21/11/2009 by paul.

Well I’m writing this two and a half weeks after my last post. My lovely wife, Jo has come and gone and I’m left reflecting over the amazing time we have visiting various places in Taipei and the week we spent travelling around Taiwan, or should I say Formosa - the beautiful island.

T52 was spent getting over incoming jetlag, before having a wander to the amazing living mall and Keelung River in Taipei. On the way back we bought some Pineapple Cake for my host on the previous Monday (see T49). We took the present round to the optician shop, thinking it was a good opportunity for Jo to meet some of the people who have made me feel so welcome. When we arrived we were presented with two more presents - chocolates and a bottle of wine to help make our ’second honeymoon’ even better! I still don’t understand how to do presents and hospitality here!

On Friday we set off for our solo adventure (well there were two of us, but no Taiwanese/Mandarin interpreters!). We spent five minutes trying to tell the taxi driver we wanted to go Shonsan Airport, which eventually after pointing at a big airport sign he understood our mumblings. We took the plane to Hualien - about 45 mins flight time in a propellor plane. As we flew down the North-Eastern coast there were several breaks in the clouds through which we could see beautiful Taiwan - bright blue seas, flat plains and high, steep, green covered mountains (links to pics are at the bottom!).

We spent the weekend in Hualien in a rather nice hotel, Parkview. There was an outdoor swimming pool which we made use of, and to our suprise no-one else did! We ventured out both to Hualien city centre - to a very local market, stumbled across a political gathering, and realised that the sea front was littered with industry, in particular a huge place that looked like a cross between a harbour and a cement works. Strangely the coast here reminded me of some of the places on the North-Eastern Coast of the UK - except here the indsutries are still thriving. I wonder whether they will suffer the same fate as our industrial towns in the North. On our second day in Hualien we went for a tandem bike ride - this time heading North from the hotel. We were only chased by two dogs along a small lane to a busy road. Tandem bike riding is particularly difficult - we didn;t really excel but we got far enough to admire the coast North of Hualien.

After three nights in Hualien we made our way to the train station and boarded a train bound for Taitung. Our second destination had sent someone to pick us up from Luye station. This meant taking a small train that called at nearly every stop. It took three hours, and after crossing off the 17 stops on a list as we went, we met with a man from the Bunun Foundation Cultural Centre. He drove us up into the mountains to our second stay. The Bunun people are some of the aboriginal people in Taiwan. I have been incorrect in my history before, but I believe that the Bunun people occupied the mountains of Central-Southern Taiwan until the Japanese came about 70 years ago. Because people living up in the mountains are hard to keep an eye, they made the people move further down to the edge of the lowlands, where several groups and villages still exist. It was at this particular village that we met Rev. Pai - an aboriginal PCT minister. He explained that the aboriginal people are still some of the poorest in Taiwan, and that they still feel the inequalities of education, health, wealth and skills. At the same the culture heritage is slowly fading as the young people are leaving the villages to go to the cities to find work. As a minister in this kind of place Rev. Pai developed the Cultural Centre to provide jobs, purpose and support for these people, whilst also protecting and sharing their culture. The centre can sleep many people and also has a great restaurant, coffee shop, souvenir shop (where you can still buy the traditional aboriginal goods) and theatre for performing aboriginal shows…

After two days in the mountains with these wonderful people, we were taken into Taitung to catch a bus to take us to Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan and is on the South Western Coast. The bus driver had a timetable to keep and un-tarmaced roads and hairpins bends would not slow him down. Our hotel was in the middle of Kaohsiung. Well in fact it was in the Kaohsiung biggest landmark - the skytower. This building (again links to pics below) is the second tallest in Taiwan after the 101 building in Taipei. Our hotel room faced the city from the 57th floor. After enjoying the wonderful food in the buffet restaurant, and sampling a few cocktails in the bar, we were nice and relaxed. One day we headed to Cijin Island - a small natural island off the coast of Kaohsiung which helped create a natural harbour for the biggest container ship port in Taiwan - there were a lot of boats, and they weren’t small. We found a little small boat that for 15NT (30p) took us across the harbour to the island. We wandered up to the lighthouse on the point and looked across the entrance of the harbour to the mainland to see the old British Consulate building (which is now a cafe) and our hotel towering above. We also visited the derlict fort and tried to find the church. The Presbyterian Church on Cijin Island is quite famous as it is where Maxwell (one of the first missionaries, with Mackay) began his ministry in Taiwan. Unfortunately the only building we could find with a cross on was completely locked and sealed up. hmm.. After a taxi ride which drop us off at a random place, we made it back to the hotel for another scrumptious meal and our final night of five-star luxury.

