I will be posting a blog post every week, with interesting things about each country I will be ministering in! Taiwan is the second country on my route, after Japan.
Taiwan is an island off the southeastern coast of China. Although China claims rule over it, Taiwan has it’s own multi-party democratic government. Most residents consider themselves Taiwanese, rather than Chinese. It is one of the world’s most densely populated countries! It has a rapidly growing economy, especially exporting high-tech goods.
There is freedom of religion, but Buddhism and folk religions have a deep stronghold. The majority of Taiwanese follow a blend of Buddhism, Daoism, and Taiwanese folk religion. The population is 5.82% Christian. There is great spiritual darkness and hardness of heart toward the Gospel, with a strong opposition to Christianity from the other religions. However, after several decades of little growth in the church, recent years have seen significant growth in all types of Christian churches. There has also been remarkable church growth among migrant workers from Southeast Asia.
Taiwan was one of the four “Asian Dragon” countries, having an emerging economy in the 1980’s, along with South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. It is famous for having the tenth tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 (it has 101 floors!). The building hosts an impressive fireworks display every New Years Eve. Bubble tea, which is now gaining popularity all over the world, originated in Taiwan!
Sources:
Operation World book by Jason Mandryk
theculturetrip.com “What is Taiwan Most Famous For?”
quora.com “What is Taiwan Famous For?”
