Day 5 - Post Emerge

People queuing to enter the school hall for service.

15 July, 10 AM - Post Emerge we visited New Life Church for their Sunday service today. A church with a humble membership of 200 in year 2000. Today, they are a thriving 1400 strong church.

This church has outgrown its premises - it holds its service at a primary school 复兴国小 air-conditioned hall next to its building.

Eric and Grace in the school hall.

Pastor Kong shared the message on "Being approved by God".

This is definitely a church that has a can-do attitude. Rev. Abraham Ku, the senior pastor, is really admirable. He has proven that age does not restrict the change of mindset - as long as one is willing.

Poh and the CHC worship team led the Praise and Worship. Shortly after, some Taiwanese youths came up for a quick sharing session of how Emerge has benefitted them. They were representatives of the 200 participanting churches - each from different churches and parts of Taiwan.

Among them was a guy who was deeply moved by what Ps. Kong shared in Emerge. He shared about his desire to excel in studies - amidst the challenge of mastering 繁体字 as he was from Mainland China. Everyone clapped and cheered him on. It was really touching to see how these youths have new zeal of strength - definitely worth all the hard work.

Eric in front of New Life Church entrance!

Eric and Grace with the 'signature' New Life church wall!

Ps. Kong went on to share the message of "Being Approved by God". Comparing between the two Bible characters of Peter and Judas - we learnt why God approved and accepted Peter while not Judas since both have be betrayed Christ.

While both have the anointing of God upon their lives, it is important to note that it does not necessarily equate to the approval of God. What matters really is our brokeness and relationship with Christ. God is looking for people whose hearts are open to correction, willing to bend and listen to the Holy Spirit's prompting and guidance.

After the service ended, we visited the premises of New Life Church. It is very new age and high tech! It's a pity the place is too small for their church now. Well .. it's a 'good' problem. In fact, they are in the midst of their own 'Arise and Build' program - to build a better and better place for God's people!

After the church visit, Eric and Grace visited Taipei 101. Having been here previously, the mission today was to get to the observatory floor at 89th level, as well as the 91st level outdoor observatory! The view is definitely awesome! At a price of 17 SGD, it's definitely worth a visit. Afterall, it's the world's tallest building for now.

The world's fastest elevators serve the guests. Traveling at 1010 m/min, we reach the 89th level at 35 secs flat. No pressure torture at both ascend and descend! The lights in the lifts dims during motion - complete with glowing 'constellation' lights from the ceiling. Magical feeling.

There is a huge structure supported in the middle of the building at 89th level. It weighs 660 tons. A crucial counter-balance mechanism to help Taipei 101 withstand adverse wind conditions that can sway the building. It's called the 'damper'. Creative Taiwanese came up with a mascot called the 'Damper Baby' and a catchy song. Just look at the soft toy Grace holding in the gift shop photo. :)

Eric and Grace with Damper Baby!

The real Damper. It has a mission that is more crucial than just being cute.

View from the 91st storey outdoor observatory.

After the great view, we headed to the Taipei 101 basement food court for a well-deserved lunch break! One would think that the food in Taipei 101 will be very expensive. Not so. One meal cost average SGD 5 - 7 with epic portions. Food tastes delicious too!

Next, we took the MRT to Ximending - the popular fashion street for some good shopping!

That's all for Day 5!

In case you are wondering, all the photos uploaded thus far are from Eric's N95 phone camera. Daphne and Grace took a whole lot of photos. Will definitely update with more photos soon!