Greetings from YWAM Taipei! We are excited that you are considering our base as a location for your outreach. Below we have listed some information that we hope will make things clearer for you.
Our philosophy for outreach teams:
Although we believe that all teams come with the intent to serve, we also believe that we are here to serve the teams. It's our desire that at the end of your outreach your whole team would look back at this as such a positive experience that they would all be dying to come back to Taipei.
We believe that each outreach team is gifted by God in different ways. It is our desire to know the team's strengths and weaknesses as well as their interests so that we can design an outreach that will be tailored to their talents and needs. We have just about every possible ministry opportunity that you can imagine so this is not difficult for us to do. Below is a list of some of the possibilities.
You can be confident that your outreach team, although short term, will be a part of a long-term vision. We have staff working long-term in all of the ministries below. When you make a friend that friendship will continue after you are gone with our staff. When you lead someone to the Lord that person will become a member in our Church and be discipled one on one and brought to a place of maturity in Christ. What you start on your outreach will not end!
We hope that this information will help you get started. If you have further questions please feel free to contact Denise Gillman at
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We are really looking forward to serving together with you!
Don & Denise Gillman
MINISTRIES
The Rock:
We have a coffee bar called "The Rock" which is an evangelism center. It is located in the middle of a night market and at the end of our street there is a University with 28,000 students. The Rock is always a busy place with lots of opportunities to do to friendship evangelism and build relationships with the locals.
The Rock Activities:
We run many activities at the Rock including; language courses, guitar, dance and art classes, Bibles studies as well as seasonal events with participants ranging from elementary, junior high, high school / college and adult classes. If you are interested, this is a great opportunity to get to know people better in a relaxed atmosphere.
Mercy Ministry:
We have ongoing ministries that work with hospitals, orphanages and a few convalescent homes. These are all ministries that teams can also be involved in.
Youth Ministry:
We have great relationships with the government schools in Taiwan. We regularly have teams do shows for classes and or schools with numbers of students ranging anywhere from 30 to a 1000 per show. These are great opportunities for teams with performing art skills to share the gospel with large numbers.
Open Air Evangelistic Meetings:
We have countless open air opportunities at schools, parks and MRT stations. People are very receptive to open air performances.
Church Ministry:
We have a large network of church relationships in Taipei so teams have opportunities to do shows share testimonies and partner with them in evangelism.
Bring a sleeping bag and a fast drying towel. We provide a bottom sheet, pillow and pillowcase. If you come Nov-April the weather is cooler and we do not have heating in our housing, a warmer sleeping bag is better. If you come in the warmer months you can bring an extra sheet instead of a sleeping bag.
How do we get from the airport to your base?
Your team will be met by our staff at the airport and brought to our base. Our base is located about a 45 minute drive from the International Airport. There are a number of different options for this trip to and from the airport based on the size of your team. Below we have listed the different options.
Option 1: Small teams of up to 4 people can take a taxi to the outreach location. If you have a lot of luggage this is probably not the best option. It will cost about 1000NT. You can give the taxi driver this address in Chinese and he will get you here. 新北市, 淡水區,英專路, 73號4樓
Option 2:
Large air conditioned buses can take up to 40 team members on the same bus with all of their luggage. If the team is larger than this we can get a couple of buses. The cost of one of these buses is about2500-3000NT each way.
How much will we need to spend on transportation?
The outreach house is only about a 1 minute walk away from The Rock. The large University we work at is only about a 10 minute walk. The MRT station is about a 5 minute walk away. From that station you can travel anywhere you want within Taipei City.
There is also a large bus station next to the MRT station. From that bus station you can catch buses to the beach (about 10 minutes away) or to beautiful national parks in the mountains. These rides are usually less than a dollar If teams have ministry across the city they cover their own transportation costs which are usually very minimal. Often times if the team is working with a Church the Church will cover the transportation costs.
Will our team receive any kind of orientation and introduction to Taiwan's culture?
Yes, this is usually done by our base director and his wife because they really value the work of outreach teams here in Taipei. Survival Chinese is also offered to teams that are interested. This is taught by our local staff.
How do we get visas?
When your team has made a decision to come to Taipei for your outreach, depending on which country your passport is from, you might be able to enter Taiwan with a landing visa. Please see the following website to see if your country meets this criteria:
If you need to obtain a visa, please contact us with all of your passport information, ie. name, passport #, country, etc. in order for us to prepare an invitation letter for you to come. After we get all your information we will send you an invitation letter and you will need to apply in your own country. We will then continue to communicate with you for any additional information we may need.
What if we want to go to China, but would like to come to Taiwan first. Can YWAM Taipei help us set up an outreach in China?
Yes, this is something we have been doing for a long time and can also set up an outreach based on your gifts and interests. This will need to be communicated early on so we can make arrangements. Visas to China are expensive please remember to include this in your budget.
Testimonies
Upon our arrival in Taiwan we've been nothing but blessed with wonderful hospitality and love. The Taiwanese are very kind and friendly people. I have especially enjoyed building relationships during our short stay. Most of our ministry has been relationship based, talking with people at The Rock Cafe, evangelizing in the university food court, and spending time with the elderly, disabled and homeless. Our team also put on many programs at different schools ranging from elementary to university. We were able to share the gospel through dramas, dances, songs, and testimonies. Often times we had small groups at the end of our programs in which we'd allow the students to ask us questions and enjoy talking with each other.
It has been a wonderful experience living in Taiwan and soaking up the culture. I have tried so many new foods of which I have no idea how to pronounce. The city of Danshui is very lively and interesting. especially like the waterfront by Danshui River. The scenery in Taiwan is absolutely beautiful!
The Rock Cafe was a wonderful ministry for me to be a part of. I am someone who loves to build relationships and talk with people so I truly enjoyed going to The Rock. Many times when I was at The Rock, I would pass out fliers to invite people to come in. One experience I had was very neat. While passing out English fliers, a guy stopped on his scooter and asked me for a flier. Then, shortly after he walked up to me and started asking me questions about the English classes. I told him he could go inside to obtain more information and that I'd gladly go with him. While talking over some hot cocoa several hours later, I saw the same guy come down from the English classes. The next day while prayer walking with Brian, I found out that the guy I gave the flier to accepted Christ that night! It was such an awesome experience and so amazing to see God's creative hand at work.
It has truly been a pleasure to do ministry here in Taiwan. I have formed many new friendships and long-lasting memories. This is an experience I will never forget and I'm very thankful for the generosity and kindness of the Taiwanese people.
By Kira Rigdon from Panama DTS, Nov 2007
YWAM Montana Summer of Dance Outreach -- Jul 10 - Aug 6, 2005
I came to Taiwan with a summer program called Summer of Dance. I had such an incredible experience. Everywhere we danced the Taiwanese people were so kind and accepting of us. I felt like it was so easy to make friends and talk with the people of Taiwan. Through our dancing I saw so many people's hearts being softened and broken. It was an experience that will stay with me forever.
I loved how the people of Taiwan are so generous to us. We were so blessed by the fact that the people we worked with were doing everything they could to make us feel welcome. It showed me such an amazing servants heart. They were always helping us in numerous ways.
When I came to Taiwan for the outreach of a summer program I thought that it would only be a location - a place which gave me no emotion, a place I would not want to return to. I've been here for about 4 weeks and now found my heart changed. God has revealed the vulnerabilities of the people to me. My eyes have been opened to look at the Taiwanese people through God's amazing love. The land that I thought would only become a memory of the past created a very real place in my heart - I cannot treat Taiwan with indifference. I know that God has called me to return to this place.