I-lan, Taiwan – Evangelism proves to be promising in the past few years for stowaways from China. Annually, more than 100 illegal Chinese immigrants received baptism.
Such touching stories of conversion owe much to the fact that the Prison Fellowship Taiwan (PFT) based in the city of I-lan launched their ministry in Chin-lu and focused on ministering to stowaways from Mainland China. According to the Mainland Affairs Council of the Taiwanese government, there are more than 2,400 Mainland stowaways waiting to be repatriated in Chinlu.
According to Kingdom Revival, Rev. Hui-xiong Du, the representative pastor of PFT, says that within Chin-lu, there are more than 400 male and 900 female stowaways.
PFT cooperated with other local churches and started the men’s prison ministry a couple of years ago. With positive outcomes of over 100 receiving baptism every year, PFT started their women’s ministry in 2003. Following the success of the men’s ministry, 133 women from the prison fellowship received Christ last year.
Currently, the PFT and I-lan churches are in the process in applying to establish Bible study class in the stowaway-penitentiary, so that the ones who were newly baptized can nurture their faith and increase the ones being baptized throughout the jail cells.
The prison fellowship calls all the churches across Taiwan to join them in prayer for its ministry.
In the meantime, aside from the prison ministry, PFT is going out to the narrow corridors of fisherman huts on the mainland’s coasts, beginning its outreach to mainland fisher-folks. Within the rural settings, PFT found a “Galilee Gospel Center,” where 40-50 people attend for Sunday worship.
Rev. Du said that as Mainland people received the Gospel, they became very earnest to know God. The people show enthusiasm and look forward to routine afternoon gatherings every Sunday at 3:00pm. Some folks call in advance to see if they can gather earlier.
By the end of March, PFT will hold their first baptism for Mainland fisherfolks. As the first fruits of their six-month’s fisherfolks ministry, 24 people have already registered to be baptized.
Rev. Du expressed his hope that through the prison fellowship and location-based ministries, people from the Mainland can not only change their daily lives, but find freedom and eternal life through Christ in Taiwan.
