches.

b. We wish to be incarnated churches.

c. We yearn to disciple the layperson and to empower the church in order to serve our neighbors.

d. We pray for the realization of the Kingdom of God.

Ten-year trial period: a purpose and program driven organization

The EMWG was a “purpose and program driven” organization. It promoted training programs, spiritual programs and research programs of rural mission to help the local churches. Local churches and laypersons donated the budget of EMWG without placing additional burden on the local churches’ budget. We experienced God’s preparation. Since the church is the body of Christ, she was transformed; her self-esteem was raised; and she became more creative. We also hired a full time director in 2000 and changed EMWG to Erlin Rural Mission Institute (ERMI).

The present projects

To promote the revival and reformation of the churches, the following actions have been taken:

a. There is a monthly-united worship service that takes its turn in different churches.

b. A weekly pastors fellowship meets.

c. Lay training program and bible study takes place.

d. A gathering by funds supports local church evangelism.

e. Specific cooperative programs have been developed with the local government to serve the community.

f. There has been a renewal of the relationship of local churches and a

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departure from a self-centered ecclesiology, through the promotion of resource and experience sharing.

The result and influence

We have seen great change and new possibility for the small congregations in the area. Many church leaders have developed a new esteem and say, “We are small, but not weak.” The young clergy became more confident in serving a rural congregation because the senior clergy were willing to help and share their experience and resources with them. Moreover, we discovered that the congregations became more sharing and started to recognize the meaning of team ministry. The following are the transformations:

a. Reformation of the relationship of local churches: The relationship among the churches of ERMI is closer and stronger than before.

b. Building up the fellowship of ministers.

c. Turning disciples into apostles: Empowering the laity.

d. Church transformation: Church revival and redevelopment

 The reformation of spirituality

 The reformation of projects and activities

 The reformation of vision

The organizational structure and programs of ERMI

1. The Committee of the Erlin Rural Mission Institute: The ministers of ERMI currently form this committee, but it should be made available and extended to lay leaders in the future. This committee is similar to the board committee of a general organization. Its job and ministry are to manage and lead ERMI. Moreover, it is a leading group that empowers and energizes church leaders. The committee members need to encourage and persuade their own congregations to support ERMI. Therefore, the leadership development is an important issue for the committee

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members. ERMI needs to help all the members (both clergy and lay leaders) to develop their leadership.

2. The Research and Resource Center: This department offers mission resources and strategies to the local congregations. It is not easy for a small congregation to have their own resource center to provide materials and resources for church educators. But it is possible for us to set up one resource center together for the regional congregations. Besides, the research center has an important job in discovering the common vision for ERMI and the local congregations.

3. The Bible Institute: This paradigm is a mission for Christian education. This is a department of lay education that offers discipleship programs for the congregations and provides theological education for laypersons by extension (also known as TEE). Empowering the layperson is a very important strategy for mission. The ministry of the Bible Institute in ERMI is not just an education centered on biblical knowledge, but also an education in a theology for living.

4. Hope Home: This paradigm is a mission of life-support through the shelter factory program. What we have called “the Home of Hope” is actually a place like a shelter factory for the disabled. We found that the disabled are a disadvantaged minority and most of them find it more difficult to procure a job. I believe that it is very important to build up a social benefit system to take care of the disabled. But it is not the only way to help the disabled person. There is a saying, “To give people a fishing rod is better than to give them fish.” I believe that to develop the opportunity and way of finding work for the disabled is more meaningful than to give them financial support. This project of the shelter factory cooperates with the government and businesses to create job opportunities for the disabled.

5. Charity Home: This paradigm is a mission of charity to share the love of Jesus. The purpose of the charity home is to take care of the mentally challenged. This

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program cooperates with the community, the local church, the Christian hospital, and the government. The Joyce Home in Erlin has been in the area since August 1965.11 It was a polio home at the very beginning, but now it is a multiple nursing home for developmentally delayed children, the intellectually challenged, and the elderly who have dementia.

6. Shaloom Home: This paradigm is a mission of mental recovery. This inspiration for this ministry comes from reflections on nature therapy. We find more and more people suffering from mental problems in Taiwan today. How can the church preach peace to these people who are suffering from anxieties or mental problems? Our ideal is to set up a revival center, which is like a resort where people can come for retreat or revival. We believe that human beings were created to live with all creation harmoniously and we find that people have become too distant from nature and harmony today. Moreover, nature has always been a source of inspiration and guidance, and a place of refuge during difficult periods.

7. Retreat Center & Spiritual Home: This paradigm is a mission of spirituality and revival. Jesus’ devotion in the wilderness gives us a paradigm for devotion. People always need a place where they can renew and revive today. Reflecting on the paradigm of the monastery we can learn the importance of spiritual formation. Therefore, we recognize the necessity to set up the retreat center to offer programs of Christian practice and spiritual formation.

8. Human Development Center: This paradigm is a mission of life. We may emphasize that the core spirit of the Gospel is life transformation. Paul said that, “Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;

11A laywoman, Joy McMillen, who came from California, in the United States, established Joyce Home. The board members of Joyce Home are all Christian. In order to keep the spirit of charity, the rule of board request that most of the board members need to be recommended by the Chang-Hua Presbytery.

