August 20-26, 2012
General Assembly News
PCT indigenous pastors’ family retreat highlights rest, fellowship, and Christian unity
Reported by Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma
As a pastor’s wife, how do you deal with the sudden death of your husband and carry on the rest of your life rooted in the Christian faith? This was one of the few tough questions addressed during a retreat of indigenous pastors and their families on August 12-15, 2012. The retreat was held at a resort in New Taipei City and about 130 pastors and their spouses and children took part.
The retreat featured well-known speakers such as Rev. C.M. Kao and Rev. C.S. Yang. Both Kao and Yang are former PCT general secretaries. The retreat also included time for leisure activities such as sightseeing and singing competitions to ensure that participants could fellowship with one another. However, hearing touching testimonies about God’s provision and guidance was the highlight of the retreat.
During a meeting, Kao Yueh-lan shared her story. She used to be the wife of a pastor and a full time elementary school teacher for 29 years. She applied for early retirement on August 1 of this year so that she could spend more time serving her church. When her husband, Lai An-te, died peacefully in his sleep in 2009, Kao decided to take her two daughters with her to the US for a time of grieving and restoration. She recalled that, in a vision, she saw Jesus bandaging a wounded lamb. This image helped her understand that Jesus would bind up her hurt and her wounds from losing a husband so suddenly. She later returned to her church in Taiwan and joined a prayer network where she regained her strength and now continues to serve at her church.
Another woman named Chuen Yueh-chun shared about her story as well. She said that when her husband was still studying in seminary, she found out that she was pregnant. However, the couple had very little financial means to get by. To make matters worse, she discovered during a routine prenatal checkup that she didn’t have enough amniotic fluid and had to spend the latter months of her pregnancy in bed. “Praise God! Though my son was born weighting merely 1,170 grams, he is now in senior high school!”
PCT General Secretary Andrew Chang urged all indigenous pastors and their families to be as courageous as Gideon and to continue to be united in Christ. He said that these qualities were necessary to further the Gospel in indigenous communities and they were also vital in making the PCT a strong and growing church.
