Dear Friendship Family...

I am humbled and so thankful to the Lord for this opportunity to write to all of you as your upcoming Senior Pastor. The Lord has been so gracious and good to us through His provision and through His leading. It may be of interest to some of you how we got here, so I would like to share with you a bit of my family’s journey and its connection to Friendship.

Before I begin, though, I would like to take a moment to thank Pastor Dennis and Kay. In the short two years that I have gotten to know Pastor Dennis, it was apparent that he was a man who really cared about God’s kingdom and who really cared about people. He was always willing to get to know people and connect people. I remember during our very first conversation, he asked one question that showed his heart: “What can we do for you?” It may seem like a generic question, but Pastor Dennis kept our conversation in mind and began connecting me to different people. I was so blessed by how he was constantly trying to bring people together. Kay, on the other hand, has been such a quiet yet strong source of continual support and encouragement. I was so thankful for her encouragement to me early on.

Dennis and Kay, you will be missed! We will remember the years of dedication, hard work, service, love, sacrifice, endurance, patience, and grace that you showed to the many people that came through the doors of Friendship. Your gospel-centered heart for the church and for the city will be a legacy that will endure on.

Having been in China (as missionaries) for a number of years on a student visa, we came to Taiwan searching for a new way to enter China. We had heard that my wife, Polly, would be able to get her dental license in Taiwan and that it would be transferrable to the mainland. So, we came with the mindset that God would provide a way for us to go back to China. Needless to say, we were not planning on staying in Taiwan. So, with that in mind, we wanted to find a church that would provide us with opportunities to meet people who we can fellowship with and who we can build partnerships with for the sake of missions. After visiting a few churches, we found Friendship.

Friendship has been such a wonderful church because of the people that we had a chance to meet. It is unlike many other churches in that it is so transient in nature which provides us with the opportunity to meet a ton of people from all over the world. We have come to love and really appreciate the nature of Friendship because it gives us a taste of what God is doing in the world and it also gives us an opportunity to receive people and then send them back out into the world for God’s kingdom. And we were just the same. We were only going to be here for a few years and were planning on heading back to Beijing.

That all changed when Polly began to have thoughts about possibly staying in Taiwan. It was not a sign from heaven, nor was it an easy decision. My heart was set on going back to China and so was Polly’s. But the conversation was started. So, we decided to begin praying about possibly staying (even though in my own heart, I was 99% sure we were heading back to China) and we spent almost half a year praying about this topic.

It was such a difficult decision and there was no clear answer to our prayers. Why was it so difficult? Because we had thought all along ever since we were younger (for Polly, since high-school, and for me, since 2004) that we would be missionaries in China. We thought this was our calling! Calling is such a packed word in the Christian world, especially for those in ministry, because the idea is, once you are called to the ministry, that’s it! This is what you will be doing for life.

But there were two lessons that I learned through this. First, I learned that a calling is not necessarily a life-long calling. It can be a calling only for a certain period of time. Just because I felt called to China, it did not necessarily mean that God had only China in mind for me. He could change my direction at any moment. So, there may be times when I am called to a certain task, and it may be hard and difficult, or it may be fun and exciting. But either way, it could be for only a limited amount of time. A calling to a specific place or task can be changed.

Second, I learned that I just needed to be faithful in whatever God has called me to. The interesting thing is that even a calling can become an idol when I hold on to the calling so dearly that I am not so willing to let it go, even if it is God who is changing my direction. In essence, I may feel like I am doing something for the Lord, but in actuality, in my heart, I am going against what the Lord has for me. I am not called to a “calling” per se. I am called to follow Jesus wherever He leads.

So, after praying and struggling with this decision for nearly half a year, we decided to stay in Taiwan. Again, there was no clear answer. But as we sought God, it became more apparent through the practical, logical decisions we made that we should stay in Taiwan. Of course, by that time, a few people had already come up to me asking if I had considered the Senior Pastor position. My answer was typically, “No, I am 99% sure that we are heading back to China.”

After making the decision to stay in Taiwan, though, I had to consider what God would have me do here. I took another two months to pray about what our next steps were. At the time, I was considering five or so different options. I was thinking about possibly planting a church or assisting the church planters that I had gotten to know. I considered starting a new campus ministry apart from church, or perhaps joining a Mandarin-language church and ministering there. Or maybe I would dedicate my time to teaching at seminaries in China and Taiwan.

After praying for two months, I decided to apply for the Senior Pastor position at Friendship because of the many friendships we made there, because of the ministry opportunities there, but especially because I wanted to work closely with or within a church context (previously, I was more involved with ministries outside the church context).

I was seeking the Lord’s leading when I applied to the Senior Pastor position. I had no idea what the result would be, and if things did not work out, it would be a clear sign that I could move on to considering other opportunities. But I am so thankful that in March of 2018, Friendship welcomed me into this new role which will begin on September 1st.

I praise God for all the twists and turns that He takes us through because, ultimately, I believe that He is in control and working for His glory and our good. I look forward to spending many years with all those that come through the doors of Friendship. I look forward to spending time with you!

