Third Stop/Toufen Church

Interview with Missionary Mai Suxian (Eva)

Interview/Jian Hailan

▲As Eva said: "Only when you truly experience God, it will be easy to share the gospel." The temple on the third floor of Toufen Church is where brothers and sisters meet God.

May I ask why you are particularly burdened with Taiwan Hakka Village?

As far as I am concerned, it is partly a vision and partly a desire to come to Taiwan. I was very young at the time and was excited about everything. I wanted to experience different cultures and experience God’s guidance. I was also very curious, would God use me who was only 23 years old? Does He want to spread the gospel through me?

At that time, I signed up to join a team of ten, including eight Asians, one American, and one Dane, myself. After coming to Taiwan, I started attending language school to learn phonetic symbols and Mandarin.

There is Pastor Peng Delang in Taipei. When the short-term mission team went to Taiwan, he took us to visit many churches in Hakka Village. One of the churches had never had anyone baptized in 35 years. It was really sad to hear that. Later, I heard that there were many churches there. The girl was sold to Huaxi Street in Taipei. She couldn't bear it and wanted to preach the gospel there.

Before graduation, I participated in equipment training. During the meeting, God asked me: "Eva, what are you more interested in?" I replied: "Many things!" God asked me again: "Then do you know what I feel about?" Interested?" I suddenly realized; it turns out that the focus is not what "I" want to do, but what "God wants me" to do!

I immediately understood that God’s heart was in Hakka Village, because too few people there knew God, and too many people had not yet heard the gospel! God said again: "My heart is there, Eva, do you care?" So, that weekend, it was very clear to me that God was calling me to stay in Hakka Village. God’s thoughts are higher than my thoughts. After graduation, I immediately went to serve in a Hakka village in Taiwan. I have never regretted it so far!

Are you a second generation Christian?

Yes, since Denmark has a national church, people from 80% to 90% all claim to be Christians, but most of them are not Christians with real life testimonies. The church I went to was also a nominal church. It only held formal meetings every Sunday. My family never read the Bible and prayed together. Faith is still faith, but it is not a firm belief in pursuing the Lord throughout your life.

When I was fourteen, I attended a summer camp and for the first time I truly understood the meaning of the gospel. In the national church before, everyone had been baptized since childhood and considered themselves saved, so there was no need to share the gospel. But in the camp, I understood that we are sinners and must confess, repent, accept Jesus as the Lord of our lives, and obey what He wants us to do. This was a completely new concept for me, so I determined to follow Jesus. .

However, after returning home, I discovered that it is very difficult to obey the Lord. Especially since I was a fun-loving girl, and I couldn’t find a “real” church near my home. From the age of fourteen to eighteen, I often went out to dance on Fridays and had a lot of fun. After I came back, I confessed my sins and struggled internally. But I will go out dancing again next Friday. Although I read the Bible every day, I don’t know much about the truth. I just hope that I can get good grades, and I don’t really know Jesus at all.

After graduating from high school, I had the opportunity to receive a Rotary Club scholarship to study abroad in Australia for a year. After school, I stayed for a week and stayed with a family.

The first night I arrived, I said to God: "If You can find me, I will belong to You. Otherwise, I will have a great time!" At that time, I thought to myself: "It's only been a week, let's see if God can find me." Me?" The family I lived in didn't believe in the Lord very much, and nothing special happened that week. Only one girl called on Friday afternoon and said, "Hey, I went to Denmark to study and learned a little bit about Denmark. I can talk to you, do you want to come over and have dinner together?"

I thought to myself, it doesn't matter, so I went to the appointment. Unexpectedly, before dinner, her father took out the Bible and turned to me and asked: "Eva, do you really know the Lord Jesus?" I was shocked: "Oh, God has caught me now!" So, through this family, I began to get in touch with the real church and got to know the Lord more and more. It was the perfect church for me. There were many college students, and I felt free to ask many questions that I was still struggling with, confused, and even doubtful about. I discovered that God is really smart!

Were all the questions about faith answered satisfactorily at that time?

