CHAPTER ONE THE INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE


THE INTRODUCTION

We know our efforts cannot bring in God‟s Kingdom.

But hope plunges us into the struggle

for victories over evil that are possible now

in the world, the church, and our individual lives.

Hope gives us courage and energy

to contend against all opposition

however invincible it may seem,

for the new world and the new humanity

that are surely coming.1

The Motives of My Research

As a Taiwanese rural minister, I have experienced both painful and joyful moments. The pain comes from experiencing the decline of the rural church. The joy comes from experiencing God‟s power and mercy though this same ministry. The purpose of writing this thesis is to examine my ministry in the Taiwanese rural church and also to integrate the ministries for the Taiwanese Rural Mission.

Taiwanese social development following World War II can be viewed in three stages: 1.) Economic Development Stage (Since 1950, to promote industry and modernization growth)—especially established the Industry Manufactural Regions during 1965, and the economic and industrial development had totally transformed the industrial

1William R. Phillipple, “The Role of the Teaching Elder: Calling the congregation to be God‟s instrument to bring about a more humane society,” Church & Society 83, no. 3 (January/February 1993): 109-114.

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structure.2 The economic development has made the people improve their wealth, but not their spiritual and cultural needs. 2.) Political Developmental Stage (Since 1970, to promote democracy and human rights)—There were many social movement involving the struggle for human rights and democracy during the 1970s and 1980s. There were also many transformations of the political situation during the 1990s (For example: The country experienced for the first time the re-election of National Assembly members, as well as the President that promoted the work of the Political Party and earned for many freedom of speech. 3.) The Cultural and Spiritual Developmental Stage (Since 1980)—The first official organization was the Culture Constructive Commission of Executive Yuan, which was set up in 1981 to promote cultural development projects. It promoted a new project “the Community Developmental Project, which was in place by 1994 and which became a community-cultural development movement. Moreover, there were several religious issues that emerged, the Song Chi-Li Issue and the Miau Tien Issue, which demonstrated the spiritual hunger of the people during the 1990s.3 The other reflection comes from the survey of the National Institute of Sociology (Academic Sinica), which indicates a growing percentage of people who feel the necessity of

2The Commission of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan, “The Human Resource of Taiwan, 1999;” available from http://www.coa.gove.tw/ch/stamon/t4.htm and http://www.dgbasey.gov.tw/dgbas03/bs8/look/loky.htm; Internet; accessed January 2006.

3Two religious issues that emerged in the 1990s were religious leaders who deceived the people through money for religious activities—Seven-Power Song and Heaven Miau.

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religion.4 Furthermore, the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church commenced a report on the Reformation of the People‟s Spirit in 1995. There was a vehement tone to the reflection on this issue, even President Lee identified the issue of spiritual reformation in his public speeches.

I was sent to a small rural church after graduating from seminary in 1988. The church was a very small congregation with only seventeen members in worship. I found that most Taiwanese rural churches were in the same situation—poor and small. As a minister, a number of challenges or questions struck me and kept coming up in my mind. Some were as follows:

 Do Taiwanese churches have hope for the future?

 What is the Gospel that Taiwanese churches can proclaim to the Taiwanese people?

 How can we help the churches that are suffering, because they are small and poor?

 How can we redevelop such downfallen congregations?

 What can we do to promote effective ministry for Taiwanese social transformation?

I began searching for the possibility to help my small congregation transform itself as early as 1988. The congregation was encouraged by its growth after a few years of effort. One of the elders said, “I almost thought that God gave up on our church, but by God‟s grace, I know that we are small, but not weak now.” For personal reasons, I wanted my thesis research to bring new insights for my future ministry in this particular

4Data referenced throughout this particular chapter and the next, as well as this project as a whole, comes from the National Institute of Sociology (Academic Sinica) in Taiwan and is accessible only through a limited Taiwanese language network. For purposes of proper documentation and to clarity the footnoting of this project, all future data and statistics will be assumed to originate from this organization‟s work on Taiwanese national survey research. The National Institute of Sociology (Academic Sinica), available from http://www.sinica.edu.tw/main_e.shtml; Internet; accessed January 2006. The particular question surveyed was: “Is religion important for you?” The percentage who responded “Yes” was 34.6% in 1990 and 44.2% in 1995.

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context. Moreover, I hoped that my research could offer to other church leaders some assistance for rural mission ministry in Taiwan.

Furthermore, the title of this project is To Be A New Creation: Mission and Social Transformation—A Reformed Model of Taiwanese Rural Mission. In this study, I believe that the missionary reflection on the Lord‟s Prayer should connect to social transformation. What does it mean when Christians pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God? How does the church act upon the distorted culture and society in ways that lead to change? These are the intents of my work here.

