c/o The Christian Clinic
2 Sub-Lane 6, Lane 139
Hsin Sheng, South Road Sect. 1
Taipei 106, Taiwan
15/10/74
Dear Friends,
We arrived in Taiwan on 18th September. We cannot pretend that the four weeks since then have been easy, yet we must acknowledge the Lord’s goodness and mercy, not only in taking us safely here, but in helping us to settle as well as we have in our new surroundings. We are greatly indebted in this connection to Dr. Dale, who is in charge of the clinic where Cameron works, and also to other missionaries for their kindness. Indeed, Dr. and Mrs Dale have temporarily vacated their ground floor flat for us and are, at present, living in a fourth floor apartment.
We do, however, feel very inadequate. Living here is very difficult without a knowledge of the Chinese language. Shopping is further complicated by the strangeness of the foodstuffs and, in the Chinese markets, one is often expected to bargain.
When we arrived it was very hot and humid but, since a typhoon a week ago, it has been “cooler” (80 deg. F). It certainly seems to have been the best time of year to arrive here as the fierce heat of summer is past though the humidity is always very high.
Apart from the difference in climate we were immediately impressed by the sheer concentration of the people and especially by the heavy traffic on the roads. Taipei is a city with a population of over two millions. Perhaps this impression of so many people is intensified by the interest the Chinese take in foreigners. They will gather round and stare and often touch the children, which is sometimes more attention than Ian and Robert want. Robert’s curly hair especially seems to arouse interest.
The children have really settled down very well though they do miss open spaces to play in. They have accepted our going out for language study in the mornings much better than we expected. Leaving them is still a great concern to us and we do wonder whether we should have a private tutor come to the house instead. The boys do not, as yet, have a good relationship with their Amah. (This is the name the Chinese have for someone who looks after children). Our Amah is a student who attends evening classes and wanted half-day employment. She speaks a little English. We pray that our home life will present a Christian witness to her.
Few Chinese know Christ. It is estimated that 1% of the population of Taiwan is nominally Christian. Though many young Chinese would profess no religion they do take part in the superstitious heathen worship of the Buddhist and Taoist temples which abound. There are 200 Protestant missionaries in Taiwan, many coming after the doors to the mainland were closed by the communists in 1949. Presbyterians, mainly American, have been here long before that and account for the great majority of Christian Churches — about 1,000 in the island as a whole. A few of the churches in Taipei provide English services, some being interpreted into Chinese to meet the growing desire among young people to learn English. We would be happy to find a place of worship with which we could associate in our present circumstances. It is, of course, impossible until we gain some fluency in the language, to develop any direct witness to the Chinese ourselves.
Language study must therefore be our first priority. We began classes at the Taipei Language Institute on 30th September for three hours each morning from Mondays to Fridays. A major problem is finding enough time at home for study. We should spend at least one hour studying at home, for each hour at school. Responsibilities at home (for Ishbel) and also at the clinic (for Cameron) make this very difficult. Cameron is at present working at the clinic on three afternoons each week and sharing night and weekend calls. Dr. Dale is keen that as much time as possible be kept free for language study and we do appreciate that.
Indeed, as we suggested at the beginning, we have reason to thank the Lord for all His gracious goodness to us since leaving Scotland. We are conscious of our need of grace to be kept faithful to Him amongst the considerable pressures of our situation. His own words are a comfort: “Him that is able to keep you from falling.” We solicit your prayers for this and for our success in the language study. Please remember the children too. We seek to remember the church at home, and pray that the Lord will revive His cause there to His glory.
The God of peace be with you all.
Yours very sincerely,
Cameron and Ishbel Tallach
Ingwenya
21/12/74
Dear Friends of the Mission,
This is our summer vacation but though officially on holiday there is plenty to do with the organisation of the next school year to plan, the choosing of pupils for our various classes and the employing of teachers to replace those who have left.
Just after school closed I attended a missionary head-teachers’ conference in Salisbury, our capital city. It was more than disturbing to see the strength of the Roman Catholic Church in education in Rhodesia. We know this of course from the past but it hit me with special force when I saw about 15 nuns and priests out of 60 head-teachers taking part, and leading parts at that, in all our discussions. There were only two Presbyterian schools, represented by myself and a Mr Khumalo, from a mission near to our own. As far as the religious side was concerned, I doubt if as many as a dozen could be called evangelical of any sort, conservative or otherwise. Nearly all are liberal in their views and only one young African headmaster spoke up during a discussion on the moral decline among the young people, and the need of Biblical teaching on these matters. I am sure others agreed with him but many could see no solutions, obviously unaware even for themselves of the salvation from sin to be found in Christ. Educationally we found large areas of agreement but on spiritual matters we stand largely alone. I hope you will feel as we do how important a role we therefore play, and how important it is that we continue to do so as long as we are permitted to. Everyone was complaining of the difficulty of getting staff and the Maths/Science group of teachers seemed the most unattainable. As Miss MacKay, who teaches Science, and Miss MacKenzie, who teaches Maths, are both due home in 1975 we are going to be in a serious predicament when they leave if we do not get replacements from overseas. We have an extra need for overseas staff as we wish to keep up our allowed complement of four European (or expatriate) teachers, as they are called here. The Government is requiring us to provide only university graduates now as teachers in the secondary school and we could use a graduate in almost any subject, not the sciences only. The Lord has provided before. Do pray that He will provide again.
Yours sincerely,
Marion M. Graham
Ingwenya Mission
P.O. Bembesi
Rhodesia
20/12/74
Dear Friends,
Greetings for the New Year! How quickly the months have flown past since I saw many of you and how many times we have been reminded of the mercy and kindness of the Most High.
In July Marion arrived back and took over the running of the school. With some alterations in the timetable and the mid-year exams over we all began working very hard for the important examinations which were sat in November.
We were glad to have the services of a graduate teacher for Science over the past year but now he has been asked to do his Teachers’ Certificate so we face the new session without a teacher and so I will have a full load of Science beginning in January (d.v.). There is a scarcity of qualified Africans for all Science subjects throughout Rhodesia at present — only one African graduated in Science this year.
The school is due to have double classes in Forms 3 and 4 beginning in January 1976. This will (d.v.) complete our secondary school programme but will require extra buildings and expense. One Science laboratory has still to be fitted and furnished.
Rev. D. Ross and family seem well settled in Bulawayo. We heard this week that there are good prospects of a site for a church building there. The congregation there on a recent Sabbath was seventy adults, many of whom were at school with us. One of them is a boy who has been doing Form 5 at secondary school in town and has just sat his A levels. He has attended church regularly and during his holidays gathered a crowd at his home at Nkai where Mr Ross took worship with his family.
Since the last communion here the young headmaster of the primary school and his two little girls have been baptised. Rev. Ndebele preached from the words in Malachi 3 v. 16, 17 that Sabbath morning and some of us were recalling the day when he preached from the same text at the baptism of Ottillial, the mother of the two little girls, Ruth and Rachel.
As another year draws to a close I would like to thank faithful friends everywhere who send us gifts from time to time. Do continue to pray for the work here in Rhodesia that many may yet be brought to know the Lord Jesus as Saviour.
Yours Sincerely,
Rhoda MacKay