Title: Candy, Tracts and Balloons. Six-turtles Church Invites Town to Christmas
Taiwan Church News 2861 25-31 December 2006
Reported by Staff. Written by David Alexander
How can a church with a congregation of only 30 proclaim the good news of Christ at Christmas? How is word of Saviour's birth to be told? By what means is a town to hear the word? The Presbyterian church in the country town of Six-turtles (Lak-gu) set out to answer those questions. They started by gathering all the Christians in the area for prayer. They chose to begin by inviting all local children who had taken part in a summer community recreation programme that the church had held. Then they invited the entire local elementary school to join in the celebration. In addition, they leafleted the neighborhood. When the evening for celebration arrived over 100 people crowded the church's facilities.
At 7 PM balloons were released. Pastor Ou Ching-ru told a Christmas story geared for children and led the people in a memorization exercise. This was followed by a Christmas pageant mounted by community children. The head of the neighborhood association and the principal of the elementary school distributed prizes, and the meeting was ended with a prayer of blessing.
Following the festivities, an evening fair ensued. Children were given candy, tracts and balloons. Silent Night was sung along with other seasonal music. It happened that that evening coincided with the town's once-a-week night-market. A stallholder who normally does a brisk business in toys asked, "Where are all the kids tonight?" His friends said, "They're all over at the church!" Then the church crowd came through the market, singing Christmas carols and distributing candy and good wishes. They were met by the staff of the local 7-eleven store who brought candy out to them.
For more information: Six Turtles (Lak-gu) Presbyterian Church
www.wretch.cc/blog/LKC1227
Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages.
Visit our web site: www.pctpress.com.tw