Team Members

Josh Brown
Josh is a senior at Virginia Tech returning for his second summer to work with the VGM English programs. Josh is heavily involved in Young Life in the NRV and is very comfortable around middle schoolers. It's a good thing too, because they seem to gravitate toward him!

Andrew Hall

Andrew is a graduate student in Computer Science at VT, having just completed an internship with Intel in Phoenix. Andrew also comes to us from spending four years as a Young Life leader working with middle school students in the NRV.

Jillian Derrick
Jillian was on our maiden trip to Taiwan in 2004. She grew up in China when her parents were then working and raising her and her two older brothers. She can often be found helping out in the children’s Sunday School program at BCF.

Gina Lin
Gina is a graduate student (PhD) from Taiwan. She joined our team last year and just can't seem to stay away. Her language and cultural background is a tremendous asset to the entire team. Her good humor never fails to brighten the day.

Alice Lo
Alice came to the US as a graduate student, married and is raising her family here with her husband Peter. Both are very committed to ministry among Chinese and are 'charter members' of the Blacksburg Chinese Christian Fellowship.

Claire Lo
Claire, also returning for her second time, is a high school junior, pianist, mime artist, athlete, and all around great team member. She is our team list maker helping keep us on track as we prepare. To dissuade our students from speaking to her in Mandarin she has contemplated wearing a T-shirt that states: "Made in the USA with parts imported from Hong Kong."

Chuck Schumann
This is the third BCF/VGM missions trip that Chuck has instigated. He is energized by both the young adults on the team and by the opportunity to serve in Taiwan. Answering to many titles (Mr. Schumann, Uncle Chuck, Chuck shushu and others) he wears many hats, including liaison between BCF and the VGM, team leader, cuisine consultant and classroom teacher.

Johnny Yu
This will be Johnny's first trip back to his native Taiwan as a 'missionary.' His home town is not far from Niao Song, our first assignment. Johnny is an elder in the Blacksburg Chinese Christian Fellowship, preaching approximately once a month. Professionally, Dr. Yu leads a group of scientist and engineers at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant designing rocket motors and propulsion systems.

The Village Gospel Mission

Founded in 1971 by an American missionary couple, the Village Gospel Mission (VGM) focuses on bringing the message of Christ to communities which are otherwise not served by the Church. As part of their service to the ten communities they are serve, VGM conducts educational programs for elementary and middle school aged children, adults and senior citizens.

The People of Taiwan

Taiwan has a rich and diverse culture. It was first populated by aboriginal people most likely from other Southeast Asian island. During the Qing dynasty Chinese settlers began to migrate to the island in large numbers pushing the original inhabitants into the mountains as the Chinese populated the western coastal plain.

Taiwan's Religious Background

The settlers build temples to the local deities as well as those on the Chinese mainland in an effort to appease the spirits. Many centuries later these customs have become deeply engrained in the Taiwanese culture to the extent that participation in ancestral and temple worship has become an obligatory part of community and family life. Consequently, although many have shown interest in Christ, few are able to follow through and attend church services or Christian activities without creating painful discord. The VGM describes this situation using the parable of the soils. The Taiwan countryside is hard, unplowed ground. For example, Niao Song has a population of almost forty thousand, twenty-two temples and a single church. Suan Tou’s population is approximately twenty-eight thousand with thirty-three temples and a single, newly formed two-year-old church. (More detailed information can be found about religion in Taiwan here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Taiwan)

Purpose of the Trip

This summer the VGM will be conducting twelve “Bilingual Camps,” hosted in local public schools. BCF will join with Taiwanese college students as teachers and counselors at the middle schools in Niao Song and Suan Tou. Three years ago the BCF team joined with the National Taiwan University Christian Fellowship to host a Bilingual Camp at Suan Tou as an initial VGM outreach in the community. From that and other VGM activities a small church was formed in the town center. We’re excited to return there for the third time this summer and continue helping as best we can. This will be our first time going to Niao Song, although there is already a small but well-established outreach in that village.

Our calendar.