Taiwan

Field Office Information

C&MA Field Entry in 1963

Field Director:

Donald Kramer

Mailing Address:

PO Box 2, Sihhuh
Yunlin County 654, TAIWAN ROC

Phone:

011-866-5-787-4030

Email:

cmataiwan@gmail.com

Website:

National Church

Christian and Missionary Alliance Church Union of Taiwan: 24 organized churches, 2 unorganized groups, 12 ordained ministers, 1,785 baptized members, and 2,678 inclusive members

Team Initiatives

• Evangelize and plant churches among the approximately 16 million unreached working-class peoples, particularly in Keelung/Chidu (northern Taiwan) and Yunlin/Chiayi Counties (south/central Taiwan).
• Create unique opportunities for national believers to be involved in and encouraged to do personal evangelism.

A Winning Recipe

2006-04-03 12:14:02.0

By an Alliance worker in Taiwan 

Several years ago when I approached the local kindergarten principal to ask if I could give out home-baked Easter cookies to all the teachers and students, I got a surprising answer: I would be welcome to visit each of the four kindergarten classes and explain the meaning of Good Friday and Easter. That was a bit more than I had expected, but I agreed after recovering from the momentary shock. 

Later, the principal decided to call a special assembly of the entire kindergarten for my presentation. What had started out as a low-key offer to deliver plates of cookies was turning out to be a full-scale Easter program! I recruited a neighbor to play guitar and began preparing a song about Christ’s Resurrection. 

The program was a smashing success, and everyone enjoyed the goodies—heart-shaped cookies to tell of God’s love, cross-shaped ones to share about Jesus’ death, and Resurrection rolls that were empty inside to represent the truth that He had risen. Afterwards, one teacher approached me and said, “I have hard of Easter before, but I couldn’t make any sense out of it. Now I’m really beginning to understand!”  

At the end of the assembly, the teachers wanted the kids to show their appreciation to me for the program and the treats. So the teachers asked, “Now children, when you eat these cookies, who are you going to remember?” The teachers were priming the children to shout out my name. Instead, to the teachers’ surprise, the kids all shouted out, “JESUS!”  

I couldn’t have asked for a better answer.

Demographics

Population

Population--22,894,384 Infant mortality rate--6.4/1,000 Life expectancy--77.3

Capital City

Taipei (7,871,900) pop.

Geography

Slightly larger than Massachusetts and Connecticut combined, Taiwan (13,892 sq. mi.) is steep and craggy in the east, flat and fertile in the west, with a mountain range forming the backbone of the island.

Languages

Chinese/Mandarin (official), Taiwanese, Hakka dialects

Ethnicity/Race

Taiwanese (including Hakka)--84%; Mainland Chinese--14%; Aborigine--2%

Economy

Per capita income--$25,300 Inflation--1.7% Unemployment--4.5% Literacy rate--86% (1980 est.)

Government/Political Climate

Multiparty democracy. In 1895, Taiwan became a Japanese colony. After Japan’s defeat at the end of World War II in 1945, Allied Command ordered Japanese troops in Taiwan to surrender to the Republic of China (ROC), which became the de facto ruler of Taiwan.

Religion

Mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist--93%; Christian--4.5%; other--2.5%