Asked why he teaches English in Taiwan as a volunteer, retired missionary Murray Garvin has a definite answer. “I enjoy the students more than anything else,” he told the Record during a visit to church offices in June. “They're mostly third-generation Christians. They're very dedicated, and there's a fervour that you don't see very often in the Canadian church. Most are pretty motivated.”
Garvin is speaking about the mostly Aboriginal students who attend the Yushan Theological College and Seminary in Taiwan. He taught English and theology there as a missionary of The Presbyterian Church in Canada for 15 years, beginning in 1961. He returned to Canada for his kids' education, but always regretted leaving the land he loved. “It's a beautiful place. The school is located in the mountains, on the shores of a lake.”
Three years ago, Garvin went to Sarnia, Ont., to hear Yushan's choir perform. Memories of Taiwan immediately surfaced. “I thought, 'I've got to go back.'” One year later, after arranging a year-to-year appointment with International Ministries, Garvin returned to Taiwan, and now teaches English to college and seminary students.
Yushan was created as a school to serve the minority, meaning the 450,000 Aboriginals in a country of 23 million. About three-quarters of the Aboriginal population is Christian, while only three per cent of the general population is. At one time, about half of the church in Taiwan was Aboriginal, while today, the Taiwanese make up the majority.
Like the church in many countries, faith seems to be becoming less important in the lives of younger people, according to Fuyan, a second-year seminary student who accompanied Garvin in Canada for six weeks this summer.
Fuyan said the church is plagued by a lack of young members. The Aboriginal population is also becoming more integrated into mainstream society, where Christian influence isn't as strong and the family isn't as powerful. “People who move to the city from a village will not go to church once they get there, so they become lost,” he said.
“Christian education does not run deep in their lives,” he continued. “And there are not enough pastors to teach them. No leadership means they go to the city and forget.”
“It leads to a sense of irrelevance,” said Garvin of the way many young people perceive the church, “not a sense of importance.”
Fuyan (his Aboriginal name) hopes to work in an Aboriginal church upon graduation. His Amis tribe is in desperate need of ministers. However, at only 24 years old, he also wants to continue his studies overseas.
Garvin admitted his attachment to his students, and the feelings of loss that accompany a graduation. However, he said watching those students move on to a new phase — and seeing new students begin their post-secondary careers — is exciting. “As long as my health is good and I'm needed, I'll stay as long as I can.” – AM
