Beautiful footsteps in the busy streets and alleys
Photo courtesy/Pearl Home Women’s Center
Home in the bustling city
Exit the Taipei MRT Bannan Line Longshan Temple Station exit, walk along Xiyuan Road, and pass by Menga Park Plaza where groups of homeless people gather. This is Wanhua District, Taipei City. The sky has darkened and the lights have begun to turn on. I step on the old red bricks of Guangzhou Street and follow the road to the green grass lane next to Longshan Temple. What I see are women squatting on the sidewalk selling magnolias and scavengers recycling resources. . Turning into the crowded Xichang Street, under the dark blue night sky, we walked past brightly lit temples, snack bars, herbal tea shops, quilt shops, "Grandpa's shop", antique shops, jade shops, pharmacies, clothing stores, electrical appliance stores, Pet supply stores, shoe stores, a wide variety of merchants, and second-hand mobile vendors in the middle of the street.
The Pearl Family Garden is a low-key and quiet place next to a fruit store and a Chinese medicine pharmacy, at the end of Xichang Street near the intersection of Guilin. Pushing open the door, I stepped into the bright and clean hall and joined a dozen volunteers and co-workers. We put on purple vests and sat in a big circle. Each person had a bag of gifts, gospel and party activity tracts in hand. For the special Mother’s Day street gospel visit and care, we gathered, prayed together, and prepared to go.
In the summer of 2020, after returning to Taiwan from New York, in order to continue my special care and service to sex workers as a social worker in the past few years, I found Pearl Home and the missionary Lin Dizhen who came to Taiwan from the Netherlands. (Tera van Twillert).
Starting in 2005, "A-Zhen" who was sent by the China Inland Mission and two Christians living in Wanhua began to care for the women working in the Wanhua teahouse. Build friendships with women through street visits, caring for them with the Word of the Bible and God's love. This kind of care extends to businesses and vendors in the entire neighboring community, as well as marginalized and discriminated groups, including nearby homeless people, elderly people living alone, and teahouse managers, operators, and consumers.
As we walked through the winding alleys lined with teahouses, Ah Zhen shared with me the difficulties of starting the ministry and God’s wonderful arrangements without hesitation. We chatted for a while with a crew-cut man with a tattoo on his chest who was sitting outside the tea room enjoying the cool air. After leaving, Ah Zhen told me that this uncle was the owner of a teahouse. At first, he was wary and hostile towards her, thinking that she was here to ruin the business. After many years of continuous visits, based on the principle of not disturbing women's work, showing kindness and respect, Abo slowly let go of his guard. To this day, he can naturally receive gospel tracts in his hands, and he can also get along with him and have daily conversations.
If you walk into a dark teahouse hidden in an alley and meet the young man sitting behind the counter, just call him "Aqing". Behind the counter, gods are worshiped and cigarette smoke curls. Ah Qing said that there was no need to waste gifts and literature on him. Like many unbelievers, he plausibly emphasized that every faith is the same and encourages people to do good. He hoped that we would not disturb his business.
Ah Qing's attitude was very tough. When Ah Zhen and I turned around to leave, we caught a glimpse of the obvious fatigue on his face and couldn't help but ask, "Are you tired?" Ah Qing was stunned for a moment and said that he had been doing this every day for several months. Less than three hours of sleep. Somehow, he couldn't stop talking as soon as he started, telling how he had lived in this circle since he was a child, and how he and the ladies in the store had become a life community as close as family members. He also asked, if we met a young man like him with tattoos on his legs on the street, would we dare to approach him? Do you dare to be friends with him?
There was a lump in my chest, hurt by the walls Qing had built up in his heart, the hurt, defensiveness, and stubbornness he felt. After returning to Pearl Home and praying earnestly for Ah Zhen with him, I felt a little relieved. I believe that everything is possible with God but not with humans. I hope God will continue to use His own way to soften Ah Qing’s heart and help him find life. The peace and contentment you truly desire.
