by David Demian
I have just returned home to Canada and I want to share with you about the February 28th national repentance in Taiwan, for which many of you have been fasting and praying.
I was amazed to see between fifteen and twenty thousand people from all the regions of Taiwan, many different denominations, ethnic backgrounds (Mandarin, Taiwanese, aboriginal people and Hakka) and ages, as well as many internationals stream into the Lingko stadium just outside of Taipei, for the start of the twelve-hour prayer meeting. Immediately you could sense that the people were of a genuine spirit, coming to meet with the Lord and seek His face with humble hearts.
A huge map of Taiwan was situated in the middle of the floor in front of the stage. Early on in the day, the leaders called for those who had a heart for Taiwan to come and take up positions around the map. I was deeply touched to see the number of children and youth who ran forward to stand on guard for their nation.
After a time of worship, Pastor Nathaniel Chow, a father figure in the Taiwanese church, stood to address the crowd. Pastor Chow heads the Bread of Life church in Taipei, which has planted over 100 churches worldwide, including congregations in Vancouver and Toronto. He shared about the need of Taiwan for repentance and encouraged the people to come corporately to the Lord with a humble heart for the sake of the nation’s destiny.
I was then given the privilege to share. I felt the Lord had a simple message: that He wanted to see the people of Taiwan desperate for Him. I called the nation to cry out that His glory would not pass them by but that He would not only visit, but come to dwell in Taiwan.
I felt to call forth all those who had come from other countries to stand with Taiwan to come on the stage. I was so blessed as hundreds of people came up from many nations including Hong Kong, Japan, India, Singapore, the Netherlands, England, the United States and of course, our Canadian team. As we declared God’s glory would come to Taiwan, this international delegation led the whole body of believers in a time of deep travail for God’s purposes to be fulfilled in Taiwan. As we were weeping before the Lord, Pastor Chow called all the pastors and leaders of Taiwan to come weeping on the map of Taiwan. As we sensed a measure of breakthrough, suddenly thousands of Taiwanese broke into an impassioned song proclaiming Jesus Christ as King of King and Lord of Lords over their nation. When they finished singing, hundreds of Taiwanese believers spontaneously rushed the stage to hug and to bless those from other nations who had joined with them.
Andrew Ko, a former national broadcaster who is now pastoring a church in Taiwan, has been traveling the nation holding repentance meetings in more than 25 cities over the last month. He shared about how God had convicted him personally about having a passion for Taiwan. Pastor Ko challenged other pastors to come forward to commit their hearts to see the glory of God come to the nation and to lay hold of God for the destiny of Taiwan to be fulfilled.
Brian Liu, pastor of a growing church in Taipei, challenged the body of believers that God cannot deal with the idols in the land, until we deal with the idolatry in our own hearts and in the church. As he issued a call for personal repentance, thousands responded.
With the ground thus prepared, Tony Tseng, head of Taiwan’s 24x7 Christian broadcasting station (Good TV) began to call for the nation to repent corporately of its idolatry. Tony invited the intercessors to come forward and many came, wailing, with tears streaming down their faces. What happened next I can only describe as a sovereign moment. The spirit of the Lord Himself came to the church of Taiwan, in their corporate humility, weakness and brokenness, and released a deep spirit of travail and genuine repentance. People wept in desperation that God would forgive the church for its idolatry that He might turn His face back towards the nation. When this wave of repentance subsided, there was a perceptible release in the spirit and we could all sense the Lord was pleased with the sacrifice of repentance offered to Him by the remnant of the church in Taiwan.
The prayer meeting continued with times of identificational repentance between various people groups in the body of Christ in Taiwan. In this time, Pastor Chow led the crucial repentance for “228”. February 28th, a national memorial day in Taiwan, recalls a time of pain and bloodshed in Taiwan’s history when thousands of people lost their lives in clashes between the Mandarin and Taiwanese people.
During this time of healing, an Indian pastor also repented for India’s role in releasing idols into Taiwan. And a delegation of pastors from Japan repented for atrocities suffered by Taiwan during a period of colonization by the Japanese.
The whole day was sealed with corporate communion led by Pastor Gao, a well-known leader of the Presbyterian Church. Communion was followed with a joyful dancing celebration led by the Taiwanese native people dressed in their native costumes.
We left the meeting with an excitement in our spirits that Taiwan has embarked on an important journey with the Lord that we trust will continue. We are so grateful to God for the humble spirit of the leaders of Taiwan that allowed them to lay aside their differences to corporately seek the Lord for the welfare of their nation. We were also deeply touched at the hearts of every believer who traveled, near and far, to wait upon the Lord and honour His name.
And finally, our Watchmen team and the leaders in Taiwan were overwhelmed by the response of the Canadian church to the call that was issued for fasting and prayer. We received emails from Whitehorse to Cardigan Bay, PEI and many points in between, as intercessors and even whole churches committed to fast and pray for Taiwan in these critical days. I have no doubt in my heart that your prayers and the prayers of many other intercessors worldwide were instrumental in turning the tide for Taiwan. Thank you for your obedience to serve as midwives to help bring to birth God’s purposes for Taiwan, thereby helping Canada to fulfill our mandate and destiny: to bring healing to the nations of the world.