Four thousand Seventh-day Adventists in Taiwan will soon begin distributing 8 million invitations to study the Bible, kicking off perhaps the most challenging personal outreach endeavor ever undertaken by the church in this island.
Four thousand Seventh-day Adventists in Taiwan will soon begin distributing 8 million invitations to study the Bible, kicking off perhaps the most challenging personal outreach endeavor ever undertaken by the church in this island. Their effort, which will begin May 17, is a part of the Adventist Church’s worldwide Sow 1 Billion initiative—a plan to hand out 1,000 million similar invitations before mid-2004.
Pastor Bob Folkenberg Jr., president of the Adventist Church in Taiwan, says Sow 1 Billion presents an exciting opportunity for church members there. “First, it will give every member a simple tool to do something—however small—to spread the Gospel to those they come in contact with,” he says. “Second, it will provide an invitation to study God’s Word to millions whom we would never have a chance to reach any other way.”
To reach their 8-million brochure goal, each church member in Taiwan will need to hand out about 2,000 Sow 1 Billion invitations. Local church leaders admit that the logistics of distributing these millions of brochures, and following up on responses, pose a significant challenge for such a small membership. But they also see the initiative as an effective way of drawing interest in Christianity in a place where church growth is always hard-won.
“Taiwan is very [wealthy]; materialism is lord,” explains Folkenberg. “It is also a very strong Buddhist/Daoist [culture], which makes evangelism very difficult.” The Adventist Church has yet to make a significant impact among the majority Chinese population in Taiwan. Folkenberg points out that there are only around 1,000 Han Chinese Adventists, out of a population of almost 23 million.
Many regions of the Adventist world church have also announced their Sow 1 Billion goals. The church in the Southern Asia-Pacific region, with headquarters in the Philippines, church members are gearing up to hand out 103 million brochures. The Northern Asia-Pacific region, which includes Taiwan, plans to distribute a total of 42 million Bible study invitations.
Sow 1 Billion coordinators say the focus of this initiative is twofold. It not only aims to reach a significant proportion of the world’s households with an invitation to study the Bible; it is also intended as a call to action for Adventist laypeople, encouraging them to make sharing their faith a natural part of their everyday lives. Sow 1 Billion will have its official worldwide launch in September this year, although a number of regions will begin distribution earlier.