July 19, 2009
Reported by Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma

Gau Shi-an went to Kyrgyzstan in 2008 to share the gospel through music. He returned to Taiwan recently and was invited to Presbyterian Church in Taiwan headquarters on July 9th to perform and share his experiences during an employee morning devotional time. With his violin, Gau mesmerized his audience with beautiful Jewish folk music that allowed many to take a break from their hectic schedules and be refreshed by the Holy Spirit.

The Republic of Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked and mountainous country in Central Asia that declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Gau shared that when he first visited Kyrgyzstan about five years ago, he used all of the $3 million NTD inheritance (about $91,500 USD) that he had received from his grandfather to purchase 70 violins and other instruments and sent them to Kyrgyzstan to give to children from poor families who wished to study music. Because Gau worked in the U.S. at the time and could only visit Kyrgyzstan during vacations, it wasn't until he quit his job in 2008 that he was able to spend one whole year in Kyrgyzstan as a missionary teaching music.

Though 300 people had registered to take lessons at first, only 70 people were able to secure instruments, said Gau with a sigh of regret. In the end, only 20 students stayed on to learn, and when he visited again, only 6 people were still taking violin lessons. Despite these setbacks, what he found most comforting was that all of the children who had taken music lessons offered at local Christian schools eventually made a decision to become Christians and were baptized. In a predominantly Muslim country like Kyrgyzstan, such a harvest is truly God's grace.

Gau plans to travel to Singapore and Malaysia in August and give sidewalk performances to share the gospel through music again. He hopes that he may win the Muslim world for Christ through melodies that can touch people's hearts because many people living in those regions have a thirsty or seeking soul.

Taiwan Church News