Taiwan pastors urged Christians to pray for a deadly train derailment that killed dozens of people.
Traveling from New Taipei to Taitung, the eight-carriage train which carried 494 passengers went off the rails in a tunnel north of Hualien on April 2.
According to United Daily News, the driver was among the 50 dead, while the conductor was rescued as of 12:22 am on Friday, Beijing time.
Several Taiwanese pastors appealed to believers to pray for the accident.
Andrew Kou, the senior pastor of Home of Christ Church in Taipei, invited two or three fellow Christians to give intercessory prayers.
“May the Lord be gracious to us. Pray that the Lord would have mercy on this land, that we may see that the Lord sits enthroned over the flood. We pray that He would minimize the impact of this disaster.”
Pastor Sung Yi-min from Arise and Shine Artists Association, a ministry for Christian artists, prayed that God bestows mercy, healing, and providence so that further damage would be minimized. He wished the injured receive the most comprehensive and quick care, praying God to guide the medical personnel with wisdom to handle all the situation.
Tsai Chih-Chien, president of Hualien Joint Pastors Conference and senior pastor of Mei-Lun Baptist Church, claimed in an interview that the pastors of the conference and other believers initiated a prayer campaign in the first place. The prayer requests included, “Pray for the reassurance of families of the deceased and the healing of the injured, as well as the relief of passenger congestions inside the carriages and the orderly arrangement of traffic transfers. May God grant the government wisdom to handle it as soon as possible; the passengers would not be anxious, the relief units would unify rescue operations, exclude on-site scenes, and restore clear traffic. May God give resilience and wisdom to performance units.”
- Translated by Karen Luo