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behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Human development is a very important process for social transformation. If we wish to see society transformed in the future, then we need to promote programs of life transformation and human development in order to empower the people today. Therefore, setting up the Human Development Center is an important program of ERMI.

Other possible paradigms are open for the future. What we have discussed above are not the only ways to empower the local congregations. We are open to any possibility in the future.

PROJECT TWO: Empowering the Local Church

Through the Church Redevelopment Program

The dilemma of the church in this transitional time is that the shells of the old structures still surround us even though many of them no longer work. Some of the structures are institutions, some are roles, some are mind-sets and expectations. One moment, they mediate grace to us and at the very next moment they block and confuse us. Sometimes, some of them actually support and nourish us, while other times, they get in the way of the new structures we need.12

Theological concern

To redevelop a congregation is to redirect its ministry in response to significant changes that may have taken place either among its membership or in the larger community it serves, or both. Redevelopment includes a planned effort to focus the congregation’s ministry.13 In some church development circles, other

12Loren Mead, The Once and Future Church: Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier (Washington, DC: The Alban Institute, 1991), 43.

13Steven Boots, Congregational Transformation: Living the Vision, Mission Interpretation & Promotion for Evangelism and Church Development Ministries of the General Assembly Council, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Louisville, KY: General Assembly Council, 1999), 1.

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terms are used such as revitalization, renewal, or transformation. Regardless of the term used, the basic emphasis is on redirection of a congregation’s energy. Redevelopment is not working harder, faster, and smarter in some direction. Redevelopment is about change and challenge, leaving the past and looking ahead. It is about death and resurrection.14

The purpose of the Church Redevelopment Program is to enable the churches to become effective missional congregations.15 Many churches are facing a situation where their ministry is not effective at reaching out to the people who live in the immediate community. Due to population transition and other factors, some congregations have lost touch with their neighborhoods. In order for the congregations to become effective, we must encourage them to redevelop their ministry and reconnect the church with the community. Furthermore, the commitment of congregation to reach out in ministry to the neighborhood is directly related to the spiritual vitality of the members. As persons deepen their faith and open themselves to the working of the Spirit, they receive the inspiration to move out in mission to the community.16

The Church Redevelopment Program was a model project adapted from the National Office of Church Redevelopment of the United Methodist Church. This program was designed to share fresh insights and proven strategies that will enable local congregations to successful redevelop their ministry. It has also been adapted

14Ibid.

15Presbytery of Olympia Urban Ministry Task Force, The Church Redevelopment Program (Lakewood, WA: Presbytery of Olympia, 1999), 2.

16Ibid., 2.

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for use by Presbyterian Church of the United States of America (PCUSA).17

The beginning of the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan (PCT)

The Church Redevelopment Program (CRP) was a practical resource, which is available for those who want to become a missional-driven church. The Presbyterian Church of Taiwan adapted and used this program from PCUSA since 2002.18

First, the evangelism committee of PCT decided to adopt the CRP to promote the churches’ transformation in 2002.

Second, PCT involved the translation, re-edition and publishing of the resources of CRP, which were adapted from PCUSA.

Third, PCT and PCUSA began to train trainers in 2002.

Fourth, the Evangelism Committee of PCT began to introduce and promote CRP to the presbyteries since 2003 and chose four local churches (urban, suburban, rural, and aborigine church) as the paradigmatic churches.

The action strategy

1. General Introduction

Church Redevelopment Program is a program to empower the local congregation to be a mission-driven church. This program is a two-year course. The local congregation needs to organize a redevelopment team. During the two years, the redevelopment team will be engaged in an exciting process of personal spiritual growth, combined with education, mission planning and action. The congregation will have implemented a series of neighborhood-based ministries after two years journey. The end goal is to become a truly missional congregation, which offers

17Ibid., 3.

18Rev Chuang Hsiau-Shen who had joined the training of CRP of the PCUSA introduced CRP to the Evangelism Committee of PCT.

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Christ effectively in the community, and draws people from the community into becoming active church members. Furthermore, there is a workbook of Church Redevelopment, which is designed to be used throughout the two-year redevelopment program.19

2. The Church Redevelopment Process20

Redeveloping the mission and ministry of a church requires an ongoing process with several stages. Every local congregation is unique, and each church will find itself at a different start point. However, the following steps highlight the major stages involved in the Church Redevelopment Program being offered by the Olympia Presbyterian Urban Ministry Task Force and the Mission Strategy and Evangelism Committee. Furthermore, the CRP of PCT has also adopted these steps.

Step One: The session of a church votes to participate in the Redevelopment Program and the Ministry Task Force, or some presbytery facilitator, accepts their request.

Step Two: The local church designates a broad group of church leaders who will function as the Mission Design and Implementation Team. This group may be the session or a committee formed for a minimum of two years.

Step Three: The Mission Design Team becomes acquainted with the community as intimately as possible.

 Each member of the team is required to walk through the community and observe it firsthand.

