wfn.org | Media Granted Access at Taiwan National Prayer Breakfast 2008

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>Taiwan Church News

>2958 Edition

>November 3~9, 2008

Media Granted Access at Taiwan National Prayer Breakfast 2008

>Reported by: Lin Yi-ying

>Written by: Lydia Ma

The 8th National Prayer Breakfast will be held on November 29th, 2008 at  the Taipei International Convention Center. Besides inviting President  Ma Ying-jeou, event organizers decided to grant access to the local  media so that the event may be reported across the nation. This decision  is in sharp contrast to last year’s policy where reporters were  denied entry because the event was deemed to be religious and private.  According to reports, last year’s event organizers decided to bar  the media from the conference room because they wanted to protect the  dignity and sacredness of the prayer meeting. Live broadcast of the  event was denied on the grounds that the outer walls of the venue  (Mackay Hospital) were under construction, making the venue unfit for  live broadcast. Reporters were allowed to gather in an adjacent room  instead and viewed a live feed of the events from there. Organizers  issued an official statement for the media following the event. Overall,  the last National Prayer Breakfast attended by former president Chen  Shui-bian was not highly publicized by the local media.

This year’s National Prayer Breakfast promises to be friendlier  toward both newly elected President Ma Ying-jeou and the national media.  Several pastors and event organizers met after last year’s National  Prayer Breakfast and decided that national media should be allowed entry  to report on all future National Prayer Breakfast meetings. This change  of policy is mainly due to their desire to have such events influence  Taiwanese society. However, some pastors question the change of policy  as favoring President Ma over the former president. In response, this  year’s National Prayer Breakfast event coordinator and chairman of  Overseas Radio and Television Inc. Hong Shan-Chiun said he was unable  and unqualified to criticize how events were organized in the past and  he would follow the guidelines set up by event organizers. However, he  noted that the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan was fully supportive of  this year’s event and he hoped everyone would leave the past behind  them and focus on how to make this year’s event a national  blessing.

According to event organizers, this year’s National Prayer  Breakfast guest list includes prominent pastors and successful Christian  entrepreneurs – not unlike guest lists from previous years – and  the total number of participants is currently at 720. The day will kick  off with a 30-minute breakfast meeting at 7:30 a.m. The chairperson of  the meeting, Pastor Kho Sing-doh (Shiu Cheng-dao), will announce the  beginning of the prayer session and President Ma is expected to arrive  around 8:00 a.m. This year’s theme is “Transformation – How  to be Spiritual Influencers of the Country”. This year’s  speakers are Kou Shao-en (in Mandarin) and James C.C. Shia (in  Taiwanese). A youth choir and an indigenous choir are scheduled to  perform during the breakfast meeting. Following the sermons, President  Ma will give a seven-minute speech and pastors will then pray for him.  After the president leaves the meeting, attendees will conclude the  meeting with a final prayer for all political leaders in Taiwan. The  meeting is scheduled to adjourn around 9:30 a.m. after a short  presentation on Taiwan’s economy, politics, media, entertainment  industry, technology, family issues, etc.

In order to avoid making the National Prayer Breakfast meeting seem like  a one-time event, organizers began promoting a 40-Day Prayer Handbook  since October 20th. This campaign will last until the day of the meeting  and its purpose is to call upon Christians to pray for their national  leaders, country, society, and the upcoming National Prayer Breakfast.

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