The Mad Dash

A Letter from Jonathan and Emily Seitz, serving in Taiwan

Spring 2022

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Dear friends,

We’re now in the mad dash to the end of the school year. At our school, the most urgent tasks are helping students finish graduation theses, then finishing up classes and holding end-of-the-year events. This year I have two MDiv thesis students. One student has successfully defended and was finishing up thesis revisions last night. She is writing about a small church that grew out of a food relief program in the 1950s. When this student graduates, she will likely serve in the church as an evangelist. Tomorrow another student defends her thesis. She is writing about the international missionary support her church does and issues they’ve had during COVID-19 and, when she graduates, hopes to help her church do mission better.

This week I’m also finishing teaching two courses. One is at our lay academy, where students go to a church on a weekday evening and work through a degree program. These are always interesting students, often middle-aged or elderly. The oldest student is in his 80s, but we also have students in their 30s. Surprisingly, every student in the class is a first-generation Christian; none grew up in the church. We’ve been working through the book of Jonah and discussing themes like calling, prayer, witness and justice. I will miss these students a lot. I also have a survey course for seminarians in their second year. This is a pretty fun course also, although, with a huge COVID-19 wave, I’ve had to adjust to online teaching. As a foreigner, I always find the move online harder. I have to use a mix of software programs, speak in Mandarin, and share videos; students are often caring for their own children or distracted by life. It’s not ideal, but it has also helped us finish a challenging semester.

This month we’ve also had an eye on U.S. news. In May, there was a shooting in Irvine, CA, at a Taiwanese Presbyterian church (a PC(USA) congregation with strong ties to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan). A doctor, John Cheng, lost his life in the struggle, and the pastor, Billy Chang, helped subdue the attacker. The background on this was complicated—the shooter was a mentally ill, Taiwanese-born U.S. citizen with connections to Chinese reunification groups. He appears to have targeted the church because it is “pro-Taiwan.” In the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, the grieving was deep as the shooting saw Taiwanese American Presbyterians targeted for their beliefs about Taiwanese identity. I was grateful to see many PC(USA) pastor friends who have been moved by Taiwan friendships to share in the outpouring of grief. To me, episodes like this are jarring.

PC(USA) is also in rapid transition. In World Mission, we have a new interim director, Mienda Uriarte, and our former interim director, Sara Lisherness, has moved into a new deputy executive director position. One benefit of online life is that I feel I know other mission workers better than I ever have; it’s a joy to connect to coworkers in Haiti, Ghana, Germany or the Philippines. I’m grateful for the community within our Presbyterian family via online sharing, prayer and worship.

A challenge for me is how to hold onto God’s deep peace amidst all of these changes. Sometimes I struggle to see things from God’s perspective, to see seminary finals, teenage angst, upsetting news, or church changes through God’s eyes. At times like this, I’m especially grateful for friends and colleagues who accompany us, lift us up when we struggle, and help us when we’re off kilter. I pray that the summer brings us a chance to change, rest and see a new vision to continue on God’s path.

Jonathan