Food for god, god for food

I visited one of the oldest and popular shrine in Taiwan. Wan-nien Dian萬年殿 is located in southern end of Tainan city and almost country side even though formally included in city area.

A large and well-arranged park is company with this old shrine. The impressive and huge size of gate is established in front of the park after many millions of donation from believers nearby here. Several famous masters of traditional art joined building and renovating it and there names were carved on the big monument in the park.

Some carpenters were repairing an ancient ship in the left room of the shrine when I visited. They said that it was brought from China more than 300 hundred years ago by their ancestors.

From 萬年殿

There are two ships in the left and right rooms side of front and it is the turn of left ship this year. Regarding the legend of Taiwanese aborigine, probably ships are being remembered as a sort of special motif in Taiwan relating to their origin.

I also found a bundle of reed (?) and two buckets of water. According to an old man watching the ship with me, he was one of the staff of the shrine organization, those reed and water is regularly offered to sacred horse everyday which carrying gods. They said they have changed those everyday as new.

From 萬年殿

There is only one church just nearby that shrine while more than one hundred of folk religion temples, shrines, and personal alters. I'm not a evangelist and don't like aggressive evangelism today. But I felt deep sympathy there in honest as I did either to Taiwan as well.

I respect local people and their faiths. I understand their history and culture. But I don't understand why Taiwanese Christians today are rushing to observe and learn Korean church instead of studying those area and people of their own. More and more pastors are becoming authoritative as Korean pastors and desire to resemble the strategy of facial "success" among some Korean churches, that is, number of congregation. And more and more they don't concern about local culture in the name of pure "gospel."

At the same time, local people suffering hunger and thirsty of spiritual truth day by day. They don't have a chance to meet and think about "gospel" in tangible way. Our God is ready to feed people, but we are not ready to be fed. They are feeding even vehicle of their gods. Do you know why? It's because they feel comfortable in spiritual sense that they can mentally afford to prepare and offer food for their god and god's horse. I think Taiwanese Christians are not ready. They don't know what exactly gospel is.