wfn.org | PCT presbyteries celebrate anniversaries on Global Day of Prayer

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3039 Edition

>May 24~30, 2010

PCT presbyteries celebrate anniversaries on Global Day of Prayer

Reported by Sam Lee, Chen Yi-hsuan, Chen, Wei-chien

>Written by Lydia Ma

PCT churches in Kaohsiung and Pingtung areas celebrated Kaohsiung  Presbytery’s 
80th

anniversary on May 23, a day that coincided with Global Day of  Prayer and 
Pentecost.

A thanksgiving service was held in the morning of that day to  celebrate 
Kaohsiung

Presbytery’s anniversary and 339 people were baptized during  the service.

Members from Kaohsiung, Shou-Shan, Paiwan, Rukai, and South Bunun  presbyteries 
used

musicals and puppet shows to review PCT history and ministries in  southern 
Taiwan

beginning with the arrival of Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell in 1865.

Kaohsiung Presbytery Assembly Moderator Rev. Kuo En-shin delivered  the sermon 
during the

thanksgiving service. He urged churches to follow in the footsteps  of pioneers 
such as Maxwell

and Barclay to usher another wave of church revival and encouraged  Christians 
to actively

>share the gospel.

Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen-chu and Kaohsiung County Governor Yang  Chiou-hsing 
also

attended this service and congratulated Kaohsiung and Pingtung  churches.

Chen said PCT churches in Kaohsiung had made significant  contributions to their

communities in the past 145 years since Maxwell’s arrival.  She hoped the city 
can build a

>memorial to honor Maxwell’s legacy soon.

Yang emphasized that Taiwan Church News had greatly inspired him  during the 
Kaohsiung

Incident and throughout the martial law era. He added he’d  learned through 
Taiwan Church

News about PCT’s stand in various issues and seen how PCT had  always held 
Taiwan’s best

interests at heart. He also said he personally had high regards  for PCT and 
what it stood for.

Later on in the afternoon, Kaohsiung and Pingtung churches came  together to 
hold a joint-

prayer meeting at Kaohsiung Gymnasium to mark Global Day of  Prayer. Christians 
prayed for

media, educational institutions, political leaders in Taiwan, etc.

They prayed specifically for post-Morakot reconstruction efforts,  more 
harmonious

relationships in every family, God’s kingdom on earth  manifested through 
churches,

educational reform, and entertainment and commercial industries.

Taiwan began marking Global Day of Prayer in 2005, five years  after it began 
in South Africa.

Last year’s meeting attracted more than 12,000 people in  Kaohsiung and 
Pingtung areas

alone. This year’s meeting drew even larger crowds due to  cooperation between 
PCT

churches and churches from other denominations.

>Tainan Presbytery celebrates 80th anniversary

PCT churches across Tainan celebrated their presbytery’s 80th  anniversary at 
Chang Jung

Girls’ Senior High School on May 23. Church members braved  the first heavy 
rain of the

>season to attend this service.

The service included choir presentations from many groups and  communion 
service. The

highlight of the service was a video clip featuring the history of  85 churches 
and church

organizations within Tainan Presbytery. The short presentation  gave a great 
overview of the

past and inspired the audience to press on toward the  presbytery’s future 
goals.

The video clip, played during communion service, featured photos  of 85 chapels 
that had

been built in the past 80 years, as well as photos of Tainan  Seminary, Sinlau 
Hospital, Taiwan

Church Press, and other PCT-affiliated organizations in Tainan  city. It 
focused especially on

architectural changes over the years and highlighted God’s  blessings.

Tainan Presbytery’s Assembly Moderator, Rev. Lin Ching-dao,  encouraged the 
audience to

press on and said he hoped to see PCT membership double when it  reached its 
150th

anniversary. “Maybe we are afraid, weak, and have little  faith. But like 
Gideon, as long as we

are willing to obey and rely on God, doubling our membership by  that time is 
possible,” said

>Lin.

Changhua Presbytery celebrates 40th anniversary

Changhua Presbytery celebrated its 40th anniversary with a  thanksgiving 
service on May 23 at

Changhua County Gymnasium. This special occasion was marked by the  visit of 
members

from a sister presbytery in Korea and various Aborigine choir  presentations. 
Their presence

accentuated the presbytery’s commitment to Aborigine  ministries and 
international missions.

Changhua Presbytery Assembly Moderator, Rev. Liu Te-hsing,  reiterated the 
presbytery’s 3

major goals for the future: Increased interaction with the church  universal in 
the area of

missions, help Christians become more courageous in dealing with  local 
Buddhist culture,

and invest more time and resources in equipping the next  generation of 
Christians.

The service also honored Sunday school teachers who had served in  their 
churches for more

than 20 years. Changhua Presbytery used this occasion to encourage  and affirm 
their

dedication and emphasized on the importance of training the next  generation in 
the Christian

>faith.

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