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The LCMS began work in Taiwan in 1951. The China Evangelical Lutheran Church Taiwan (CELC) became an LCMS sister/partner church in 1966. It is also a member of the International Lutheran Council. The CELC currently reports a membership of 2,000, with 26 ordained pastors serving 20 congregations.
In 1967, the LCMS opened Concordia Middle School opened in Chiayi, Taiwan, and the school continues its ministry of educating middle school and high school youth in a Christian environment. More than 2,300 students attend the school. Each year, 200 graduating seniors enter the highly competitive university system of Taiwan. Concordia Middle School remains one of the CELC's most vital evangelistic tools for reaching all segments of the Taiwanese population.
In 1992, the China Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) in Taiwan generated support for the establishment of China Lutheran Seminary in Hsinchu, Taiwan, which serves as a joint seminary for six Chinese Lutheran bodies and is supported by six Lutheran mission agencies. It is the only Lutheran seminary in the world that provides all of its instruction in Mandarin Chinese. The CELC has ordained a number of CLS graduates and will continue to train its pastors here. Students from all over the Greater China region study at CLS and become equipped to return as church leaders in their home countries.
LCMS World Mission and the CELC expanded educational ministry in Taiwan in 2000, when Concordia English Language Academy (CELA) started on the campus of Concordia Middle School as an elementary after-school program, in partnership with the Concordia University System in the United States. CELA is a unique program that offers children stimulating ways to learn English as a Foreign Language in a loving Christian environment.
In 2003, the CELC partnered with the LCMS to extend a call to Rev. Michael Wu, one of the first Alliance missionaries. These are missionaries sent by LCMS partner churches to other countries, but who are also receiving support from LCMS World Mission. Rev. Wu is currently serving in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China. He started his work there as an evangelist at the Concordia English Center, but is now focused on leadership training in East Asia and helps to develop curriculum to train lay leaders in the church.
Today, LCMS World Mission supports the goals of Concordia Middle School and Concordia English Language Academy by providing GEO missionaries to serve as English and Bible teachers. The missionaries work alongside national teachers and serve in and out of the classroom by teaching classes and leading chapel services, Bible studies, fellowship groups and outreach events on campus and in the community. Additionally, LCMS World Mission has sent a career missionary to serve as a professor at China Lutheran Seminary in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
LCMS World Relief and Human Care first provided mercy support in 2000 through funding towards a rehabilitation center for abused girls. It has also provided post-earthquake disaster relief.
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