The story of Word of Life starts with the vision of Jack Wyrtzen, who believed, “It is the responsibility of every generation to reach their generation for Christ.” Jack founded Word of Life Fellowship in 1940. Over the next 75 years, Word of Life added camps, conference centers, Bible Institutes and church youth ministries with more than 1400 missionaries in 70 countries.
May 9, 2006
Chris and Beth Steiner
While serving at SYME in South Korea, Chris and Beth Steiner were praying and visiting missionaries all over China, Thailand, and Kazakhstan to see which places might be ready for a SYME type of ministry. In spring 2005, God began to bring Taiwan into focus. After moving to Taiwan in 2006, they spent three years studying the language and building ministry connections.
November 27, 2008
Getting SYME Ready
The Steiners returned to the states to raise funds and recruit volunteers to help prepare SYME’s facilities. On December 1st, construction began and Chris began going out to advertise and find interested students.
February, 2009
First Year of SYME
On February 2nd, 2009, SYME Taiwan opened its doors with five students. Some classrooms were still being completed, doors being hung, and the kitchen was still being installed. The first week the staff and students ate out at restaurants each meal. By the second week five more students joined the program and the kitchen was finished!
Since then, SYME Taiwan has had more than 560 students attend from at least 7 countries. Many alumni are involved in their local church or other ministries.
Present Day
Expanding Our Reach
Recently, WOL Taiwan has started branching out with other ministries. In 2016, Summer Camps started to help reach youth and connect with churches. In 2018, English Cafe began reaching the local community through simple English lessons with a Biblical application. Then in 2019, the Media Team formed and later developed Pilgrimage Films to create faith-based content featuring the unseen world of missionaries and Taiwanese religion and culture.
As WOL Taiwan’s reach extends and the team grows, the mission remains the same: to evangelize and build disciples for Christ!