 Conversations are held with a variety of community residents, civic leaders and business people.

19For a look at the cover of The Handbook of Church Redevelopment and Renew, see Appendix F.

20Presbytery of Olympia, 3-6.

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 Statistical data is collected and analyzed.

 Information about the future of the area is explored.

 A community survey form for the Mission Design Team to use as it learns more about the community is made available. A facilitator also provides technical assistance in gathering and interpreting statistical information.

Step Four: The Mission Design Team determines the strengths and needs of the community.

 This is done primarily by interpreting the information gathered in step three.

 Emphasis is placed on the resources and potential already present in the community.

 It is also important to identify the greatest unmet needs, whether physical, emotional, social, or spiritual.

 The facilitator will be available to work with the Mission Design Team in identifying these critical issues as well as sharing insights gathered from other congregations, as they have gone through the same process.

Step Five: Mission Design Team studies its own congregation.

 What are the dimensions of the current mission and ministry of the church?

 What programming is offered, and who is participating?

 What is the impact right now of the church in community? What image do the church members have of the community? Conversely, how is the church viewed by the community?

 What resources of any type are available for expanded ministry?

 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the congregation and its facility?

 A Church Study instrument is provided for the team as it addresses this phase.

Step Six: Team formulates a Mission Design Plan to develop the ministry of the

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church.

 The purpose of the Mission Design Plan is to move the congregation in the direction of becoming more “missional.”

 The ministries, which are envisioned in the plan, matches up the positive strengths of the church, with the aspirations and needs of the residents in the community.

 The Mission Design Plan contains several phases. It is not appropriate to attempt to do everything at once.

 Portions of the Design focuses on promoting the spiritual growth of the current members. This is necessary to generate a faith commitment to missional approach.

 The content of the Mission Design Plan is reviewed by the entire congregation and by selected members of the community prior to its adoption.

 Several types of assistance can be provided as the church develops its Mission Design Plan

1.) Resources which provide a step by step procedure for constructing a Mission Design Plan.

2.) Example of programmatic ministries that have been proven effective in other churches.21

3.) Access to studies which document key ingredients for effective ministry.

4.) Personal consultation and leadership for Mission Design Planning

21The effective paradigms of the 21th Century Mission Movement of PCT are introduced to the churches by a series of missional workbooks. There are more than 50 publications of different missional paradigms, those are the actualized ministries, to help the local congregations who want to do mission.

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meeting, when requested.

5.) Technical assistance and access to other experts in ministry.

Step Seven: The first phase of the Mission Design Plan is implemented by the church.

 The necessary human, material, and financial resources are located.

 Leadership for the ministries involved in the first phase is recruited as leaders, if at all possible.

 The congregation and community members are informed of the new programming that is being planned.

 The ministry is begun.

 A facilitator will work with the Mission Design Team to locate whatever resources are needed. The person will also provide assistance in the training of persons who will be leading the mission ministries.

Step Eight: New missional ministries are evaluated and modified, and the subsequent phases of the Mission Design Plan are implemented.

 Evaluation and modifications to improve the ministries are essential.

 It is especially important to respond to feedback from persons who were originally targeted, as the likely participants should be drawn into the leadership of the ministries.

 As soon as possible, community participants should be drawn into the leadership of ministries.

 An evaluation instrument is provided and consideration of the effectiveness of the missional ministries of the congregation is carried out.

Step Nine: Entire process becomes part of the ongoing life of the church.

 Periodically, the whole cycle is repeated.

 It becomes a spiral leading the congregation closer to Christ and enabling

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the church to become increasingly missional.

3. The tool of action—the Workbook of CRP

Part One: Neighborhood Study and Community Ministry

There are some practical worksheets designed to enable the Mission Design Team (MDT) to complete the neighborhood Study Phase of the Church Redevelopment Program. Each activity will help the MDT to gather important information about the neighborhood where the church is located. There are three practical methods in the neighborhood study to help the MDT to get the neighborhood’s important information. Those methods are Observation (in Unit 2), Statistics (in Unit 3), and Interview (in Unit 4). Finally, the MDT will draw conclusions about their neighborhood by analyzing the wealth of information, which they gathered, with worksheet 5 in Unit 5.

Part Two: Congregation Study and Church Redevelopment

There are some practical worksheets designed to enable the MDT to complete the Congregation Study Phase of the Church Redevelopment Program. During this Congregation Phase, the MDT will gather vital information about their congregation. That information includes the membership, the current ministries, the activities, the facilities, and the congregational attitude and esteem. There are three practical methods in the congregation study phase to help the MDT to get the important information of the church. Those methods involve the usage of Church Statistics (in Unit 1), the Questionnaire (in Unit 2), and the Analysis and Evaluation (in Unit 3). Finally, the MDT will draw useful conclusions about their congregation, which will serve as a foundation when the MDT plans the future mission and ministry of their church in the next phase of the CRP.

