Taiwan Church News 3271 Edition November 3 - 9, 2014 Church Ministry News Common Taiwanese Bible Association Is Officially Launched! Reported by Tâng Hûi-siok On November 1, Common Taiwanese Bible Association(CTBA) is officially launched at the International Conference Hall of Siongim Complex in Tainan Theological College and Seminary(TTCS). Particularly, Rev. Siau Chin-fen, former TTCS President (1973 - 1986), flies back from United States to host this initiating conference. Rev. Wang Chong-giau, current TTCS President, also takes part in this assembly and give his blessing and prayer for CTBA. Rev. Siau said the reason why he would takes the long distance flight back to join this conference, not because he has too much leisure time, but he has the enthusiastic heart to promote this movement. Then, he expresses his deep appreciation to Elder John Lai, who hosts a very famous websiteElder John Lai's Archivesabout Taiwan church history, for his big support of CTBA. He also encourages the audience to work harder, as this is an uneasy job in Taiwan society at present. Rev. Chen Chu-sien, author ofTaiwan Colloquial Idiom Dictionary, points out that the Taiwanese language could play her role not only as a daily lives language, but also as an academic one. He takes as examples his own writings and publication in Taiwanese, encouraging the audience to march forward and boost each other. Rev. Shih Lien-chen, former Moderator of PCT General Assembly, comments that language is culture; if a language vanishes, the related culture may disappear as well. He hope through the promotion movement and publications of CTBA, Taiwan church could treasure our culture of mother tongue. Finally, Elder Lim Chum-yok, who has made great efforts to initiate and organize CTBA, expresses his appreciation for the support and concern of the participating members. Prof Jiang Wei-wen and Prof Ho Hsin-han, they both humbly wish their attendance would be beneficial to the succession of the Taiwanese language. Translated by Peter Wolfe |