Michael & Ruth Quek are missionaries with OMF International. They have been serving in Taiwan for 4 years reaching out to the urban marginalized people groups.
“We are currently based in Taipei serving as a BRIDGE (Building Relationship In Difficult Groups Environment) to link the marginalized people into the local church. “Who are these people?” In society, every sector tends to have people that are marginalized. These are the people who are discriminated against, outcast, and labeled in various demeaning ways.
In our ministry to the marginalized, we are focusing on a large urban unreached people group. The reason they are considered outcasts is due to the nature of their professions and lifestyles. In reality, who would want to invest their time with prostitutes, drug addicts, convicts, and gang members?
We are connecting with a group of people who have been living and surviving under a twisted version of truth for years. Their code of honor is based on principles and values that the majority of society shuns, and the law is not only not on their side but actively working against them. Let’s try our best to imagine their lives and put ourselves in their shoes. What kind of character will they be conformed to? Their group norms consist of low self-esteem, unfriendly and aggressive behavior, discouragement, lack of trust, anti-social patterns, and even hatred. Added to their wounds, they are often not the only ones discriminated against, outcast, and labeled. Most of their close family members are also victims of discrimination by those who self-righteously judge them. Without help and strength from God, it is impossible for us to consistently reach out to this group of marginalized people. We need the fruit of the Spirit daily to fill us. We need patience, forgiveness, empathy, acceptance, and wisdom from God to befriend them and their families and journey with them. If we can’t win their trust, we can’t win them over to Christ, and it might take a long time to see fruit, if we see fruit at all after many years. It can be tiring and discouraging at times, but the joy of one transformed person and the impact he or she makes to the family, society and church outweighs them all.”
