May 2011 Dear mission partners, A young student, from Mainland China, came to study in England after he finished his first degree in Singapore. Be-‐ fore he came to the UK, he labeled himself as a free thinker and knew nothing about Christianity. Through a Chris-‐ tian friend on his course, he signed up for COCM Mandarin Easter Conference this year – Life Empowered, expect-‐ ing nothing but making some Chinese friends in this foreign land. As soon as he arrived at the conference, he was assigned to a small group. He did not know anyone in the group initially and was overwhelmed by some group members’ and STM members’ impressive achievements. But as time went on, he began to notice though these Christians have impressive worldly qualifications, they seemed to be very different and did not boast about it. Sur-‐ prisingly, when he started to share his past experience with the others in the group, he felt that he was warmly ac-‐ cepted by all in his group. It was such a relief so that he started to enjoy the teachings, the music and the outdoor activities with the others in the following days. It was through a long chat with a STM team member from the USA that he began to understand Christianity. On the last day, he decided to receive Christ as his God and Saviour. Later in his testimony on the last night, he shared with us that it was the sincere love and care from the other Christians that made him feel the love of God. His friend, who brought him to this conference, went up to the front and the two boys hugged in tears! This is only one of the life-‐changing stories among many others. Although this Easter conference was mainly for strengthening the faith of the young Christians, yet still many brothers and sisters were eager to bring their non-‐ Christian friends. I was impressed to see that most of these young people openly discussed their pains and struggles with their group mates, and the Holy Spirit was freely working among them to touch, to heal, and to transform their young lives. Please join me to pray for these young people, who will continue to open themselves to God and allow Him to build up their lives! I am also grateful to God for sending a STM team comprising of 15 people from the USA to work with us in this con-‐ ference. Although many of them have impressive qualifications, they came here with a servant attitude. Because of this, they went back home encouraged by God’s amazing work among these young students and blessed through the lives of those they served. Meanwhile, we should not forget that many of our staff workers had been silently labouring at the backstage throughout the years in different places. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy (Psalm 126:5). I believe that whatever we do for the sake of Jesus will be remembered in His kingdom and I pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out more workers to His harvest field. On 14th May, COCM will organize a Mainland Chinese Student Ministry Consultation at the mission centre. We invit-‐ ed those who are involved in this ministry from the English-‐speaking churches along with the Chinese churches. We pray that this consultation will be a fruitful one, through which we will partner with the like-‐minded churches and organizations to reach out to one of our priority target groups – Mainland Chinese students, and to advance His kingdom together! In this Easter season, our missionary Mary Ma who is based in Brighton helped to organize the play The Passion of Christ depicting Jesus’ ministry on earth, and his crucifixion and resurrection. It is particularly meaningful that it was the first time that the play was shown on the Brighton beach where Hudson Taylor received his vision from God to start China Inland Mission in 1865. During the show, hundreds of thousands of people were passing by and staying around the beach. Like many other European cities, the Christian messages are also very much needed in Brighton. By organizing this show, we saw a wonderful way for our Chinese people to return the spiritual debt to the early missionaries who sacrificed their lives for our ancestors. We pray that COCM, as a Chinese Christian mission based in Europe, will not only witness to the Chinese diaspora living here but also share God’s love with the local people. We pray that the scene of Jesus being crucified on the cross for our sins will have a lasting impact on people’s lives in Brighton and beyond! Serving together in Christ, Rev. Henry Lu General Director
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