The next day (if you’re keeping track we’re up to Friday T59, I think) we headed to Kaohsiung train station and boarded another small train to take us Douliou station where some good friends would meet us. Here we were met by Rev. Chuang’s daughter and nephew and were taken Tek-Tung, to visit the church and school which I had experienced for ten days. It was great to meet up with everyone once more and the children put on a special show for Jo and were very pleased to meet her. After lunch together, we were driven up to Taichung HSR station to meet up with some PCT people.

This weekend we were to experience two amazing things - another Bunun village, and meeting many of the missionaries serving the PCT in Taiwan. We had been invited to the missionary retreat by the PCT which began in Taichung station before two small buses took us the two hours into the hills to another aboriginal village. This weekend was fabulous and it was great meeting and chatting to people - and worshipping in English! On the Sunday we joined the local church and I preached to the full church of around 200 while Johanne translated into Bunun. As encouragement to us all I chose to speak on Philippians 2, focussing on verse 2: ‘…then make my joy complete by being like-minded having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.’ I spoke about how we are to have the same love for each other (v.3-4), how we are to have the same love for Christ, placing Him and the cross at the centre of all we do (v.5-11), how we are to have the same spirit of the attitude of Jesus (v.5-11) and how we are to have the same purpose to shine like stars (v.12-18). It was wonderful to see how the Holy Spirit means that people from across the world can come together and meet with God through his Word.

On Sunday afternoon we headed back to Taipei. And the next few days were filled with many tourist visits. We made it to a night market, Damshui, the National Concert Hall, the National Theatre, the Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall (which was very disappointing and a particularly biased museum to glorify a dictator - thankfully it was free!), parts of Taipei I’ve never been to, and, parts of Taipei I’ll not go to again!

On Thursday (T65) evening we also made it the airport where me and Jo said our goodbyes for another four weeks.

We had a wonderful time these last two weeks, and have really seen some of the extremes of Taiwan - five-star luxury and aboriginal villages, flat plains and high rise mountains, quiet countryside and bustling city, big mountains and cities that from the 91st floor of 101 seem to extend forever, people working hard to earn enough to eat and people splashing out on 12 course buffets, honest people sharing the faith and hope for future with us and a museum dedicated to a dictator who even after his death still demands respect and towers in Taipei, the friendliness of the Taiwanese people and the aggressiveness of their dogs, not to mention planes, trains, buses and boats!

Here’s a map of places we stayed, and then below are some links to our photos. The photos are on facebook but anyone can view them using the links below!

View Tour of Taiwan in a larger map

The photos have had to be put in three albums…

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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04/11/2009 by paul.

Well Tuesday and Wednesday were action packed as ever. After the exciting trip to Tamshui on Monday it was back to the laptop to prepare for the Tuesday evening English Bible Study. It was a good study and finished with people praying for each other, for their families, workplaces and fo Taiwan inkeeping with 1 Peter 2 and 3.

Wednesday was a day spent counting down the hours minutes and seconds, and trying to concentrate on writing a sermon.

In the evening my wonderful wife, Jo, made it to Taiwan for a two week stay. After spending a few days in Taiwan we will set off for a week-long-round-Taiwan tour before returning to Taipei for a few more days. From here until Jo goes go back the blog may suffer somewhat, but I’ll try keep you updated on what we’re upto, and will of course pick it up when I Jo returns back to England.

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03/11/2009 by paul.

Well I knew it was likely to happen. In pauls-view-of-politics-in-Taiwan-since-1600 that was T45 & T46 I managed to make some mistakes. I have been informed of one of them - the DPP came to power in Taiwan in 2000/2001, not 1996 as originally stated. The first democratic election was in 1996, but it wasn’t until 2000/2001 that the DPP were elected to power. Thanks Jane, for your info. You mention 2001, wikipedia (the totally fallible truth!) says 2000. As for me 2000/2001 will do just fine!

