Working Class Youth
22/10/2010 9:00 am <>
At 5pm in Chiayi, the traffic and noise level in the city increase noticeably. The streets and shops start to crowd. But it’s not all the traffic of people getting off work - it’s also hundreds of high school students getting out of school, descending onto the streets, swarming tea stands, crowding food stalls, flooding bookstores, or making their way to cram schools and the train station. Major streets like Wenhua and Zhongshan fill with uniformed students from all different vocational and private high schools.
Last summer, some of this ‘student traffic’ took a rest stop at our Gospel Center, located near a major cram school and the train station. Davy, a senior at Jiashang Vocational High School, was one rest-stopper who joined our summer English camp. That fall, he stayed and brought a crew of friends to join the Friday night youth group. Dinner, singing, games, a place to chill between school and cram school - the center provided a safe, air-conditioned, friendly, and free place as a rest stop!
What is a vocational high school?
Before I moved to Chiayi last March, I had heard of vocational schools, but it wasn’t until after living here for some months and meeting students from these schools, that I finally got it. These are schools where students study hospitality, cooking, business, and trade skills. These are working class youth.
Coming from traditional working class backgrounds, these students have little opportunity to encounter the gospel. Students at the best high schools and excelling academically have a greater chance of encountering Jesus in better universities where Campus Evangelical Fellowship (CEF) groups exist. But for the non-academic-oriented and unchurched students, churches just don’t do the kind of ministry that appeal to them. The technical colleges and non-elite universities they attend seldom have CEF groups. Can we reach them while they are in high school here in Chiayi? Yes!
Jay is a lanky 19 year old studying an evening course at one of the worst vocational schools in Chiayi. Once when he left his school uniform at the center, he was relieved that no one knew it was his. “Why, Jay?” I asked. “Because my school isn’t a good school,” he said. Jay comes for the fellowship and finds a place where he is accepted and loved. But he doesn’t read well, so he is often embarrassed if we read during our Bible studies. We need to be sensitive to this and adapt our studies for him.
Making disciples?
Lavender comes from Chiayi County and grew up in an idol-worshipping family. Through Davy’s invitation to the English class, she started coming Friday nights and encountered Jesus for the first time. Lavender now prays regularly before bed and over the summer was a tremendous help with magazine passing and park ministry. Her nursing school in Tainan does not have a fellowship. Will she find a spiritual home and continue to grow? Has she caught the vision of sharing the gospel? Pray that all our students will make firm commitments to follow and witness for Jesus.
Needing new students
Our prayer request is for new students. After last year’s students graduated, our group is down to 1-3 students. On the positive side, we have the workers, the space, and the flexibility to adapt to the students’ needs and schedules. We pray for more ‘student traffic’ that will come in off the streets and find spiritual rest and life in Jesus.
Angie Piau, Chiayi
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