There are a few days before the “Chinese Gospel Conference 2009″, all registration procedures have been completed on December 18, the organizers, “Life Quarterly” reported the number of applicants exceeds 3,500.
“China’s Gospel Conference 2009″ is scheduled between December 26 and 30 held in Chicago. The theme for this year will continue which have been concerned about in the past - “Jesus Christ and Him Crucified”
From Roland Emmerich,the director of “The Day After Tomorrow”, John’Cusack, Amanda ‘ Pitt act as starring. According to Mayan prophecy,The large-scale disaster film “2012″ of this century aroused the interest of people’s idea on the end of the world.
This movie let people know that everyone should change his attitude to life and live base on “Tomorrow is the end”.Do not drag the words which should say today to tomorrow, including a simple sentence “I love you”,and should never avoid any difficult but to face it, including one’s own mistakes as “Love your neighbor as yourself” which is the Lord Jesus Christ has instructed to us.
September 30th, Earthquake has killed at least 1,100 people in the west of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Thousands of people were buried alive under the rubble.The Hong Kong World Vision H Director-General Zhao Huanming immediately rushed to the quake-hit Padang and pariaman inspect the situation of disaster and to assist in rescue work.
The Spring of Praise worship is very popular among the churches of New York.The Spring of Praise worship is very popular among the churches of New York.
Singer Tsai Chin has launched a new album recently,called “Love is like a song”.She put all her feeling during this year into this song. A song called “prayer” of this album has been the relief for the victims of flood on August 8.
When you listen to Tsai Chin’s songs now, you will find not only gentle but also hope.
She says it is the faith which made her life changed.
He said: “All of the miracles have one thing in common - when people can’t do anything about it then God will start.”
The National Council of Churches Taiwan (NCCT) confirmed its decision during a board meeting on August 3rd for Chinese church leaders to visit Taiwan from November 13~19 in an attempt to boost dialogue between Taiwanese and Chinese church leaders and display Taiwan’s religious diversity and freedoms for all to see.
The NCCT invited National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China, China Christian Council, and leaders from other church organizations in China to visit Taiwan and attend the “Christian Church and Society Development Forum” slated for November 13~14.
As a member of NCCT, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) also welcomed Chinese church leaders to visit PCT headquarters and urged them to be unafraid of government intimidation or demonization, lest it should prevent them from visiting, said PCT General Secretary Andrew Chang.
According to reports, a forum had been planned for Christian churches from both countries as early as 2007, but changes in leadership among Chinese church organizations had delayed it from taking place until former NCCT Chairman and Taiwan Methodist Church Bishop Enoch C.H. Kuey visited Shanghai last year and confirmed the theme and dates of the forum. The forum will be hosted by Taiwan Methodist Church in partnership with NCCT.
Visiting delegates from China will include church leaders from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Tianjin, and more. On Taiwan’s side, delegates participating in the forum will include leaders from PCT, Episcopal Church Taiwan, Taiwan Lutheran Church, Taiwan Theological College and Seminary, Tainan Theological College and Seminary, World Vision, and Garden of Hope Foundation.
The forum’s theme will be city churches and the spiritual needs of contemporary society and topics of discussion will include a Christian analysis on social services, theological education, changes in modern society, how the church should reach out to seniors, church organizations and their outreach ministries, church history, and equipping the laity.
Besides attending the forum, Chinese church leaders will visit house churches in Taipei, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taiwan Seminary, Garden of Hope Foundation, Good TV Christian broadcasting corporation, World Vision Taiwan, and other evangelical organizations. They will also visit famous tourist attractions in Taiwan, including Sun Moon Lake, Tamsui harbor, National Palace Museum, and more.
“Having this Christian forum take place in Taiwan is better than having it take place in China,” said Andrew Chang. He thinks it’s a good thing for church leaders in China to come to Taiwan and witness the development and progress of churches here and he hopes they can also visit the PCT General Assembly headquarter offices when they come.
Christian relief groups were among some of the first organizations to respond to Taiwan’s Typhoon Morakot and remain active in helping in the aftermath of the disaster.
