Taiwan

Taiwan Ministry

Taiwan, also known as Formosa in the western world, is an island located in the East Asia and northwest side of the Pacific Ocean, between the Ryukyu Islands and the Philippine Islands. The total area of Taiwan is about 36,000 km2. According to the survey conducted by Taiwan Academia Sinica in 2019, the predominant ethnic group in Taiwan was Han Chinese, representing 96.42% of the population and mainly comprising of Hoklo and Hakka. The 16 indigenous tribes made up 2.48% of the population in Taiwan while the ethnic minority from the Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and the other countries made up 1.1%. According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Interior in 2022, there are 22 major religions over the territory. As shown in the US’s Religion and Public Life Project, the folklore religion in Taiwan is around 45%, followed by Buddhism at 21%. Other religions and independent religions are about 13% to 16% and Christianity is about 6%. As shown in the Ministry of Interior’s statistic in 2013, there were more than 15,000 religious buildings registered in Taiwan, including all sorts of temples, shrines, and halls. On average, there were 6.5 religious buildings for 10,000 people, which was the highest ratio in the world.

Taiwan Ministry

The needs of international students

Due to the New Southbound Education Policy, the number of tertiary students grows rapidly, from 57,000 in 2011 to 128,000 in 2019. They are mainly from Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. Most of them are gospel unreached people. They come to Taiwan for 6 months to 6 years mainly for a bachelor, master and doctoral degrees. The LORD has brought these groups of unreached people to Taiwan where freedom of religion is allowed. It is a good chance to let them know about the Christian belief.

These groups of scattered students generally learn simple Chinese and Mandarin in Taiwan. They normally communicate in English. Due to the language barrier, it is hardly possible for any churches or organisations to spread the good news to these international students unless they study in Taipei. Upon the completion of the training by the international co-workers in Taiwan, AGS is planning to send them to do the gospel work for the international students all over the campuses in Taiwan.