If I Were a Missionary

It has been suggested that I speak on the theme: “If I were a missionary in Taiwan, for what would I strive?”

PROCLAIM THE APOSTOLIC FAITH

If I were a missionary in Taiwan, firstly, I would preach strictly according to the Apostles’ Creed. On all occasions I would make widely known the contents of the Creed. I would repeat again and again, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. The third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.”

The reason for this reaffirmation of the Apostles’ Creed is partly to counteract modernism which has begun to creep into Christian teaching. Since my return to Taiwan I have been told that there is a small number of apostates posing as Christian missionaries and telling our people that Jesus was not the Son of God, he was merely a human being, a social reformer, one of the prophets, and that the New Testament is full of myths and fables, and that the spiritual and ethical side of Christianity, more than historical dogmas and creeds, should be emphasized.

I am afraid that such modernistic tendencies would reduce Christianity to the equivalent of an ethic code of life. I am a fundamentalist, believing in the authenticity of the Scriptures, biblical miracles, the virgin birth of Jesus, his physical resurrection, and his ascension to heaven. If you take these away, there would be little left to Christianity, and it could not survive for another thousand years. If it survives at all, Christianity would be, like Confucianism, admired, but its founder would not be worshiped. No, I could never consent to be such a Christian and still be happy.

If one believes in the Apostles’ Creed, one is bound to be a moral man. I was disturbed to hear this story from a very good friend of mine, a high official, on the first day of my return. Two American missionaries called on him and asked for his reaction to Christianity. Not being a Christian he said he admired Christianity for its teaching that a husband should have only one wife. The American visitors told him Christianity was not opposed to polygamy.

SUPPORT INDIGENOUS CHURCHES

Secondly, if I were a missionary in Taiwan, I would try to have a better understanding of the tendency among Chinese Christians to break away from their foreign connections and to found self-supporting churches of their own, and I would give all encouragement to this tendency. I have noticed during my brief stay here this time that the movement for the establishment of indigenous churches is in full swing in Taiwan. I think it is a praiseworthy movement.

It goes without saying that there would be no parallel between independent Chinese churches in Taiwan and so-called independent Chinese churches on the mainland. Here the churches would be dedicated, as they are now, to the service of God. On the mainland the so-called independent churches are designed not for the service of God but for the service of a state founded on an atheistic, materialistic basis.

It is unfortunate, however, that the promoters of the indigenous or independent Chinese churches are highly critical of the denominational churches in their midst. They claim that their churches are preaching the authentic Gospel—an insinuation that other churches are less orthodox. Certainly I cannot endorse such a narrow-minded view.

It is also unfortunate that some of these indigenous churches have refused to cooperate with other churches and particularly with the denominational churches. Unity is essential to the Christian movement especially on this island.

TAKE THE MEASURE OF MARXISM

Thirdly, as a missionary to Taiwan, I would strive to understand the popular sentiment toward communism. To us communism is the worst enemy of God. Its doctrines are anti-Christian. As such, communism must be destroyed. Communism flourishes where Christianity recedes, withers where Christianity advances.

In Taiwan, under the democratic rule of the Republic of China, all residents enjoy full freedom of religious belief and practice. When Taiwan was first restored to China at the end of the war in 1945 there were fewer than 30,000 Christians among its inhabitants. Today this number is calculated at more than 200,000. In addition to the Protestant Christians, there are also a large number of Catholics on the island.

The purpose of the Communists is to destroy the Christian basis of democracy as a preliminary to their domination of Asia; but Taiwan stands as a great obstacle. Taiwan, inspired by the Christian faith of President Chiang and other leaders, and the strenuous work of your missionaries, is invulnerable to Communist intrigues, and sooner or later is destined to succeed in the overthrow of the Communists in Asia. I must admit that the Christian Church in this part of the world is passing through a dark night, but God will give us the light of dawn, if we continue, like Paul, to fight the good fight.

If I were a missionary in Taiwan, I would seek to have a true understanding of the political realities under which the 10 million people are working. Free China lives under the constant threat of Communist aggression. Only a narrow strip of water separates Taiwan from jet bombers and concentrated armed might of the ruthless Chinese Communist dictators on the mainland across the Strait. To retain our liberty, to keep alive our determination to return some day to the mainland and reclaim China from its present black night, our people must be continually alive to the Communist menace and be militarily and spiritually prepared to repel it. We cannot afford to relax our vigilance for even one moment.

We need tolerance and understanding from our friends in this critical hour. Our fellow Christians from America and other countries must understand the overriding necessity of defense against Communist aggression and refrain from words and actions which would serve to weaken the will to resist it. We in the Republic of China have an historical mission to perform in Asia—a mission which will increase the security of the whole free world. Our Christian friends must understand the great imperatives which move us into this emergency. As a foreign missionary in Taiwan, I would certainly share their view on this important question and would not do anything to create an impression that a compromise between democracy and communism is possible.

DEEPEN SOCIAL CONCERN

Fourthly, if I were a missionary in Taiwan, I would devote attention and energy to such activities as hospitals, care for tuberculous and leprous patients and destitute children, and do everything else within my power to promote the general well-being of the people among whom missionaries are preaching the Gospel of mercy and good will.

In my own life, the Baptist church has played a recurrent role, and it has ever been remembered gratefully. It was in Elizabeth Hospital in Shanghai—a Baptist institution—that our first child, a daughter, was born. Although Mrs. Tong and I were in strait circumstances at the time, I recall the sympathetic and helpful cooperation which we received from Elizabeth Hospital during that time of need.