Part Three: Developing Programs to Achieve Mission Goals

The third phase is to begin the Mission Design Phase of CRP. The MDT has

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learned a great deal about the community and about the current ministry of the church. During this phase, the MDT will take all that it has learned and use that knowledge to redevelop the ministry of the church. The worksheets in this phase will guide the MDT to reshape and expand her ministries in the surrounding neighborhood. Starting with the priorities, which MDT has identified in their community and church, it will establish the mission goals (in Unit 2). From here, MDT will continue to develop specific programs to achieve these goals as well as plans for implementation (in Unit 3).

4. The Process of CRP of PCT: Developing the training programs of CRP

a. Promoting the CRP as a missionary movement

If the church wishes to do something real that can transform society, then she must recognize the importance of driving the universal ministry. Promoting the transformation of community by a movement is a useful strategy. The evangelism committee of PCT tries to introduce and promote CRP to the presbyteries and local churches and is committed to the adoption of CRP by the local churches as a major missionary movement for Taiwan.

b. Training the trainers of CRP

Training the trainers is an important strategy of the social movement. It involves training congregational leaders, both clergy and laypersons, to be trainers of the missionary movement. First, the evangelism committee of PCT tries to train a group of trainers to help the training, which is held by the Presbyteries. The trainers also become the presbyteries’ CPR facilitator and resource person to help local congregations that want to promote CRP.

c. Promoting the presbytery to hold the training of CRP

In order to encourage the presbytery to hold the training of CRP, the evangelism committee of PCT provides financial support. There are 10 presbyteries, almost

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40% of presbyteries of PCT, that have held training since 2003. Moreover, every minister has attended the training course during his or her three-year ministry.

d. Promoting the congregations to organize their own mission group

There is a common response, when local churches are asked to do mission for their community, that the congregations always agree to do mission but do not know where to start. CRP training gives people a simple and clear process to get started.

PROJECT THREE—Empower the People

Human Growth and Development Program

Theological reflection: promote life education and sustainable human development

The main point of the theological concern in section four of Chapter Four is that of making disciples for social transformation. Four important steps to making disciples are enlightenment, equipment, empowerment, and enablement. Two theological perspectives exist and are the foundations of this project. They are “the Educational Role of the Church” and “Education for Life.”

Furthermore, there are social issues and subgroups that need to be cared for when the church reflects on her mission. There are more than 300,000 foreign marriages in Taiwan where both parents and children need Sustainable Life Education. It remains an issue for the future since the birthrate of foreign marriage families since 2004 is 13.2%. There are more than 800,000 single-parenting families at the present time and 88,000 families are composed of grandparents and grandchildren. Also, there are 2.84 million students at the elementary level who might need Life Education.

It is an important concern for the church to determine how her mission can empower these people today. Steven Wayne Long has already carried out some very powerful Life Education programs in Taiwan in the past several years through the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan, including the Champions program in place since

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1992. My assumption is that if most of the churches can widely promote these programs and make long-term commitments to these children and their families, they can transform society and bring drastic changes in people’s daily lives. Based on this assumption, the issue becomes how does the PCT promote Life Education ministries in the local churches.

Life Education has also been a formal program of the Taiwan Ministry of Education since 1997. The present lessons and objectives are: 1.) At the elementary level: to merge the particular contents of life education into part of the overall curriculum including “Health and Moral Education,” “Social Education,” and “Student Counseling and Guidance,” thus creating a school atmosphere that allows for whole person development and multiple intelligence life education, and 2.) At the secondary level: to place a greater emphasis on classes related to value systems and on views of life and death.

The contents and purposes of life education promoted by the Department of Education are in accord with the Christian faith and Christianity’s emphasis on issues of morality, character development, views on life and death, and value systems, just to mention a few. The church should consider how to work with the government to implement life education in order to help young people develop in body, soul, and spirit.

The projects and strategies: life education program

According to statistics taken by the Department of Education in 2004, there are 1,883,533 elementary school students, 956,927 junior high students, 2,646 elementary schools, and 723 junior high schools. Out of the present number of churches in Taiwan, 3,710 are Christian and 774 Catholic. If all of them could be encouraged to adopt a school and be committed to promoting life education using the Life Education and the Champions programs, then deep influence on societal

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value systems in the next 20 to 30 years can be expected. Following is a workable proposal for life education.

1. Life Education Program: Curriculum for the Adolescent and Elementary

a. Life Education: Elementary Curriculum

Since 1992, the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church has been implementing life education in the elementary schools. Teachers are trained to teach life education once a week during the first period. The Taiwanese Presbyterian Education Board has already finished editing the complete Life Education curriculum. Every grade has a set of textbooks. Each student workbook costs approximately 1.5 U.S. dollars. And it is a yearly curriculum.22

The suggestion of this proposal is to encourage all 4,500 churches in Taiwan to adopt the 2,646 elementary schools or 63,447 classes and the 774 junior high schools or 26,538 classes to implement life education courses. Helping students to build up value systems, morals, and life philosophies allows for whole person development. Even if churches other than the Presbyterian churches do not join in the effort, all the 1,200 Presbyterian churches should actively implement the program.