World Vision, the world’s largest Christian humanitarian group, is providing emergency relief and rehabilitation support to hundreds of families affected by the catastrophic typhoon.
“The most pressing needs now are providing shelter, food, and clean water for those who have had to evacuate their homes,” says Hank Du, executive director for World Vision in Taiwan. “We also want to make sure the children are secure and have a safe place where they are cared for.”
Ministry workers have been helping victims since Sunday, the day after the typhoon hit Taiwan. They have provided emergency assistance to 700 people in shelters, distributing food and cleaning supplies, and some 684 relief kits containing flashlights, radios, raincoats, gloves, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels.
Staffs were able to respond quickly because some had been working in the affected areas for years, and pre-positioned supplies allowed for a quick response.
Typhoon Morakot, the worst typhoon to hit Taiwan in half a century, hit the island’s southern and eastern areas on Aug. 7 and 8. It dumped more than 80 inches of rain on the island and stranded thousands of villagers in mountainous areas in the south. Over 21,000 villagers were rescued to safety.
President Ma Ying-jeou said Friday he estimates more than 500 people have died because of the typhoon. The official death toll, however, is 123.
Most of the deaths are in Shiao Lin village, which lost more than half of its population. Some 380 people are thought to have died in Shiao Lin, due to landslides from the surrounding mountains.
“Many of the affected live in remote areas, and the roads are in bad condition. Highways and bridges are flooded and blocked by mudslides, fallen trees, and other large debris,” said Wesley Chen, Taiwan’s southern area manager for World Vision. “For those who can’t reach shelters, we are working to find ways to bring aid to them.”
On Saturday, Taiwan’s president offered his first apology for the slow response after coming under heavy criticism from the public for his handling of the crisis. Among the criticism is the government’s refusal to accept foreign aid earlier this week. It told world donors to just send money instead.
But on Saturday, an official said the government on Friday had asked Japan, the United States and European countries for large equipments such as helicopters and mobile homes.
The 81st Annual Hong Kong Bible Study Conference has so far drawn over 68,000 participants with 1,665 new decisions to follow Christ as of Aug. 7th, the seventh day of the ten consecutive days of bible-studies held at the Kowloon City Baptist Church.
Over 152 Christian leaders and development professionals from 38 countries are rallying church leaders, CEOs, and NGO and parachurch group directors around the world to join their call to world leaders ahead of critical climate change negotiations in Copenhagen this December.
The leaders, who drafted a statement last month while attending the Micah Network Global Consultation on Climate Change in Limuru, Kenya, are urging world leaders to take decisive action to secure an ambitious and fair climate deal this year in Copenhagen,.where they will seek to agree on a post-2012 climate agreement that will replace the current Kyoto protocol.
“Although climate change is affecting us all, it is having the hardest impact in the most vulnerable communities around the world, who have done the least to cause it. It is already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year and affects 300 million people, mainly in the developing world,” the Christian leaders stated.
“We see the impacts of this in extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, storms and unpredictable rainfall within the communities we work with and the effects this is having on food security, access to water, livelihoods and biodiversity. All the indicators point to increasing frequency and severity of these events and their impacts,” they added.
“We cannot ignore their plight – our God calls us to speak out.”
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2009 is a crucial year in the international effort to address climate change.
In December, national government delegations who agreed to shape an ambitious international response to climate change in 2007 will be meeting for the end-of-the-year summit in Copenhagen after several rounds of negotiations – the most recent of which, in June, concluded with the completion of the first rough sketch of a new global warming agreement.
U.N. climate delegates will be gathering for the next round of talks later this month, when the roughly 200-page second draft is expected to be whittled down to a more manageable size following decisions by political leaders.
According to some scientists, industrialized nations must cut emissions by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 to prevent climate disasters, such as coastal flooding from rising sea levels, severe weather events, and variations in rainfall and temperatures that will affect agriculture and wipe out species of plants and animals.
Under the current Kyoto Protocol, 37 industrial countries are required to cut emissions a total 5 percent from 1990 by 2012. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature calculated that the current declarations from wealthy countries amount to a total emissions cut of just 10 percent by 2020.