Mission

My understanding of mission is to participate in God‟s creation. The mission is “God‟s Mission.” The church represents the people of God, who are will to share and witness to the good news of God in the world. The mission impacts action toward the Kingdom of God. The mission is proclamation of the love and justice of God. The mission is proclamation of the liberation of God‟s people from bondage, including the physical, the social, the cultural and the spiritual realms. The mission also embraces service and ministry to the world by God‟s people.

The Kingdom of God

I believe that the Kingdom of God is the most wonderful promise to all the nations and peoples. The Kingdom of God is the reign of God in the world today. It could be within the spirit of the human person and also in the whole of creation. God‟s reign is also in the culture, social order, nature/universe, and personal spirit. My understanding of God‟s Kingdom comes from a biblical perspective. I find several images of God‟s Kingdom in the Bible—such as peace, kindness and justice. The

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churches are the first fruits of God‟s Kingdom, who pray and act for the Kingdom‟s coming. I hope Taiwan can be a new creation (new country, a new culture and a new people), a part or an expression of the Kingdom of God.

Social Transformation

My first concern about social transformation pertains to spiritual and cultural issues. The immediate concern of the Taiwanese people is the reforming of culture and the renewing of the people‟s spirit. Taiwanese find that Taiwan improved her economic and political situation, but while polluting the environment and the spirit of the people. As the Bible says, “See, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send times of great need on the land, not need of food or desire for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.”5 People hunger for peace and life.

As a ministry concern, I advocate the importance of reforming ministry and empowering the congregation. Through this research, I will indicate the practical and the feasible projects of Taiwanese rural mission in fulfillment of these objectives. Finally, I will also evaluate these projects through the instruments of interviews and questionnaire assessments.

Naming The Missionary Issues and Problems

Through 17 years of ministry in a Taiwanese rural church, I have found two kinds of problems emerging. One is internal, and the other is external. The internal problem stems from the decline of rural churches in general, precipitated in large part by the

5Amos 8:11. The translation used in this biblical reference and in all others is the Bible in Basic English; available from http://basicenglishbible.com/; Internet; accessed January 2006.

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growth of the Industrial Manufacturing Areas since 1965. The rural population was 17.2% in 1988, compared to only 3.7% today. As a sociologist and scholar who had served the Taiwanese churches over a long period of time, Mark C. Thelin has also witnessed the decline of Taiwanese rural churches.6 I am also aware of the importance and difficulties of Taiwanese rural mission, since the rural Christian population is only about .5% of the total rural population.7 Many Taiwanese rural churches struggle to survive in this hard situation. How can they survive? How can they revive? How can they develop? How can they reinterpret the Gospel in their own experience and context?

The external problem is that the declining churches have lost their social roles and functions, especially because of the rapid social changes that have taken place in Taiwan. Many rural churches became smaller and more isolated with the changes, and thus were unable to function as a community with a larger mission. The Gospel became distant for some struggling rural churches. The teaching of “Salt and Light” became only an abstract ideology.8 Jesus taught his disciples to be the salt and light of the world. His words also became the call and command for the churches: To help the people to walk in the light, to keep safe the integrity of the creation. The churches should be the incarnated

6Mark C. Thelin, “Death by Out-Migration?—Prospects for the Rural Church in Taiwan,” Theology and The Church 23, no.1 (1997): 25.

7The Presbyterian Church of Taiwan is the mainstream of Taiwanese Christianity, having 1,202 churches (64.8% of the rural church count), while also being the only denomination across the whole nation.

8Matthew 5:13—“You are the salt of the earth;” Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.”

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“Salt” for the world.9 But the smaller rural church is as weak as the smoking flax. It is so difficult to survive. How can they be involved in ministry and mission?

When we examine the Taiwanese early mission movement, we find that the Gospel not only meant “evangelism and conversion,” but it also meant “blessing and transformation (through education, medicine and spiritual care).” My questions are: How can we empower the rural congregations and prepare them to be apostles of the Kingdom of God? And could the rural churches be the apostles of the Kingdom of God and acting for social transformation in their own context?

What does it mean when Taiwanese Christians pray for the Kingdom of God? Taiwan has her specific socio-political-economic realities and needs. Therefore, when Taiwanese Christians pray for the realization of the Kingdom of God, the missionary activities should also be connected to the human development and social transformation needed.

From the very beginning, the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan (PCT) has been a grass-roots church. Most of the mission work deals with people‟s needs and their social development. The church‟s activities and the Christian life of the PCT has changed after more than 100 years of mission activity in this context. Many PCT congregations have become more closed and inner-focused on believers and less inclined to provide outreach to the community. The PCT still emphasizes the missiology of people, for people and with people, but the missionary activities are short on outreach. Secondly, Christians are a minority group in Taiwan. If the congregation is closed and engaged in less outreach, it

9When the salt dissolves in the water, it transforms the quality of the water. People cannot see the dissolved salt, because that salt transformed into the electrolytes. This reveals the theology of incarnation for me.