Dignity under makeup
Every time we see women standing on the street or working in teahouses when we come to visit, they mostly show an attitude of acceptance. When we meet, they talk like old friends, and the air is filled with the joy of acceptance. Their stories are everyday to me, and I haven’t heard too many dramatic tragedies imagined by the outside world. Even if there were, it would be difficult to talk about it or express it in a short period of time, like in a consultation room. Their topics revolved around concerns about their families, worries or pride about their children's studies and work, some complaints or gratifications about their sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren, descriptions of their own physical ailments, and feelings of powerlessness and persistence under financial pressure.
Under the bright sun, they stood on the street or sat on motorcycles riding high-rise buildings, beads of sweat condensing on their heavily made-up foreheads and bridges of noses. In the cold wind, rain and dew of winter, they paced back and forth shivering. This kind of picture made me realize that the public has too much imagination about them from the perspective of moral judgment. After all, they are also ordinary people, with ordinary people's joys and sorrows, the life challenges that ordinary people face, the weaknesses of ordinary people, the dignity that ordinary people require, and the needs and dreams of ordinary people for life.
I also realized that the friendliness of the vast majority of women working in the teahouse stems from the trust established by Ah Zhen and the co-workers of Pearl Home through their long-term care and respect and equal treatment. That kind of humble and sincere attitude is in extreme contrast with the curiosity-seeking, snooping, stigmatizing or tragic perspective of social news and gossip media. I remember that a volunteer who followed us on a street visit for the first time once said something quite insightful: "Compared to many outsiders who are full of moral consciousness, they are very polite." Because of their familiarity with Ah Zhen and Pearl's home, during the visit , we can always end with a prayer. Before I leave, I will resist the urge to hug them and say, Jesus loves you.
When visiting the streets, I occasionally meet teahouse consumers, sometimes lonely old people. We will stop and chat with them about life, and of course the gospel. If we are willing, we will sincerely pray with them. I actually have great sympathy for their loneliness. Where are their children? Where are your relatives? What about friends? I remember once meeting a man who claimed to be a Christian. He did not shy away from saying that even though he had been baptized, he still could not escape sexual temptation. One sister said that she asked God to have mercy and save her. The sting of sin is terrible. The male co-worker who was visiting her also personally prayed for her on the street.
When encountering such embarrassing scenes, I always feel sad and powerless. It is actually very similar to my mood when doing street visits in New York. I always pray to God to cleanse and save a person or community that seems to have no hope. Thank God for allowing me to witness and participate in such meaningful ministry, and I firmly believe that God’s thoughts are higher than human thoughts, and His ways are higher than human ways. I know that my powerlessness comes from human limitations, but God’s power is infinite.
Seeds in the heart
In 2008, the Pearl Home Women's Center was officially established to provide women with a safe and warm place where they don't have to hide their background and can truly be themselves. In addition to street visits and evangelism, the home also has regular gatherings every week, where everyone has lunch together, sings songs to worship God, and shares God’s words. Guest speakers are invited once a month to share testimonies and life-related lectures with women. In addition to the women who regularly attend, new people join from time to time; the average number of attendees is 25-30, and for special events, it can reach 45-50.
After lunch fellowship, the women stayed to continue attending small group meetings. The content of the gathering is diverse and full of creativity, from singing opera to reciting the Apostles' Creed, and sometimes singing karaoke. In addition, the home's handicraft classes provide women with a platform to learn new skills, communicate with others, and supplement their income through handicraft making. Most of the women participating in handicraft classes are women over 60 years old and living alone. It is hoped that the craft class can develop into a social enterprise that provides a sustainable income for people living in poverty.
There is also a unique service - "Grandma GoGoGo". This small art therapy group helps women reflect on their lives, receive positive support in the group, and rediscover their life experiences through picture book production, one-on-one volunteer companionship, and the guidance of professional leaders. meaning and value.
The cohesion of the women of Pearl Homeland is amazing. One woman even said that her farewell ceremony would be held at Pearl Home after her death. What a huge amount of love and trust there is behind this. This reminds me of the time before Christmas last year when Ah Zhen took me to visit a woman who had just moved into a nursing home. She pushed the old woman in the wheelchair and walked around the streets and looked at the scenery with a smile like teasing a child. She then pushed her into the supermarket to drink a cup of black tea and hot dogs, and told the story of the birth of Jesus in detail. The eyes of both women and Ah Zhen exude childlike innocence and mischief.
