Greetings from Taiwan:
“You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols,…What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Acts 15:29; II Cor 6:16) These verses must seem a world apart from your daily life. To be sure, where you live, the idols embraced are different than the idols of Taiwan. However, in Taiwan, which per capita, has more temples and shrines than any other people group in the world, Christians live their lives surrounded by them. What does this mean for most of your brothers and sisters in Christ?
This past Thursday evening, during our leadership training gathering, we prayed for Micah and Ring; who just last September were married in Ring’s country church in south Taiwan. Since then, they have been under constant attack from both immediate and extended family to participate in, prepare for, and pay for, regular bi-bi rituals to the family gods and to the ancestors. There is a very real spiritual civil war taking place between the “temple of God and idols.” And, your brothers and sisters, Micah and Ring, are not the only Christians under attack here!
At no time in the year are the attacks more vehement than during Taiwan Tomb Sweeping, which always occurs around Easter time. Micah and Ring have been asked to pay for incense, ghost money, and other foods to be sacrificed to their ancestors, and then consumed by the family. They have been asked to help clean up the tombs and bi-bi at the tombs — thereby showing their allegiance to the family. The demands of the family leaders on this young couple are filled with anger, and even hate. They hate Micah and Ring’s God, as well as their stubborn refusal to bow to the family gods.
Recently, we were asked to share what Easter looks like in Taiwan with one of partner churches. Well, for many of your brothers and sisters, this is what it looks like — a battle! However, do not despair, for Micah and Ring cling to their faith and to passage of Scripture like the ones we studied this past Thursday evening, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting…But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Cor 15:55, 57)
Thank you for praying! Thank you for your partnership with your brothers & sisters in Taiwan!
All for God’s Glory Among the Nations,
Dave & Brenda Atkin