Changing country, changing faith

As a teenager Kang-San-Tan became a Christian

Kang-San-Tan, brought up in a close knit Buddhist family in Malaysia, discovered the Christian faith in his teenage years and now works in a mission college in Gloucester.

As a youngster he was involved in the culture, worship and life of a Buddhist but was thrown out of the family home for a short period when he rejected his roots.

It was through the influence of a friend at school that Kang-San decided to become a Christian and his family were shocked:

"I remember vividly having been to church for a few months that I made the conscious decision to became a Christian.

"On returning home from church I woke up my mum to tell her of my decision.

"She was very upset, I was asked to leave the family home. I was away for about a week."

'Not opposed'

Gloucestershire has this great beauty which we should grateful and proud of and really enjoy. Kang-San-Tan

At first Kang-San rejected his Buddhist past but in time came to see that there were elements that were still important to him.

"In time I went back and retrieved some parts of my Buddhist roots.

"Following Jesus didn't mean that I had to give up all of my Buddhist culture and belief systems.

"The teachings of Buddha, the morality of Buddhism and the community life are not opposed to Christianity but could belong together".

Kang-San-Tan has been at Redcliffe College for the past four years and clearly enjoys living in the county.

"Gloucestershire has this great beauty which we should grateful and proud of and really enjoy.

"Sometimes we take it for granted until someone from another culture arrives and reminds us that this is a lovely place to be cherished".

Missionary work

As the Head of Mission Studies at Redcliffe College how does Kang-San view missionary work in the 21st century?

"There is a great interest in studying other cultures and religions so we can engage in dialogue with people of other faiths.

"Unlike past generations where we would just go and preach the Bible and everything about Buddhism; Islam and other major faiths would have nothing to contribute. Those days are gone."

Redcliffe College was originally opened in 1892 as the YWCA Testing and Training Home in London with 'twelve candidates, two ladies and a cook'!

Founded by a Mrs Tottenham, by all accounts a resolute lady with a passion for missionary work, the college later became known as the Redcliffe Missionary Training College.

Today, Redcliffe College looks very different from the YWCA Testing and Training Home of 1892.

Now located in Gloucester, the college student population is close to 100 strong, with men, women, couples and families drawn from around 30 countries.