3197 Edition
June 3-9, 2013
Church Ministry News
Rukai Presbytery celebrates installation of first female reverend in Tainan
Reported by Simon Lin
Written by Lydia Ma
Thirty years ago, Rukai Presbytery started a church in Tainan City called Nankay Presbyterian Church. This church was founded at the time because a bunch of Rukai indigenous people had migrated to Tainan to make a living. Though they didn’t make a lot of money and faced many challenges at work, they were very devoted to the Christian faith passed down to them by their parents and they were determined to nurture their faith by starting a church. The church eventually relocated in 2010 when another PCT church bought a new church building.
Nankay Church made history again on June 1 when it became the first church in Rukai Presbytery to ordain a woman pastor. An ordination and installation ceremony was held for Rev. Deresay on that day and many pastors from other churches in Rukai Presbytery attended and officiated the ceremony.
During his brief address, PCT General Assembly Vice-Moderator, Rev. Lo Jen-kuei, encouraged Deresay to cling to God’s promises and to keep her promises to God, as well as to obey God’s commands. When it was Rev. Ripunu’s turn to deliver a short address, the Moderator of Rukai Presbytery said that he believed God had something special in mind by allowing Deresay to become the first woman reverend of the presbytery. He affirmed the courage shown by Nankay Church’s elders and said that they had become a “testimony of great faith” because they really desired to be nurtured, ventured to hire a full-time pastor, and were not afraid of the church’s dire financial predicament.
When Rev. Deresay gave her inaugural address, she said that she was drawn to the sensual pleasures of the world when she was young. It was her father who demanded that she apply for a job at Veday Church in Pingtung as a church superintendent in 1988. She obeyed him and applied, without thinking that her application would withstand scrutiny because of her weak spiritual condition. To her surprise, she landed the job and soon began working at the church. However, she was not always happy working as a superintendent and she would often say she wanted to resign. Fortunately, the church’s pastor at the time gave her a lot of comfort and encouragement using verses from the Bible and mentored her. Deresay’s character slowly began to transform and her spiritually matured over the years. She later decided to devote her life to full-time ministry and eventually went and studied in a seminary.
Speaking about her vision and her burden for Nankay Church, Deresay said that her priority is to help the church’s 34 parishioners to pay the church mortgage worth NT$8 million. Though she is very afraid of the challenges ahead, she is also determined to take on this job because she has prayed about it and she is determined to take on this important responsibility that God has given to her.
