TaiwanReunion.com is website dedicated to helping members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have connections to Taiwan, get in touch and stay in touch with one another.

Disclaimer: This site is not an official affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although this site is designed to complement and illustrate the teachings and beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no content within this site should be taken as official church policy or doctrine.

Background
In 2006 my wife, Bonnie, and I traveled to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with a group of former missionaries, their spouses, family members, and friends. We arrived in Taiwan in early June to participate in activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first LDS missionaries to Taiwan. I had served a mission in Taiwan from November 1969 to November 1971 and while there I came to know and love many amazing people and had a number of defining experiences that significantly enhanced the foundation of my relationship with my Heavenly Father. As a missionary, I watched with wonder as peoples lives were changed by accepting and living the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, I did not do very well at staying in touch with those in Taiwan that I had come to know and love. Part of the reason I attributed to the slow decline in my language skills, but mostly, I think, it was just the demands of normal life, perhaps mixed in with a dose of laziness. But I never forgot the people or the experiences.

We arrived in Taiwan in 2006 with a list of people we hoped to find. Working with church officials in Taipei, we met with some success, and the reunions were joyful. Through the miracle of modern communication technologies like email, instant messaging, and ip telephony services, we continue to maintain contact.

Two things about this experience were striking, however. First, was the disappointment that there are many former friends that are “unfindable”. Second, was the realization of just how strong the desire is among members of the Church in Taiwan to reconnect with the missionaries who brought them the Gospel. Nearly every day we were in Taiwan we were approached by members asking us if we could help them make contact with their “gospel missionaries”.

After returning to the United States, I began to think about ways to use technology to facilitate these connections. The hazy outline of a website began to take form.

In 2006 Yao Lien Hill (姚濂) had asked me to serve on a committee for the Taiwan Overseas LDS Member-Missionary organization to plan a reunion to be held in 2008 in Salt Lake City. While meeting with other members of the reunion committee I gained new insights into what such a website should become. Kristine (Liu) Schuchert (劉靜修) proposed that one of the major 2008 reunion events should be the creation of “Memory Books”, as a way for both members and former missionaries to preserve and share spiritual Gospel experiences. A website would be an ideal mechanism for gathering and sharing these experiences.

It was Chuck Liu’s (劉濟人) vision that to be truly useful in connecting people, the website must bridge the language barrier by assuring that all website materials and features must be available in both English and Chinese. And he offered to help.

In late 2007 we began – focusing on the English version. Our son, Justin, provided the programming. Initially we used the site to announce the 2008 Salt Lake City reunion of the “Taiwan Pioneers” (those who either joined the Church in Taiwan or served as missionaries in Taiwan during the years 1956-1986). In March of 2008 we added the ability for community members to join the site and create a personal profile. The experiences and photographs they upload will serve as the core of the 2008 reunion “Memory Books”.

The website is strictly monitored which means that all profile information, photographs, and shared experiences must be reviewed by website staff before they are posted to the website. Personal contact information in community member profiles is only viewable by TaiwanReunion personnel.

As we have time and resources we will add:

• The ability to search profiles for other members or missionaries – in English or Chinese and to be able to view one another’s experiences and photographs.
• The ability for community members who wish to communicate with one another to do so through email sent through the website. Senders will not have access to recipient’s email address unless the recipients respond directly to them.
• A Chinese version which completely mirrors the English version.
• Other features as suggested by members of the TaiwanReunion community.

I hope this will develop into a resource that will help all of us to become re-connected with others from our Taiwan roots. Whether it be members trying to find their “gospel missionaries”, former missionaries looking for people they taught, members searching for other members, or missionaries trying to find old companions, if enough of us join the community, it will become a tool to reunite us.

Kent Bailey, Taiwan Missionary 1969-1971