If any of you spot any of the other mistakes I’m likely to have made, please do try to get in touch. I know a few of you have tried to leave comments, and trust me I;ve tried zillions of settings in my blog but can’t get them to work, so find me on facebook or send me an e-mail

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03/11/2009 by paul.

Well somehow its got to Tuesday and I haven’t updated my blog since the weekend!

Well really the weekend was the same as ‘usual’. I spent most of Saturday preparing materials for English class in the evening, and I took my Bible and commentary down to the river to sit in the relatively cool sun to read through Ezekiel. I was once told at college not to bother reading Ezekiel because it is too complicated and difficult to understand. Suprisingly I’ve decided to disagree. Yes, its not an easy read, but that has little to do with it being complicated and difficult to understand. It is hard to read because you are told in intricate detail the view that God had of Israel’s sin just before the exile. As a sinner myself I too am subject God’s wrath and judgement in the same way as Israel. However there is hope in Ezekiel - if you return to God, your sins will be forgiven. Through Jesus this is possible. He took my sin and shame on the cross so I can come back to God. Reading Ezekiel makes me praise Jesus all the more for his wonderful love for me, my old life he died for, the new life he has given me, the opportunities he has opened for me and the calling he has given me. All of this from a complicated and difficult book - its only complicated and difficult if you don’t accept Jesus on the cross has some relevance today.

Sunday then!
Hsinte continued the series in Ephesians, this week reaching teh dizzy heights of chapter 3. Today I got to give something to the worship! It was my turn to play the piano and sing a solo as part of the men’s choir. I enjoyed myself in front of the grand piano and cheesy key changes abounded! The only problem was the singing. It was accapella. That means without instruments. I had the first line by myself. I got the note from the piano. I sang a different one. We stopped after two bars. Started again. More successful this time. Phew. Sunday afternoon was filled with a full church lunch, choir, men’s choir and handbell practice. There was a great atmosphere here again! By five pm everyone had gone home and the slouch in front of some online episodes of ‘are you being served?’ was in order.

Monday was another fun-packed day. It began with a trip to the hospital. Thankfully this wasn’t because I’d had an accident or was ill, but it was to meet the chaplaincy team. The Mackay Memorial Hospital is Taipei’s main hospital. It is owned and run by the Prebyterian Church. The brochure I was given begins with scripture, ends with scripture, and throughout it reiterates its main objective of providing holistic care of physical and spiritual needs first and making the accounts balance second. It was amazingly inspiring talking to hospital chaplains who welcome people to the faith after evangelistic courses on wards and giving bed-side baptisms. Every few weeks the chaplains have a wonderful job of phoning a local church pastor to tell him or her that someone who lives near their church has become a Christian while they are in hospital. After a quick trip to the station to discover that there are no trains for me and Jo on Friday (it’s OK we’re now on a plane) I headed back home before travelling out to Tamshui to catch the sunset at the fisherman’s wharf. We met up with one of the church family and after some lovely sightseeing was treated to same raw fish and other Japanese culinary delights. We then went back to their flat to meet their son, Alan, who had managed to get himself married whilst he was in China this year, and is going to hold another service of blessing in Taiwan in the New Year. It was a wonderful time to spend together.

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31/10/2009 by paul.

Well these two days have been quite quiet, filled with the usual church activities. Thursday I spent time preparing for the sermon I’ll be giving in a couple of weeks, having some discussions with Hsinte about Nehemiah, and even getting round to more of my translation of Ephesians. In the evening we led Bible Study. Friday was much the same with planning for the English Class on Saturday, praying with Mr. Chen (on of the elders) in the flat he is about to let ‘downtown’, visiting some Christians in a tea house and more Ephesians.

