A letter from Yen Hee and Choon Lim in Taiwan
February 2011
Dear Friends in Mission,
Happy New Year to you all! Here comes the Year of the Rabbit in a cycle of the Oriental Zodiac.
On January 1, 2011, we traveled six hours by car to visit college alumni with whom we’ve worked who are living on the southern coast of Taiwan. The purpose of the trip was to visit regional leaders and their members; last year we planted regional chapters in Taiwan in the north, south east, west, and center of the island. We’ve decided to visit each chapter during every winter vacation time. Since we had not seen them for a long time, we wanted to meet them in person and hear their stories. A lot of them have already married and have several children.
Having a dinner with the chapter.
In 2009 HACM (Hualien Aboriginal Campus Ministry) celebrated its 10th anniversary, but there were not many alumni present due to their jobs and other difficulties. So we went to see them in their village. After meeting, we had a worship service together at a church of the Paiwan people (an indigenous people) and included a 10-minute video report from HACM. We wanted to let them know how we have grown and changed. We ended with prayer after hearing their stories. During dinner time we shared more personal stories with each other. The next day we worshiped at a local Paiwan church offering our special Gospel songs.
This year on June 5 we will invite all the regional leaders and their members to our mission center. This will be the first gathering in the history of HACM. We will show them our remodeled center and have a formal worship service and then have fellowship with each other while eating. We also want to make a presentation about HACM’s future and discuss how they can support it, especially when we retire. We hope they can support one HACM worker’s salary.
Kumo and his wife with a child, on left, at the Paiwan tribe church.
One piece of good news we have this year is that our prayer has finally been answered. Several years ago Choon mentioned Kumo’s name in our mission report. He is from the Ami people and was the first president of the Christian college group in the HACM ministry. He was a very good student academically and a pious Christian. He also often bragged about his Ami culture. One day Choon mentioned the Ami people’s church problem to him because Choon saw more than half of the Ami churches didn’t have pastors. Now still more than half of the churches do not have pastors. At that time he promised Choon that after military duty he would go to seminary to be a pastor. After Kumo graduated from teacher’s college in 2001 he became an elementary school teacher. Later he married his classmate (also an elementary school teacher; now they have two children). Two years ago he finished military duty. Last year during Christmas time he called and wanted to see Choon; they met and talked about Kumo’s future plans. Last month he sent Choon a recommendation form to apply for Yushan Presbyterian Seminary in Hualien. He decided to leave his teacher’s position to serve the Lord. This is a very difficult decision to make because right now lots of people have lost their jobs; furthermore, it is very hard for a teacher to get a job. For example, there are hundreds of applicants for one opening. Besides that, two years ago Kumo bought a beautiful new house with loan from a bank. His parents (both elders) didn’t support Kumo going to seminary due to this problem. Now he has overcome all these challenges and is prepared for the entrance exam. Choon believes Kumo will be a good pastor to preach the Good News to Taiwanese people, especially to the Ami people. Hallelujah! Please remember him and put his name in your prayers.
2011 HACM Poster.
Choon has been working in this ministry for more than 11 years now, but he still feels tension upon facing his ministry as we start a new semester. He thought it would get better and easier to prepare programs and sermons as years built up, but this has not been true. The membership of Haulien College Church doubled last year, and so Choon has more work to do, more problems to solve and more financial needs. Therefore, we need your prayers so that the Holy Spirit can empower upon us and leads us to be God’s instrument. To support our ministry financially, you may contribute on-online [You can always give online. See the the Give box in the left column of every page. —Ed.] or by sending a gift to:
Presbyterian World Mission
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
Please make checks payable to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and write “E200375 – Choon and Yen Hee Lim” on the memo line.
Churches and presbyteries can also designate part of their Basic Mission Support by designating an amount to “D506665 – Choon and Yen Hee Lim.” Donations may be sent through your normal receiving site or through the address above.
As our HACM theme of 2011, “Arise, Shine!” goes, let’s arise together and shine the light of Jesus Christ so that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.
Together in Mission,
Yen Hee and Choon Lim from Hualein, Taiwan
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 153