The methods are: 1. Human resources: to encourage Christians to become involved in life education, with every teacher giving two hours of his or her time as a volunteer, one hour given to training and the other hour spent on teaching. 2. Funds: to encourage believers to make offerings for the textbooks, with each person giving 60 U.S. dollars per year (providing one textbook for 40 students).

b. Champions Life Education Classes

Reverend Steven Wayne Long and Vicky Long, seeing the environment that

22The six books of Life Education edited by Presbyterian Church of Taiwan can be seen in Appendix G.

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adolescents were in, being surrounded by substance abuse, started to plan the Champions program in Taipei in October of 1992. They started with a short film on saying “no” to drugs, then tried to do group counseling. In February of 1993, a committee was organized which began to promote the Champions plan. Currently, there are eight local offices found in Taipei City, Taipei County, Tao-Yuen, Hsin-Chu, Tai-Chung, Chia-Yi, Tainan, and Kaohsiung respectively, with the number of volunteers reaching 4,500 per year. In year 2000, there were 355 schools or 2,677 classes, nearly half of all junior high schools in Taiwan that had adopted the plan. The number of students who have received counseling over the years has exceeded 760,000, the current number averaging 100,000 per year. The counseling has already produced positive effects.23 In addition, it is also assumed that the curriculum is implemented at the freshmen level.

There are two sets to the Champions curriculum and it is a yearly curriculum. Every set contains ten units, each unit being an hour. The first set teaches problem solving, focusing on how to build up the students’ problem solving skills. The second set teaches emotion management, the objective being how to build up the students’ ability to discern different emotions and how to manage them.

According to a survey, 95.62% of students say that the classes were helpful, and 93.80% of students responded that they were interested in the classes. As for the parents, 57.98% of them said that they went over the specially designed home material with their children and 95.37% of them affirmed that the classes helped them build better relationships with their children. As for the teachers, 97.31%

23The evaluation material can be reviewed. The interviewee, Mr. Chao-Chong Liou, is a very devout Buddhist and has been the director of counselors in Chu-Tang Junior High School for many years.

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affirmed the effects that the classes had on their students.

The concrete effects that the Champions program had on the teenagers are: 1.) an increase in the ability to problem solve and to handle crisis situations, 2.) an increase in the ability to manage emotions, to accept self, and to empathize with others, 3.) a development in the ability to discern and to refuse dangerous activities such as smoking, drinking, and sharing needles, 4.) a building up of correct views, including accepting one self and respecting others, 5.) an understanding of the love and acceptance of volunteer counselors, learning from their modeling, and 6.) a building up of better relationships with family and friends.

The goal of the Champions plan is “to train leaders of the future.” Champions pulls together resources from schools, families, and communities to help teenagers build up character and develop skills. It guides adolescents away from temptation into their heart’s passion, helping them lead a victorious life.

Champions trains volunteer teachers and these in turn teach classes once a week, ten weeks per semester, two semesters per week. Textbooks are provided free of charge and teachers perform their duty also free of charge.

c. Sustainable Life Education in the Parish: Growth Camps in the Community

Currently, in Taiwan, 8.2% of families are single-parent families and 4.8% are foreign marriages. Children growing up in these environments often lack affection or are more disadvantaged in school. Due to these reasons, they can very well be the minority. The design of the plan is to give these children a supportive “living environment” and “life education.”

In 2003, in order to correct problems in adolescents and to prevent teenage crime, Director Ding-Nan Chen of the Legislative Branch specifically established “community life camps” in every city and county in Taiwan. Community life camps

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adopt small classes containing ten people or less, such as in the case of England’s Summerhill School. They use creative ways to counsel teenagers who need much attention, helping them to tap into their potential, develop their characters, and stay away from temptation.

In September of 2004, Chu-Tang Church in Chang-Hua started a trial school. Chu-Tang Church took in ten students recommended by the Chu-Tang Junior High School, who had trouble learning and had erring behavior due to family dysfunction. The church cared for these teenagers by providing a hot dinner for them, by tutoring them, by introducing them to healthy recreational activities, and by providing a place for the community’s teenagers to study.

A few things happened as a result of the program. The camp or the church became a home for the students all year round. Teenagers felt at home there, which contributed to an attendance rate of 98%. Students no longer lingered in the Internet Café. Their emotions became more stable, which contributed to improved behavior and a greater motivation to learn.

Chu-Tang Church made some reflections on the year’s experience and discovered that this program is worth investing in by local churches. If all 4,500 churches in Taiwan implemented this program, they would be able to provide care for even more adolescents from disadvantaged homes. This, in turn, can prevent teenagers from committing crimes and can help them become positive and healthy teens.

2. Sustainable Human Development: the Empowerment Program

Sustainable Human Development is an empowerment program for the disadvantaged minority. There are many possibilities for Sustainable Human Development, but only a few general ones are provided below: a. Sustainable human development for foreign marriage families, b. sustainable human

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development for single parent families: Nursery Program for children of single parent families after school, c. sustainable human development for the physically challenged: Training program and shelter factory, and d. computer education and e-commerce for remote districts: the Digital Opportunity Center paradigm.

a. Sustainable human development for foreign marriage families:

Foreign marriage families are a new minority group in Taiwan. Currently, there are over 330,000 foreign marriage families existing, the number relatively close to the number of native Taiwanese families. From most people’s observations, foreign marriages are more disadvantaged in their finances, social status, age, and health in general. Foreign brides choose to marry into Taiwan because their families back home are financially needy and can benefit from the bridal fee. When they arrive in Taiwan, they become children bearers and the main caretakers of the husband, the parents-in-law, and the home. Facing language and cultural barriers and the resulting daily challenges, they are unable to give the next generation good quality care. Thus, their children are also viewed as a potential social problem.

