It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).
Day 3: December 1, 2024
For those who read Part 2 and were wondering about Jan after the difficulty/spiritual attack she suffered on Saturday, God was (and will always be) faithful. All the team members were praying for Jan that afternoon and evening, and she prayed through the night, as did her husband, who also pointed her to Philippians 1:6: He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. She was much better on Sunday morning.
Sunday in Taiwan started like most Sundays for Jan and me when we are home in the States – we went to church. The local Baptist church held two or three services, and we went to the English-language one.
Afterward, we made our first Christmas presentation, meeting with the church’s English-speaking AWANA group – around 30 children and several leaders. In this presentation, we didn’t say much the children had not heard before, and since they understood English, we did not need translators. However, this was an opportunity to reinforce the truth and historical validity of the birth of Jesus for these children – many of whom may have heard the details about the nativity but never realized the truth that it is not “just” a Bible story … it is history. They also may have never understood that the Genesis account of creation and the introduction of sin into God’s perfect world was the reason Jesus had to become the perfect sacrifice for mankind’s redemption and our reconciliation with God.
This presentation also allowed us to practice our delivery and timing. We pinpointed some weaknesses we needed to work on – especially regarding our need to use our time efficiently, as we would be held to strict timeframes due to class schedules at the schools on Thursday and Friday.
After the AWANA presentation, we had lunch and a short rest before heading out on an adventure to learn more about Taiwan’s history.
Once again the adventure began before we reached our destination because Betsy* took us on the subway. As I mentioned earlier, I had never been outside of the U.S. I have also visited less than half of the United States, and none of my limited travel had included a ride on a subway!
The end goal of our subway ride was to visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park. The entrance to this memorial is the Freedom Gate (pictured above). For those who are as uninformed about Taiwan as I was, here is a little bit of the island nation’s history (thank you to Brittanica.com and Betsy).
Other than about 40 years as a colony of the Netherlands in the mid-1600s, Taiwan was self-governed until the late 17th century, when it came under Chinese rule for about 200 years. It became a colony of Japan as a result of the first Sino-Japanese War in 1895, but when Japan surrendered in 1945 at the end of WWII, Taiwan once again became part of China.
Chiang Kai-shek was a military leader for the Republic of China (ROC), which opposed the communist government in China. Although these two factions in mainland China joined together during WWII to fend off Japanese invaders, once the Japanese were defeated, the rival Chinese governments were at odds again. Eventually, the Republic of China was overcome by the communist People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and his followers departed from the mainland and relocated to the island of Taiwan.
Although Chiang Kai-shek had opposed communism, he essentially ruled Taiwan as a dictator, as did his sons after him. In fact, the first free presidential election there did not occur until 1996. But despite his dictatorial rule, Chiang Kai-shek is still honored in Taiwan as the leader who helped establish the Republic of China. Although the island was under martial law for many years, at least it was not governed by communist rule and had some semblance of freedom.
Freedom … it’s kind of a funny thing, isn’t it? It seems that everyone has their own definition of the word.
For some, freedom means to be rid of anything they don’t like – whether that be parents telling them what to do or law enforcement (the government) telling them what not to do … or God telling them anything at all. At least, in America, those seem to be the general categories our populace might use to loosely define freedom.
Freedom could represent the release from bondage to a substance or another harmful behavior. It could be relief from crushing financial debt or the torment of painful memories. It might mean no more disease or wheelchair or infirmity.
For some people, the word might mean deliverance from demonic oppression or possession.
For others, freedom is the ability to work without being forced to feign approval of ideologies or activities that they find ungodly or horrifying. It could be the opportunity to educate their children as they see fit or to have as many children as God allows without being forced to abort any more than the government allows. And it might be the ability to refuse an experimental injection being insisted upon by the government … or their neighbors, coworkers, friends, or family members.
For many in the world, freedom could be a lack of fear that someone will break in and imprison or kill them because of their possession of a Bible or their commitment to Jesus and the gospel.
And what about those who may have forgotten the very idea of freedom – or have simply given up on it – because they have been abused or trafficked for years? Then there are the ones who have been taken as infants to satisfy the wicked desires of others; those little ones likely don’t even know the word … much less its meaning.
Freedom
When Jan and I were openly and freely worshiping on that first December Sunday morning in a church in Taiwan – a country that lives under the threat of Chinese takeover – we sang a Christmas hymn I had never heard before, “Come Adore the Humble King,” written by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa. Besides the lyrics shown in the picture above, the song also says:
Come adore the King who came
To our world to save us
Born to heal our prideful race
Crown us with forgiveness
There may be almost as many definitions for freedom as there are people on the planet. But for those of us who have come out of spiritual darkness and captivity, we know that our greatest liberty – the only freedom that can transform eternity – is given to us by the One Who “came to our world to save us.” No matter what form of captivity we may face in this life, no force – natural or supernatural – can keep our spirits bound when Jesus saves us and sets us free.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34-46).
