Praise the Lord for His presence and abundant blessings upon Adventists in Taiwan throughout 2020. As He promised in the Scriptures, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. . . . As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
The year 2020 is a year of unprecedented difficulties. COVID-19 has impacted almost the entire world. From its outbreak earlier this year until today, we have been experiencing fear and helplessness toward the continued spread of the virus.
Without God’s special protection and guidance, the Taiwan Conference (TWC) could not have had a meeting with more than 1,000 attendees amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan eased social distancing regulations on June 7, 2020, allowing restricted public gatherings. Under the government’s guidelines, the TWC held a spiritual revival meeting and a sports competition from October 9 to 11, 2020, at Kaohsiung Municipal Fu Cheng Senior High School. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, this was the first gathering with more than 1,000 people in Taiwan. Without the power of God, there was no way to take steps to hold such a gathering again.
The number of total applicants was 1,761, and additional participants also joined the rally without pre-registration. Workers from Adventist institutions, including schools, hospitals, health centers, a publishing house, and administration offices in Taiwan, also participated. It is surprising that even officials from the legislature and Kaohsiung City government attended.
All programs of the gathering aimed to build a spiritual family in God’s love and learn to live a life of worshipping God. On Friday night, October 9, the rally started with a program on how to prepare and welcome the Sabbath day.
The next day, during Sabbath School, participants enjoyed a special program that had been prepared by young Adventists. Four couples of men and women performed a play demonstrating different types of relationships, such as love at first sight, arranged marriage, unmarried pregnancy, and different religious beliefs. After a series of short plays, three pastors went up on the stage and gave lessons on relationships based on the words of God.
For divine worship, TWC president Noah Lai served as the speaker. He cited Ephesians chapter 2: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” He said, “Let us remember Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the cross and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us so that we can live in harmony as members of a family, a church, and the household of God.”
Afternoon programs included mission reports from 10 mission districts and musical performances. Everyone on the stage expressed gratitude toward God and the hope for Jesus’ soon coming. Their mission stories and performances inspired attendees to make a decision to follow Jesus and work for Him.
Around sunset, a worship service was led by former members of Golden Angels, singing missionaries of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. Sabbath evening and the following day, participants enjoyed sports competitions, which was called “Agape Cup.” At the opening ceremony of the competitions, officials from Kaohsiung City Government and other government representatives delivered a congratulatory message. At the competitions, basketball, volleyball, chess, and many other games were prepared for participants. Playing games together helped them build friendships and harmony in the extended family of the Adventist Church.
From the first day of planning to the first day of the rally, TWC had to deal with a lot of uncertainties. For example, if the government had ordered not to gather due to the danger of spreading COVID-19, the meeting would have had to be stopped immediately. It was truly a blessing from Heaven that the large gathering was held successfully without danger or interruption.
May God continue to bless the Adventist church members in Taiwan!
Noah Lai, TWC President