July 5, 2009
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong
Written by Lydia Ma

"Unclean Diary," a new novel set in Jerusalem and using Christian history as itsbackground, is expected to be distributed this September. Though more than 200,000 Chinese characters or nearly 500 pages in length and with a strong evangelistic message, the novel is full of interesting plots that befits any good novel, including passionate love stories and grueling battles.

What makes this novel special is that it is not a translation but a Taiwanese work written by Hou Ya-ge, a Taiwanese youth from Shuang-Lien Presbyterian Church in Taipei. According to Hou, the novel uses confirmed Palestinian, Roman, and Jewish historical incidents to weave an interesting storyline. He is determined to become a famous Christian author so that those who like to read novels can enjoy good stories while learning about the gospel.

According to reports, a renowned Taiwanese anchorwoman and a best-selling Taiwanese author have already agreed to write forewords for this novel. It will also be re-adapted into a television mini-series featuring a theme song written by Hou entitled "Because you first loved me."

Hou has written several Christian songs in the past that have been widely distributed. Since the novel is an attempt to win souls for Christ, he has gone to great lengths making sure that original ideas are used to market the novel to make it stand out from all other new novels and attract readers to take a peek.

All marketing expenses for this project were self-funded by Hou's evangelical group Jesus Fever. The group hopes that its ministry might spur other Christian novelists to write by offering a channel where literature and evangelism can be merged and presented to the public.

Taiwan Church News