Chidu Hope Church

Most families in this neighborhood are Taiwanese, but a third are from two aboriginal tribes - the Ami Tribe, and the Bunun Tribe, two of the twelve non-Chinese ethnic tribal groups here in Taiwan long before any ethnic Chinese immigrated here. Read article on the Ami-language Bible first published in 1997.

In the larger Chidu district, there are 8 churches, but this area has no churches. See a population/church ratio for the Chidu District of Keelung

1F, No. 14, Lane 233, Chang An Street, Chidu District, Keelung City 206
Phone: 02.2451.4424
See satellite image of the Chidu community.

Article on outreach at Chidu.

June 3, 2007 picture

New Hope Taipei held a joint worship service with the children's ministry in Chidu run by Caleb Tian and Mr. Lin

The aboriginal families in the neighborhood are very happy to send their children to church, but some of the Hoklo Taiwanese are ambivalent about their children mixing with the aboriginal kids.. Each weekend 20 to 30 children come to the church building to play and learn. They are almost all from the Ami and Bunun tribal groups. Their parents, moms and dads, work seven days a week at manual labor jobs. Their community has many problems of poor inner-city type areas where there is a breakdown of the family, drugs and alcohol abuse and gang activity. Part of the problem is also the breakdown in aboriginal cultures, and the parents being away so often. Caleb's wife is from the Ami Tribe while Caleb is ethnic Hoklo Taiwanese. He really has a heart for the people.

Prayer Needs

* In 2004, four neighborhood moms became Christians in Chidu Hope Church's outreaches (helped by short-term mission teams from the U.S.), but because the church-plant does not have a full-time evangelist/worker living in the neighborhood - and the church is still too small, they have left to go to other larger churches in other parts of the city.
We praise the Lord for their conversions, but we also pray that God will establish a strong core group of Christians and raise up a Christian co-worker that can be a week-day presence in the neighborhood and build up the church.
* Pray for Caleb Tian, our Taiwanese church-planting intern. Pray that God will give him wisdom to most effectively reach the community and that he will have a heart for evangelism and pastoring.
* Pray for Mr. Lin, who helps with the ministry and is considering enrolling in the Reformed Theological Seminary in Taipei
* Pray for Joel to have wisdom in dividing his time between the three church plants... in Taipei, Lotus Hill and Chidu. And pray for more Taiwanese coworkers who will be able to become pastors in these churches.
* Pray for Ian and Sandy Liu and their drug rehab ministry. The original core group for this church was formed around them and the brothers who had come out of the drug rehab program... but their work with the drug rehab ministry has been too great and they have increasingly been needing to focus on their ministry and do not have much time to help with the church plant. Recently they moved away to another larger facility in a different area of Chidu. We need another core Christian family in the neighborhood
* Caleb holds a Friday night Bible study for three of the families who are not yet Christians, but open to hearing about the Bible. Please pray they will come to faith and become the core of the new church.

----------------------------------------- Last updated 6/16/2007