According to the Immigration Office of the National Police Agency, foreign marriage registrations have exceeded 100,000 heads per year in the past five years. In 1998, 10,413 foreigners married locals (1,788 grooms and 8,625 brides); they composed 7.13% of the year’s marriages (145,976). After year 2000, the percentage exceeded 11%. In other words, about 12 in every 100 marriages are foreign marriages. Among the foreign brides, the majority are Vietnamese, followed by Indonesians and Thailanders (Cheng-Tai Shei, 2003).

In addition, foreign brides have higher birthrates than local women. The percentage of babies born to foreign women is 5.12% in 1998 and 12.46% in 2002, which is to say that last year, out of every 100 babies born, 12.46 of them were born

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of foreign brides (Internal Affairs, 2003). Another rough estimate taken by the Children’s Bureau indicates that children from foreign bride families numbered 120,000 by the end of 2000. Policies are being established to address all of the issues noted above.

A few concerns surround the issue of foreign brides. First, there is the problem of social adjustment and enculturation. The marriages formed between disadvantaged Taiwanese men and disadvantaged South Asian women are often mismatched. The couples often have difficulties with their husband and wife relationships and child rearing. In addition, they face the challenge of intercultural adjustment, of differences in life values, languages, and motivations for forming the marriage liaison—the man needing descendants and the woman needing the money. Second, there is a problem within the marriage. As mentioned before, the marriage is built upon financial considerations and has no emotional basis. Therefore, the relationship remains to be observed and counseled. Third, there is a problem with child rearing. The same amount of attention needs to be paid to the next generation due to the low social status of the parents.

Graduate students Hsiang-Ling Lee and Juei-Fong Hong from the Public Hua-Lien College for Teachers, Infant Education Major, indicated in their research that:

In 2003, the Bureau of Health Promotion, Department of Health delegated the Early Cure for Late Developmental Children’s Association to conduct a “whole person development activity” on children six years old and younger from foreign bride families. It is found that 5% of these children are late developers, which coincides with the general percentage of the WHO, but not higher than the percentage of local children, although according to the research, the ratio was highest for “late language development.” (Internal Affairs Children’s Bureau, 2004) However, contact with the children indicated that they were not born late developers but only advanced slower due to a lack of learning resources. (Li-Li Mo and Pei-Ling Lai, 2004) According to the research, foreign

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brides know fewer words and expressions than their Taiwanese counterparts, make fewer attempts of dialogue, and exhibit fewer social behaviors, thus retarding their offspring’s language expression and learning. (Hsiu-Hong Wang and Yong-Mei Yang, 2002) In a study by Juei-Hsuin Wang (2004), children of foreign spouses seem to have disabilities, but after the elementary level the problems become less prominent. Pre-school education is a key factor to the diminished problems as well as the level of education of the parents and the type of interaction with their children.24

It is imperative to provide sustainable human development to the 300,000 foreign marriage families. The government, the society, and the church should take seriously this increasing social problem. The present proposal seeks resources from the government and encourages churches to support this community work. There are a few organizations that are involved with this social issue, e.g., the Household Registration Unit of Internal Affairs, the County Department of Education, the Department of Social Welfare, and the local elementary schools. The government also encourages different associations such as the Women and Children’s Center, the Cultural Center, and the community development plan to sponsor this work.

Based on mission and love, it is worthwhile for the church to promote the Sustainable Development Plan for foreign bride families. Some possible activities and community work are as follows: 1.) To conduct marriage counseling courses through local governmental units or the Household Registration Office, to help new brides become accustomed to married life. 2.) To help new brides become accustomed to social life, e.g., provide drivers ed, reading, and cooking classes. 3.) To conduct seminars through local Departments of Social Welfare or the Department of Education to help foreign marriage families with their children’s language and character development and to provide tutoring classes.

24Shang-Lin Lee and Zuei-Fong Hong, The Education Philosophy in Foreign Marriage Family and the influence of language ability; available from http://192.192.6.114/~ece/learn/web/e8.htm; Internet; accessed January 2006.

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b. Sustainable human development for single parent families: Nursery Program for children of single parent families after school:

Presently, Taiwan’s divorce rate from January 2001 to September of the same year was 35%, i.e., one in every 2.9 married couples ended up in divorce. Compared to the rate of one in every 3.5 couples in year 2000, it is evident that divorce has become more widespread. The number of single parent families in Taiwan, from 351,000 households in 1994 to 573,000 in 2003, also showed an increase from 6% to 8.2% out of the whole number of families in the nation. According to the estimated number of single parent families and children born of them, more than 720,000 people live in single parent families. This number should be taken seriously.

