我們相信臺灣 We BELIEVE in Taiwan

(臺北據點主任專訪 Interview with Taipei Base Director)

身為臺北青年使命團主任，麥樂恩和麥俐亞相信神對於臺灣有一個特別的呼召。

「神呼召臺灣加入宣教的行列。現在，是臺灣教會興起並且回應呼召的時刻。臺灣擁有許多宣教上先天的優勢能夠接觸萬民，特別是對於華人社會和整個亞洲。
在地理上，更是靠近對於全亞洲有著十足影響力的中國。而臺灣的自由及民主，使得臺灣可以發展屬於自己的基督教文化，並且傳給在隔壁的中國。透過語言的優勢，更是能夠影響其他的華人社會。
聖經裡面清楚的寫道：「多給誰就向誰多取。」，神給臺灣的太多了。我們擁有宗教的自由、穩固的經濟、共通的語言、優越的地理位置和社會影響力，而這諸多的優勢更應該使我們有強大的責任心。 

現在就是臺灣教會興起，回應神對於宣教呼召的時刻！而臺北青年使命團願意與全臺灣的教會一同回應這個呼召。

臺灣人甚至不需要離開臺灣就有機會回應宣教的呼召，在臺灣就有許多的人對福音非常地敞開，現在是我們訓練年輕人加入宣教的時刻。
我們能夠在國內做宣教訓練，中文是全世界最多人使用的語言，我們有著和大部分世界相同的文化。所以身為臺灣人，我們要如何在宣教中使用這些優勢？

相信神要透過臺灣的教會興起宣教的浪潮，我們勢必會要付上代價，然而，這是神對臺灣教會的呼召！
臺北青年使命團希望能夠與教會一同回應這個呼召。讓我們數算代價，為使命擺上生命。現在是興起的時候了！」

Lachlan and Analia McIntosh, the base directors of YWAM Taipei, truly believe God has a special call for Taiwan. 

“God has called Taiwan to missions, and now is the time for the Taiwan church to rise up and answer the call. Taiwan possesses advantages that are key to reaching the nations, particularly the Chinese-speaking world and Asia. In addition to its geographic advantage, situated so closely to the most influential nations of Asia, Taiwan’s democracy and freedom of religion allows the Taiwanese to freely develop Christian beliefs and then share them with neighboring nations. Moreover, the Taiwanese’ fluency in Chinese allows them to easily share with their Chinese-speaking neighbors in surrounding countries. The Bible clearly states that those who have been given much will be held accountable for much, and Taiwan is a nation that has been given much. The nation possesses great power because of its freedom of religion, robust economy, language, strategic location, and social influence, and with great power comes great responsibility. 

Now is the time for the Taiwan church to rise up to its call to missions, and YWAM Taipei can help support this calling.

The Taiwanese don’t even have to leave their nation to do missions because there is an openness and receptiveness to the gospel in their own backyard. This is the time to train our young people to go, as right here in our own nation are opportunities to learn and be trained. The Taiwanese speak Chinese, the language of the majority of the world, and they have the same cultural tendencies of the majority of the world’s population. How are we, as the Taiwanese, using these advantages in missions? 

God wants to raise up a missions movement in the nations through the Taiwanese church. This will come at a cost, but YWAM Taipei wants to stand with the church to respond. Now is the time to count the cost and answer the call. Now is the time to rise up!”

📷: Lily Wang Photo @lilywangphoto @lily.wang.lin