EMERGE 2006 IN TAIPEI
Part 2
13 July, Thur
This day marks the start of the Emerge Conference in Taipei. I remember waking up at 530am. To my great surprise, the sky was as bright as Singapore’s 730am! Wow! Couldn’t imagine it. Which means the sun sets earlier in Taipei and the skies will grow darker much faster as compared to Singapore. This is something new to me indeed.
I obtained my allocation for ministry the night before – I would be an usher (specifically at the North Balcony) for all 3 days of the conference! From 13-15 July (Thur-Sat). Many others served in other ways too, like counselors, security, bookstore… All ushers (actually practically most or everyone) are to report at 7am each day. But since the bus is only fetching us at 730am this particular morning, I did all I could to make it for the 7.30am bus so that I don’t miss the bus and end up having to board the 7.45am one.
It was raining a fair bit again this morning. My mother had advised me to bring an umbrella to Taipei and I did consider her suggestion for a moment, but then I felt that there was no need to so I didn’t bring, not even a raincoat. And so, with no umbrella, it looks set that I would have to get wet again. But, thankfully, Shujuan had an umbrella! She was also rushing for the 7.30am bus, so she sheltered me all the way to the bus. It was a cold morning, chilly weather… and my dark green jacket got a bit wet.
When we reached the stadium, everyone reported to their respective ministry I/Cs at the respective venues. So for me, together with many others who were positioned to be ushers at North Balcony, we reported to our I/C Sis Estelle.
Now this is the part where I found myself feeling overwhelmed by quite a bit. Because not every person who has been allocated to usher at Emerge has had experience in ushering, Sis Estelle asked those who were officially in Usher Ministry to raise their hands. Three hands went up – 2 sisters and myself. Thus, since the North Balcony had 3 sub-zones of seats, Sis Estelle asked the 3 of us to take one sub–zone each (each sub-zone has about 300plus seats that were further separated into 2 sections), and to be in charge of it for every session. She then allocated a certain number of the remaining ushers to follow each of us, and gave us the responsibility of allocating these ushers to their positions in the sub-zone and be responsible for briefing them on what they should know and what to do.
On one hand, I see God enlarging my capacity by entrusting 6-7 ushers to me to lead and guide them. On the other hand, I felt quite anxious because this was my first time leading a team of ushers and I was wondering to myself how will I be able to do it. Being a sub-zone I/C is not an easy thing. It requires diligence, sharpness and wisdom. Taking of attendance is another component, and for this, we have to be very accurate and sure of the status of the seats, cos we will always have to update Sis Estelle from time to time in the service do that she can know whether she can still let people flow in or stop the flow. And because we are in Taida Stadium, we have no computerised print-outs of the floor plan of the seats. So as I/Cs, we have to count the number of rows and seats and draw out the floor plan and use it as our attendance sheet which must be submitted right after each session. And yet another area of responsibility is the collection of offering. In Taipei, instead of using offering buckets, we use huge offering envelopes. And we must account for every single huge envelope, making sure the number of envelopes we collect back has to correspond with the number of rows of seats. So there I was praying to God in my heart, God, help me, give me wisdom, help me not to be afraid.
Well, all I can say is, when God calls us to something, He has already known it beforehand and has deposited in us the ability to fulfill it. Indeed, I thank God for providing me with a bunch of very cooperative and willing people to usher with me in the sub-zone, and that really helps me a lot. They may be totally new to ushering but I must say they are people with great attitude and with initiative. Looking at the way they welcome the people from the first session, I am greatly encouraged by the way they serve. They are just so, so interactive, friendly and polite to the Taiwanese. Of course there are areas which I discovered halfway that I’d forgotten to highlight to them (which is my mistake), or areas where they shouldn’t have done certain things in a certain way… but still, thank God for their accountability. And thank God that wherever I allocate them among the seats, they are ever so willing to say ‘Yes’ and follow instructions… and they are Lydia, Chris, Joyce, Jasmin, Zhiyong, Carlos, Lynn. :)
Now back to the very first Emerge session… Even though it was raining heavily that morning, the rain did not deter the Taiwanese youths from the various churches from wanting to reach out to God to encounter His Presence. Conference starts daily at 10am and doors open at 9am. That morning, when the doors opened, a huge crowd of youths streamed in readily from 2 exits (Northwest and Southwest). They kept flowing in continuously without stopping and within 15 minutes, the entire arena and floor terraces were packed with so many people that the balcony section had to open up for people to stream upwards.
