Dwelling in the Presence of God

It has been almost two weeks since we arrived to Taiwan. We have traveled from the central part of Taiwan to the northern part of Taiwan, and now we are ready to host events in the southern part of Taiwan starting tonight. One common theme throughout this year’s Asia Tour has been the sweetness of God’s presence. Even though we have three different styles of worship events this year, we have been able to enjoy God’s presence in all of them. To be honest, I really don’t know who benefits more from the events, the congregation or the SOP team. We have just been so blessed to be able to dwell in the presence of God. Since it has been awhile since our last event report, here is a quick recap during this time.

Tai-Chun (台中)

Our second stop in Taiwan was in Central Taiwan in the city of Tai-Chun. The events were awesome especially with a wonderful choir joining us and supporting us. Mandy also shared her testimony in front of brothers and sisters from her home town. It was really exciting to see so many people packed into the venue night after night. Not to us, to Your name be the glory!

Chang-Hua (彰化)

After staying in Lu-Gone for almost a week, we all got attached to the people there. The brothers and sisters who hosted us in Lu-Gone made us feel so special and loved. God once again reminded us that He can love us through people around us. Special thanks to all the pastors, elders, and all the coworkers who helped us with our event there. Your love truly touched our hearts and I am sure it has also touched the Father’s heart! We will definitely continue to remember you in our prayers and may the churches in Lu-Gone continue to shine for Jesus!

I-Lan (宜蘭)

Despite holding the event on a week night along with typhoon passing by, we still had about 1,000 people turned out for the I-Lan event. Time flew by so fast that we all wished we could have worshipped more on that particular night. That was the only event we had scheduled on the eastern part of Taiwan this year and it sure was a memorable one. At one point during the event, Sandy invited the congregation to give hugs to people next to them. I saw a lady standing in the middle of the room with no one hugging her. She almost looked out of place. All of sudden, another lady cam all the way from the other side of the room and gave this lady a huge hug! It was definitely a moment to remember.

Taipei (台北)

Three days of high energy praise and worship in the capitol of Taiwan. It was standing room only for all four events. Not only did God’s love clearly felt during the worship, we also witness the emerging of new generation of young people ready to make a stand for the Lord. Three of the four events were recorded by Good TV for later broadcast. There were so many heart felt sharing by the team members. If you weren’t able to make it to those events, hopefully you can catch them on Good TV in the near future.

Good job choir members!

Just wanted to drop a posting to say that all the choir members are encouragement to us!

So far, we had HK group (very large choir), Taichung (lots of new members, but very pure group), and Taipei... we are in the midst of you! It's so good to see you dance and jump and totally excited for the Lord like little children.

One more event in Taipei!
Let's all have fun and give alll glory to God.
Our God is so good to us and so strong....!!!!!

在台灣的第一場聚會

今天是在台灣的第一場聚會
在桃園 中壢
看到一年不見的許多台灣讚美之泉的同工 很開心
有老老有少少的好朋友們 又要一起在不同的崗位上 傳揚主的好消息
我們即將在未來的十幾天裡 天天跟她們一起服事主喔
願神保守我們每一個人

晚上的聚會嘛 好多人來喔
雖然場地好像疑似因為人有點小多 所以室溫很高
大家還是很開心的敬拜讚美主

明天要出發去下一站了
搭巴士繞台灣的生活...希望今年不要被太陽公公晒的太黑...

Video Journal 第一集出來了喔
以後應該會以"少量多餐"的方式呈現給大家
極度的希望可以沒幾天就放一個新的到我們的官方網站去跟大家分享
主你是我們的力量啊～～

好
以上是讚美之泉亞洲巡迴blog部門中文組的Mimi, 在桃園中壢,思路很片段的報導

Good-bye Macau, Hello Taiwan!

After a short stay in Macau, we arrived in Taiwan safely yesterday. Since we woke up early and traveled both by boat and by plane on the same day, team members all got a well needed rest last night. However, no matter how tired we are, the tour goes on and we held our first 2006 Taiwan event in Tao-Yuan tonight.

It is always exciting to be in Taiwan since many of our team members grew up here. The cultural center where we had our event tonight was so packed that there wasn't even much standing room. Besides the first floor, the center also had balcony seating on the second and third level. The entire place was packed and we had probably 2000+ at tonight's event.

