WEEKLY TOPICAL

To give urban children and adults a cross-cultural experience, 49 students and teachers of Sunday School and Weekend Learning Camp at Hsin-Pak-Tau Church of Taipei Presbytery were invited to visit Stacis Church of Tayal Presbytery in Tatong Township, Yilan County on August 10.

As typhoon Gaemi hit very hard at Yan-Shui town in Tainan, bringing in serious floods and devastating damages to houses and infrastructures, many elderly people's assistive devices were also soaked and spoiled in the water at their own houses.

With a series of activities, entitled as "Tainan Together, Connecting the World", the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Tainan City Government celebrates the 400th anniversary of the founding of Tainan City in 1624.

As Typhoon Gaemi brought into Taiwan a devastating heavy-rainfalls with multiple landslides, the casualties up-to-date are 10 people died, 2 people missing, and about 897 people were injured on July 28th. To respond such big-scale natural disaster, the PCT Church and Society Committee immediately set up a first-aid task force, code-named as "Blue Bird No. 1", at the Yen-Shuei Church of Chiayi Presbytery to help and relocate the affected people living at the southern bank of Bazhang River.

The 2024 annual meeting of the Society of Asian Biblical Studies (SABS) was held at Yu-Shan Theological College and Seminary (YSTCS) for a five-day assembly from July 10 to 15. Nearly a hundred scholars from more than 17 countries participated, including the Asian countries, the United States, Canada and many other countries.

The Mission Ministry Committee of Payuan Presbytery held a series of training sessions for church elders and deacons of local churches. One training session for northern Pintung churches was held at Tjavadran Church on July 13th.

An orientation meeting for the "I Love Taiwan 2024 Mission Camp" (a.k.a. ILT Mission), organized by the PCT Youth Ministry Committee, was held at Our Lady of Providence High School in New Taipei City from July 4th to 6th, attracting 37 Taiwanese youths and 23 ecumenical youths from six countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India and New Zealand, to participate into the acclaimed evangelical mission.

The PCT Women's Ministry Committee held its annual "National Women Retreat Camp" at Kaohsiung Branch of Chunghwa Telecom Training Institute from June 27 to 29, 2024. It’s the first time ever for the PCT Women Retreat Camp to rally on the theme of Christian arts.

Nearly 10,000 people gathered again on the streets surrounding the Legislative Yuan from June 19th to 21st to carry on the "Blue Bird Action" campaign against the overreach of the Legislative Yuan's powers. In a vote on June 21st, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) jointly rejected the Executive Yuan’s motion of reconsidering the unconstitutional and inconsistent bill passed by the Legislative Yuan by 62 to 51 votes on May 28th.

To care for people after the Hualien earthquake erupted on April 3rd, a charity fair entitled as "Hualien Shalom Concert" was hosted by the PCT Church and Society Committee and co-operated with the Taiwan Association of Community Advancement at Hualien Liberty Square on June 15th.