The Business of Mission

The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan’s modern – day mission is rooted in a commitment to parish – level witness and outreach, and draws both on its missionary heritage and its analysis of contemporary social concerns. During my time in Taiwan I visited two parishes, a hospital, and homes for elderly people and for children with physical and mental challenges. Each is a success that combines the church’s Christian values of caring for the poor, sick, troubled and lonely with another key ingredient: a sharp sense of project management and income generation.

During breakfast one day with the husband and wife pastoral team at Ju Dang Presbyterian Church in the village of Tek – Tung in central Taiwan, talk turned to the people whose lives have set the model for 21st – century mission in the PCT. Hau – Sheng Chng and his wife, Shin – Hui Chen, told me of past and present ecumenical and mission personnel whose ideas and support have nurtured their ministry in the rural community to which they were called 25 years ago. As they talked, I could see how they have taken those ideas and used them as seeds for what has become a truly contextual and contemporary approach to mission in their community, where Christians represent only 0.1 per cent of the population.

The chain of inspiration begins with 19th – century missionaries from Europe and North America. The Landsborough father and son team were medical doctors who brought western medicine and machines from Scotland and founded a hospital in the Taichung area. It has grown into the Changhua Hospital complex; the Canadian, George Leslie Mackay, is considered a spiritual father of Taiwan Theological Seminary; Thomas Barclay, sent by the English Presbyterian Mission, founded Tainan Theological College and Seminary; and the legacy of American nurse, Joyce McMillan, includes the Erhlin Happy Christian Home for physically and mentally challenged children and adults.

These early European and North American missionaries raised funds for their work among their families and friends and through church appeals. Today it seems more and more Taiwanese mission workers combine their commitment to Christian service with business skills.

Chng supports models for mission work that are self – supporting: their income is generated by ethical and socially responsible businesses using effective management practices. Two of his parishioners represent what I consider to be a generation of Taiwanese “lay missionaries.”

Yu – Chang Lin is a polio survivor who was raised from age six in the home founded by McMillan. Today, she is the superintendant of that home and a successful social entrepreneur running a restaurant and online food sales business to provide employment for the home’s young adults.

Chong – Shen Chen, a polio survivor like Lin, is the CEO of Joyce Agape printing. Chen initially borrowed money in 2005 to rent workshop space for one year. The company now employs 50 physically and mentally challenged adults who provide online design and run a print shop for more than 2,700 clients. It makes $1 million (US) each year.

Taichung’s Juang San Presbyterian Church offers another example of how business acumen has allowed a small congregation to flourish. The majority of the congregation’s members are indigenous people who have left their communities for the city in search of education and employment. Its pastor, Shin Liang Chen, who is Han, has drawn on his training as an engineer and experience in budgeting and personnel management to develop an incoming – generating project that has allowed the once debt – ridden congregation to pay off its building loans. The money comes from income generated by a cleaning company the congregation established under Chen’s leadership.

The company services the Changhua Christian Hospital complex of nine hospitals. Many of the congregation’s members work for the company. Their contributions to the church budget have allowed the parish to offer grants for the development of other indigenous congregations’ programs and building projects.

The Changhua hospital itself is a story of building on the work of overseas missionaries to create a 21st – century institution. The Scottish missionary, David Landsborough, established the hospital in 1896. In recent years it has grown into an impressive medical complex supported in large part by the Taiwanese government’s medical insurance program.

Christian witness is central to the hospital’s mission. The hospital staff is offered the opportunity to study for an M.A. in Mission offered as an extension program by Tainan Theological College and Seminary. Between 50 and 70 of the hospital’s staff of doctors, nurses and social workers participate.

The extension program is one example of the work being done by the PCT’s three theological seminaries. Each is focused on training new pastors to face the challenges of 21st – century Taiwan. YuShan Seminary in the eastern region focuses on preparing students for service in indigenous communities. At Taiwan Theological College and Seminary, in the country’s capital of Taipei, there is talk of non – colonial theology rooted in Taiwanese culture. The principal of Tainan Theological College and Seminary is beginning to reflect on new forms of ordained ministry in response to a decreasing number of parishes able to support full – time pastors.

The combination of Christian compassion, social justice concerns and business acumen is at the heart of successful projects such as PCT’s response to reconstruction needs following Typhoon Morakot in 2009. The church created six projects in the areas that were most affected, which are home to many of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. The focus of the projects was emergency relief, reconstruction of the physical infrastructure, creation of income – generating businesses and treating post – disaster trauma in both clergy and community members. The projects had four years to become self – sustaining: five of the six have managed to meet their targets and wrapped up in August.

Along with the successes, I learned of the challenges in the social entrepreneurship model of income generation. In some cases, members of boards of directors refuse to step down at the end of their terms, reluctant to give up the power they enjoy as directors of hospitals and other influential social institutions. There is also the danger of placing business efficiency over the values of compassion and caring. The PCT is aware of these issues and is doing its best to maintain a balance between business and social values.

Church leaders know that the PCT’s mission is to be true to the gospel values of caring for the poor and marginalized. They will need to stand firm and use all their skills to keep these mission initiatives attuned to Reformed church values. What they learn in the process could be valuable to other churches in Asia and beyond.

As I reflect on mission in Taiwan in the 21st century, I wonder what churches in Canada might learn from how the PCT has met the challenge of both sustaining long – established missions (such as the Changhua Christian hospital) and creating new models of mission service (such as Joyce Agape printing). I am reminded of how some Taiwanese congregations manage to create businesses that generate enough income to be self – supporting (paying staff and overhead costs) and no longer depend on contributions from overseas churches. Indeed some, such as the cleaning company founded by Taichung’s Juang San congregation, now give start – up grants to support similar initiatives by other congregations.

This social entrepreneurship model of supporting church mission objectives is one that some presbyteries and congregations in Canada have attempted, but they were not always successful. Often their projects fail to become self – sustaining, remaining dependent on external financing to help cover expenses. This means that when the “start – up” grants from the presbytery or the national church end, the project collapses.
From my previous position as head of the communications office for the World Communion of Reformed Churches, I have seen that in the Global North and other regions of the Global South, there are committed and skilled lay people who might be inspired by the Taiwanese approach to social entrepreneurship.