Last Fifty Years Events of Significance in Taiwan

by Leslie Barnard

The Taiwan Missionary Fellowship has existed for fifty years. What events and trends have taken place over these five decades of TMF's existence? I have looked through TMF historical records and other materials seeking to dig out some of the significant items of interest in the last fifty years of Taiwan's history. I have found information about political events, social trends, Christian developments, and missionary progress. No doubt another researcher would select a different set of trends and events. He would also have his own particular interests and biases; I certainly have mine. I have also been unfortunately limited by the availability of materials and a short time to complete the task. If you are stimulated to think of the milestones you would have included in this list, then this article will have accomplished its purpose.

The 1950s

This was a period of great uncertainty. Missions advised their missionaries to keep their bags packed in case of an emergency. Many Chinese newcomers from the Mainland to Taiwan were fearful. Others were, no doubt, hoping for a quick return home. Of course, people who call Taiwan their home did not always welcome the influx of new people.

At the end of the Korean War in 1953, 14,000 Mainland Chinese prisoners of war opted to come to Taiwan instead of returning to the Mainland. In 1955 a mutual defense treaty was ratified between Taiwan and the United States. This added a feeling of stability to the situation in Taiwan.

Polio epidemics hit Taiwan, killing and maiming many children.

This was a period of openness to the gospel, especially among those who had been uprooted from the Mainland, the Mandarin- speaking Chinese. It was also a time of reaping among the aboriginal peoples. Many left their animistic beliefs to join the Christian church.

During this period many missions from Mainland China relocated in Taiwan. These included TEAM in 1951, the Conservative Baptists (CBI) in 1952, the Lutheran Church in 1951, the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in 1952, the Swedish Holiness Mission in 1953, and the Church of the Nazarene in 1956, to mention a few. As well as missionary societies, other organizations also relocated to Taiwan. Miss E. Gladys Dieterle, who had worked with the Door of Hope in Shanghai since 1908, came to Taipei in 1953. She retired in 1959 at the age of 88 and passed away July 15, 1967, at the age of 96. In 1953 Miss Anna Begemann and Miss Else Schroeder arrived in Puli and founded a school for aboriginal girls.

It was a period when Bible schools and theological colleges were established. These included the Central Taiwan Theological College in 1951, the Presbyterian Bible School in Hsinchu in 1952, the Baptist Seminary in Taipei in 1952, and the Holy Light Seminary in Kaohsiung founded in 1955.

At the Yang Ming Shan air force base a group of missionaries held an informal conference in 1951. The participants of the conference were invited to an afternoon tea with the President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. A second missionary conference was held in 1952 at Sun Moon Lake. Dr. James Dickson brought the conference participants together to discuss the formation of a new organization—the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship. The group there constituted the founding members. They agreed to form TMF and appointed Dr. Dickson as its first chairman. A steering committee was established to draw up a constitution. Dick Hillis of Oriental Crusades proposed that TMF should take responsibility for the subsequent annual missionary conferences.

Missionaries in TMF concerned about MK education stimulated the establishment of Morrison Christian Academy in 1953.

It was proposed in 1956 that a missionary language school was needed. The school opened its doors in 1957 as the Missionary Language School in Taipei. Its name later became the Taipei Language Institute (TLI). It began with only missionary students, but by 1960 accepted American embassy staff and other expatriates.

The 1960s

In 1963 typhoon Gloria hit Taiwan. More than eleven inches of rain fell in twenty-four hours. To prevent most of Taipei being swept away, the Shih-men reservoir sluice gates were opened, sending 200 million tons of water into the valleys below. Well over 200 people lost their lives. After the flood came the earthquake. On January 18, 1964, at eight o'clock at night in central Taiwan a severe earthquake occurred. In minutes 107 people died and 30,000 people were made homeless.

Polio vaccine was given to 170,000 children.

On March 3, 1962, Second Lieutenant Liu Cheng-ssu, a Chinese Communist air force pilot, became the first to defect to Taiwan. On Christmas Eve, 1966, Wang Chao-tien was the first Red Guard to escape from Mainland China; he arrived in Taiwan in 1967.

In 1965 Chiang Kai-shek was elected President for his fourth term of office. His vice-president was Yen Chia-kan, the first civilian to hold a presidential level office.

Work began in late 1966 on the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone (KEPZ). There were over a hundred factories in the zone with over 28,000 workers. This represented one of the first waves of the industrialization, which Taiwan has experienced over recent decades.