Research shows that the negative effects of single parent families on children include financial, relational, and adjustable factors. First, single parenting leads to financial disadvantages. In 2003, single parent families with minors numbered 1,690,000 or 2.4% of the total number of families in Taiwan. Households where the mother is the sole provider numbered 1,240,000 or 1.8% of the total number of families in Taiwan. Because the children are school aged and have educational needs, the financial burden is great. Second, single parenting leads to relational difficulties between parents and offspring. Often, the quality of care is easily decreased. And third, it is difficult for both the provider and the children to be well adjusted in body and soul.

What is the best way to provide help to parents and children? It is a social benefit issue that needs our attention.

From the point of view of sustainable human development, the availability of Family and Marriage Therapy is crucial and helpful to single parents. After school tutoring is also helpful. It allows the parent to work afternoon shifts thus

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solving part of the financial problem and allows the children to catch up with schoolwork. Churches can also open up a space to provide a warm and caring environment in the form of “growth camps” for these children, who are lacking in family support and interaction with parents, thus bringing about definitive changes in their lives.

c. Sustainable human development for the physically challenged: Training program and shelter factory

According to an Internal Affairs report the number of the physically and mentally challenged numbered 923,000 by the end of June, 2005, i.e., 4.1% of the total population.

Being “challenged” is not just the individual’s or the family’s problem, but is a problem that the whole society needs to address. Currently in Taiwan, the government is providing benefits and monetary support for the physically and mentally challenged.

The Legislation of Benefits for the Challenged has been in place since 1980. It has gone through five amendments and by 1997, was formally called the Legislation of Protection for the Physically and Mentally Challenged. It created job opportunities and in it were chapters that dictated the employer’s responsibilities in training and in providing adequate benefits. According to the fourth amendment of the first item of the second article of the legislation, the Council of Labor Affairs is the main managing organization for the employment of the physically and mentally challenged. In February, 2002, it established an employment training unit to provide job searching service, the main goal being to create a barrier free space for the challenged employees, to end prejudice toward them in the job force, to promote work opportunities, and to build a better system so that each placement would cater to the individual’s needs.

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There is a saying, “though challenged, yet not useless.” The physically and mentally challenged may be disadvantaged in certain areas, but still possess special abilities. How to use these innate abilities to help them develop their own independence plan is the main area of concern in this proposal. First, by pulling together the powers of the government and the society, job training is promoted and a multi-variety of jobs is established. Second, by enlisting shelter factories, the challenged can become self-reliant in their production. By asking businesses to design a variety of job searching proposals, it creates job opportunities for the physically and mentally challenged.

The following proposals were established. To see photographs of the workshops, see Appendix H.

i.) Joy Bread Workshop: Trains the physically and mentally challenged to make and sell bread.

ii.) Joy Dumpling Workshop: Trains the physically and mentally challenged to make and sell dumplings.

iii.) Joy Factory Parts Workshop: Trains the physically and mentally challenged to make factory parts.

iv.) Agape Workshop: It is a shelter, or a protective factory that offers love.

v.) Computer education and e-commerce for remote districts the Digital Opportunity Center Paradigm

The Taiwanese government has been promoting community development for several years. In order to create a healthy community, it proposed in 2005 a “Six Week Healthy Community Plan” or the “Six Weeks Plan,” which involves industrial development, social benefit Medicare, community safety, human science education, environmental design, and environmental protection as the six goals of community

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development. The government sponsors the plan and encourages the neighborhood to become actively involved. The plan has many proposals on sustainable human development. It is a very worthwhile task for the community to participate in.

One of the six plans is the “Remote Area Digital Opportunity Promotion Plan.” It plans to establish 300 digital opportunity centers in 168 remote areas in Taiwan within the next four years, 2005 to 2008. It aims to elevate the residents’ power of communication technology and to shorten the distance between urban and rural areas in their economy, culture, education, and society, thereby, creating a balanced societal development.

The purpose of these centers is to combine the communication technologies of production, government, schools, and research, electronic commerce management, culture conservation, the planning and training of the populace’s application of information, the application of information, and the furtherance of digital learning related specialties. By setting up these digital opportunity centers, the hope is to create an environment that allows remote areas and minority groups to have a lively mode of education and modern accommodations, so that they can have greater access to the World Wide Web, thus decreasing the digital discrepancy. The digital ability of residents in remote areas and the native Taiwanese is cultivated. And the agricultural economy and tourism of local areas are also advanced by these developments.

The Department of Education established 27 digital opportunity centers in all of Taiwan in October 2005, three of which are in Chang-Hua. This proposal donated 20 computers to the church, making it possible for the church to have contact with the residents of the community. Through the advancement of information education, many non-Christians who have never come into contact with the church can now have an opportunity to interact with her. In addition, remote

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fishing villages can now learn about computers, thus forming community organizations to create industrial leagues, which in turn would boost local culture, agriculture, and tourism.

