Creative, evangelistic Taiwanese opera draws crowds during Ghost Month

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

      Taiwan Church News

      3051 Edition

      August 16~22, 2010

                                   

      Creative, evangelistic Taiwanese opera draws crowds during 
Ghost Month

       

      Reported by Lin Yi-ying

      Written by Lydia Ma

       

       



      Who would have thought that Taiwanese opera, traditionally used 
as a form of 

      entertainment to appease gods and evil spirits, could become a 
means to proclaim 

      the gospel and introduce Jesus to the masses? Well, that’s what 
happened recently 

      in Banciao City near Taipei during Taiwan’s Ghost Month or the 
7th lunar month.

       



      A Taiwanese opera show directed by Liu Nan-fang, a renowned 
playwright, drew 

      more than 1,500 people to a local park in Banciao on August 14, 
2010. More shows 

      will be held on August 22 and September 4 at a park and an 
elementary school respectively.

       



      Not only did the opera’s storyline carry Christian themes, 
pastors and members of 

      PCT, Methodist, Baptist, Quaker, and Bread of life churches 
also worked together to 

      witness and reach out to the masses by inviting people to draw 
straws according to 

      their needs. They had made straws on various topics such as 
job, family, 

      relationships, etc. and each straw came with a Bible verse.

       



      Whenever someone drew a straw on a topic they were struggling 
with and needed 

      God’s guidance, a Christian would read the Bible verse for 
them, explain its 

      meaning, and pray with the person who’d come to seek help. 
According to reports, 

      this outreach method had drawn more than 300 people to pray to 
Jesus for the first 

      time in their lives in one night alone!

       



      This is the third year these churches have worked together to 
produce an opera with 

      the goal of sharing the gospel with the masses during Ghost 
Month, a time when 

      Taiwanese people need to hear the gospel of the Prince of Peace 
the most 

      because many are anxious and afraid. 

       



      Christians have been gearing up for this outreach event through 
various training 

      seminars in their own churches on how to share the gospel and 
through prayer 

      meetings. Hou-Pu Presbyterian Church pastor, Rev. Chuang 
Chia-hsin, said the 

      ultimate goal of the event is to share the gospel by merging 
Taiwanese culture and 

      Christianity through Taiwanese opera. 

       



      According to church staff, the operational costs of staging 
this opera, including 

      promotional ads and rental fees, amounted to a whooping 
NT$500,000. “But when 

      we see the masses come and see every seat filled up, we know 
that these expenses 

      are well worth it!” said one pastor.

       



      In an interesting twist, the show even attracted 
superintendents from local Buddhist 

      shrines who came out of curiosity and amazement that Christian 
churches could 

      draw such a large crowd of spectators for an opera – well 
exceeding the number of 

      people these temples had ever manage to attract for their own 
temple’s operas! 

       



      The opera’s storyline is about Yang Bai-li, a young doctor who 
worked in a small 

      town that had become infested with the plague. In his attempt 
to find a cure, Yang 

      chose to stay with the townspeople to treat them. 

       



      However, soldiers set the town in flames in an attempt to 
contain the spread of the 

      plague, killing Yang’s beloved little sister in the process. He 
eventually resumed his 

      medical practice and rekindled his passion for saving lives 
when he learned the true 

      meaning of sacrifice and forgiveness.

       



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