This decade marked a slowdown of people turning to Christ, a period of consolidation and establishing young Christians in their faith. This was especially so for the aboriginal church where the Protestants, the Catholics, and the Seventh Day Adventists had the allegiance of the bulk of the aboriginal people.

In 1961 the formal inauguration of the Campus Evangelical Fellowship took place. This was a ministry to students similar to the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. Outreach to students, which had been started in different parts of the island, came together under Chinese leadership.

In March 1965, Chinese evangelists Andrew Gih and Timothy Chao held very successful crusades in Taipei.

In 1968 Elder Wu Yung and others formed the Chinese Missions Overseas, a society organized to send missionaries out from Taiwan to do cross-cultural ministry.

1969 saw the founding of the China Evangelical Seminary (CES) in Taipei.

The 1960s was also a decade in which the number of Protestant missionaries working in Taiwan was increasing. In the 1968 Christian Yearbook published by TMF the number of missionaries had increased to over 700.

In Christian media, the Heavenly Melodies singing group, a part of the ORTV ministry, became very popular on television. Miss Doris Brougham taught the musicians. 1967 saw the production of the first Christian movie with an all Taiwanese cast—Door of Mercy. It was produced under the leadership of Kurt Schwanke with Overseas Crusades.

The first edition of China News and Views was published in 1961. It was edited by George Fitch and his wife. "Our object in publishing this news sheet is to present reliable and up to date news . . . of Christian missions in Taiwan, brief comments on . . . significant events transpiring here . . . excerpts from mainland papers and testimony of escapees and reviews of important books." The first edition mentioned Miss Gladys Aylward. She went on a preaching mission to the offshore islands. It mentioned Dr. Hollington Tong, a former Chinese ambassador to the United States, who called for a day of prayer for the millions of famine victims in Mainland China. It also announced the death of Eddie Tong, a CAT pilot, Dr. Tong's son, who was killed in a plane crash in Laos.

The fourteenth TMF annual conference was held for the first time at Morrison Academy in Taichung. Two hundred and fifty people attended the conference.

In 1965 Dr. James Dickson returned to the United States, having served thirty-eight years as a missionary in Taiwan. He passed away on June 13, 1967. At a memorial service in June 1968, at the Shuang-Lien Presbyterian Church in Taipei, four men were commissioned as the first missionaries sponsored by the Burning Bush Missionary Society to go to Salawa in North Borneo. This was in response to Dr. Dickson's idea of a tribe-to-tribe missionary program.

The 1970s

This decade marked the beginning of mass migration from Taiwan's countryside into the big cities. Young people began to move to urban areas looking for employment in the large export processing zones. The main cities receiving those new migrants were Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. Taipei attracted many people from cities in the South, as well. It was a time when Taiwan's university graduates turned their eyes abroad, especially to the United States. Those young people were to be later joined overseas by their parents. The migration of Taiwan's youth to the States must have robbed the churches of many potential leaders, undoubtedly affecting Taiwan's churches negatively.

In December 1975, the United States president, Gerald Ford, announced that the CIA could use Christian missionaries for intelligence gathering. This announcement was quickly refuted by a letter from the TMF chairman, Don McCall.

The president of the United States, Richard Nixon, made a historic visit to Mainland China; subsequently, the United States recognized Red China. In 1976 the premier of Mainland China, Chou En-lai, died. His death was followed by a massive earthquake in Tang Shan, a coal mining area on the Mainland, which caused a great loss of life. This catastrophe was then followed by the death of Chairman Mao.

Chiang Ching-gwo (CCK), Chiang Kai-Shek's son, took over as the new leader of Taiwan. Chiang Ching-gwo was described by the press as a man who appears to be continually running for office. In an item in China News and Views (March/April 1976) the Premier called for better TV. Popular Premier Chiang Ching-gwo came out with some pithy criticisms of local TV dramatic programs, while addressing 600 community leaders in March. One program that he described as "imbecilic" was dropped from the network the next day. Other programs were hastily cleaned up. "I would rather see all the TV stations close down than let them corrupt the morals of our people," he said.

In 1979 a new magazine was published called The Beautiful Island. Shr Ming-de began going around the island making speeches to large crowds. After an incident, now known as the "Kaohsiung incident" in which several people died, he went on the run from the authorities. He secretly contacted Dr. Kao, General Secretary of Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, who was arrested and later sentenced to a long prison term because of the contact. He was actually in jail for four years, three months, and twenty-one days (4-3-21).

In 1971 the first Church Growth Seminar in Taiwan was held by alumni of Fuller Theological Seminary. It was led by Dr. Donald McGavran.

In 1975 the Logos ship made its first trip to Taiwan, docking in Keelung.

