Displaying items by tag: Taiwan

Taiwan has reported a sharp rise in incursions by Chinese warplanes into its air defence identification zone. Foreign minister Joseph Wu urged Beijing to ‘return to civilised international standards’ after a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said there was no so-called median line in the Taiwan Strait ‘as Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory’, to be taken by force if necessary, even though the island has been self-ruled for more than 70 years. Beijing has ratcheted up pressure on the democratic island since the 2016 election of President Tsai who rejects its view that Taiwan is part of ‘one China’. Taiwan accuses China of violating a long-held tacit agreement after China’s fighter jets began crossing the median line of the waters that separate the two sides. Now tension between the two is at its highest in years, with Taiwanese fighter jets scrambling to intercept the Chinese aircraft last week.

Tim Gillette from YWAM introduces the TAIWAN TRIBAL TRAINING project

Kings Kids International, the children’s ministry of Youth With A Mission, has been equipping children to be fully devoted followers of Christ since their founding in 1976. Tim and Naomi Gillette have been serving with KKI in Taiwan for well over 2 decades. About one year ago Tim was introduced to the Prayer Covenant for Children and found it to be a resource he’d been searching for to equip children for a “life-style” of prayer. He and his team have been actively translating the materials into multiple languages across Asia.

Tim shares a story here about their current plans to use the PC4C in tribal communities in Taiwan. You can meet Tim and learn more about his heart and vision, especially in the area of prayer, on the Prayer Covenant for Children - Part 2 Video. Here’s his story.

May and June we are launching a series of trainings for tribal church youth and leaders each Saturday from 09:30-12:00. We start with a 30 min orientation and preparation for young leaders, reminding them of the importance of their presence, participation as they model for the younger ones.

Then, we run an hour sample program and finish up with 30 minutes of debriefing and processing. An unexpected challenge for us was adjusting for the many children who cannot read or write, as much of the material is geared toward those who can.

However, we found wonderful ways for both to work together and learn from each other. We heard several testimonies of teachers feeling quite dejected, despondent and desperate for quality, meaningful, powerful material, but now feel empowered and equipped. We’ve designed all our summer programs around the Prayer Covenant for Children.  From 5 Day Camps to Seminars and Workshops, we are coaching teens and young leaders to passionately invest directly into the younger ones. This fosters responsibility, establishes authority and gives them a much needed sense of ownership and purpose within the Body.

We are very excited as a team to encourage and champion The Children’s Prayer Covenant among the leadership of King’s Kids International. This material fits hand in glove with our values of establishing a lifestyle of daily discipleship, intergenerational engagement, nurturing the spiritual capacity of children while valuing and partnering with families and preparing them for ministry and missions.

Tim Gillette
Kings Kids International | Youth with a Mission

More info and resources: https://www.kkint.net/who-we-are/ministry-description

The island’s phone-tracking system is an ‘electronic fence’, using existing phone signals to triangulate mobile phone owners’ locations. To ensure users comply, an alert is sent to the authorities if the handset is turned off for more than 15 minutes. More than 6,000 people subjected to home quarantine are monitored this way. Officials phone users up to twice a day to make sure they have their mobile to hand, and to ask about their health. Milo Hsieh is under quarantine. Early on Sunday morning, while he was sleeping, two police officers knocked at his door. His phone had run out of battery; in less than an hour four different administrative units had called. Police were dispatched to check his whereabouts. A text was sent saying that the government had lost track of him, and warning of potential arrest if he had broken quarantine.

IPC colleague, Tom Victor reports back on the Chinese Homecoming and Watchmen gatherings held in July.

God’s Amazing Family!

Hong Kong has been in the news a lot lately. But with all the mass gatherings and ongoing protests, perhaps you missed the most exciting news!

From July 24-27 thousands of Chinese Christians from around the world met in Hong Kong to worship, to pray and to celebrate their “Oneness” in Christ.

They came from the mainland, from Hong Kong, from Taiwan and from nations around the world. These believers recognize that they are One Family with One Father.

This is their true identity. They are committed to be one in Christ - just as Jesus prayed facing the cross.

