Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin will once again return to Taiwan in August to share his life testimony with youths in his parent’s country of birth; this time, he will be preaching to over 18,000 people in Taipei.
Following last year’s ‘Jeremy Lin’s Miracle Night,’ the first NBA basketball player of Taiwanese descent will be joined by Taiwanese-American pop-star Van Ness Wu and possibly Asia’s ‘king of pop’ Jay Chou. Lin will be sharing his life testimony at the gospel evangelistic conference titled “Dream Big, Be Yourself” held at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on August 18th.
The conference executive director Rev.Kuo-lun Huang said that God raised Lin to be a special vessel, allowing him to testify actively not just within the church, but also in the main-stream media.
Rev. Ko Sou-En, chairman of conference preparation committee, addressed the concerns of some churches that while Lin gives his testimony now, what if one day he becomes weak in faith and falls. Wouldn’t that bring more harm than good?
The purpose of this event is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, who supported Lin to resist against temptations on the NBA ball court, he said. “In the hands of man, there is always ‘what ifs’; only in the hands of God would there be no mistakes.”
While Lin found great success both on and off the court – making the cover of Time and Sports Illustrated and was a daily part of conversations on ESPN and received numerous endorsement offers - he said during “Jeremy Lin’s Miracle Night” that the satisfaction of his success began to fade away after the first week of Linsanity.
Lin told the Taiwanese crowd of 7,000 that “the things of this world” left him unsatisfied, and emphasized that earthly gain leaves people wanting more, but God satisfies completely.
“The thing I learned through Linsanity is that there is nothing that this world can offer that will provide me with true joy, fulfillment and satisfaction. There’s only one thing that can truly and eternally satisfy you, that’s Jesus Christ,” he said, evoking applause from the audience.
Of the 18,000 seats available during this year’s conference, half of them will be reserved for aboriginals, those in countryside, disadvantaged, and high-concern youths, and the junior high, high School, and college youths cared for by the churches or ministries (consisting mainly of non-Christians), said the event committee executive director. The remaining 9,000 tickets will be given to the 450 churches in Taiwan that have been issued invitations; each church can apply for 20 tickets.
The event organizers said this year’s evangelism conference is charitable in nature. The most important goal is to allow those who are socially-marginalized to hear Lin’s testimony in person, producing a positive influence. They hope that the message of never giving up on oneself despite difficult circumstances and not giving up the right to dream can be effectively brought forward to those attending the event.
Moreover, Lin has launched earlier this year his charity that is focused on supporting the disadvantaged youths in United States. In an interview with CSN Houston last month, he explained the importance of positive role models in one's life.
“For me, I know for a fact if I didn’t have certain people in my life telling me what to do, what not to do, if I didn’t have positive role models in my life, who knows where I’d be or what I’d be?” said the 24-year-old Houston Rockets point guard. “It’s a big part of why I’m able to be in the NBA today. It’s because of people that are around me.”
According to Christian Tribune, for every ten participating youths, there must be one Christian counselor (pastor) leading the group. Lun emphasized that ‘Jeremy Lin’s Youth Night’ shouldn’t become just like any other ‘celebrity-chasing’ concert.
Application for free tickets has become available since June 26. While no donations will be accepted on the day of the event, the organizing committee will hold a fundraising banquet on July 20th in order to raise the event’s budget of $13 million NTD.
To donate, register, or apply for online broadcast, the phone number to call is 02-23223982、0911246175 or email 8182013service@gmail.com.
