Heritage

Heritage is the combined influences from our past that God has used to write our stories, to mould us, and to bring us where we are today: family influences, geography, natural gifting, genetics and temperament. Seidel, "Life Story and Spiritual Formation."

I was born in Taiwan, a region some people have nicknamed as "the orphan of Asia." The population of this region is comprised of people from three major waves of migration very distinct in terms of historical origin, language, custom, and culture. Having been under the control of various rulers we did not choose, the population is in an acute multilayer identity crisis. Personally, I would consider myself Taiwanese in nationality and Chinese in ethnicity. I had done the “Ancestry DNA test” which revealed I am 100% Chinese, which was very surprising for me because my ancestors were part of the migration wave from the Ming Dynasty approximately 400 years ago, and I had expected to have some indigenous Taiwanese ancestors.

My parents are both very high achievers, being the top of their classes in elementary and junior high school, always getting into their first preferences for high school and tertiary studies. In fact, my mother was nicknamed “100%” by her maths teacher at the Taipei First Girls’ High School because she always used to get 100% in her tests. Genetically I inherited some of that cleverness, and sailed along relatively smoothly study-wise and work-wise. However, my parents had pretty frustrating careers. My mother worked as a teacher for a few years and got too bored with that job, so she sat the diplomat exam and got into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was a difficult exam in general and they capped the number of positions for females so it was extremely difficult for a woman to become a diplomat. However, Taiwan has not had much success at building diplomatic relationships with other countries, and even the most skilled diplomat cannot change this situation.

Meanwhile, when my father did his mandatory military service in Taiwan, one can get a position as an army officer if they did well on an IQ based exam. He did very well and became a cannon officer in Kinmen. After the military service, my father worked as an electrical engineer. It was a luxury government job where he was given a high salary with hardly any work to do. However, living a semi-retired lifestyle most of his working life seemed to have an adverse effect on his brain. In fact, he seemed rather unmotivated and depressed most of the time.

Being a diplomat’s daughter meant that I grew up under many different cultures and find it difficult to identify which culture influenced what in my mindset and values. A lot of times I feel I don’t belong anywhere, and cannot identify any group of peers with whom I have a “sense of belonging” with. I followed my mother in my elementary school and middle school years, while my father worked in Taiwan. Subsequently I went off to New Zealand alone to study high school. On top of that, I am the only child. So I had been a very independent person most of my life and find it difficult to build relationships with people. Temperament wise, I am introverted. Furthermore, there seems to be autistic spectrum traits running on my father’s side of the family. This may have influenced my EQ, and I think my EQ is lower than the average female population.

It is by grace that I even have a relationship with God, as there were no Christians in my family to begin with. I was placed in a Christian kindergarten, which made me became aware of someone named Jesus. I was placed into a Sunday school, which my parents saw as a “free day care service” for Sundays. My family was able to access these services mainly because we lived in close proximity to churches and hospitals that were established in relation to George Leslie Mackay, one of the most influential missionaries in the history of Taiwan. Then, when I went to the US, a family friend influenced me to do the sinner’s prayer. When I went to New Zealand, my mother bumped into a nice Christian family at the airport and that was when I became 100% certain that the God described in Christianity is the true God.

The past influences described above meant that I tend to see things quite differently from others. When people say things or give me information, rather than taking things in without any questions, I tend to research further into it. I can understand why people hold very different perspectives on various matters, and wonder why people engage in certain futile debates instead of accepting that diversity is a fact of life and just “agreeing to disagree” on certain matters.

In terms of giftings, the spiritual gifts questionnaire say that I am gifted in the areas of faith, prophecy, teaching, wisdom and knowledge. However, I am a bit sceptical about questionnaires. One tends to discover their gifts in a communal setting. I have a clear calling in the area of “missions in the workplace” but have difficulty in grasping the concept of how one can bring Christianity into the workplace. It is unprofessional to go off on a tangent talking about God in a busy work setting. In fact, it is seen as offensive. Sure, people might admire you if you have good character, but you don’t have to be a Christian to practice good character. I find that even though I am influencing the physical health of the community in my work as a general practitioner, I do not think I have influenced anyone with the “spiritual gifts” described above (or, at least I don’t recall anyone telling me they are influenced by me in these areas). I do not recall being able to practice any of my gifts in the church setting either (other than perhaps preventing a few people from dying from some medical emergencies). I guess I am still asking God, “which piece of the puzzle does God want me to be?”