Taiwan Church News 3780 Edition August 5 ~ 11, 2024 Weekly Topical Western Religious Education Exhibition Held to Celebrate《Tainan 400 》 Reported by Dalul from Tainan With a series of activities, entitled as “Tainan Together, Connecting the World”, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Tainan City Government celebrates the 400thanniversary of the founding of Tainan City in 1624. Corroborating with this historical celebration, Archives of the PCT held an exhibition, entitled as “Rains Fall in Time, with its Abundance as Blessings – an Exhibition of Western Religious Education to celebrate《Tainan 400 》”at the Rev William Campbell Memorial Hall of Tainan Theological Seminary and College (TTCS) from August 1st to 30th. The opening ceremony was held on August 1st. This exhibition portrays the pioneering development, talents cultivation and missionary inheritance as three main phases of the western religious education in Taiwan. In the meantime, the close relationships between the Presbyterian Church of England and Taiwan society is well presented. Rev Lu Chi-ming, director of the Archives of the PCT, remarked that 400 years ago, the Dutch VOC came to Taiwan for business and trade, which hence opened up a dynamic interaction between Tainan and the world. In the long run of Taiwan history, different ethnic groups visited Tainan, and whether they left or stayed, they all became the unforgettable milestones and left remarkable legacies in Tainan’s history, Rev Lu said. From the exhibition, people can also learn the vivid dialogues between the gospel and Taiwan society. Except establishing the charity institutes, such as hospitals and schools, Rev Lu indicated, “the main business of the Presbyterian Church of England’s mission in Taiwan is to proclaim the gospel.” In the dialogues with Taiwan society and cultures, the Presbyterian Church of England implicitly laid down a solid foundation for Taiwan’s modern education, concluded Rev Lu. Mr Lin Wei-hsui, deputy director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Tainan City Government, expressed at the exhibit’s opening service that the concept of “Tainan 400 ” was designed to create more connections between the public and private sectors. “It is phenomenal for such an exhibition to accommodate diverse perspectives on western religious education,” he reminded, “citizens are invited to appreciate the influence of Western Christianity from both macro and micro perspectives.” “Noteworthy,” he indicated,” people can learn how modern knowledge of science, medicine, education, and etc., are introduced into Taiwan when the gospel was simultaneously spread across the island.” The exhibition was also jointly cooperated with many local churches of the PCT Tainan Presbytery. Rev Chou Hsin-tian, moderator of Tainan Presbytery, pointed out “the public’s participation in《Tainan 400 》is an excellent opportunity for evangelical ministries of Tainan Presbytery and local churches.” “A series of related events, organized by Tainan Presbytery, include global prayer assembly, outdoors events of visiting-historic-sites, painting competitions, galleries and lectures, as well as the one-month-long exhibition on western religious education, is an excellent opportunity for the public to learn the gospel and enter into the church,” Rev Chou indicated. Meanwhile, the exhibition invites people to learn and review the contributions and legacies that Christian education introduced into Taiwan in the past 400 years. Since the Dutch period, Christian missionaries had entered into aboriginal tribes to preach the gospel. In addition to translating the Bible into the indigenous languages, daily lives of contemporary indigenous peoples were recorded and preserved. These pioneering Christian ministries, keen on language learning and anthropological records in the 17thcentury, had not only made a great contribution to recent revitalization of the Siraya language and culture, but also handed down precious files and historic records amid the Dutch period of Taiwan history from 1624 to 1662. Between the end of the Qing Dynasty of China and the beginning of the Japanese colonial period, English and Canadian missionaries entered into Taiwan to start their ministries due to the opening of China’s harbors. To facilitate the church ministries, a practical missionary strategy during this period in Tainan was obviously to set up some church-affiliated clinics and printing houses, and establish an educational support system aiming to provide basic educations and theological training to cultivate indigenous missionaries. For charity’s sake, western missionaries in Taiwan also offered resources and opportunities for the disadvantaged groups, such as the women, the blind and the deaf. The ministries of local churches and their affiliated institutes in Tainan Presbytery, including Liu-Ying Church, Dong-Ning Church, Kou-Pih Church, Yong-Fuh Church, Shou-Shan Presbytery, Tainan Sign Language William Campbell Memorial Church and Tainan Christian College Students Service Center, are also specially reported with details in this very western religious education exhibition in order to showcase the compassionate love of God. Translated by Peter Wolfe |