My thoughts go back to the street gospel visits and care on the eve of Mother’s Day. Volunteers and co-workers, sweating with joy, carrying the heavenly gospel and small gifts on earth, walked through the alleys and stepped into teahouses, hoping to convey goodwill and kindness to everyone we met. The love of Jesus.
This time A Qing was unexpectedly enthusiastic, with a smile on his face, and he called the ladies in the store to come out and receive gifts. To be honest, every time I visit on the streets in this short year, I know very clearly that what I and my colleagues are doing is sowing seeds. As I have spent the last few years evangelizing sex workers on the streets of New York, my fellow preachers and I know that we are unlikely to see a harvest. It is a difficult ministry, but it is worth it because it is Jehovah who makes the gospel sprout and grow.
Romans 10:15 says this, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news and bring good news.” And because “faith comes by hearing,” if no one speaks to this group of people, it is very likely that they will not or will not People who dare to step into the church, even those who the church does not know how to receive, sow the seeds of the gospel, where will they hear the message? How do you know you are worthy of being loved? How do you know Jesus has not abandoned them? How do you know that they are not discarded pebbles but pearls that God desperately longs to find?
On the way back, a volunteer and I approached a woman walking alone on the porch, introduced ourselves to her, and invited her to visit Pearl Home. At first she seemed unguarded towards us, with a smile on her face, but then she suddenly turned around and hurried away in the other direction. I turned around and saw a police officer, and I understood what was going on. I followed her into the crowded night market area, and her expression became relaxed and lively, and she said to me, "Are you a preacher of Jesus?" I couldn't help but smile at her expectantly, "Do you know Jesus?" She leaned close to my ear and said, "Of course. My whole family has been baptized and I am the only one left. I will not be baptized until I stop doing this." The volunteer who was walking with me heard her whisper and responded to her, "You are welcome back. Home, Jesus has been waiting for you." Under the night sky, she left her name and contact number, and planted hope in our hearts.
Footsteps into the streets
In May 2021, the number of people infected with the new coronavirus in Taiwan increased sharply without warning. Wanhua, Taipei City, became the hardest-hit area. Everyone's expression changed when they heard about Wanhua. The disadvantaged groups in this area, including homeless people, teahouse operators and consumers, as well as teahouse women, have become the targets of negative media exaggeration. According to the National Renaissance News, after the outbreak, women had to stop working, which affected their lives. At the same time, Pearl Home is located in an area under the city government's epidemic prevention control. All activities must be stopped. We can only provide care through LINE and phone calls, and send emergency relief funds to help women in financial distress tide over the crisis. Ah Zhen also appealed to the public not to label them, and hoped that Christians would pray for them even more at this time.
Remember that Jesus met and stretched out his hands to heal all kinds of people, including tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, the blind, the lame, women with issues of blood, and those possessed by demons... Every child created by God has been marginalized, forgotten, labeled, and despised and rejected by society. Today, such people are still there, in a corner of the city, at the end of the alley. What would Jesus do when faced with this group of people?
The words of the Lord remind me: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, and I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger. , I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to see me...Truly I say to you, you have done these things to me, my brother. and it is done to the least of them, it is done to me.” (See Matthew 25:34-40)
"How beautiful are the footsteps of those who bring good news and bring good news." If Jesus were here, I believe He would walk into the streets and alleys without any noise or publicity, walk among the crowds, and approach where He is. Those you love, enter their hearts.
To learn more about Pearl Home Women’s Center, and to donate and support, please visit the website: https://pearlfamilygarden.weebly.com
Further reading: Issue 58 of this magazine "Grandma Pearl's Painting of Life" (https://e-krc.org/article/grandma-pearl-life/html)
Susan, whose real name is Liu Shuqiong, graduated from the Nyack College Alliance Graduate School of Counseling and obtained a master's degree in psychological counseling. He studied at New York University in his early years, majoring in psychology. There are translated books such as "Care for the Body and Repair the Mind", "Spiritual Healing of Family Therapy", "Hold Me Tight"... etc. She once served as a social worker for a Christian non-profit organization in New York City, where she participated in community initiatives to advocate for Chinese victims of human trafficking, participated in street evangelism, and visited and cared for women in discriminated industries. Currently a licensed counseling psychologist in New York State.