First Stop/Hakka Mission Theological Seminary
Interview with Dean Wen Yongsheng and his colleague Pastor Wen Hongdun
Interview/Jian Hailan
▲President Wen Yongsheng is diligent and tireless in serving the Lord, and only hopes that the vision of guest blessing will be spread more widely.
Taiwan Hakka Mission Theological Seminary (hereinafter referred to as "Keshen") was established in 2000. The first president was Luo Weixin, and the current president is Wen Yongsheng. The school's site was borrowed from the fourth and fifth floors of the Zhudong Lutheran Church Houchi Hall, which is still in use today. Fifteen graduates of the school's main department have been assigned to serve in various churches or organizations.
There are not many full-time professors in "Keshen". They are mainly composed of local pastors or seminary teachers, and they receive hourly fees and travel expenses. In order to balance the income and expenditure, the class will be opened after recruiting twelve talents. Over the past eight or nine years, there have been occasions when the number of registered students fell short of the expected number, and classes had to be stopped. But if the professor is very committed to that course, he is willing to start the course as usual even if there are not enough seats; in order to spread the vision of Kefu, he is willing to give up the travel expenses.
▲The current location of the simple "Keshen" has been occupied for almost nine years, and it is moving towards the vision of building a school.
"Hakka God" teaching is carried out in dual tracks of Hakka and Hakka. Currently, the class does not require all Hakka, but we hope that students can practice praying, evangelizing, preaching and teaching in Hakka. The school adopts a discipleship system. Each student has a counselor who is spiritually mature, has good interpersonal relationships, and is specifically involved in ministry. He makes regular appointments for interviews and prayers to care about his life and academic status.
The "Keshen" course aims to help Hakka churches grow healthily and cultivate full-time workers, with an emphasis on equipping working brothers and sisters. In the second year after Dean Wen took over the seminary, he began to offer extended courses, which lasted for two hours once a week. He invited church co-workers and deacons to receive equipment and encouraged them to become elite soldiers of the gospel. Some students who have taken extended courses and want to further their studies can register as formal students at the school's main campus.
▲Actively training talents is the primary goal of "Keshen". The picture shows a corner of the library.
The extended system is currently open in six places including Taipei, and the number of students has exceeded 100. There is a "Believer's Elite Course", which is held once a week. If you complete a complete set of courses on Bible, spiritual life, ministry, evangelism application, etc. within three years, you can get a certificate and start preaching the gospel and serving in the church.
In addition, "Keshen" is also committed to promoting Hakka gospel ministry, hoping to equip brothers and sisters with more biblical foundations by organizing Bible study conferences and full-time and part-time ministry seminars. Through the transmission of vision, the number of believers in some churches has increased.
▲Many co-workers and elders receive equipment here to become elite Hakka gospel soldiers.
"Keshen" currently has seven co-workers. We thank God for providing the shortfall in regular expenses as scheduled. We are currently promoting the "Friends of Keshen Activity" and advocating "using small money to support theological education". Each person donates ten yuan a day to participate in theological education. The current location of "Keshen" has been occupied for almost nine years, and it is moving towards the vision of building a school. Although it is a year of famine outside, God's year is a year of plenty; "Keshen" has received three large donations from God, and together the school building fund has raised nearly 20 million. The wonderful work God has done is so great!