Their oneness found expression across the generations as the worship turned towards children.  On the last evening, a group of children in “full animal costumes” led us in our time of worship and celebration. The joy was contagious and gave new meaning to the words of Jesus: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Luke 18:16

Others from around the world also came to Hong Kong to worship, pray, celebrate and cheer on our precious Chinese family. Several leaders from Japan and Korea were present. They are all committed to walk together as One Family in Christ, an identify that transcends the history of brutal conflict and conquest between these nations!

What an amazing family! What an amazing God!

A group called Watchmen for the Nations put on the Chinese Homecoming. They are led by a former Egyptian medical doctor, David Demian. The Watchmen group hosts similar gatherings all around the world. David’s team includes young leaders who were front and center in the planning and execution of the Chinese Homecoming. They were the ones who felt God calling them to include the children in worship. It’s no wonderthat more than 50% of the attendees in Hong Kong were under the age of 40. Their passion for Oneness extends in tangible ways - across generational lines.

(Photo - left to right: Tom Victor / Werner Nachtigal / Dr Jason Hubbard)

A team of more than 180 leaders gathered for two days before the larger event to pray and seek God together for His direction. Some of us with the International Prayer Council were invited to join them – topray and to listen to God together. Before those two days ended, we felt God wascalling us to “enlarge ourfamily” by committing to walk together.

The Watchmen for the Nations team allowed us to share the Go 2020 Kids vision and key resources with their leadership team. We are now working to get the Go 2020 Kids “tool kit” into Chinese. So good!

Tom Victor – Great Commission Coalition / IPC Leadership Team

220 younger leaders from China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong gathered from 25-28 March in South Korea, for the first-ever Lausanne East Asia Younger Leaders Gathering. Young leaders from every region of East Asia found friendship across and within dividing lines and rediscovered the power of faithful communal witness, focusing on ‘The Essence of the Gospel - Unity in Diversity’. Nearly a quarter of the world’s population live in East Asia, with its full spectrum of political, cultural, geographical, and religious diversity. Their history is fraught with longstanding animosity between nations; but Christianity in the region is full of cross-pollinating friendships. The Korean translation of the Bible was born in China and one of the first leaders of the Korean church was discipled by a Japanese Christian. Today the East Asian Church is utilising the hands and feet, ears, brain, mouth and heart, to bring the gospel to East Asia and beyond - no matter the cost.

At 9am on the fourth day of the ‘Hot Fire Special’, a long queue outside a basketball stadium in Taipei waited to enter and fill over 6,000 seats. Christians from home and abroad were praying in unison in a four-day call, ‘Lord, send fire’. In the front row, on the field, in the back row, hands raised high, hands low, standing, sitting, crouching, with loud shouts or struggling to cry - ‘Lord! Come to us! Come and fill us!’ They shouted, ‘We will give God a space to intervene in our hopeless life’, and ‘There must be a space reserved for God to work in our hearts.’ Pastor Zhang Zhenhua said, ‘When God has a great plan, He will not give you strategy in advance, He gives you a vision. God uses visions to motivate dead faith.’ Thousands in the stadium had a vision for God’s fire to fall on their nation, for the resurrection work of the Holy Spirit.

IPC’s good friend Charles Huang has sent us this prayer briefing to encourage us to pray for Taiwan.

I recently came back from attending ‘Yeshua153’ in Taiwan in which 1,750 people prayed and worshiped in front of the Presidential Palace of Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.) and then went on a 3 days 2 nights cruise (counter-clock direction for prophetic breakthroughs) around Taiwan interceding and praying for Taiwan.  The first day we had more than 300 shofar blowers on Rosh Hashannah/ Jewish New Year/ Feast of Trumpet blowing Shofar in front of the Presidential palace and then later on got on the big cruise ship and sailed southward and then to an island territory west of Taiwan called Pon-Hu Island (a province of Taiwan) where the governor is a born-again Christian who welcomed Jesus into his land as King.

We had parade, praise & worship on the island and then continued the travel around Taiwan till we returned back to the port in northern Taiwan.

See the following link for 12 minutes YouTube from the GoodNews Christian TV of Taiwan http://goodtvnews.goodtv.tv/goodtvnews/2017video53/

Mainland China: official name is PROC (People’s Republic of China).