Fifthly, if I were a missionary in Taiwan, I would devote my time and energy to such techniques as public relations, radio broadcasting, and mobile preaching units which would make possible the mass conversion of people to Christianity. It is superficial to confuse public relations with propaganda and publicity. Of course, it is something quite different. Public relations addresses itself to the basic problem of creating an atmosphere—a climate of opinion—favorable to a projected course of action. As such it embraces many and varied activities. Among these, radio broadcasting and mobile units for preaching the Gospel are instruments.

Nowadays, there are few men of major stature in the United States who are not regularly advised by public relations counselors. Public relations has become an accepted “must” for American business. It has an important place in the spread of Christianity. Naturally, it calls for a study of Chinese history, culture, and customs. China’s cultural heritage and historical backgrounds offer many similarities to Christianity. These similarities should enable a missionary to overcome unreceptiveness to the teachings of the Bible and pave the way for acceptance of the doctrine of the forgiveness of sin and of the immortality of the soul through the grace of Jesus Christ.

PRESENT ACHIEVEMENTS

Ten days after Mr. James Dickson suggested to me the topic of this message, “If I were a missionary in Taiwan, for what would I strive?,” Mrs. Dickson allowed me to accompany her in a four-day inspection of various mission stations in the island. During the trip I often asked myself whether I could make myself a better missionary or whether I could do something which missionaries had not yet done. Before our return to Taipei, I came to the conclusion that if I were a missionary in Taiwan, I could not have done better than what has been done by more than 500 Protestant missionaries now working in the island.

Most of the missionaries with whom I came in contact have been preaching according to the Apostles’ Creed. I saw evidence of the spirit of sacrifice that has inspired them in their work of mercy. Some are doctors or dentists; some render service to leprous or tuberculous patients; some are training mountain tribe boys and girls, or men and women, to be nurses, kindergarten teachers, Bible instructors, and preachers. I was particularly struck with the selfless devotion of a young couple who minister to children suffering from tuberculosis in its active stage. The couple work in a poorly equipped clinic, with their own living rooms in an adjoining section. The husband is a doctor and his wife a trained nurse. Both of them show their affection for their little patients and would pick them up and embrace them and comfort them whenever they cried.

Unless they had the Spirit of the Lord in them, such love for diseased children would have been impossible. I also saw other missionaries, both men and women, devoting their lives to the care of their fellow men and women who would otherwise have not received medical attention. They live in quarters which I would not regard as modern, but they do not complain because the Spirit of God abides with them.

As to the independent Chinese churches in the island, the missionaries are encouraging their establishment. The spread of Christianity in Taiwan has been so fast that it is not possible to finance all churches with funds raised abroad. Chinese Christians and even mountain tribe Christians are relying more and more upon themselves to erect churches and to carry on activities of mercy.

As to my suggestion that we should resort to such modern techniques as public relations, radio broadcasting, and mobile units for the preaching of the Gospel, some missionaries are already employing these methods. To me, both Mr. and Mrs. Dickson are good public relations counselors. Her book, These My People, dealing with her beloved mountain people of Taiwan, bears the mark of an expert writer. Mr. Dickson’s book, Stranger Than Fiction, a story of modern Christian missions among the mountain tribes of Taiwan, is truly a story of the wonderful working of the Spirit of God among primitive people.

Another public relations expert in Taiwan is Miss Gladys Aylward, “The Small Woman,” featured in a book by that name which was condensed for the August, 1957, edition of Reader’s Digest. Her amazing life was the subject of a film, “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” which Mrs. Tong and I saw in Europe last winter. She maintains an orphanage in Taiwan.

As early as May, 1951, some missionaries started radio preaching at Hualien. At the time I was the managing director of the Broadcasting Corporation of China and was able to help it in a small way. Today Team Radio Formosa has a staff of 27, including nine nationals and four missionary personnel, and consisting of three departments, namely, programming, correspondence, and outreach. Its programs are released on 12 stations in seven different cities in Taiwan in addition to station HLKX in Inchon, Korea, and FEBC station in Manila. There is a total of 120 outlets per week requiring the production of at least 20 programs every week. The correspondence course department, using “The Light of Life” course translated into Chinese, has an enrollment of one thousand. More than 100 letters a day are received from listeners.

The Reverend Andrew Loo, sole representative in Taiwan of the Pocket Testament League of New York City, maintains a truck equipped with amplifiers, for preaching the Gospel wherever he can get the best audience. Although he was born of Chinese parentage, he is a missionary from America. He has distributed altogether 2 million copies of the Book of John in the Chinese mainland, and 1 million copies in Taiwan during the last 11 years. There is no doubt that other missionaries are also maintaining mobile units to bring the Gospel to remote corners of the island.

Harmonious working of all the missionaries and Chinese church leaders has made possible the amazing growth of Christianity in Taiwan in recent years. Since the loss of the mainland provinces to communism, our people feel a great void in their spiritual lives. In the reformation that is in progress, Christianity is coming to many of us to fill that void. I witnessed God’s miracle at Taipei one summer night seven years ago. An outdoor revival meeting was held in the New Park across the street from the Broadcasting Building where I had an office at that time. I attended the meeting and found more than 800 persons present. At the end of the service, when the pastor asked if any in the audience would publicly offer his life to Jesus Christ, more than 600 persons stood up. Such scenes are common in Taiwan.

An important contributing influence to the rapid growth of churches in Taiwan is the fact that so many high officials in the government are Christians. They set an example as to what Christianity teaches, and their observance of Jesus’ teachings makes a deep impression on non-Christian Chinese, and plays an important part in their conversion to Christianity.

I have faith that Christianity, after its long eclipse in the Chinese mainland but shining brilliantly in Taiwan, will return with greater influence and with enriched vision to that portion of our country which is under Communist control. The way may be hard, but by God’s help we will travel it.

Samuel M. Shoemaker is the author of a number of popular books and the gifted Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. He is known for his effective leadership of laymen and his deeply spiritual approach to all vital issues.

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