Comments:
The Church in Hong Kong
by Dorothy W. Peterson
I once heard a Sacrament Meeting speaker refer to Kwok and Flora Tai as our own personal General Authorities. It was an odd expression but one I think we all share. The reason for this show of pride is that they live in our ward and we therefore claim them.
Mission President
The Tai's first call which took them away from us, came from Pres. Hinckley and was a call to be the Mission President of the Hong Kong Mission. That assignment began on July 1, 1989.
During his service as the Hong Kong Mission President, Pres. Tai had leadership over a total of 450 missionaries, 150 at one time, and while there they witnessed tremendous growth in the Church in Hong Kong. There are now five stakes, more than 30 wards and branches, and 20,000 members.
When their mission was completed, the Tais gave notice to the LDS family who was renting their house, and we welcomed them home to take up residency in the ward once again. But they were only home for about a month when they took off for their second out of stake calling.
Area Authority
This time Bro. Tai was to be a General Authority, a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy assigned to the Asia Area. As such he had stewardship over 23 nations and territories: all the Asian world except Japan, Korea, and The Philippines. He began his service as the 2nd counselor in the area presidency, then the 1st, and finished the final two years as the president.
Again the Tais were stationed in Hong Kong. While they were there, they saw the doors of the Asian nations opened to the gospel, and the church continue to grow throughout the Orient. The highlight of their stay was the witnessing of the building of the Hong Kong Temple. Finding a place for it was a real challenge since unoccupied land in Hong Kong is essentially non-existent. The solution came in a somewhat ironic way, especially for the Tais. The old house, which had been the mission home in the 1950s when Bro. Tai first accepted the gospel, was torn down to build a new modern mission home. Then, when the temple was planned, that mission home was torn down again to build the high rise that now houses the mission home and office, the temple president's residence, a ward chapel, and the temple.
Communist Control of Hong Kong
When political control of Hong Kong reverted back to China on July 1, 1997 after 150 years of British sovereignty, church leadership waited anxiously to see how the transfer would affect the Church's position in the area. Pres. Faust met with the new governor of Hong Kong who assured him that the same religious freedoms Hong Kong had enjoyed under British rule would continue. According to the Tais, activity in the Temple, proscelyting, and church attendance has continued without hindrance. The Church's hope is that if China's leadership sees that the Church is not a threat to their government in Hong Kong, perhaps in the future they will relax controls over the people in the rest of China, and proscelyting can begin there. When that happens the Temple will be in an ideal location for travelers from mainland China to attend. It is a ten minute walk from the train station that would serve them. Bro. Tai said the way the Church's position in today's China worked out was miraculous. It was obviously all in the Lord's plan.
Miracles Over All of Asia
Both Brother and Sister Tai remarked on the miracles that are happening in Asia because of the gospel. China has a temple within its boundaries now. That's not something that would have happened if it had not been in Hong Kong before the change in sovereignty.
But if the miracle is to continue, says Sister Tai, many more missionaries are required. She encourages older couples to consider requesting a posting to the Asia Area.
Learning the local language is not necessary as english is widely used there. Couple missionaries do not generally do proscelyting, says Sister Tai. There are people being converted to the gospel in Hong Kong who are put into leadership positions a month later.
They need gospel living role models to follow. That is what the couple missionaries do.
Home Again
It is apparent that the Tais are glad to be home, but they still have the welfare of the Asian Saints foremost in their hearts.
Page design by Dorothy W. Peterson
Copyright 1998 © - All rights reserved
| 
