Interesting isn’t it that Handong is home to “God’s University” while Taipei is home to “Christ’s College.” Hmmmmm….Enjoyed a wonderful breakfast this morning in the simply magnificent dining area of the Grand Hotel…overlooking city below and mountains beyond! Breathtaking….. Lots of chinese breakfast food….delicious no doubt. But I opted for a fresh omelet, delicious papaya, cranberry juice, very good lean ham, a slice of swiss cheese, and TWO slices of the freshest tastiest softest crispiest French bread I’ve had in 3 weeks. Mmmmm good.
Kevin Pei picked me up at 10am, and after quick introductions at Christ’s College (20 minute drive away) Julie Shen and Kevin gave me a tour.
The campus is beautiful….
an oasis in the midst of the city. 
5-6 nice buildings, including a beautiful chapel, 
two new dorms, the Billy and Ruth Graham building housing faculty apartments. 
The founder, Dr. Graham, had actually taught Billy and Ruth at Wheaton. The burial ground next to the chapel with several life-long missionary graves was moving for me. 
I was reminded of Lucille Damon and Mairipora in Brasil. 
What courage, what vision, what patience, what trust. When I also visited this afternoon at the site of the first missionaries to Formosa (Dutch for Beautiful Island) the tribute to Dr. George MacKay was again moving. These people changed this nation. Do any of us have this vision, this confidence, this purpose, this passion? I wonder. 
Christ’s College has suffered significant enrollment decline. Perhaps as much as 50% in the past 5 years. At one time they were at 900…and now are between 350 & 400. It wasn’t altogether clear what the reason is for this. Among the candidates were: decline in the birth rate (like Korea!), questions among constituents about Christian focus, ongoing ambiguity about the government registration issue, financial challenges.
As I met for several hours with Judy Alexander, Becky White (English head), Kevin, Ann Wiley (PCA missionary), Vincent Lin (Mgmnt head), Julie, and Jennifer Lee (Interim VP for Spiritual Affairs….and student affairs from what I can tell)…..along with Quentin,
it became apparent that the overriding issue for everyone is the frustrating challenge of figuring out which of two ways to move ahead in registering with the government. One way is to register as a private college. But this brings restrictions that are unpalatable….not the least of which is that chapel cannot be required. To register as religious institution however, brings equally unpalatable restrictions….including a cap on enrollment of 200! Some have even wondered out loud if it’s time to resist the government on this.About 1/3 of the students are Christian coming in…and the thinking is that about 2/3 are Christians when they graduate. The faculty sign a statement of faith. The English department has 200 of the students majoring in their area. Sadly, the government, in assessing them for registration focuses on inputs, like Ph.D.s, facilities, library books. This is plainly an “old” way of doing things. But this puts them in another bind…how to allocate scarce resources between the demands of the government like these and THEIR priorities for student development kinds of things. (Becky made this point). Ironically, while the culture is calling for more accountability and character the government priorities focus on inputs. Julie shared three concerns….things that “keep her awake.” 1. Her passion for Christians in her profession of Mass Comm. She made the point that Taiwan has the best media in the Chinese world. So the potential impact of Christians can be huge. She is a former journalist with a national paper….the only Christian in 200 others in her role. 2. They need resources….grant writing eg. They need TV studios and don’t have them. 3. They feel they are fighting the government alone. Being able to show that Christian liberal arts IS being done with legitimacy elsewhere would be a big help.
To address these three items it seemed that workshops in Mass Comm by an outside Academic SWAT team would help, that a workshop in grant writing would also help, and that perhaps the informal academic audit/review/accreditation proposed by UCL in Quito might help too.
After she spoke and Vincent added his plea for exchange students, it struck me that CC really DOES have something unique to offer. Taiwan may not only be the best Chinese media….but CC may well be the only place to combine BOTH a thorough understanding of Chinese culture AND Christian faith. Given the prospects of a century of Chinese domination, they could be sitting on the best source for Christians to impact this century. They have already launched a program in Chinese language, culture, and mission for expats….if it is marketed aggressively and broadened to include business so it attracts non-Christians, it could be a huge money maker AND force for Christian influence. But as Bill Gates proved, it’s not about having the best product, it’s about marketing. You can build a better mousetrap….but the world will NOT beat a path to your door. And your mousetrap can be inferior, but with the right marketing they will beat that path. Sad but true I think. I hope CC can recognize and capitalize on this huge asset they have.
Several thought the idea of a CCCU “Summer Camp” in the US to teach English would be great. It would be good for the US hosting school as a way to recruit, and would be an attractive recruitment tool for the international school too.
I shared the various ideas I have heard from others and they were uniformly well received. I think CCCU must do these…regardless of grant money.
CCCU web site changes….
1. Retirees and sabbaticants listed.
2. SWAT teams identified and listed for consulting both online and onsite
3. Uniform pages for each member….to facilitate identifying partners for exchange and for ideas
4. Peer contacts to facilitate the communication when potential partnerships are seen.
5. Shared courses or code-sharing…perhaps with mychurch.com or oneplace.com
6. Personal networking perhaps through Facebook
Non-web ideas….
7. A position in DC to focus on international affiliates
8. Informal academic audits available to affiliates
9. Regional coordinator….but perhaps NOT conferences since IAPCHE seems to do this regionally and well.
After a great lunch in their “Sky Room” (my name) overlooking the entire city and river…..I mean a “MILLION DOLLAR VIEW”….
Julie and Kevin gave me a fabulous tour of the tourist district along the river. I was the only Caucasian I saw….did I SEE myself?.....for 3 hours.
Julie is a little crazy about trying new foods, so I tried new foods! The helical garlic potato chips were the most familiar! 
Stinky tofu was ok….but I left them for Kevin to finish! 
They not only bought various wonderful tidbits of food, but a cool finger puppet….Tzu ge Lian….the only one that supposedly uses his brains not his weapon to fight his battles.Also bought me 2 acupuncture torture devices! At least they LOOK artsy! Kevin and Julie spoiled me all afternoon...buying so many different kinds of food, and little curios. They wouldn't take money. It was a great break for me....the first real sightseeing since Hans Hamoen toured me in Ede....and Yohan detoured me for 5 minutes through the fish market in Pohang. Thanks SO much Kevin and Julie for a GREAT afternoon of laughing that I'll not soon forget. You were both so very gracious to me.
This is called chinese milk tea....with pearls....actually a nice tea, with sweet milk, and small "gummy bear balls" one sucks up into one's mouth with a large straw...large enough to pass these dark colored balls...see them in the cup?! Very strange! But tastes good!
Traffic was heavy coming back even via the shortcut….and motorscooters dominated the sidelanes. But it was a wonderful time. Kevin and Julie are in a Bible study together daily and I could see their friendship in Christ has been a sustaining influence in their lives.
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