Southwesterners Joseph and Monica Tan minister to Taiwanese Baptists, drawing upon their time on Seminary Hill

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Southwestern News.

Since its earliest days, individuals from all over the globe have come to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to receive training to strengthen ministries in their home nations.

Demonstrating its Globally Engaged core value, Southwestern has partnered closely for decades with the Taiwan Baptist Theological Seminary in Taipei, Taiwan, accepting students who would go on to serve as faculty and future TBTS presidents in order to prepare them to in turn equip their students to serve the churches of Taiwan.

Current TBTS President Kuo-Tsai “Joseph” Tan (‘00) and his wife Chuan-Ming “Monica” (’97) are two of those alumni who have traveled thousands of miles to receive an education under Southwestern faculty and use that experience to lead and serve others.

Joseph began attending church at 4 years old with his mother at a small Baptist church in Keeling, Taiwan, with only 10 to 20 members. Growing up with that knowledge of Christ and eventual relationship with Him, Joseph initially went to undergraduate and graduate school, finishing his degree in engineering at the best school in Taiwan with his eyes on a successful career in that field, just as several of his friends had done. But Joseph began to sense the Lord leading him in a different, and unpopular, path.

“I felt the call for ministry since I was an undergraduate college student,” Joseph says. “And I asked my mom, ‘Can I become a pastor after I graduate?’ And she said, ‘No way.’”

With no support or confirmation in that calling, even from his believing mother, Joseph continued in his education as he prepared for a career in engineering. During that time, he dated and eventually married Monica, who grew up in a non-Christian home but was led to Christ by a high school teacher when she was 17. But once again, Joseph began to sense that he was not on the path God had planned for him. Two or three years into their marriage, Joseph revealed to Monica that he sensed the Lord was redirecting their lives.

“After I get married and I almost graduated from the graduate school in engineering, God’s calling came upon me again,” Joseph says. “So, I started praying, seeking for God’s will for about two years. And those two years was a special time, because I struggled, but I had strong moving—God’s moving—in my heart. … After two years of seeking, I was sure that to become a minister was God’s will on me and Monica.”

Joseph’s mother was not the only one who struggled with Joseph’s decision to become a pastor, as Monica says she also had a difficult time accepting that decision and what it would mean for their future.

“In the beginning I was struggling because I thought, wow, being a minister, that means we have to live simply, because the income probably won’t be that good,” Monica says, adding she specifically struggled with her husband’s plan to be the pastor at their small church that had a congregation of mostly elderly members and had seen little growth since Joseph first joined there as a child.

Despite her hesitancy, Monica’s desire was to follow her husband’s leading and God’s plan for them, even as she saw their friends and peers from university begin their careers and seek success in their fields. Although their path was a different and narrower one, Monica says it has led them to an abundant life.

“God’s love really came into me,” Monica says. “And then I surrender to Him, and I said to [Joseph], ‘Well, okay, I will support you, and I will earn the bread for you. Don’t worry about that. You just go and follow God’s will.’ So that’s how we started our ministry over here.”

Joseph began his Master of Divinity studies at the Taiwan Baptist Theological Seminary while Monica worked to support them and his mother, whom they lived with at the time. While completing his MDiv, Joseph remained at what he calls his “mother church” that he had grown up attending, Holy Light Baptist Church outside of Taipei, and there he was ordained as a pastor in 1991 and served for five years.

But while he was still finishing his studies, the dean and future president of the Taiwan seminary, a Southwestern graduate, had encouraged Joseph to consider continuing his studies in the United States at Southwestern.

“He came to invite me to study in America, prepare me to become a teacher, a faculty member, in the future for Taiwan Baptist Theological Seminary,” Joseph said of the dean’s advice to study at Southwestern, a suggestion he acted upon.

In 1992, Joseph and Monica moved to Fort Worth while he pursued his Doctor of Philosophy and Monica her Master of Arts in Religious Education. Joseph says the language differences made learning more difficult, recalling his first class, taught by a professor with a strong Texas accent that he struggled to understand, to the point he came to class one day not realizing there was a quiz.

But Joseph says he was committed to the task with the knowledge that he was being supported by the Taiwan seminary, his church in Taiwan, and the Foreign Mission Board, now the International Mission Board.

“We enjoyed the study there,” Joseph says of their time at Southwestern, adding they especially enjoyed the beauty of the campus, the resources at the library, and their professors, who were “good, excellent, professional, but also with the heart of pastor.”

Joseph remembers being taught by James Leo Garrett, who visited them with a gift of beef when their twins, whom Monica calls their “Southwesterner kids,” were born.

