From May 19 to 24, the Bible Ministry Exhibition
of the Church in China being held in the Second-Ponce de
Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta attracted 4,000 visitors
within the 6 days. At the noon of May 25, CCC delegation
held an appreciation luncheon for the successful completion
of the Exhibition. On behalf of CCC/TSPM, Rev. Deng Fucun
extended sincere gratitude to Atlanta Regional Hosting Committee
and the Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church for their great
support to the Exhibition. Rev. David Sap, the senior pastor
of the Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church delivered an
ardent speech. He said: ¡°This is a wonderful moment yet
very sad. The only thing I want to say is that you won't
leave.¡± Every one present could feel the reluctance to be
apart. Rev. Cao Shengjie presented a specially made crystal
with words ¡°The Lord is my shepherd¡± to every American guest
that attended the luncheon and she also gave all the donations
for Mr. He Niu's paintings to the Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist
Church.
In retrospect, there were many moving
stories during the Exhibition. The Second-Ponce de Leon
Baptist Church offered the Family Life Center for the Exhibition
which was really a great help and support. Since the opening,
about 100 volunteers came to help with the registration
and sending out materials, etc. Among them, the eldest was
87 years old. Even Mrs. Sapp also came to the Exhibition
hall to be a volunteer. Mr. Tom Jack helped a lot with the
Exhibition layout and logistics. Although he is over 70
years old, Mr. Tom Jack was always the earliest to come
and the latest to leave. He offered much assistance. For
instance, in order to let the visitors know more clearly
about the Exhibition, Mr. Jack specially made a display
route. Before the closing, he also asked a sister of his
church to prepare Chinese food for the delegation. Mr. Dee
Williams who was responsible for receiving our delegation
spent overnight before our departure to make a special album
and a disk of all the events of the Exhibition. Those were
very touching memories.
Many American Christians came to visit
the Exhibition and showed their support to the Exhibition.
Mr. Bill Conard, Vice President of International Ministries
of BGEA paid a special visit to the Exhibition in Atlanta
and brought us greetings from Mr. and Mrs. Billy Graham.
We ask him to pass our special souvenirs to Mrs. Ruth Graham,
one of the Most Honorable Chairpersons. Rev. Dr. James D.
Moebes, pastor of Birmingham Baptist Church of America,
Mr. David Black, President of Eastern University, and others
all came to Atlanta for the Exhibition. An elder sister
near 80 years old who was an English teacher in China drove
for 7 to 8 hours back and forth Atlanta for the Exhibition.
She also called his friends telling them about the Bible
Ministry Exhibition and invited them to come to visit. Some
people even came every day and made special trip to come
to donate.
A volunteer is distributing materials
A volunteer whose husband is a Vietnamese
was very passionate about China. She still kept the English
newspaper which had the news about Deng Xiaoping¡¯s passing
away in 1997, and pictures and reports about Mr. Deng Xiaoping¡¯s
meeting with the former U. S. President Jimmy Carter. One
time, she and her family even got up at 4:00am and made
some traditional Chinese food for our delegation. A member
of the local hosting committee said that how beautiful it
was for the brothers and sisters in U.S. A. and in China
to share the same dream (the Exhibition) and to realize
the dream together.
A perfect full stop was written with the
prayer for the Bible Ministry Exhibition in Atlanta. Through
this vivid exhibition, the attendees felt that their horizon
was broadened. A 9-year American child wrote ¡°I love China¡±
on the book of comment. Some people even wrote that they
didn¡¯t know about churches in China and thanked us for bringing
such an exhibition. These great moments will always be in
the hearts of Christians and people of our two countries.