Yes, although there are still many issues that people struggle with throughout their lives, I have indeed gradually grown spiritually as a result. For example, the theory of creation and evolution have always been unanswerable questions for me as a medical student. Although many people use them as an excuse not to believe in the Lord, for some people like me, they are really barriers to believing in the Lord.

A brother who is studying in graduate school explained my doubts in detail from a scientific perspective. He did not draw a conclusion right away, but started with why there is a great designer behind human beings. He also led me to read many books for a long time to understand this issue.

Additionally, I raised questions about the filling of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. A pastor gave me a very satisfactory answer. He said, "Although I have not experienced everything, since the Bible records it this way, I am willing to believe that it is true." His humble attitude let me know that I There are still many unclear points and deficiencies in the pursuit of the true way. His recognition of me influenced me to continue to seek the true way, and I am grateful that he gave me an answer that brought me closer to God.

▲Missionary Eva (second from right) received God’s call at the age of 23 and served in a Hakka village. She has never regretted it! The picture shows everyone taking a group photo: Eva (right) and Hailan (left) in the middle, with "Ke Shen" Director Hu (right) on both sides and Pastor Bai Meiyue (left) who accompanied them all the way.

When did you and your husband meet?

Six years after coming to Taiwan, I met my husband, Deng Lingde. He is a new missionary who wants to preach the gospel in the Sanwan area of Hakka Village. Someone asked me to help him find a house and asked me to take more care of him, so I helped him find a house to live in. This is how I "continue to take care" of him to this day.

At that time, I was already twenty-nine years old and so tall that I thought no one would want to marry me. In addition, I have seen many people who passionately serve God marry the wrong man or wife, with disastrous consequences. Therefore, whenever someone wants to introduce me to a boyfriend, I refuse. But God facilitated this marriage and personally brought my husband to me. He has many gifts that I don’t have. We appreciate each other, work together towards the same vision, and serve together. It is truly a wonderful act of God!

How long has the Toufen church been established? Please introduce the church’s ministries and organization.

Nineteen years. Toufen Church first started with small groups, and later gathered once or twice a month. Now the number of people participating in small groups is greater than the number of people attending Sunday worship. We think this is a good sign, because we hope that everyone can join the small groups.

There are currently two types of small groups. One is the "open group", where everyone can invite people to believe in Jesus. When the number of people increases, the group leader will establish a new group; the other is the "influence group", where people are equipped to become believers in the future. A person who has the ability to influence others to believe in the Lord. Currently, I lead seven sisters, and my husband leads six brothers. Each one will lead others after receiving training. However, the group size should not exceed twelve people at most to avoid insufficient care.

In addition, we hold "Meet God" camps twice a year. From Friday evening to Sunday noon, we spend an entire weekend in the camp listening to God's words, meditating on the salvation of the cross, and experiencing repentance, forgiveness, healing, deliverance, and the Holy Spirit. full of. This camp will greatly enhance the faith of brothers and sisters and the quality of service colleagues. People often ask to be baptized after attending the camp. We see God’s great and wonderful deeds manifested in the camp.

How long have you been moving into this building? Does the cafe downstairs also belong to the church?

I bought this building four years ago, completed the renovation a year and a half later, and moved in. When the church first started, our group prayer meetings did not have a fixed location and we all used venues. So the church began to save money, hoping to one day build a church.

We told God that what we wanted to build was not a church but a service center. We began to think, how can we enable people to be exposed to the gospel as soon as they enter the church? We wanted to create a place that was not too religious, full of love and care, safe and warm, so we established the coffee shop. At first, there were some objections, thinking that it was doing business, but later, it really became a place for friends to gather and talk. To this day, brothers and sisters still regard this place as a place to serve God and serve people.

There are prerequisites for opening a coffee shop, which is that the coffee must be delicious and the cake must be delicious! Whether making coffee or making cakes, co-workers spend their own money to learn from professional masters. The prices in our store are not high, and gradually more and more people come. We also found that in a coffee shop, if we first make good friends with both men and women, the gospel will spread more easily. Many regular customers come into contact with our members invisibly and naturally hear the gospel!

