Taiwan Church News
3193 Edition
May 6-12, 2013
Church Ministry News

Reported by Chen Wei-chien

Written by Lydia Ma

Youths from Taichung Presbytery recently held a 4-hour outreach event in one of the most bustling areas in Taichung City – at the heart of Yizhong Street Shopping District. This event held on May 5 was co-sponsored by Taichung Campus Ministry Center and Taichung Presbytery and it was based on the theme “Speak Out for Love – 4 Hours of Gospel Rock ’n Roll”. Besides featuring performances from Xitung Presbyterian Church’s worship band, event coordinators also invited Christian bands such as Hsiwa and T.O.P.D. Voize to perform. Hsiwa Band consists of members from various college fellowships in Taichung, while T.O.P.D. Voize’s members belong to Dun-zi-jiao Presbyterian Church.

At the same time as these bands performed, student from various college fellowships spread out to give away 2,500 copies of “Keng-sim” and 500 copies of “Dandelion”. These two Christian publications contain testimonies, evangelistic messages, and inspiring stories. In addition to performing worship songs and distributing Gospel tracts, students also held up a big sign that read “Free Hug” and hugged any passersby willing to be hugged. Some youths from Jifeng Presbyterian Church were also given the task of explaining the Gospel to anyone who had questions.

Taichung Presbytery Youth Division Secretary Cho Sheng-yu said that last year was the first time his office had ever held a street evangelism event. Since it turned out well and received positive feedback, his office decided to do it again this year and invite a few worship bands to perform. He underscored that the purpose of holding such an evangelistic outreach is to encourage and teach Christian youths to step out of their churches and to step out of their comfort zones to evangelize in the streets of Taichung. Another goal of this outreach is to provide an opportunity for worship bands from various local churches to network and give them opportunities to use and display their talents.

“It seems to me that fewer youths are engaging in Christian activities outside church walls in recent years,” said Cho. He added that youths from only 10 or so churches took part in this street outreach this year, which is a relatively low turnout considering the number of churches in Taichung Presbytery. Hence, he urged every church to actively take part in future events.

PCT Taichung College Student Center director, Evangelist Chen Yi-min, said that his office had sought the involvement of more than 10 campus fellowships for this event and more than 100 students had come on that day. He also said that part of the training in preparation for this event was practicing a “Free Hug” because most students need a lot of courage to engage in physical contact with others.