Breaking Ground for Three Churches of Rinari Community, Planting the Seeds of Religious Culture

A groundbreaking ceremony for three churches, including Adventist and Presbyterian, was held in the permanent housing base in Dashe Village and Majia Village respectively of the Rinari Community in Pingtung on May 1st. Supporting organizations such as the Taipei ShuangLian Presbyterian Church, Chinese Christian Relief Association and World Vision Taiwan were invited to attend the ceremony, in addition to the Reconstruction Council of the Executive Yuan. Since the establishment of a church is a very important event for Christians, church members in the tribe were dressed in traditional costumes as a form of respect.

In a difficult situation after what Typhoon Morakot had done, shepherds from various Christian denominations provided spiritual and material support, maintained tribespeople’s faith and gave them a soul supporting pillar. After today's groundbreaking for three churches, all nine proposed churches for the Rinari Community are in motion, representing another reconstruction milestone achieved by the Government; it covered the main spiritual reconstruction aspects of the tribe. Members of the church within the tribe were overjoyed to see churches required for different Christian denominations being built today, only four months after they moved into the permanent housing; attending guests also shared this moment of joy and gave their best wishes. Tribespeople all wished each other to be able to be in one’s own church and serve God in the near future.

Three churches respectively held different ceremonies: the Adventist church had minister Chen Sih Han praying and invited prominent persons to bless it with a first shovel of soil; the Presbyterian church had minister Lin Chung Feng praying and members writing words admiring God on stone plaques they had individually picked, placing them in a circle on the church’s foundation as a symbol of strong founding stones for the church to be built on. The smiles on their faces and the tearful grace with which elderly members sang were truly touching.

Executive Director Torbors Chyuan of World Vision Taiwan stated that the construction of nine churches for the Rinari Community was funded by the Taipei ShuangLian Presbyterian Church and Chinese Christian Relief Association, and commissioned to World Vision for planning and construction. All churches are scheduled to be completed before the end of December this year in order to provide tribespeople with a permanent gathering place; tribespeople prayed for the construction of the churches, asking for peace and safety. Since every church will become a landmark of its own in Rinari, members of each church stated that they will proactively engage in preparation work once construction begins in order to further honor God.

Deputy CEO Dr. Chern Jenn-Chuan of the Reconstruction Council was invited to attend all three groundbreaking ceremonies, stating during his speech that Rinari is a blessed tribe. President Ma has inspected the base four times during reconstruction and the First Lady also visited twice. The Government implemented the principles of health safety, home safety and mind safety in the process of reconstruction from the residents’ perspective, therefore in addition to the fundamental housing plan, educational classrooms, cultural space, sports field and construction of other related public facilities were all part of the grand master plan as well. Land was provided by the Government for each church from the original village to rebuild its own religious center so that villagers could enjoy the spiritual support they always had and begin sustainable development in the new village.

Lastly, Deputy CEO Chern wished that the Rinari Community, by following in the footsteps of their ancestors, even though many obstacles lie ahead, at the completion of each church, would become a shining example for the lives of all tribespeople, and allow others to witness their religious culture as well as the religious structures.