Taiwan Church News
3467 Edition
August 6 -12, 2018
General Assembly News
GPM Co-workers Visit PCT GA Headquarter
Reported by Lin Yi-yin
Led by Mr Sigar Pangiran , chairman of Kuantan Indigenous Affairs Committee under Malaysia Presbyterian Church( Gereja Prebyterian Malaysia, abbreviated as GPM), 15 GPM co-workers visited PCT GA Headquarter at Taipei on August 3.
The major purpose of this GPM visit is to exchange and learn about how PCT help Taiwan’s aboriginal church and society to deal with those tough issues, like land justice, reserved territory and etc, during her mission and ministries in the past decades.
Due to some official prohibitions by a Muslim-dominated government, Mr Sigar Pangiran expressed, up to date there were only 3 aboriginal tribes in Malaysia, which owned 18 indigenous tribes across the country, could have channels to learn the gospel.
Even worse, two aboriginal churches established by the Borneo Evangelical Church (Malay: Sidang Injil Borneo, SIB) were forcibly torn down by Malaysia government recently, said Mr Sigar Pangiran, adding that these events caused more Malaysian churches afraid to support the aboriginal ministry domestically. Mr Sigar Pangiran pleaded to PCT members for more prayer and support on GPM’s aboriginal ministry.
Rev Lyim Hong-tiong, general secretary of PCT, introduced the genesis of PCT’s aboriginal ministry in a brief outline: initiated from foreign missionaries, succeeded by local evangelists and pastors versed in tribal languages and cultures to plant the churches, and consolidated to establish aboriginal seminary and train indigenous missionary to preach the gospel.
In the meantime, PCT also help each aboriginal people to set up their own grand assembly, organize their people to communicate and negotiate their opinions, and finally help them to deal with the government on diverse and substantial issues faced by them, Rev Lyim Hong-tiong said.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
