During the 2024 Paris Olympics, a short-term mission worship team from Taiwan's Bunun Tribe participated in the Paris Praise Festival, sharing Taiwanese indigenous music and culture. They invited people from around the world to worship God together, showcasing the power of faith and the beauty of their culture.
As the 2024 Paris Olympics began, an international event combining music, culture, and faith kicked off in the French capital. Organized by the Paris La Défense Evangelical Church (église Protestante évangélique Paris La Défense), the Paris Praise Festival was held during the Olympics, aiming to spread God's love to people from all over the world through music and worship.
According to reports from the Bunun Tribe, the worship team, composed of members from the Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation's Tribal Theater and the "Minang to the Ends of the Earth" team from the National Taiwan University of Arts, was invited to participate. The Bunun Minang Taiwan West Europe short-term mission team traveled to Western Europe to share Taiwanese indigenous music and culture with people from around the world and lead them in worshiping God.
The worship team, "Minang Bunun Taiwan West Europe Mission Team," was led by Kiwa, the daughter of Pastor Pai Kuang-Sheng, the founder of the Bunun Tribe. The team included three members from the Minang group at Taipei National University of the Arts and three members from the Bunun Tribe worship team. In addition to participating in the Paris Praise Festival in France, they also planned to visit Denmark, Germany, and Belgium for short-term mission activities.
The Paris Praise Festival is an international event that has been held during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, allowing Christian tourists and musicians from around the world to worship and praise God in their native languages. This year, the organizers focused particularly on evangelizing to non-believers, planning to perform in outdoor plazas or subway stations in Paris to attract crowds and engage in one-on-one evangelistic conversations.
To prepare for this international short-term mission trip, the worship team held a special concert on July 1 at the "Tribal Theater." The event, named "Paris Olympics Worship Short-term Mission Send-off Concert," was a grand occasion of cross-national and cross-cultural evangelism and worship.
The concert aimed to convey God's love through music and worship and to express the spirit of Taiwanese indigenous people through cultural and musical dance creations. The organizers sincerely invited churches from the Hualien and Taitung areas to join the event. Pastors from the Taitung Joint Prayer Meeting blessed and prayed for the Western Europe short-term mission journey.
Participating in the Paris Praise Festival is believed to be not only a musical feast but also an opportunity for the exchange of faith and culture, showcasing the beautiful culture and profound faith of Taiwanese indigenous people to the world. As the Paris Olympics combine music, culture, and faith, this international event is set to be a highlight during the Olympics.
