Community Corner
Reverend From Towaco Travels The World For His Faith
Rev. Dr. Moses Yang travels the world for the Lord.
- Name: Rev. Dr. Moses D. K. Yang, 71, was born in China. At 8, he and his family moved to Bandung, Indonesia, a very crowded city of “about a million people,” said Yang. The move occurred because, “My father was killed by second war; Japanese war,” he added. Yang was 5 when his father died. Following high school, Yang made his way to a seminary in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “I knew two words of English when I came to this country: Yes and no.” After mastering English and preaching to people of Chinese decent throughout the United States and around the globe, Yang settled in New Jersey. “I was a pastor in a small church, and after that seven years, I started my own ministry here.” Yang is the founder of the Evangelical Mission & Seminary International, Inc. [EMSI] in Towaco, NJ. EMSI is a global Christian community of teachers and worshipers with 47 churches, missions, seminaries, and Bible institutes, in 11 countries, on four continents. Yang’s congregation around the world is mainly comprised of Chinese and Chinese-American individuals. Next year, the Towaco congregation plans to break ground on a new religious community of 110 town homes only a few steps from the church. According to Yang, the church project is “the only one like it in New Jersey.”
- Why the Ministry: “I was looking for the answer of my problems,” explained Yang. Raised as a Buddhist, Yang described himself as “a very sinful person…a juvenile delinquent. Everyone in the city thought I would end up in jail,” he said. “It adds to your knowledge,” Yang noted of the Buddhist teachings he grew up with. “But, there’s no power in it. You know you shouldn’t do it, but you do it anyway. That’s the whole teaching and philosophy today, ‘You shouldn’t do it, shouldn’t do it.’ But, you do it anyway.” In addition to Buddhism, Yang’s mother began taking him to church when they arrived in Indonesia. “One day I challenged the Lord,” Yang recalled. “I was miserable because I was not serious about these things. I said, ‘Lord, I want to discuss this matter. If you are truly the son of God, and you can change my life, I will give my life to you. But, if I find out you are a phony, something not real and true, then I just give up and I tell people, “Don’t waste your time.”’ That night my life was transformed…I can’t explain it. It was a miracle. I decided to come to this country, study as a minister, and I want to serve the Lord.”
- Married: At 26 Yang and his wife married. The couple has three daughters and a son. Their oldest child is 40. Yang and his wife met at church in Indonesia.
- Current Activities: At the seminary in Towaco, Yang and his staff train between 10 and 20 students each year. Yang prefers the classes to be small in order to give each student a chance to practice and to have more opportunities to learn by doing. The Towaco seminary is one of 3 EMSI seminaries around the world. The course of study is 2 years. Once the training is completed, the graduates, who speak primarily Chinese and English, are sent to Europe, Asia and Africa to start self-sustaining churches among the Chinese community world-wide. “Our history is very short,” said Yang of his church. “We’re only 43 years old. In Spain, alone we have baptized 1,500 people.” In Towaco there are roughly 300 parishioners. “But they really come to church,” added Yang. “They are not just members in a book. They are active participants.”
- Time: The Towaco church hosts activities every day of the week. “Every week, 60 to 70 people come to Bible study in English,” Yang added.
- Favorite Thing About Montville: Since 1978, Yang and his wife have lived in Towaco. “People are nice here. Very nice. I love the people,” Yang said. The couple lives “about 100 steps from the church.”
- World Traveler: Yang teaches and preaches at EMSI churches around the world. One to two times every month he travels to the organization’s seminaries and parishes to preach, pray and teach. Spain, Holland, Italy, Japan, Hungry, Belgium, France, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, Portugal, and Taiwan are among his destinations. His trips last three to 5 days “at the most.” Yang’s stays are short because, “I am the pastor of this church and a teacher in this seminary,” he said, noting that he has to be in Towaco to preach and teach. Despite the long trips and short layovers, the 71 year-old says he does not suffer from jet lag. “I’m very excited about seeing the things going on well,” Yang added. “Once you find a true faith, you rejoice all the time. You don’t feel tired.”
- Hobbies: “I am so busy every day I don’t even have time to sleep,” said Yang. “I preach seven times a week.” Yang used to collect stamps, but finds time is too limited to keep up with the activity. “I study. Reading. Books. Those are my hobbies.” Yang has almost 20,000 volumes in his personal library. “I was a juvenile delinquent,” he noted. “I didn’t want to study.” Today learning is his passion. “I wasted my life. Then, later on, I decided to study and really know what I’m talking about.” Yang wishes he could turn back the clock thirty years. “If I had more time, and more energy, I could do more for the Lord.”
- Philosophy: “I want to do the best I can for the Lord because I feel I wasted my time, and I feel that there are so many problems in the world today that if they know the Lord it will be ok…. I search, I study. Some people may think this is politically incorrect, but I challenge anybody…. The spiritual law is like natural law. I am sure if you throw something into the air it will come down. I am sure if you know God himself you will be blessed…. God loves us.”
