Today at the sunday worship, a visit pastor Stephen Tong from Indonesia gave us a very good and inspiring sermon. At the very beginning he shared with us some photos of his church the Messiah Cathedral in Jakarta, Indonesia (which includes a 4600-capacity auditorium and it was completed in 2008, we were told), and talked a bit of details on the church interior, and how long it took to get the permit (a 16 years effort). Here is the fact: Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population. But their government eventually came through and approved the building permit. It is a magnificent building. The insider is even better, it even has one of the best concert hall in the world!!! You may still remember all the up-roaring and complaints that were filed against Muslim buildings near the ground zero in NYC, and in other places, (not to mention the burning just happened). Now, let's put these into context and we should ask the question: which country is more open and tolerant? USA, or Indonesia?
As a Chinese, I also dream a day that a as wonderful Christian church building would be build somewhere in China. A building is more than a million words.
Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself. -- Nixon
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