Seminary Life

A Letter from Jonathan and Emily Seitz, serving in Taiwan

Spring 2024

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Dear friends,

In January, I had the fun experience of sharing at the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan’s campus ministry camp, held every year during the Lunar New Year break. I really enjoyed it! I saw current and former students, I met a lot of college students, and I was pushed to think outside of my field. The book they were using this year was Judges, so I talked especially about the role of foreigners in the scriptures and Judges and shared some of our background and ministry.

Group Photo at PCT Campus Ministry Retreat, January 2024 (courtesy of PCT Campus Ministry)

I also finished the grading for one semester and then started a new semester. This semester I have four classes, which is more than usual, and I’m teaching a fifth online course for a friend. I’m always surprised by who signs up for my classes. At the lay academy, I have all middle-aged women. For a class on religions, I have all first-generation Christians. An English class I’m teaching for our postgraduate program includes about half students from other denominations. My large survey course is always eclectic and this time there are a lot of people with cross-cultural experience in Southeast Asia, China or the West. I enjoy these classes a lot and teaching is still what I enjoy most about my work in Taiwan. I am also working with three thesis students. One is writing on a local church’s new member program, another is writing on missionary spirituality in the 19^th century, and an indigenous student is writing on a famous set of revivals.

Rev. Dr. Isa Walis, academic dean, washes a student’s feet during a Lenten chapel.

Our work can also sometimes feel like it includes a lot of challenges. Sometimes grading takes me a while in Chinese. I have a long commute to campus (we don’t drive here). This time of year, the paperwork also piles up: writing entrance exams, paying U.S. and Taiwanese taxes, renewing visas and/or passports, scheduling travel, and overseeing term projects. This year we’ve had some unexpected medical issues with a kid (perhaps more on that in a future newsletter). I think one of the hardest parts of the Christian vocation is to be hopeful in times of struggle and to persevere in times of difficulty. I also see many students here struggling with these questions: health and financial difficulties, losses, work-life struggles, school politics, the challenges of the ordination tests or what to do after graduation.

In chapel next month I’m going to preach on Jesus’ Last Supper and how his disciples even then misunderstood him. I’m always amazed that the disciples knew Jesus for three years, ate and traveled with him, and yet utterly misunderstood his purpose. Seminary students also usually get three years on campus, and it can be hard to know whether we’ve prepared them for what is coming next. Lent can be a time to remember that Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us, the Son of the Most High, the one who took on suffering and died as we die. Pray for seminary students here as they study, pray, worship, and live together, preparing for future ministry.

Jonathan