Taiwan Church News

3835 Edition

August 25 ~ 31, 2025

Weekly Topical

Picture Book Launched for the First Rukai Christian – Elder Drepelrange Thalimarau

Reported by Lin Wan-ting from Pingtung

To commemorate the first indigenous Rukai Christian, Elder Drepelrange Thalimarau, after 5 years of her death, a bilingual picture book, entitled as “The First Indigenous Rukai Believer of Jesus” in both Chinese and Rukai languages, is finally launched in August, 2025. The picture book is edited and self-published by Elder Drepelrange Thalimarau’s son-in-law, Rev Pelenge Rusudramane, an veteran PCT pastor. To tell the story how Rukai community received the gospel in a tribe full of taboos and superstitions, the picture book showcases the first Rukai Christian’s witness of her audacious faith.

In the interview, Rev Pelenge Rusudramane said that before the gospel entered into Rukai tribes, daily lives of Rukai people were always surrounded by taboos and magics. For example, he said, “outcomes of hunting or farming can be foretold by singing or flying directions of birds, or personal fortunes can be forecasted by sneezing and many odd superstitions etc.”

Rev Pelenge Rusudramane recalled, when he was a boy, it was always the greatest joy to walk from tribes on mountain to Shui-Men town on plains to enjoy steamed buns, candy, and especially to watch running automobiles. “But the elders in tribes often excused a break at the halfway,” said he, “as a matter of fact, they went to observe the flights of birds. If they found that the omens were not good to move down mountains, we would suddenly return back home. So the hilarious journey in our childhood were somehow ruined by such disappointment and confusion.”

Regarding taboos, Rev Pelenge Rusudramane indicated that some of them showcased in daily experiences, and some subsisted in indigenous Rukai traditions. More importantly, he said, in the tribal community life, “people agree that they should abide by the rules, and no one wants to be a rule-breaker.” “Although tribal taboos help maintain the harmony of community, they actually become a bondage of tribal lives,” he said, “while Christians become a group of people that breaks taboos and bring freedom and peace to tribes with their audacious faith in God.”

Elder Drepelrange Thalimarau was born in 1936. Her father, Wu Da-Hsu (Chinese name), was a hunter of the Hau-Cha Tribe of the Rukai people, and her mother, Wu Lu-Jin, was a witch of the Ma-Er tribe (now known as Wa-Lo-Lu tribe) of the indigenous Payuan people. Tribes of Hau-Cha and Ma-Er often clashed over farming lands, water resources, hunting fields and many other issues related to survival. But it’s amazing through the miraculous ministry of God, the gospel finally passed from Ma-Er tribe into Hau-Cha tribe and nobody knew who’s the first to preach or receive the good news.

Elder Drepelrange Thalimarau was sent to her aunt’s family in Ma-Er tribe as an adopted daughter when she was a child. She also went to attend the church in Ma-Er tribe. After being brought back to Hau-Cha tribe by her parents when she was a teenager, she often took her sisters to Ma-Er tribe via walking a long distance amid mountains. Because it took five or six hours to go back and forth, Elder Drepelrange Thalimarau’s parents forbade their teens go to church on safety concerns. In addition, as Wu Da-Hsu is a hunter and Wu Lu-Jin is a witch, they were very worried that their teen’s attendance of church services would break Rukai’s traditional taboos.

But all these difficulties in her teenage did not quench young Drepelrange Thalimarau’s enthusiasm for faith. Seeing that she stood firm in faith, her father agreed that she can go to church to follow her faith, except one condition: once the subsequent tribal hunting or farming were not good, she could not attend the church. Meanwhile, her mother also agreed that she could follow her faith, if such a Christian faith could be accepted by tribal gods in a traditional witchcraft liturgy.

After young Drepelrange Thalimarau’s confession in God, tribal hunting and farming produces were abundantly blessed as usual, and the tribal gods also had no quarrels with her faith. Amazingly, young Drepelrange Thalimarau’s parents followed her daughter to become Christians afterwards. When their neighbors saw the couple’s brave conversion, many were also encouraged to believe in God one by one. In the 1950s, bamboo and thatch were utilized by Rukai Christians to build chapels. Though these materials were taken from sacred land of Rukai people, but the church was successfully built up to witness the glory of God without overshadowing by fear or curse.

However, the journey of mission is not wide and smooth. “Whenever a natural disaster occurred in tribe, Rukai people would attribute it is a disaster due to Christians,” said Rev Pelenge Rusudramane, “but Christians always lives their faith in peace and justice which indeed touched many tribal compatriots.”

“In early days, Rukai tribal people regarded the death of difficult childbirth as ominous sign, the mother’s sadness could only be dealt with by her husband, and the people who died accidentally at foreign lands could not be brought back home for burial,” according to Rev Pelenge Rusudramane, “but all Rukai Christians helped the tribe deal these taboos with faith and love.”

Rev Pelenge Rusudramane indicated that male persons are usually responsible for the tribe, family and public affairs in Rukai tribal community, but God used a little girl – young Drepelrange Thalimarau – to preach the gospel to the Rukai people, especially through her humbleness of being adopted and later returning to her original Rukai family. “These wonderful stories shows God’s omnipotent love and grace, and it is so amazing and awesome,” praised he.

Translated by Peter Wolfe