One thing I noticed about the way the Taiwanese youths rushed in to book seats was this: They stream in steadily, systematically, and in their respective groups. Once they start filling up the seats, majority of the members were there. Only a few loopholes left in between them and these were either members who were still finding their way in or members who put down their bags and left immediately for the washrooms. And I learnt that the Chinese word they use for reserving seats has the meaning equivalent to “looking after of seats”. A fresh way of perceiving it.
At 10am sharp, the session started off with Bro Poh and the worship team leading the entire congregation in vibrant praise and worship. Everyone was so excited… they raised their voices and jumped as they praised, they lifted their hands in worship, and the Presence of God fell on all of us so tangibly. Just like how we praise and worship and experience God back in church. Also, all the songs we sung were the latest that are being sung in church right now, such as Destiny, Great Is Our God, Sanctuary, Take All Of Me… and all were in Chinese! Pastor Kong preached his heart out to the Taiwanese and we could just sense how awesome and thick the anointing of the Holy Spirit was in the entire atmosphere all throughout.
After the morning session, lunch boxes or Bento set lunches and bottled mineral water were catered for every person, including the workers. Dinner before the night session was also catered in the same manner, and it was so for the next 2 days.
The night session was simply fantastic too! In fact, every session gets better as the day goes by. The Presence and power of God grows increasingly thicker and more powerfully, praise the Lord for that. At the end of the Thursday night session, we had debrief with Pastor Kenneth at the arena and were told that the hostel people need to get ready to board the bus the next morning again at 7.30am!
That night, after we were dismissed from stadium, I went out with my room-mates by cab to Shihlin night market! Hee… We wanted to go try the Shihlin deep-fried chicken, but unfortunately, the stall was closed that night. Many other stalls were also closed because of the wet weather. In the end, we chose to order food from other stalls and we ate food like oyster omelette, octopus in soup, pigs’ intestines mee sua. Susan and a few others ate smelly beancurd, which I didn’t dare to try, haha. Didn’t manage to do much shopping either cos we spent too much time eating until most of the night market shops and outlets closed shop for the night... so could only browse through some clothes shops and head back to hostel.
We reached hostel around 2am that night and hurried to wash up as fast as we could before going to dreamland. The end of a super-long and tiring day… more to come…
Part 2
13 July, Thur
This day marks the start of the Emerge Conference in Taipei. I remember waking up at 530am. To my great surprise, the sky was as bright as Singapore’s 730am! Wow! Couldn’t imagine it. Which means the sun sets earlier in Taipei and the skies will grow darker much faster as compared to Singapore. This is something new to me indeed.
I obtained my allocation for ministry the night before – I would be an usher (specifically at the North Balcony) for all 3 days of the conference! From 13-15 July (Thur-Sat). Many others served in other ways too, like counselors, security, bookstore… All ushers (actually practically most or everyone) are to report at 7am each day. But since the bus is only fetching us at 730am this particular morning, I did all I could to make it for the 7.30am bus so that I don’t miss the bus and end up having to board the 7.45am one.
It was raining a fair bit again this morning. My mother had advised me to bring an umbrella to Taipei and I did consider her suggestion for a moment, but then I felt that there was no need to so I didn’t bring, not even a raincoat. And so, with no umbrella, it looks set that I would have to get wet again. But, thankfully, Shujuan had an umbrella! She was also rushing for the 7.30am bus, so she sheltered me all the way to the bus. It was a cold morning, chilly weather… and my dark green jacket got a bit wet.
When we reached the stadium, everyone reported to their respective ministry I/Cs at the respective venues. So for me, together with many others who were positioned to be ushers at North Balcony, we reported to our I/C Sis Estelle.
Now this is the part where I found myself feeling overwhelmed by quite a bit. Because not every person who has been allocated to usher at Emerge has had experience in ushering, Sis Estelle asked those who were officially in Usher Ministry to raise their hands. Three hands went up – 2 sisters and myself. Thus, since the North Balcony had 3 sub-zones of seats, Sis Estelle asked the 3 of us to take one sub–zone each (each sub-zone has about 300plus seats that were further separated into 2 sections), and to be in charge of it for every session. She then allocated a certain number of the remaining ushers to follow each of us, and gave us the responsibility of allocating these ushers to their positions in the sub-zone and be responsible for briefing them on what they should know and what to do.
