wfn.org | TCN: Churches in Tamsui celebrate Mackay Day together

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>2988 Edition

>June 1~7, 2009

Churches in Tamsui celebrate Mackay Day together

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

Tamsui Township government decided in 2001 to set aside June 2nd  of every year

as a special day for the city to remember Dr. George Leslie  Mackay, who died on

that day in 1901 after spending his life ministering to Taiwanese  people.

To celebrate this special day, churches in Tamsui area got  together at Aletheia

University on Pentecost for a joint service. The speaker of the  service was Rev.

David Alexander, an American missionary who has been ministering  in Taiwan for

>28 years.

Alexander reminded listeners during his message not to put the  cart before the

horse. He said many people mistakenly assume it was Mackay who  brought God to

Taiwan and spread the gospel. However, the truth is that God loved  Taiwan long

before Mackay’s arrival and it was God’s idea to send  Mackay to Taiwan as a

>missionary.

A total of 21 churches and 4 church organizations came together on  Sunday, May

31st to celebrate Mackay’s life and legacy. Following the  service, a carnival was

>held at Aletheia University in Tamsui.

This was the first time Aletheia University’s newly-elected  President Wu Ming-da

hosted Mackay Day celebrations. Wu commented that seeing churches  come

together on Pentecost to celebrate Mackay Day was a reminder that  local churches

were making headway in the areas of evangelism and community  service. He

added that Mackay’s influence runs deep among local churches,  regardless of their

denomination. Many churches include education and medicine as part  of their

community outreach, continuing Mackay’s example of spreading  the gospel using

>these two areas of expertise.

As for himself, Wu considers the opportunity to serve as President  of Aletheia

University an opportunity to spread the gospel and an honor.  “Along with the rest of

the churches in Tamsui, I will honor God in the field of  education,” he said.

According to reports, churches in Tamsui had planned to scale down  festivities this

year though the day is usually celebrated with fanfare in previous  years. Churches

had originally planned to schedule a joint service followed by a  ball game. However,

when Tamsui Mayor Tsai Yeh-wei, who also happened to be a member  of Tamsui

Presbyterian Church, heard about this, he expressed interest in  helping churches

organize bigger festivities so that MacKay Day could continue to  be a means of

sharing the gospel with local residents. Tsai hoped that Mackay  Day would continue

to be part of Tamsui’s cultural tradition.

Rev. David Alexander reminded listeners during his sermon not to  become

confused and put things in the wrong order. When celebrating  Mackay’s life, we

should not forget that God is the protagonist in Mackay’s  story. It was God who sent

Mackay to Taiwan and gave the Holy Spirit to churches so that they  could go and

>preach the gospel.

Alexander also urged churches to emulate Mackay’s obedience  and submission so

that God could nourish and strengthen churches to become more  fruitful. Churches

need to humbly accept one another when they gather to worship so  the rest of

society can learn meekness and humility from their example.  “Let us become

channels of blessing by living out the Holy Spirit’s meekness  and humility!” exhorted

>Alexander.

After the service, event organizers invited pastors and leaders  from Christian

organizations to head to Tam Kang High School to lay flowers next  to Mackay’s

>tomb.

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