Panorama of Events |
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Report from Formosa
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The free medical service. |
Free Medical Service at a Hiking Event
[Taipei]In
September 1999, to celebrate the Sports Festival in Formosa, a 10,000-person
hiking event was held by the Sports Committee of the Executive Yuan.
And The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association was invited
to coordinate a free medical service for the event since it had provided
similar services in the past, which had been well received by the public.
The
medical service team consisted of twenty-three fellow initiates who
were medical professionals, including three traditional Chinese medical
doctors, eight Western medical doctors, three dentists, and nine nurses.
By public demand, the main services provided were blood pressure measurement
and general physical examinations. Additional services included answering
medical questions, prescribing medicine, providing health and hygiene
information, eye and dental examinations and treatment, urine tests,
abdominal ultra-sonograms, and electrocardiograms. New medical equipment
was used in this most recent medical service. Moreover, portable dental
equipment was purchased especially for this event and was popular among
patients.
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Master's
free sample booklets and News magazines were prepared for the public
and were all taken within half an hour.
Summer Camp for Destitute Students
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Students receiving
financial aid from the Chinese Fund for Children and Families
enjoy a trip to Leefoo Village. |
[
Keelung]Junior high school students receiving aid from the Chinese
Fund for Children and Families/ Formosa Keelung enjoyed a rare opportunity
to visit the Leefoo Village in Hsinchu on August 22 during their three-day
summer camp, jointly held by The Supreme Master Ching Hai International
Association Keelung Center and the Chinese Fund for Children and Families.
Considering the fact that these students seldom have the opportunity
to go on outings, The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association
Keelung Center especially offered financial help for this trip to bring
them some pleasure.
According
to the chief delegate of the Chinese Fund for Children and Families,
such excursions had previously been funded by business enterprises or
private charity organizations, but fund-raising had not been easy this
year. Two weeks before the summer camp, the organization was still troubled
by a shortage of funds, when initiates from The Supreme Master Ching
Hai International Association Keelung Center approached it and offered
their help, which not only solved its financial problem, but also made
the summer camp more interesting.
Tainan Hsinhua Center Inaugurated
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| The Hsinhua Center is inaugurated with lion and dragon dance performances. | The Tainan Chorus conveys many beautiful spiritual songs to the audience. |
[
Tainan] During a visit to Hsinhua Center in Tainan three years
ago, Master advised the disciples on how to build a local Center and
plant greenery. She also instructed that the construction project be
completed within three years. True enough, on August 8 of this year,
an inaugural ceremony marking the completion of the three-year project
was held at the main hall, which Master said should be built to provide
shelter from wind and rain.
A
number of non-initiates employed to provide technical assistance shared
stories of visions they had beheld during the construction process.
Some saw the manifestation body of Master blessing the Center and supervising
the construction work, while others beheld Quan Yin Bodhisattva towering
above them as She sat on the open lecture platform.
The
inauguration was scheduled for August 8. However, heaven tested the
faith of the Tainan disciples with torrential downpours that continued
for three whole weeks. On the eve of the inaugural ceremony, a typhoon
struck southern Formosa, but the heavy rain did not deter the fellow
initiates from working hard to get everything ready for the thousands
of fellow disciples who would arrive at the Center for group meditation
the next day.
On
August 8, initiates arrived at Hsinhua Center amidst a heavy downpour
and gusty winds. The sky was overcast, except for a clear patch of sky
right above the Center. There, fellow practitioners saw heavenly Saints
showering their blessings on the Center. A coach driver who had borrowed
a motorbike to ride to a nearby town was met by heavy rain as soon as
he rode into the hilly region off the premises. Only the Hsinhua Center
and the nearby vicinity were spared the rain.
While
the Tainan kitchen staff prepared a sumptuous meal for fellow practitioners
who had come from all over Formosa, local disciples presented an excellent
entertainment program for the audience. This included singing and dancing
by young initiates, as well as singing, dancing, and musical recitals
by grown-ups. The Tainan Chorus, which everyone had missed for a long
time, appeared on stage to entertain the audience with many beautiful
spiritual songs.
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A lively performance by young initiates from Taichung. |
Several
songs were adapted from Master's poem anthology "Silent Tears", with
music composed by fellow practitioners. Other songs were composed and
lyrics written by initiates. While some participants were talented in
music, others were housewives who knew little about music, yet were
able to create very elegant and inspiring melodies based on tunes they
had hummed while doing their laundry. This was a profound demonstration
of their intense love for and gratitude toward Master.
As fellow practitioners
enjoyed the wonderful food and performance, a blissful atmosphere set
in at the Center without being affected by the typhoon. The rain started
to fall only as the curtain fell on the entertainment program. In the
afternoon, fellow initiates meditated together in the newly built main
hall. As soon as they left, the rain came down and persisted for another
week before stopping. The wet weather lasted almost a month. Yet the
sky above the Center was clear and fine for a few hours on the opening
day, allowing practitioners to enjoy the program, and the opening ceremony
to be completed smoothly. Only initiates who had participated in the
entire construction project could appreciate the wonder behind such
a miracle.
Summer Camp and Birthday Party
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A lively singing
and dance program during the birthday celebration party at Laiyi
Center, Formosa |
[
Kaoping] Toward the end of August, the Laiyi Center in southern
Formosa organized a summer camp for children and a birthday party for
initiates, while the book circulation area was redecorated to exhibit
Master's Celestial Clothes and Jewelry, and other creative artworks.
The birthday celebrations included several entertainment programs; and
the young participants sang and danced under the guidance of the sister
who had organized the summer camp. These programs made the event more
amusing and lively.
At
the end of this first summer camp to be held this year, the young initiates
demonstrated in their reports the team spirit and rapport that had developed
among themselves during their training at the camp. One little initiate
received an award for love in recognition of his consideration of the
hard work of the sister who worked with the children, by taking the
initiative and offering her a soybean drink. The summer camp and birthday
party ended with the singing of the birthday song and the cutting of
a cake in an atmosphere full of Master's love and blessing.
Sri
Lanka