On one hand, I see God enlarging my capacity by entrusting 6-7 ushers to me to lead and guide them. On the other hand, I felt quite anxious because this was my first time leading a team of ushers and I was wondering to myself how will I be able to do it. Being a sub-zone I/C is not an easy thing. It requires diligence, sharpness and wisdom. Taking of attendance is another component, and for this, we have to be very accurate and sure of the status of the seats, cos we will always have to update Sis Estelle from time to time in the service do that she can know whether she can still let people flow in or stop the flow. And because we are in Taida Stadium, we have no computerised print-outs of the floor plan of the seats. So as I/Cs, we have to count the number of rows and seats and draw out the floor plan and use it as our attendance sheet which must be submitted right after each session. And yet another area of responsibility is the collection of offering. In Taipei, instead of using offering buckets, we use huge offering envelopes. And we must account for every single huge envelope, making sure the number of envelopes we collect back has to correspond with the number of rows of seats. So there I was praying to God in my heart, God, help me, give me wisdom, help me not to be afraid.
Well, all I can say is, when God calls us to something, He has already known it beforehand and has deposited in us the ability to fulfill it. Indeed, I thank God for providing me with a bunch of very cooperative and willing people to usher with me in the sub-zone, and that really helps me a lot. They may be totally new to ushering but I must say they are people with great attitude and with initiative. Looking at the way they welcome the people from the first session, I am greatly encouraged by the way they serve. They are just so, so interactive, friendly and polite to the Taiwanese. Of course there are areas which I discovered halfway that I’d forgotten to highlight to them (which is my mistake), or areas where they shouldn’t have done certain things in a certain way… but still, thank God for their accountability. And thank God that wherever I allocate them among the seats, they are ever so willing to say ‘Yes’ and follow instructions… and they are Lydia, Chris, Joyce, Jasmin, Zhiyong, Carlos, Lynn. :)
Now back to the very first Emerge session… Even though it was raining heavily that morning, the rain did not deter the Taiwanese youths from the various churches from wanting to reach out to God to encounter His Presence. Conference starts daily at 10am and doors open at 9am. That morning, when the doors opened, a huge crowd of youths streamed in readily from 2 exits (Northwest and Southwest). They kept flowing in continuously without stopping and within 15 minutes, the entire arena and floor terraces were packed with so many people that the balcony section had to open up for people to stream upwards.
One thing I noticed about the way the Taiwanese youths rushed in to book seats was this: They stream in steadily, systematically, and in their respective groups. Once they start filling up the seats, majority of the members were there. Only a few loopholes left in between them and these were either members who were still finding their way in or members who put down their bags and left immediately for the washrooms. And I learnt that the Chinese word they use for reserving seats has the meaning equivalent to “looking after of seats”. A fresh way of perceiving it.
At 10am sharp, the session started off with Bro Poh and the worship team leading the entire congregation in vibrant praise and worship. Everyone was so excited… they raised their voices and jumped as they praised, they lifted their hands in worship, and the Presence of God fell on all of us so tangibly. Just like how we praise and worship and experience God back in church. Also, all the songs we sung were the latest that are being sung in church right now, such as Destiny, Great Is Our God, Sanctuary, Take All Of Me… and all were in Chinese! Pastor Kong preached his heart out to the Taiwanese and we could just sense how awesome and thick the anointing of the Holy Spirit was in the entire atmosphere all throughout.
After the morning session, lunch boxes or Bento set lunches and bottled mineral water were catered for every person, including the workers. Dinner before the night session was also catered in the same manner, and it was so for the next 2 days.
The night session was simply fantastic too! In fact, every session gets better as the day goes by. The Presence and power of God grows increasingly thicker and more powerfully, praise the Lord for that. At the end of the Thursday night session, we had debrief with Pastor Kenneth at the arena and were told that the hostel people need to get ready to board the bus the next morning again at 7.30am!
That night, after we were dismissed from stadium, I went out with my room-mates by cab to Shihlin night market! Hee… We wanted to go try the Shihlin deep-fried chicken, but unfortunately, the stall was closed that night. Many other stalls were also closed because of the wet weather. In the end, we chose to order food from other stalls and we ate food like oyster omelette, octopus in soup, pigs’ intestines mee sua. Susan and a few others ate smelly beancurd, which I didn’t dare to try, haha. Didn’t manage to do much shopping either cos we spent too much time eating until most of the night market shops and outlets closed shop for the night... so could only browse through some clothes shops and head back to hostel.
We reached hostel around 2am that night and hurried to wash up as fast as we could before going to dreamland. The end of a super-long and tiring day… more to come…
posted by Sabrina at 1:14 AM
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