Taiwan Church News. Edition 3795 November 18 ~ 24, 2024 Weekly Topical Taiwan Indigenous Visions Spoken in Mother Tongues at ‘Amis Carnival Reported by Dalul On November 9, ‘Amis presbytery held a carnival event, entitled as ”2024 Exhibition of Indigenous Language Educational Achievement and Fundraising for ‘Amis Mission Center” at Shoufeng Primary School in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan. More than 1,000 PCT members from 35 indigenous churches participated in this ‘Amis carnival. In the 2024 Exhibition of Indigenous Language Educational Achievement, each church presents the diverse aspects of indigenous cultures through songs, dances, stories, tribal proverbs and etc, so that the public can see the rich traditions of ‘Amis people. The educational achievements of promoting indigenous languages include: training mother tongue teachers via school systems to make languages teaching more vivid; arranging weekly programs for different groups of mother-tongue speakers; and instructing the learners to get an in-depth understanding of ‘Amis language and culture. At present, there are at least 30 churches participated in the educational program to promote mother tongues, and positively committed to inherit and promote ‘Amis language and culture. Another goal of this ‘Amis carnival is to proclaim the vision of establishing an ‘Amis missionary center. In the interview, Rev Namoh Arang, moderator of the ‘Amis presbytery, said that the beginning of building an ‘Amis missionary center was initiated in the hearts of ‘Amis pastors and church members as early as about four decades ago. In recent years, an urgent demand of building a missionary center gradually became clear among the ‘Amis churches and tribal communities, Rev Namoh Arang indicated, .it is hoped that through the establishment of a missionary center, the ‘Amis compatriots will be inspired to access the good news again. “It shall also revive the enthusiasm for evangelical faith in ‘Amis people,” he affirmed. He further pointed out that the ‘Amis presbytery is now facing the loss of the youth and adolescent church members. After having graduated from high school, many young people either are reluctant to walk into church or switch to attend other churches, Rev Namoh Arang said. Through surveys and feedback to learn of the opinions of the youth, he found that having a good assembly venue is not only convenient to hold together the community residents, but also helps the youth and adolescent church members, including the adolescent and the elderly, to have a sense of home and identity. At present, the headquarter office of the ‘Amis presbytery is still a temporary container-house, where important files such as local church records and meeting documents are stored, Rev Namoh Arang indicated. “A large amount of materials were damaged due to inundations caused by recent typhoons, which further highlighted an urgent needs of building a missionary center to preserve ‘Amis church culture and inheritance,” he said, “in recent years ‘Amis presbytery has recruited a pioneering group to plan for building a missionary center on the original site of the presbytery’s HQ office.“ Finally, he remarked “the reasons why ‘Amis presbytery set up kinds of ministry projects, like fundraising a plan entitled as ‘Eight Hundred Heroes’, convening construction meetings in the church, and organizing tribal carnivals, and etc., is that, through such construction of the ‘Amis missionary center, we sincerely wish the evangelical enthusiasm of all ‘Amis church members could be revived again, and carry on to serve the ‘Amis compatriots and witness the good news of Jesus Christ.” Translated by Peter Wolfe |