Breakfast is turning into the discussion time again, and these last couple of days I have been learning more about politics in Taiwan. It has been very interesting and a little history is necessary to give background. Basically Taiwan has never really been itself, but has constantly been passed from other ruling nations. The Spanish came first, then the Dutch in 1642. Twenty years later in 1662 the Ming Dynasty from China defeated the Dutch and took control of Taiwan. They were defeated by another Chinese Dynasty, this time the Qing’s. Their influence in Taiwan continued right up until 1895. This was the first war between Japan and China, and Japan won. This meant they took control of Taiwan. This continued right up until the second war between China and Japan, which was still in full flow when the second world war broke out in Europe. Taiwan was used as a military base for Japanese troops, and many Taiwanese people were enlisted to fight for Japan. When Japan lost out the allied forces, the treaties released Taiwan, gave it some nominal protection, but handed it over to Chinese rule once again. In 1949 the KMT (the ruling party in China) lost control of mainland China and so came to Taiwan and declared martial law. Chinese forces came over to Taiwan, and were oppressive to the Taiwanese. Important, controversial, popular or successful people just disappeared. There were massacres and at one point the Chinese forces stormed one of the PCT theological colleges and staff disappeared. After 40 years of martial law under the single-party KMT reforms came about and in 1996 the first presidential election was held and the non-KMT party were elected (DPP). Recently (last year) power shifted again back to the KMT. It is very complicated, but in general the KMT work for unification with China and the DPP for indepence. At the moment, whilst the government is independent and elected democratically, China still holds many of the puppet strings. Because China is a member of the UN, Taiwan isn’t - apparently China are able to ‘look after’ Taiwan. Recently a film was shown in Taiwan about the plight of a Tibetan Nun. China didn’t approve of the film and so threatened that they would damage Taiwan’s tourism industries. Flights to Taiwan only began a few years ago, controlled by China. And so the subtle list continues. But a word of caution is needed here - I am hearing but one voice. It is an important voice to hear, but it is only one.

And so I’ve been told several times now in Taiwan that ‘politics’ is only politics if you oppose the current government. If, as a group or organisation, you support the current government then you are simply existing and can do good work. However if you oppose the government, you are being ‘political’ and are often told to stay out of ‘politics’.

The stories that Hsinte tells me from the news continue to baffle me. It is a democratic society, yet on the day before elections there are means and ways of recieveing payments to cast a vote in a particular way, through the Mah Jong or through, suprisingly, weddings. I didn’t realise this when I went to the wedding last week, but each guest prepares a ‘red envelope’. This, I presumed was like a wedding present. Which it is, except it goes to pay for the banquet. However its up to you how much money you give - so if you want to pass a large some of money to someone you attend their daughters wedding, and put as much as you like in the red envelope. hmmm.. Another nice element of political corruption is the financial markets and banking. When a member of the government retires they get a lump sum payment, a considerable lump sum payment. They can put this in a bank account, and because of they were in governemnt they can recieve an 18% fixed interest rate while everyone else struggles by with the flexible 1% at the moment. Another little snippet… opposition parties (I think this was during the last opposition campaign by the KMT, who are now in power) get their very rich members (and their old members who have the lump sums stored in 18% bank account) to get the money into the stock market. Before they do so the politicians work to disable the economy thus lowering share prices, they buy, then magically the stock market recovers and grows, and they sell. All of sudden they have the money they need for a political campaign. Nice. It makes me ashamed of the UK getting so angry at the politicians for fiddling housing benefits and who pays for the moat to be cleaned.

And so my meanderings on the liberation view continue. I have a lot of respect for the PCT, despite feeling uncomfortable about its involvement in ‘politics’ (the taiwanese definition, ie in opposition). Before I theologise and theorise it has been important for me to learn of the history. In a way the PCT was thrust into the political sphere when the KMT troops stormed their theological college and their staff and students disappeared in the 40’s and when they arrested the General Secretary and his secretary in the 70’s.

As for Taiwan itself, it has the label of being democratic and so perhaps the world is blind to the political situation here, and perhaps internationally more needs to be said about the freedom of the Taiwanese people. But there is a whole new phrase ‘Taiwanese people’ - Who are they? The indigenous populations, those whose families originate in China, those whose families originate in Japan? And at this point its beginning to sound too much like a dissertation for a geography essay on identity, and so I hand over to Jo…..

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