One thing that really surprised us is the large amount of young people that came out to our event tonight. They were all very passionate and energetic. It was so good to see the crowd being so into worship and could not stop jumping and praising! We talked about "The Right to Smile" tonight. When God created us, He desired us to be joyful; however, through different circumstances in life, our joy might be taken away. When we are able to bring all our pains and problems to the foot of the cross, God will restore our relationships and bring back smiles onto our faces.

Two nights ago, we had an opportunity to lead worship at The 7th Chinese Congress on World Evangelization in Macau. It was such an honor because the meeting was for over 2600 pastors and ministers. Although our set was only 25 minutes, we were just glad to be part of this conference.

Tomorrow we'll be leaving Tao-Yuan and get ready for the weekend events in Tai-Chun!

Jesus Generation!

Last night we concluded our 2006 HK visit on a high note. Since yesterday morning, God had placed the thought of sexual purity in our hearts. As the team led worship both in the afternoon and at night, David and Mary respectively shared strong messages on how we need to stay sexually pure because our bodies are made for God to dwell in. In the world which we live in today, there is just too much temptation for us to stray away from God; however, it is through the power of the cross to continue to be transformed. As we continue to tour, it is our hope that we can encourage the young people to remain in the Lord and learn to rely on God to do all things. After all, we are not the X-Generation, nor the E-Generation; we should be called the Jesus Generation!

It has been so awesome to worship with all the brothers and sisters in Hong Kong. We’ll definitely look forward to opportunities to worship with you again. Until then, continue to seek the Lord and pray for Hong Kong!

Purest Worship!

As we tour to different cities, we realize that there is no way to predict what will happen at any particular event. Tonight we had a very special event. The worship was really touching. If we were to choose a word to describe it, I'd probably use "Sweet!" The congregation was singing so loud that you can sense the hunger within them. At the end of the session, Rev. Sandy invited people to come to the cross in front of the stage to leave all broken relationships, problems, and hurts at the foot of the cross.

As I looked down from the stage, my eyes gazed upon a beautiful picture. A father came forward with his daughter. She seemed rather young; perhaps six or seven years old. The man was obviously very touched and tears were flowing down his eyes. Since we had placed tissue boxes along the edges of the stage, I saw that little girl managed to go through the crowd and got to one of the tissue boxes. She took a couple tissues and disappeared in the crowd.

When I was able to see her again, she had just got back to here her father was standing. Instead of giving those tissues to her father, she reached up and was wiping away the father's tears for him. Then the father gave the daughter a huge hug! My eyes became watery and my heart was moved. Talk about the power of the cross! Out of over 3000 people there tonight, I wonder if anyone else saw that scene. It was such a blessing to witness a moment like that and I am sure it will stay in my heart for a long, long time.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...

It is now Friday night here in Hong Kong. We just finished our 4th event! What an amazing worship experience we've been having these past couple of days. This afternoon we had our first ever "Encounter Worship." Not only was it new for the congregation, it was also new for SOP. So how was it? It was simply AWESOME! I wish the worship session didn't have to end because it was so enjoyable to be in the presence of God.

Tonight we also had another Praise & Worship event. Although back to back events are tiring for the team physically, we can never get tired of worshipping the Lord. It is so good to worship with brothers and sisters in Hong Kong. Thanks to all the choir members who have been so supportive these past couple of nights! Great job guys! =) Tongiht's event ended with the sound of "哈利路亞! 哈利路亞! 頌讚權能　都歸與我們的神 直到永永遠遠!"

Looking forward to the rest of worship sessions in Hong Kong. But for now, it is time rest. =) signing off...

All About the Cross!

The waiting is officially over! Praise God for an awesome event in Hong Kong to kick off 2006 Asia Tour. We have just gotten back from QES and what an exciting night of worship it was. Even on a week night, so many brothers and sisters still turned out to join us in worshipping our God! Like the theme for PW 11, this year's tour will be focusing mainly on the message of the cross. Though it is our desire and calling to minister to others around the world, I must say I was really touched by the power of the cross tonight. At the same time, I believe many have also experienced God in a new way. It is truly all about the cross!

If you were there at the event tonight, thank you so much for worshipping with us! Looking forward to another opportunity to worship God in Hong Kong tomorrow night! =)

We Are Here... Almost!

The last group of the SOP Asia Tour Team has just arrived to Taipei early this morning. This is very exciting because the whole team will finally be meeting up and we are heading over to Hong Kong in about an hour. Can you believe it? Asia Tour 2006 is just two days away! Looking forward to worship with all the brothers and sisters in Hong Kong - our first tour stop!

Let's get the tour started!