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will become isolated from the larger community to which it is to serve. It is a necessity to recognize the state of missiology in the PCT today.

In the coming chapter, I will offer theological reflection on the current Taiwanese social issues based on survey data from the Institute of Sociology Academia Sinica in Taiwan. Following a review of the insights garnered from this survey, I will point out critical missionary issues suggested by the data.

PCT is one of two Christian denominations spread across the nation. My assumption is that if the PCT can empower the congregations and encourage them to commit to their communities, then there will be widespread influence and possible transformation in the rural parts of the nation. How to empower the churches and congregation is the main focus of this thesis, as elucidated by the effective projects developed and implemented in the Taiwanese Rural Mission (See Chapter Five).

Significance of The Problem and Issue

“Jesus says to them, „Did you never see in the Writings, the stone which the builders put on one side, the same has been made the chief stone of the building: this was the Lord‟s doing, and it is a wonder in our eyes?‟”10 When I reflect on the Taiwanese missionary context, the questions arise, “How can a declining rural church become the witness of the Missio Dei?,” How can the Taiwanese rural churches be a new creation?” and “How can they be the effective and powerful ministers in their own context?”

The purpose of this research is not only to focus on my own needs as a rural church pastor (how to improve my ministry skills or how to reform the ministry projects), but also to discover new possibilities for rural mission. Moreover, my motivation for this

10Matthew 21:42.

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research is to encourage Taiwanese rural churches to work collaboratively. Furthermore, I hope that I can find out the “reforming and integrative” projects for Taiwanese Rural Churches.

My Conviction Based on the Influence of Missionary Projects

in the Local and Global Church

I am strongly committed to Mission for Social Transformation. There are some encouraging stories and experiences that enlighten my motivation for this research. They include: 1.) The early missionary experience of Taiwan, 2.) The missionary experience of Tek-Tng Presbyterian Church and 3.) The global missionary experience, such as the Basic Ecclesial Community in Latin America and the experience of Minjung Theology in Korea.

Three Hypotheses

1.) Effective ministry and mission could revive declining rural churches. Missiology has its important influences on the rural churches (e.g., to rebuild the self-understanding of rural churches, to reform the missionary attitude, and to renew the vision and commitment of the congregation.

2.) The proper missionary activities could transform the social roles and functions of the rural churches. Through the incarnated ministries, the rural churches can reform their social roles and functions.

3.) Through the incarnated ministries the rural churches can participate in God‟s mission and the realization of God‟s Kingdom. The blessing of the Kingdom of God could bring the needed social transformation (especially spiritual and cultural) by Taiwanese Christians.

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My Basic Convictions for The Research

1.) The small church can become the creative minority.

2.) Lay ministry and the lay movement (based on the priesthood of all believers) is an important tool for social transformation.

3.) Making disciples is an important mission of the church.

4.) Mission activity should involve the faithful working out of the prayer for “the coming of God‟s Kingdom.”

The Content of This Thesis

Chapter One Introduction

Chapter Two Case Study of Taiwanese Rural Mission: The Setting of

Taiwanese Rural Congregation

Chapter Three The Biblical Perspective of Mission (Missiology,

Christology, Ecclesiology)

Chapter Four Theories and Social Development

Chapter Five The Assumption Projects of Mission and Social

Transformation in Taiwanese Context

Chapter Six Evaluation

Chapter Seven Conclusion

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Methodology of This Research

In order to conceive and develop the practical projects, two main strands will construct my research. Those strands are “the research on the Taiwanese context” and “missiology and sociology of social transformation.” Only when the churches recognize the reality of social issues and people‟s needs can they address the proper missional projects. The churches need to do their theological reflection in order that they can adapt the right attitude and appropriate responses in order to act out their roles and missional responsibilities.

Finally, the evaluation of this research will be based on interviews with community leaders, lay leaders and rural ministers. This evaluation will be a theological and subjective reflection. I will interview at least ten lay leaders, ten rural ministers and other non-Christian community members. Those involved will be chosen from the local churches and community. The interviews will focus on their opinions of the programs designed as part of this project. After the interviews, I will integrate their reflections into a conclusion.

The basic topics of the interviews will discuss participant‟s opinions about:

1.) The meaning of the programs

2.) The value of the programs

3.) The operation of process/the practices of the programs

4.) The methodology of the programs

5.) The pedagogy and curriculum

6.) The suitability of the programs

7.) The difficulties of the practices involved in the programs

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8.) The ignored programs which are necessary

9.) The programs in terms of meeting contextual needs

10.) Specific concerns and/or suggestions by the interviewees