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RecognitionChristians march across capital
A giant street march staged for the cause of promoting Christianity proceeded in Taipei yesterday despite rainshowers, attracting over 20,000 believers from over 60 nations.
The conference kicked off at the Linkou College of Physical Education at 9 a.m., where representatives from North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia gathered to worship and praise God in a single voice. Testimonies were shared by 64 representatives from six continents, and a holy communion was also shared among the disciples. With shouts of praise, songs and love in different languages, they prayed for Taiwan and for the world. They also prayed for the cleansing of the souls and the revival of the land. According to a representative of the Church in Taipei, the "blending" stressed the joining of the Christians and God, and the testimonies shared with each other. "It is the love of God that brought me here," Joel Thomas of California said. Afterwards, the march started around 2:30 p.m. when about 4,000 Christians were dropped off at six different points along Chunghsiao East Road. The participants marched toward the Taipei City Government Square for more than an hour in the pouring rain while praising God with songs and distributing flyers to everyone they met along the way. "Under this pouring rain?" queried one passerby, Li Wen-kai, a Taipei native. "I give them credit for their courage." But another passerby, who declined to give his name, said the idea of holding a march in pouring rain was "silly, very silly." A couple surnamed Sung countered by saying: "We are happy and glorified! Even under this pouring rain. I can still see their burning passion for God." "I am enjoying the presence of the brothers and sisters while marching," Vern Smathers from Texas said. "I love the Lord and this is the good opportunity for me to meet other Christian brothers and sisters who came from a completely different culture than mine," Melibea Gomez from Texas said with a joyful smile. When the six groups reached Taipei City Government Square, more hymns, songs and testimonies were shared and a more urgent prayer for Taiwan was made in the gospel meeting. "We love God, and we want the whole world to know how much we love God," Lin Yu-kuang and Teng Chig-min from Taoyuan County proclaimed. "I love gathering with the saints and going international (with the program). It is absolutely glorious to be here! And it has been," Valerie Demeo from England said. "It is the love of the Lord and the fellowship of the body that brought me here," said Martin Cerda from California. "We want to bring the glory to God," Danny Lu from the Philippines said. The Church of Taipei was founded by Ni To-sheng 60 years ago, and over a period of 60 years, more than 83 nations have set up 2,600 divisions where over 400,000 believers worship. Ni said he thought that a belief is not a religion and therefore did not establish a headquarters or create a hierarchy of leadership positions in the church. Fu, Tina. "Christians March Across Capital." China Post 4 May 1998: 20. |
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