3140 Edition
April 30-May6, 2012
Editorial

Translated by Tsai Sheng-hsin

The family of Peng Ming-hwei, a deceased Elder of He-ping Church of Seven Stars Presbyteries, contributed more than 3,500 books to the library of Chang Jung Christian University. Peng Ming-min, Peng Ming-hwei’s younger brother, was also invited to give a speech at the university and he reminisced about his life and his brother’s life when they were still young men.

Though the Peng brothers grew up in a Christian family, Peng Ming-hwei stopped going to church after he graduated from elementary school. Moreover, while he was studying at Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, Peng Ming-hwei’s Christian beliefs conflicted with what the school was teaching him. Hence, he became less and less interested in going to church. Afterwards, he went to Japan to purse a degree at the medical school of Keio University. It was during his time there that he began to think about the meaning of life. When he was 18, Peng Ming-hwei fell ill with tuberculosis. At that time, he had no choice but to suspend his studies. It took a long time to get the illness under control. During this long period of time, he read and thought a lot. Most importantly, he came back to God with renewed faith.
Similarly, at the age of 16, Peng Ming-min was not happy about the harsh teaching methods at Kaohsiung Senior High School. As a result, he left Taiwan to study in Japan. The time he spent at Kwansei Gakuin Middle School, a church-owned school, really helped Peng Ming-min find happiness. In his book A Taste of Freedom, Peng Ming-min mentioned that the school was very different from Kaohsiung Senior High School and teachers there were not only very interesting but also more open-minded. After a year of study there, Peng Ming-min passed the exam to enter the Third Higher School in Kyoto. Even though it was during World War II, the school still gave students a lot of freedom. This carefree lifestyle in Kyoto helped Peng Ming-min to discover his own identity as well as his interest in politics and philosophy.

May 6th is “Youth Ministry Sunday” and these accounts of the Peng brothers’ lives when they were still youths can help PCT review its current youth ministry. PCT’s Youth Ministry Committee has set up a youth ministry center and launched 5 projects to help young people in developing a firm belief in God, finding their own identity, getting involved in church ministries, and so on. The 5 projects are (1) Sunlight Youth Camp, (2) Ecumenical Youth Exchange Program (EYEP), (3) Youth leadership and counseling training, (4) pop music, and (5) the Internet. These projects are designed to give young people more space and opportunities to be involved in different things and help them to think about their belief and their personal values.
Just like Peng Ming-Hwei, some young people might not be interested in church and religion. However, by using things that attract young people’s attention, they can still be gradually led back to God. In the Bible, Paul also encouraged the young Timothy by telling him to “flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Timothy 2:22). Besides focusing on growth in numbers when it comes to youth ministry, churches should also put more effort into listening and understanding the thoughts of today’s youths. In this manner, more and more young people can receive timely help and establish a firm belief system based on Christian values as well as find their goals in life.