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Neighborhood Evangelism Adventure

For about two years a certain neighborhood in Chiayi has been on my mind a lot. I call it Orchid Street. It was just by chance that I rode my motorbike through it the first time. I wanted to avoid the main road’s heavy traffic. As soon as I came down the street, I was totally fascinated by the working class atmosphere. There is a little neighborhood park where old people and a lot of men chewing betel nut sit in the shade, playing cards and chess, or singing karaoke. There is also a busy street market, many little shops selling this and that with the shopkeepers just waiting for customers, and traditional workshops where idols are carved, “ghost money” is sold, and oil lamps are made and sold. When I pass the small dark houses that must have been built many decades ago, I can look into their living rooms open to the street. Typically I can see someone with a bored face sitting on a sofa, watching a TV that sits next to a big god shelf.

When I first drove through the neighborhood, I felt the urge to come back the next day, explore it, and even start praying for the street. And since our OMF team’s vision is to reach the working class with the gospel, why not start right there on the street, where the working class people are all day long? I felt strongly that God had showed me this street with a plan in His mind.

My teammate Jennifer and I started regular prayer walking. In the summer we went at 6 am in the morning and met people who were out exercising or digging in little roadside gardens. Soon we were on a friendly greeting basis with several of them. When it was cooler, we would start at 9 am and meet a lot of the shopkeepers. The idea was not only to pray, but at the same time to observe and learn about the street. We also wanted to let people there see our faces, so that they would get used to our presence. Another teammate Michelle and I often went to the park, sometimes playing with kids, and chatting with the kids’ mothers and grandmothers. We were eventually even invited to sit with some of the old folks to drink tea and sing karaoke.

All this was still what I call stage 1: pray, observe, learn, be friendly, and establish some relationships. It did not include intentionally talking about the gospel.

Last year at Christmas we entered stage 2: in twos we went from door to door, our bags packed with coloring books for kids and the mini-Bibles that tell the Christmas story. Using the Taiwanese dialect that I had recently learned, I greeted people, “Hello, we come from the church and want to wish you a merry Christmas. This is a Christmas gift for you.” The majority of the people were very happy to take the gift! One lady asked, “Do you come to spread religion?” I quickly assured her that we just wanted to give her a present, but then found out that she actually was hoping we would “spread religion,” because she was very interested in Christianity! Unfortunately her husband doesn’t want her to go to any church, but I am sure that in God’s time she will be a member of a yet-to-be-established house church in Orchid Street. At Chinese New Year we did another round of door-to-door distribution. We had another mini-Bible and a red envelope for everybody. Of course, there wasn’t any money in the envelope, but there was a voucher for a free VCD about Jesus’ life and a little chocolate fish wrapped in gold foil. As we went from door to door, we enjoyed the festive mood everywhere. Everyone was wishing each other a happy New Year and exchanging sweets. The people were very receptive! In one house, where the grandkids were visiting, we were urged to come inside. Pictures were taken; drinks and fruit were offered; and my teammate Seann was allowed to tell the first Bible story in the series. My teammate Michelle had her camera with her and took pictures of people’s kids. We delivered them a few days later as a gift. Indeed, Chinese New Year is a perfect opportunity to do door-to-door visitation! In the following weeks we noticed many more smiles, greetings, and people waving at us!

Beginning this summer we started a monthly distribution of material, going door-to-door, and will increase our presence in the street and park. Stage 3 will be to intentionally seek places to tell the chronological Bible stories. We hope that by the end of the year we will have three places in Orchid Street where we regularly tell Bible stories.

So far this has been a real adventure, and I don’t know yet if this strategy will be successful, but I know that God loves these people and He has a real good plan for them!

Kerstin Richter - Chiayi