TAIWAN: official name is ROC (Republic of China) and called by the Dutch as “Formosa” (beautiful island).

Similar to North and South Korea, East and West Germany.  One is controlled by one communist party in China but Taiwan has multiple political parties and is a democracy.

Christian population in mainland China according to estimate is: 10%.
Communism is based on atheism and mainland Chinese churches have been growing in spite of persecutions and governmental restrictions in the past.

Christian population In Taiwan is about 6.53% with Han Chinese and other ethnic groups and more than 90% of the indigeneous people/ or the Natives of Taiwan are born-again Christians.

There are now more than 50 mega-churches in Taiwan with more than 1,000 members each.

The churches in Taiwan have become more influential than before and the GoodNewsTV station has become blessings to the churches Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and even many people in mainland China are listening and watching the television broadcasts.  So Taiwan’s many Christians are blessings mainland China.

Christian influences in China

The founding father of ROC (founded in 1911 after overthrowing the Chin清 Dynasty) Dr. Sun Yat Sen was a Christian medical doctor.  He along with some of his revolutionary members were Christians. Dr. Sun even openly preached sermons.  After him, the first President after him Ching Kai Shek was a Christian who had converted from Budhism because of his Christian wife.   The most influential person was a pastor in China by the name of Charlie Song who had 2 daughters (both married to the founding father and the 1st President of Republic of China).

Pray for Taiwan Video

Taiwan is a key: many missionaries have to go there to receive language training.
Recently hosted International University Students Sports events on the island in Taipei with 135 nations.
Many pastors and churches love Israel and go to Israel yearly for the feasts.
There are 2 Jewish synagogues in Taiwan.
There is a Holocaust museum in southern Taiwan built by a Taiwanese Native pastor.

Christianity first spread to China around 唐(Tang) dynasty (year 635) at the time through Nestorianism from Persia.  During the Han dynasty there was already a Silk Road that crossed to the west. There was communications between the Chinese and Indians, Persians, Jewish people, and the Romans.  Protestants mission began in the early 19th century, 200 years after the Catholics.  1624-1662 Holland occupied Taiwan and began to send missionaries there in 1626 and many many converts (mainly Natives) and established schools.  From 1807 Robert Morrison from England went to China for 27 years and built a firm foundation for Christianity in China.
Later, London Mission Society sent William Milne (England), Walter Medhurst (England).
Elijah Bridgman (1801~1961) was the 1st American Missionary sent to China in 1830 inspired by Robert Morrison.  

According to an older Taiwanese-American Pastor who lives in California and has ministered to believers and leaders both in Taiwan and mainland China:“China during the Dynasties of 夏商&周 was actually a God-fearing nation so it was called “God’s Country” and so there was a heavenly altar in Peking, the altar there did not have any idols but only worship of the true God in heaven.  It was not until after the Communists took over, Marxism came into the country.  Then, in 1949 all the missionaries were kicked out of the country, closed down the churches.  It was in the 1950s all the churches were closed down and all the ministers were asked to leave, no Bibles, no Hymns and the population of Christians was about 700,000 and grew to about 100 times now to at least 70 million~ 100 million.  Also, more people in China not only the countryside but many intellectuals went outside the country to study approximately 1/10 of all the people believes in Jesus and some already returned to the universities and in the future some will be working in the government playing important roles and University as professors. Now there are a lot of businessmen all who have become Christians. So, not only country side, there are city churches, and churches for the intellectuals.  China is becoming a mission church, later there will be the most missionaries coming from China.  Even through “One Belt, One Road” from the ocean, ground, bringing the gospel back to Jerusalem.   China will become the nation sending the most missionaries in the world. God is with China and Chinese people will become the blessings for all the nations.

Chinese people, the yellow race will become blessings to the world.

Even though there is more governmental restrictions coming from the Communist government of China but it will result in the church being purified and remove all the drosses and impurities.

So every Christian in China knows that they need to pay a price to be a believer and not just be a Christian which will harm the church and not benefit.  To be serious about being a Christian.”

Shalom,

Charles Huang