The Road of Grace
John McCall
Dear friends,
In 1996, I left Black Mountain, N.C. and the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, where I was serving as their pastor, to board a plane to Taiwan. I had never been to Taiwan but knew that God was calling me to this unseen land to serve as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-worker with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. I felt somewhat like Abraham and Sarah of the Old Testament when God told them to go to a land that they had not yet seen.
As I began my new life here, I started full-time Mandarin language study and also began to learn a new culture. Language can be taught. Culture must be observed. I had never lived in a big city like Taipei. In many ways, I felt like a child who didn’t know how to express in Mandarin what I wanted to say and often didn’t get the cultural cues.
But God was faithful, and the Taiwanese people have been amazingly kind and patient with me over the years. Every day I was given a list of 30 new vocabulary words in Mandarin and the next day would have to show up in class and tell my teacher a story using the new vocabulary. So, I would find a stranger on the bus and ask them if they would like to hear a story. They became my teachers.
After language school, I was sent to the rural part of southeastern Taiwan to work with the indigenous people who live there. Each week I spoke three or four times in children’s Sunday School, or youth group, or preached in their churches on Sunday morning. Church leaders translated my Mandarin into their indigenous languages, which was a wonderful way for my language to improve, because if the translator didn’t understand what I was saying, he or she would let me know.
During my first week in the new city of Taidong, the owner of a radio station asked me to have my own radio program. I told her that my Mandarin was not yet ready for a radio show, and she replied by telling me to trust God. So, every week I spent one day preparing my program. I used things that were happening in that area and connected them to a biblical teaching. If it was mango season, I would talk about the fruit of the Spirit. If the high school seniors were taking their college entrance exams, I would talk about the wisdom of God. But because I had just completed my language study and was not overly fluent, I didn’t think anyone listened to my program.
But one Monday morning I took my car to get serviced. The young man who was going to work on my car was not a Christian, but he noticed my Mandarin name. (I never use my English name here.) And told me that he listened to my radio program the night before. I was really surprised. He then told me that he and his friends all liked my show. Then I asked him a dangerous question. “Why?” His answer was not the one I wanted to hear. He said, “We love your unique accent.” And standing in that car repair shop, God said to me, “Don’t worry about your accent. I will use your accent to help folks know that they are loved.”
So, from that time on, I have not worried about my limitations but instead have focused on God’s abundant grace. And these years in Taiwan have been beautiful years of grace.
I am a very different person because of the people of this land. Their kindness, their love, and their daily welcome have shaped me deeply. I have learned the most from the people on the margins. I have had the privilege of accompanying hundreds of seminary students and pastors. I learned how to pastor pastors when I was in Black Mountain as a young pastor and had 50 retired pastors and their spouses in that congregation. That experience allowed me to become a pastor to pastors here.
I have also been changed by the indigenous folks of this island. They have taught me about resilient faith in the face of life’s challenges. They have demonstrated community as they have welcomed me into their villages, their churches, and their homes. They have given me an indigenous name, “Lafin,” which means the one who comes to stay with us. I have laughed with them and cried with them.
It has been the road of grace these past 29 years. And you, who have supported this ministry with your faithful prayers and gifts have been signs of grace to me. You have welcomed me into your homes and churches when I have been on interpretation throughout the U.S. And you have been open to how the world church can teach and change us.
So, as I end my time of service as a PC(USA) mission co-worker, I want to thank you for your partnership on this road of grace.
Gratefully,
John McCall