“Those professors are role models for me, both for academic study and for the Christian pastorate,” Joseph says. “So, I was very impressed and learned a lot in those years.”

Monica says her time at Southwestern was also a great time of learning and refreshment for her, as her professors taught her not just academically, but through their spiritual lives as well. During Joseph’s first five years of pastoring in Taiwan, before traveling to the U.S., Monica says she had found herself in a time of spiritual drought, when she was busy with working to help care for her family and also serving their church while not seeing much spiritual fruit. This grew to a point of burnout in Monica’s spiritual life.

“Going to Southwestern was a rest for me,” Monica says. “It’s an oasis in deserts in my spiritual life. So I really, really treasure that moment. So I gain the strength and I gain the knowledge, and I gain the faith in God, and then moving back, and then keep fighting for God until now.”

That time of growth, rest, and encouragement at Southwestern led Monica to rediscover her joy in ministry, as she says the Lord reminded her that she is His daughter and she is able to do His work with His strength.

During their five years in the United States, Joseph and Monica also joined another church for the first time, a Chinese Baptist church in Fort Worth where they worked with other Chinese seminarians to reach out to non-Christians in the area who were from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other places. Monica says they are grateful that through that ministry they were able to serve others and glorify God even while they were studying.

After five years, Joseph and Monica returned to Taiwan, though they would go back to Southwestern three years later when Joseph completed his dissertation. Joseph and Monica then began a busy time of life that would continue for more than 25 years, as Joseph returned to pastoring their Taiwan church while also joining the faculty of the seminary. Monica also taught at the seminary for about two years before devoting her time to volunteering at their church while still holding a secular job in accounting and trading. Joseph said his wife has supported him as the pastor at the church and has also served and helped in many ways, including leading many people to Christ and helping their church grow.

“We only had, like, 60 church members,” Monica says. “Our mother church, that was a very weak and small and suburban area church, and God blessed us. And He really blessed us then and gave us a lot of good co-workers so that we can plant new churches.”

Through their faithfulness, partnership with co-workers, and the Lord’s favor, their church now has three separate churches that were planted from the mother church, which grew to about 450 members. During those years, Joseph would work at the seminary during the day and in the evenings and weekends he would lead small groups at his church, visit people in the hospital, preach during services, and serve among the young adults.

Three years ago, Joseph’s responsibility grew again as he took on the role of president of the Taiwan Baptist Theological Seminary, which today has about 70 students. As he finds himself in what he considers the busiest time of his life, Joseph says he still relies on the knowledge and wisdom he gained while at Southwestern to persevere through every new trial or task he faces.

“Those seminars helped me to reach to the deep fountain of theology,” Joseph says, adding the classes served as a root that connected him to the Word of God. “And so for so many years of busy ministry, my life didn’t feel dried up because I always come to the fountain—actually, that is Jesus Christ. That is Holy Spirit.”

Joseph said he is the third TBTS president who earned degrees from Southwestern, while a missionary early in the process of starting the seminary in the 1950’s was also a Southwestern alumnus. Now Joseph says they, as the only Baptist seminary in Taiwan, are focused on equipping pastors who will lead the 260 Baptist churches in Taiwan.

As president, Joseph says his vision for the seminary is that they would have a time of renewal, both physically and spiritually as they strive to raise money to repair aging buildings but also as they invest in faculty who will be good instructors and examples to their students.

“It’s hardware renewal, but also the software, like faculty development, spiritual life, and academic and professional training in this seminary,” Joseph says. “These are my burdens and my vision and prayer every day.”

In recent months, Joseph has met with Southwestern President David S. Dockery to continue that connection between the two seminaries with the goal of sending potential TBTS faculty to Southwestern, while also praying for each other as both seminaries seek renewal.

“Those of us who serve on the Southwestern campus are truly thankful for the good work taking place at the Taiwan Baptist Theological Seminary under the leadership of President Joseph Tan,” Dockery says. “Both President and Mrs Tan are Southwestern alums and we count it a joy to recognize them as friends and co-laborers in the important work of preparing the next generation of ministers and leaders for the global church. We rejoice at the opportunities that Southwestern has been given to help equip members of the Taiwan Seminary faculty and trust that the Lord will strengthen the connection between our two institutions so that these ongoing efforts can be multiplied in the days to come.”

“I hope our seminary can continue to have good connection with Southwestern,” Joseph says, adding their goal for their faculty development includes sending them to Southwestern when possible, something they have discussed with Dockery and a member of the board of trustees. “… I think that in the future, we will continue to prepare good teachers for this seminary, and that’s the most important asset for the future of Taiwan Baptist Theological Seminary.”

Michelle Workman is the managing editor for Southwestern News.