For His glory and His kingdom,

Peter Kim

5 Questions With...Deacon Madalitso ("Mada") Khwepeya

1. How did you first get involved with Friendship Presbyterian? Well, I came to Taiwan from Malawi in August, 2014, to study for my Master’s degree at Taipei Medical University. And I happened to have a roommate who was also from Malawi and was attending FPC church. I had attended and was a member of a Presbyterian church back in Malawi (Church of Central Africa Presbyterian), so I felt at home in FPC. But in terms of my serving experiences at the church, at first, I was not active at all. However, after a lot of encouragement from friends and Pastor Dennis, and also the thought that I needed to do something for the Kingdom of God, my first experience of service began in 2016. I started to usher and then, later, I got involved in being a deacon, as well as performing with the international worship team, and working in our student ministry, G2C (Gospel 2 the Campus). I also began my Ph.D. in 2016.

2. What do you do Monday through Saturday? It depends, really. I am a student and so, basically, I am busy with my studies. If any other commitments from the church come up, I do them as well. So, it just depends what I have for that week. I love as well to watch movies and dramas, especially Korean Dramas for my leisure time.

3. What is something people might be surprised to know about you? One thing people might find hard to believe is that I only listen to gospel music. I do not listen to other songs. It is a long story, really, but I once was asked what kind of songs do you listen to? It was overwhelming to answer that question for me! However, looking back and making that decision, my walk in Christ has grown a lot because every time I listen to worship songs, it makes me focus on worshiping God and meditating on His word. Maybe the point is to always be careful what you listen to and watch, because in one way or the other, it affects your spiritual life.

4. What do you find most challenging about being a Christian today? We live in a world of sin which makes it hard for us to act based on our faith. Most of the time, we seek the acceptance of other people, rather than putting God first. There are also things like technology that draw our attention away from God. For example, I love to watch Korean Dramas. It is very easy for me to be focused on that and forget to pray. It is a challenge to find the right balance.

5. What is your favorite book of the Bible? I love the Psalms. I can read them over and over again. To me, the book of Psalms portrays the complete range of our emotions (happiness, sadness, etc.). It reminds me who I am as a person. It also reminds me how to worship, how to be thankful, and who God really is through worship.

Stories of Grace

In John 5:17, Jesus tells us that “My Father is always at his work, to this very day…” In Philippians 2:13, the Apostle Paul reminds us that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” In our "Stories of Grace" feature, members are invited to share a particular instance of how God has been at work in their lives.

This month, our contributor is Daniel Pun.

I grew up in a Christian family and my parents were always very encouraging in my walk with God. My parents would often remind me and my siblings to always put God first. In my room growing up, my parents put up a plaque with the words from Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

We would also go to church every Sunday, church-scouts on Wednesdays, choir on Thursdays, fellowship every Friday, church retreats during the winter and summer, and occasional mission conferences. So, growing up, I was fully immersed in this Christian bubble. My parents also were very transparent about their own walk of faith, so I did not ever doubt that God was real. It was a fact to me, and it still is a fact to me. God being relevant, however, was a different story.

Growing up in a church was great. But when I hit middle school/high school, it all kind of changed. It was my first time to experience bullying—and it was at church. I was left out and intentionally excluded. Suddenly, going to church was something I dreaded. The more I was excluded, the more I withdrew. I started to find my identity with peers that did accept me. I began to grow an attitude of indifference towards church and hung out with friends from high school that did welcome me. I still went to church because of my parents. But whenever I could get out of it, I would.

It was not that I stopped believing in God, doubted His existence, or was angry with God. I simply stopped seeing the church’s relevance to my life. I would still go to church and fellowship and say and do all the “right” things. I would pray before meals, read the Bible during family worship times, and was an obedient “Christian” son. But the more indifferent my heart became, the harder it became, and the more legalistic all of these “Christian routines” became. I knew that God was real, but that didn’t matter to me. God was irrelevant to me.

This continued all the way up to grade 12. But then something changed. Some of my close friends were Christian, but we had never talked about Christianity or anything spiritual. But when I was in grade 12, these friends began to ask me about my faith and would encourage me daily, if not weekly. “Hey, Pun (my nickname in high school), did you do your ‘devos’ [i.e., devotional time] today?” They started to invite me to their church fellowships as well. I cannot exactly say that I was thrilled about going, but I still went because they were my friends. I think it was through this that I began to rediscover my faith again. I saw that church could be different. It could be warm.

I started to go back to my own church with a renewed attitude, looking past the people and more towards God. At the end of grade 12, a new youth pastor at my home church invited the congregation to join him in a mission trip to Longlac 58 [a.k.a. Long Lake 58 First Nation]. It is an aboriginal reserve 16 hours north of Toronto. I do not know why, but I felt compelled to go. Even though I was only a “Sunday Christian” at the time, there was something deep down that just would not go away until I filled out an application form for the trip.

During the mission trip, I did not know what to expect. I did not even know how to articulate the gospel clearly. I just remember that when other people were reading their Bibles during quiet times, I thought to myself, “I should read the Bible, too…”  At this point, it had been quite a while since I took the initiative to read the Bible for myself and, to be honest, it felt kind of awkward. But once I started reading it for myself, I felt God like never before. The closeness, the warmth…it was overwhelming. Everything started to make sense—why my parents continued to “force” me to go to church, why my friends suddenly went Christian on me and asked me about my faith, why I felt the need to be here in Longlac. God had been pursuing me, even though my heart was hardened. God never let me go. It was his grace.

After two weeks in Longlac, I came home with a renewed sense of purpose in my life and in my faith. Things did not change instantly, but it was a start. My faith was re-ignited. And I believe it was in that moment that I actually became a Christian, as I was no longer living under my parents’ faith. My faith was now something special between God and me alone.