About 200 local Christians participated in the “14th Cheer Macao Parade 2024”, the city’s annual Christian parade, yesterday amid rain that lasted throughout the day.
Jointly organised by local Christian churches, the parade began with an opening ceremony at Amizade Plaza – also known as Sintra Square – at around 3.30 pm.
The event then continued with a worship session at the square before the participants walked around the city centre, cheering the people of Macau with Christian and positive messages of encouragement – including their signature slogan “Ou Mun Ka Yau” (meaning “add oil Macau” or loosely translated as “come on Macau” or “you can do it Macau”).
The parade began from Sintra Square and went through Avenida da Praia Grande towards Rua do Campo, continuing to Largo do Senado (better-known as Senado Square) via Travessa dos Anjos and Rua de São Domingos.
The Cheer Macao crowd stopped for a while at Sintra Square, where they sang Cheer Macao Parade’s theme song, before returning back to Sintra Square via Rua de São Domingos, Rua de Pedro Nolasco da Silva, Rua do Campo and Avenida de Dom João IV.
Meanwhile, various activities and games that were scheduled to be held at Sintra Square during the parade, to entertain local children and families, had to be cancelled due to the bad weather.
Upon returning to the square, some parade participants gave testimonies about their experience in joining the parade before the event concluded with a prayer over the city. The event ended just before 7:30 pm.
The Cheer Macao Parade has been held every year since 2011 with the aim to promote Christian culture and “make known the noble character of Christ”, according to the organisers.
“Cheer Macao is a time for all Christians to get together to celebrate the goodness of God and at same time to declare the abundant blessings to be poured out from Heaven to the land of Macau! I’m so glad to be part of this parade every year,” Local church worker Elizabeth Lei, a Cheer Macao volunteer during yesterday’s parade, told Good News Macau.
A Filipino migrant worker named James said, “I had not been able to join the parade for the past few years because of work so it was good to finally be able to join again, going around the city declaring God’s love over Macau. May God continue to restore Macau’s economy after the pandemic.”
He added, “God bless Macau, God bless the people, the government and the businesses in Macau. God bless the migrant workers here and all our employers too … ‘Ou Mun Ka Yau’.” (Gilbert Humphrey)
Photos: Good News Macau/Gilbert Humphrey
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