From the mission field: Helping Chinese speakers in Singapore

The Rev. Dr. Michael Paul teaches church leaders in Singapore in October 2023. (Michael Paul)

The Rev. Dr. Michael and Jen-Yi “Irene” Paul serve the LCMS Asia region as missionaries in Taiwan. In October 2023, Dr. Paul was invited by the Lutheran Church in Singapore (LCS) to teach their church leaders the new Chinese translation of the Concordia Publishing House book Lutheranism 101, made available in Chinese through Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

The national language of Singapore is English, and the pastors and other church leaders of the LCS have all studied their theology in English. But in addition to holding English services, all five of the LCS congregations also have a service in Mandarin Chinese for those who still understand Mandarin the best. The LCS has already offered Lutheranism 101 classes in English, but the church body asked Paul to teach the Chinese edition to the Mandarin-speaking church leaders so that they would then be better able to teach their Mandarin-speaking members.

Paul taught in Singapore for four hours each morning for five days. In addition, he took with him a large suitcase packed with samples of some of the best Lutheran resources available in Chinese, many of which the LCS church leaders were previously unaware of. He will soon be arranging to have additional copies of many of these resources sent to Singapore for use in their congregations.

In addition to teaching in Singapore in October, Paul gave two Reformation-themed lectures at three different Lutheran congregations in Taiwan. His topics were “From Fear to Assurance: The Life of Martin Luther” and “Christ Alone and the Christian Life.” Including online viewers, about 80 people heard the lectures live, but even more have watched the YouTube video that was made from the livestream.

Paul has given Reformation lectures five of the eight years he and his wife have served in Taiwan. “Lord willing,” he says, “some day I’ll edit and publish them in book form. While I don’t consider myself a true Luther ‘scholar,’ the type of content these lectures contains is rare in the Chinese language, and any new material like this is a great help for the Chinese church.”

Posted Jan. 11, 2024