The church holds free English classes on the second floor every Thursday, but you have to buy at least a cup of coffee first. In this way, they not only learn English, but the cafe also makes money. Our goal is to slowly guide people from the first floor to the second floor, to participate in church activities, then to the third floor to worship God, and finally to the baptismal pool on the fourth floor, where they can become reborn and saved Christians.

Notices of events held by the church are often posted in the cafe. For example, lectures on overcoming depression, or other evangelical group activities, such as watching movies, singing hymns, daily Bible studies, etc. Therefore, the real purpose of the coffee shop is not to make money, but to become a bridge for the gospel. The bright orange color was suggested by the original designer. Whenever we see the church group leaders drinking coffee, eating cakes and talking about the gospel with their catechumenal friends, our mood is as full of joy as the bright color. ! May God greatly bless this coffee shop evangelism ministry!

▲Toufen Church has launched a creative evangelistic attack, using the coffee shop on the first floor to create interactive opportunities, slowly attracting evangelical friends to participate in general activities on the second floor, then go to the third floor to worship God on Sundays, and finally go to the top floor to be baptized and become reborn Christians. . The picture shows a view of the baptismal pool on the top floor.

What is the most unforgettable thing about serving with your husband?

Not long after we got married, we started a church, and my husband also wanted to learn Hakka quickly. One morning, we prayed together for the Toufen area, and God told us that we would meet a very important person that day, a person who deserved peace in that city.

That day, less than ten minutes after my husband went out, he met a local Hakka man who spoke English and chatted with him. They also went to many places together, including some temples. The husband asked him: "Do you believe in these things in the temple?" He replied: "I really don't believe it. I am a Catholic, but I don't seem to have really "caught" God!" So the husband began to share with him Gospel.

That gentleman is the father of one of our current co-workers. After hearing the gospel, he brought his entire family to the church. He fell ill and passed away two years later, but his wife and the child, who was in kindergarten at the time, were both saved because of him. Currently, his wife and two children still hold important positions in the church. I will always remember what God accomplished after praying with my husband that day. I saw God’s grace and blessing. He not only saved this family, but also gave the church a wonderful start.

My husband was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer a year and a half ago. This suffering made us hold on to God more unitedly; and because we were unable to have children, we had more time to serve together. I remember that when he just came out of the hospital and learned the diagnosis, he only said one thing: "I will raise up twelve brothers!" He said that no matter how long he lived, he would still raise up brothers who would serve God enthusiastically. .

During these days, we often read the same spiritual books, listen to the same Bible teachings, walk on the same road, and experience God’s love more, which leads to many breakthroughs in our service in the church. Our relationship as husband and wife is closer than before. He is my most intimate friend and the person who encourages me the most. Now his body gets tired easily, so he can only concentrate on preaching on Sundays and training the twelve brothers he will raise up.

What are your future prospects and plans for the church?

After my husband became ill, we realized more and more: we need to encounter God more and let God’s love greatly change us, because we must be able to receive it ourselves before we can give it to others. We do not want the requirement of character first and then anointing to become a source of frustration for those who serve, but we want greater breakthroughs. Therefore, we long to experience God more deeply. This is our greatest encouragement this year with our precious co-workers.

Would you please encourage our readers with one of your favorite Bible verses?

Acts 20:24:“But I regard my life not as precious to me, nor do I regard it as precious, so long as I finish my course and fulfill the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, and testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”The most important thing is to spread the gospel!

Usually, the reason that prevents brothers and sisters from preaching the gospel is that they are forced to preach the gospel before they have seen God’s actions, and they are easily rejected by others. Therefore, if you want to actively preach the gospel, you must experience God more, because when you experience God, you will inadvertently be tempted to share it, and the gospel will be spread!

Our most important thing is that everyone should give birth to spiritual children like Abraham! Therefore, everyone should find the twelve people they want to raise up, starting with the first one, to help their spiritual children, so that those twelve people can go and find one hundred and forty-four others to obtain God’s rich inheritance. There are many things we cannot do by ourselves, but God can accomplish great things among us! Since I have been found by God, I also have the responsibility to find people with various gifts to serve people and God!