3. Organizing the People for Social Transformation: Taiwan Urban Rural Mission (URM)

As a program of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), URM has played a very special and important role in mission. It is a WCC program on Urban Industrial Mission (UIM), which began in 1961 and was built on its rich history. As Masao Takenaka emphasized at the beginning of the UIM program: “What we need today is to accept this decisive service of Christ and to make the decisive change within ourselves. We need a revolutionary renewal both in ourselves and in the structure of our churches to respond to the transforming and redemptive power of God which is going on in our changing world today.”25

As it understands itself, URM dresses itself with “the missionary calling” of going to the frontier. Generally speaking, the URM program is committed to supporting people’s struggles for justice and self-empowerment (within the context of national liberation), primarily through local community organizations and coalitions of the exploited, marginalized, and oppressed, e.g., slum dwellers, women and children, industrial workers, victims of the tourism industry, and native peoples. As a rural minister in Taiwan, I will give my testimony of the URM task. Many grassroots social workers and organizers say they appreciate the training course of URM. The theological understanding of URM aims at creating programs for individual churches and it is a common movement for the community or society

25“Renewing the Challenge: A WCC-URM Consultation,” The proceedings of the WCC-URM (Third Assembly of the WCC in New Delhi, 1961), 3.

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at large.

Any major socio-political changes in any country would inevitably involve agents or catalysts of change of one kind or another. Taiwan is no exception, but what are they? Alvert J.F. Lin was born in Loning, Ilan, Taiwan in 1932, had six years of primary education under Japanese rule, attended Tamkang Middle School in Tamsui in 1964 where he was exposed to the Christian faith, and became a Christian. After his university education, teaching as a high school teacher, and military service, he continued his graduate studies at the University of Toronto in 1960. His exposure to the Social Gospel, social justice, and the history of Taiwan while in Canada converted him into a socio-political activist of no return. He took an early retirement from teaching at Ryerson Polytechnic University to serve as a member of the Legislative Yuan through proportional representation from overseas constituency in 1995.

The lesser known Taiwan Canadian Urban Training (CUT) program, which provides organizer training for grassroots empowerment programs, came into being in Toronto in 1982 with the far-sighted vision and solid loving care and support of Prof. Alvert J.F. Lin, Rev. Dr. Ed File, and other Canadian Urban Training (CUT) Project for Christian Services, or CUT staff. The Taiwanese Training Institute or TTI was composed of a group of volunteer Taiwanese from Toronto. The members of TTI have been training URM personnel from Taiwan since 1982. This item of service received its technical assistance from CUT. Training used to take place in North America and Taiwan, but after 1989, both the basic and intermediate levels have been held in Taiwan and the advanced level in North America. Over 1,000 CUT graduates have contributed in various important ways and capacities in facilitating the acceleration of the democratization processes through nonviolent means over the years in Taiwan.

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The classes of URM adopted CUT training courses, also called CUT. Training classes are divided into Phase I, II, and III. The Phase I program of social issue analysis was further expanded to include Phase II on social structural analysis, Phase III on trainers’ training, and several additional programs of Nonviolent Action Training (1990), Conflict Management and Resolution (1994), Third Party Neutral Training (2001), and Open Space (2002).

Phase I Program of Social Issue Analysis

Phase II Program of Social Structural Analysis

Phase III-1 Program of Trainers’ Training

Phase III-2 Program of Nonviolent Action Training

Phase III-3 Program of Conflict Management and Resolution

Phase III-4 Program of Third Party Neutral Training Skilled Third Party Neutrals (TPN) use processes that help people take ownership of, and resolve their own conflicts. The training provides an opportunity for people to practice their TPN skills, develop the discipline to act, and project a neutral presence. Third Party Neutrals learn to guide processes without getting themselves into the content and taking on the burden of conflict. A TPN must exercise good judgment about timing or the next step in a process; however, it is crucial to never judge people. A Third Party Neutral can use a number of processes: conciliation, mediation, facilitation, negotiation and many more. A TPN learns to be flexible, to change roles, and most importantly how to become a good listener. Sometimes, a TPN is simply called upon to be a supportive presence, a silent observer or a behind the scenes organizer. There are four

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training sessions of TPN.26

 TPN 1 - Becoming a Third Party Neutral

 TPN 2 - Developing Facilitation Skills

 TPN 3 - Developing Mediation Skills

 TPN 4 - Principles, Practice, and Reflection

Phase III-5 Program of Open Space: Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events.27 In Open Space meetings, events and organizations, participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance, such as: What is the strategy, group, organization or community that all stakeholders can support and work together to create? Often called 'unstructured,' Open Space is more accurately described as 'perfectly appropriate structure’, which is created by participants themselves, within the boundaries established by the meeting sponsors. In the first hour of an Open Space meeting, participants identify their most important issues and opportunities (related to the pre-determined and announced purpose for the meeting) and take direct responsibility for convening working sessions to address them.

26The Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (CICR), Third Party Neutral Training 1-- Becoming a Third Party Neutral; available from http://www.reliefweb.int/training/ti390.html; Internet; accessed January 2006.

27Open Space Technology; available from http://www.openspaceworld.org/; Internet; accessed January 2006.