wfn.org | Churches across Taiwan celebrate Easter in unique ways

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

>      Taiwan Church News

>3032 Edition

>April 5~11, 2010

Churches across Taiwan celebrate Easter in unique ways

>Reported by staff reporters

>Written by Lydia Ma

>Easter joint-services in Taipei

When a thousand Christians from different denominations gather to  praise God 
and proclaim

the gospel together, the display of unity and harmony in Christ  can be quite 
an amazing sight

>to behold.

This is exactly what happened on Easter Sunday this year when more  than a 
thousand

Christians from Presbyterian, Baptist, Alliance, Methodist, and  other 
denominations

celebrated Easter together through a joint Easter worship service  at Jinghua 
Park in Taipei

City. This was the first time ten churches in Jingmei area had  held a joint 
Easter service.

Prior to this event, Jingmei Presbyterian Church pastor, Rev. Ong  Shih-Jiun, 
had ordered ten

thousand copies of Heart Farmer and one thousand copies of Taiwan  Church News 
so that

Christians could distribute them on the street after the service  and do a 
little bit of evangelism.

Following the service, many church members began walking along  section 6 of 
Roosevelt

Road to distribute these two periodicals to everyone they met. It  was a good 
day to tell people

>about the meaning of Easter.

In another area of Taipei, Seven Stars Presbytery also held a  joint Easter 
worship service at

Nangang Sports Center. A total of 16 churches and more than 1,000  people 
attended this

>service.

Following the service at Nangang, Morning Star Dance Troupe was  invited to 
perform a

family-friendly musical. It performed a musical on the theme of  “God is with 
me” and reminded

the audience that as long as people remember that God is with them  all the 
time, they can

overcome all of life’s obstacles and challenges.

>Easter concert in Taichung focuses on youth

In Taichung area, Tsao-Town Presbyterian Church held a youth  concert on 
Saturday, April 3,

to celebrate Easter. The concert was designed to attract  non-Christian youth 
and included

testimonies in between. About 300 youth attended this concert  featuring a 
well-known

>Christian band, The Rock.

Church leaders hoped the concert would not only lead non-Christian  youth to 
Christ, but also

>strengthen the faith of young Christians.

The Rock was invited by Tsao-Town Church to lead worship during  Easter Sunday 
service the

following day. Since there were more elderly people at the Sunday  service, the 
band chose

Taiwanese hymns and slower songs so that the whole congregation  could worship 
God

together using a common language and some familiar songs.

>Easter activities in Tainan

In southern Taiwan, Tainan Council of Churches, Sinlau Hospital,  Eden Social 
Welfare

Foundation, and other organizations teamed up to hold a bazaar to  support Eden

Foundation’s ministries. The goal of this event was to sell  all 1,500 bazaar 
tickets and help

Eden Foundation raise enough funds to support children from  marginalized 
families across

>Taiwan.

The bazaar was held at National Cheng Kung University and featured  items for 
sale,

delicacies from several countries, as well as games for kids. A  few 
celebrities and popular

bands were also invited to perform at the bazaar, making the event  a bit more 
fun.

Because Easter Sunday this year coincided with Women and Children  Day, Sinlau 
Hospital

performed community service by setting up a few booths for doctors  and nurses 
to offer free

>medical examinations.

Eden began assisting children from poor families in 2006. With  help from 
churches,

volunteers, and local communities, it endeavors to provide 1,200  children from 
poor families

with after-school programs such as tutoring so that children will  no longer 
wander the streets

after school, but rather, find a place where they can settle down  to study, 
and perhaps change

>the course of their future for the better.

>Aborigine youth celebrate Easter

Aborigine youth from Paiwan Presbytery didn’t go to the usual  spring concert 
held at Kenting

this year, but rather, chose to celebrate Easter with fasting,  prayer, and 
worship with fellow

>Christians.

Aborigines from Paiwan Presbytery churches marked Easter with a  joint prayer 
meeting

followed by a worship service. Christians fasted and prayed  together for their 
families,

>churches, Taiwan and the world.

Youth from Paiwan Presbytery were involved in relief efforts in  the aftermath 
of Typhoon

Morakot last year. Youth fellowships formed counseling groups to  help one 
another. Many

youth became stronger and better equipped the more they served  others and 
later became

>youth ministry leaders.

Paiwan youth ministry leaders urged youth gathered at the prayer  meeting to 
support missions

through financial offerings and gave each youth an offering box  made out of 
bamboo. The goal

set by youth ministry leaders is for each person to contribute at  least NT$50 
every month. This

would translate into NT$600 of offering per individual every year  toward 
missions and youth

>ministry.

>********************

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