In April 1975, President Chiang Kai-shek passed away. A very Christian funeral service was held. A Bible and the devotional classic, Streams in the Desert, were prominently placed in the President's coffin. The President's chaplain, Chou Lien-hwa, walking in front of the coffin in the funeral procession. The funeral service was televised for everyone on the island to see. As a result of Chiang Kai-shek's clearly Christian funeral, a lot of interest in Christianity was sparked off in Taiwan.

In 1975 the Billy Graham evangelistic organization held a campaign in Taipei with Billy Graham, himself, preaching. About 250,000 people attended the crusade, which produced 11,000 inquirers.

Rev. Dr. Chou Lien-hwa, chaplain to the late President, then embarked on a series of successful crusade meetings around the island. For example, when he held an evangelistic campaign in Taichung Stadium, 38,000 people attended and 1,035 decisions were recorded.

In the Christian medical world Pingtung Christian Hospital won accolades in 1976 when Dr. Jones, Ditmanson, and Shen undertook the first major operations for polio victims with spinal trouble there. This radical surgery of inserting a titanium rod in the back to support the spine was necessary to prevent the polio victim's back collapsing, causing death at an early age.

1977 saw the publication of the last edition of China News and Views due to lack of support and the loss of staff members.

The 1980s

This decade saw increasing prosperity for Taiwan due to the success of rapid industrialization and completion of the North-South freeway. Aboriginal youth migrated from their homelands into Taiwan's cities. There was also a drop in the number of aboriginal people claiming to be Christian. It seems that increased prosperity led to a decline of interest in Christianity and a period of stagnation for Taiwan's churches. A revival of Buddhist folk religion took place with new temples springing up like mushrooms.

In 1987 martial law was lifted. It had been in force ever since the Nationalists had come to Taiwan. Shortly after that major political change, in January 1988, Premier Chiang Ching-gwo passed away. In 1989 the Tien-An Men incident caused waves in Taiwan and stirred up emotions.

The Taiwan Industrial Evangelical Fellowship (TIEF), a Chinese ministry taking the gospel to factory workers and other blue-collar workers, was established in the early 1980s.

In 1984 TMF decided to buy its first computer. The TMF committee authorized the purchase of a computer with a purchase price not exceeding NT$145,000. Advisors recommended a 16 bit IBM compatible machine. The main reason for the purchase was to produce the TMF directory. The use of a computer was supposed to save time. Once information was entered into the computer, it could be considered "permanently typed" and updated at any time, according to TMF advisor and friend, Don Lindsley.

The 1990s

This decade, a period of increased interest in evangelism in the church, spawned the birth of the "Year 2000 Gospel Movement," which led to increased co-operation across church and denominational lines. Taiwan's churches moved in the direction of a charismatic style of worship. The dominant interest of churches was in exorcism, healing, and gifts of the Spirit. In general, the church looked to Korea, Singapore, and the United States to provide spiritual guidance, rather than looking to God for what He wanted to do in Taiwan.

More links were established between Mainland China and Taiwan industries. Tourism from Taiwan to Mainland China increased.

In 1996 Mainland Chinese troops held large scale exercises with long range rockets being fired.

1995 saw a large migration abroad by Christians who were convinced that a prophecy regarding an imminent attack by Mainland China was true.

In response to the crash of a China Airlines passenger jet in 1998, the Year 2000 Gospel Movement helped establish a joint church relief association—the Chinese Christian Relief Association (CCRA). An earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999, allowed the CCRA to move into action.

The 2000s

This decade has begun with much economic uncertainty and increasing unemployment. Boys fill electronic game parlors; the next generation is mainly preoccupied with computers. Young people are now looking towards Japan for direction, possibly indicating that the main social influence is coming from computer games and TV programs.

Increasingly, families are breaking up due to divorce, and children are more difficult to teach in schools.

What way will Taiwan's society go in this decade? I predict that this period will see the establishment of direct trade links between Taiwan, the offshore islands, and the Mainland. The first non-Nationalist Party President will be elected by a democratic vote, but will have to deal with increased political instability.

What is the road ahead for God's servants—Taiwan's churches and the foreign missionaries serving in Taiwan? Is this a period of opportunity to make inroads into normally resistant areas, such as the working class, which is generally bound by folk religion? Or will other forces shift the spiritual priorities in other directions?

Leslie Barnard came to Taiwan in 1970 with his first wife Rose, serving with OMF International. He returned in August 1997 to marry his second wife, Thelma Lang, with whom he now serves as an OMF Partner in Kaohsiung.

Taiwan Mission Quarterly Summer 2001