Taiwan Aborigine Missionary R. Don Mccall Sr., Family Letters

"I met Weirun Tako for the first tie almost 18 years ago. At that time he looked young for his 63 years. His skin ws tanned from plenty of exposure to the sun. His hair was still thick, with few strands of gray. His body was slender but strong. His piercing eyes looked into mine as he simled and shook my hand. 'I'm glad to know you, 'Ma Bokushi' (Japanese name for 'Pastor McCall'). I used to know another 'Ma Bokushi' (Rev. Heber McIlwaine), and he taught me a verse of Scripture which I like very much - Hebrews 13:8 - 'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever,' From that time until the last time I saw Weirun a few weeks ago, we always greeted one another with those words 'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.'

Last week God called Weirun Tako to his eternal home, after a full life of 81 years. We of the Presbyterian Curch in Taiwan are going to miss him very much. He was surely one of our unique ministers. He had never been to seminary or Bible School. He had little or no formal education, but that is not to say he was not intelligent. He was perhaps the greatest preacher of his own tribe, and one of the best communicators of the Christian faith in all of Taiwan. I remember hearing him give the sermon for the ordination of an Amis friend. Weirun spoke Taroko, which was interpreted into Amis. He moved around on the platform. His voice roared at one moment and softly beckoned at the next He waved his arms. His body was in perpetual motion. He literally reached out and grabbed out attention. I could not understand a word which he said, but I could not take my eyes off of him during the whole service. Weirun was very much like an Old Testament prophet - dramatic, strong, bold, burning with a message from God.

Few of us have been called upon to suffer for our faith. Weirun's faith was nurtured during the Japanese years in Taiwan. Especially during the period of World War II (1941-1945), Weirun and other fellow believers were put under great pressure to stop going to church in Hualien and to give up their faith, refrain from bringing Bibles and hymnbooks into their villages. This Weirun refused to do, and for his stubbornness he was beaten on numberous occasions. During the last year of the war he ws placed in a large cage and treated very much like an animal. He became mentally sick.

By the grace of God, Weirun recovered his health, and with the freedom to propagate the Gospel under the new Chinese government, he traveled to every Taroko village and to the villages of neighboring tribes to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only the Lord knows how many hundreds of people became Christians through his messages.

Weirun was a pilgrim. He was never completely at home in this world. He had little interest in television or modern conveniences. During the last years of his life, the noise of the village disturbed him, so he built a small bamboo hut in his field where he could read his Bible, pray, and meditate in quietness. When friends came to visit Weirun, one of the most natural things for him to do was to clasp their hands, to bow down on his knees, and pray. Weirun's love for the Bible (he only read it in his mother tongue - Taroko) and his genuine enjoyment of worship and prayer were always an inspriation to me.

Weirun often told dramatically the story of his persecution by the Japanese. But he never hated the Japanese. I remember a visit to Weirun's house at China New Year in 1979. A group of friends from the Hsinyi Church (Hualien) brought a Japanese guest to see him. He grapsed the guest's hand, smiled, and said, 'I'm so glad to see you. I pray for my friends in Japan every day.' Weirun was a man with a big heart - filled with love for God and others. He was much too big a person to hate.

Weirun has left us a beautiful example of life lived in the service of Jesus Christ. I will always tresure the memory of his friendship. How good it will be to see him in heaven some day. I expect him to say, 'Welcome, Ma Bokushi, it's still true - Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.'" (Missionary Correspondence Letter, July 1981)