November 14-20, 2011
Church Ministry News
PCT General Secretary’s photography showcased in Anselm Gruen’s new book
Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan
Written by Lydia Ma
Andrew Chang says he often sees a little bit of God’s image in children’s laughter and the great outdoors. Though most people know him as the current General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, what they don’t know is that one of his hobbies and skills is photography.
Attracted by the beauty of creation, Chang’s photography is mostly about capturing the beauty of creation and life that is often missed in the busyness of daily life. “If we’d really take time to notice the beauty of things, we’d find that the world is more beautiful than we thought,” he said.
Chang said he has yet to take any formal training in photography, adding half-jokingly that technical terms such as aperture and shutter are still foreign to him, to the surprise of many of his fans. Asked about how he became so good at photography, he recounted how he began using photography to share the gospel a few years ago through the promptings from a friend. His friend had suggested that he post some photos of clouds alongside some Bible verses he was sharing at the time about clouds. As result, he began taking more and more photos and became better the more he practiced and posted photos on the internet alongside Bible verses.
Because Chang is fond of sharing his faith and the his love for Taiwan on the internet, photography has become a great tool for him to get his message across in a way that will appeal to his readers. Photography also opened up a forum for viewers to share their thoughts with him.
“There’s no standard formula for sharing the gospel. However, don’t use too much church jargon around non-Christians,” Chang said, adding that he normally only quotes a few verses that come to his mind that match the theme of the picture being posted. In response, his fans have commented that whenever they press “like” or leave a comment, they feel compelled to thank God also.
“25 Haltungen Als Weg Zu Gelingender Begegnun” is a new book that has been translated into Chinese, featuring Chang’s photography alongside Anselm Gruen’s writing. The book was published in September 2011. To view some of the photos in this book, readers may log into Facebook and search the General Secretary’s page under his Chinese name – “張德謙”.
