2010 《未得之地》
From COCM Council Chairman The chief resource for any mission is its staff or personnel. Of course, a mission needs prayer and financial support and every kind of volunteers to pursue the vision and fulfil its mission statement. But however persuasive these are and clear the accompanying strategy, a missionary body is going nowhere without recruits. A leader needs a good team who follow the lead given. Like a flock that follows a good shepherd they know and trust. This past year some superb work has been done to refocus the vision of the mission and prioritise the mission’s strategies. The accompanying literature is crisp and clear and needs to be close at hand to pass on to those whose interest in the COCM is being stirred. This annual report is being published with the aspiration that it will not only interest those unfamiliar with the mission’s activities but encourage those who have supported the mission over many years. We owe so much to you, our supporters, and take opportunity to thank you and discharge our responsibility to be accountable to you.
ISSUE
6
Annual Report
INSIDE Reaching the Chinese to reach Europe ~Rev. Henry Lu Coming and going Editorial Committee Financial report Editorial Committee
That our God has not been unmindful of our prayers we trust will be self evident in all you read here. As the council's chairman, I take much encouragement from the arrival of a good flow of new staff members, all of whom exhibit great gifts and a passion for the challenge before the mission to match them. We need many more and soon, for the day of opportunity stands wide open for effective gospel work, but as the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “there are many who oppose me.” (1 Corinthians 16v9) The battle for the truth of the good news, which is all about the Lord Jesus Christ, is a fierce one in Europe today. Secularists have become confident; the prophets of science bolster atheists; global terrorists are more daring, while the church across Europe sleeps with complacency and lack of urgency. At the same time, the number of Chinese students in Europe’s schools and universities increases, but the duration of their stay has become shorter. After a long time of gestation, Chinese professionals are now bursting on to the higher echelons of all professions, businesses and government. COCM is justly proud of the fruit of years of gospel work to see many of those occupying positions of significant authority and influence are mature Christian men and women. But as Paul knew well, they will not go without opposition, and perhaps more so COCM staff who sow the seeds of gospel truth and call the Chinese to welcome Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. The mission is confident that its work will spill over to blessing to the indigenous peoples of Europe, and is already praying and preparing workers to cross cultures to reach them for the kingdom of God and the reviving of the churches that first sent out the good news to China and the countries of East Asia. There is a desire to repay the debt they owe for the dedication of the army of European missionaries that brought their ancestors freedom from sin and death. A cloud as small as a man’s hand is on the horizon and the rains will surely come, for God is faithful to the prayers of those on other continents for Europe to be returned to its gospel roots. It is not for nothing that the mission still keeps as its mission song, written by a former COCM chairman, Bishop Frank Houghton, “Facing a task unfinished.” As members sing that the task drives them to their knees, we covet your intercessions alongside theirs for the mission’s advance.
Rev.
神恩澤僑胞 福音遍全歐
John Wallis Reaching the Chinese to Reach Europe
1
《未得之地》
Our Vision
Mature Chinese believers working together throughout Europe to share the good news of Jesus Christ through Bible-believing churches which serve local communities, and win people of all nations to Christ.
Our Mission
In fruitful partnership with like-minded churches and para-church organisations: ■ Evangelising the Chinese in Europe. ■ Equipping and discipling believers to mature in Christ, take responsibility in Christian service through local churches and be God's servants to a needy world. ■ Encouraging and supporting church and mission leaders to partner in mission, pass on the good news of salvation to people intra-culturally and cross-culturally throughout Europe and beyond.
COCM Strategy
Evangelising
Evangelise the ethnic Chinese in Europe with a higher priority for the significant groups that are least reached by existing churches and para-church organisations. Encourage new cross-cultural evangelism models to reach people speaking local languages. Priority target groups: ■ Mainland Chinese students ■ New immigrants in Continental Europe and UK ■ Local language speaking ethnic Chinese
Equipping
Support developing and established churches with training programmes through COCM Training Ministry. Recruit and train potential missionaries and pastoral workers through a practical ministry training programme.
Encouraging
1 2
Utilise the COCM mission centre as a key base for evangelism, prayer support, training, church consultation and mission mobilisation. Develop communication mechanism to effectively share our vision, mission and strategies. Build partnerships with like-minded churches and para-church organisations via innovative programmes. Send out missionaries, provide and share resources, provide financial and prayer support, be a good support for front line mission.
Reaching the Chinese to reach Europe ‘the eyes of the LORD our God are continually on us from the beginning of the year to its end’ , and we invite you to join with us in prayer. May God be our sovereign God and continue to lead us in the journey ahead. May He continue to call more and more brothers and sisters who share the same burden to come and join our army for missions. Together we shall reach the Chinese to reach Europe!
COCM General Director Rev.
This has been the first year of COCM’s new strategy in missions. In all three areas of our strategic priorities – Evangelising, Equipping and Encouraging, we have seen progress in various ways. Although Europe is a vast mission field and the workers are few, we have experienced first-hand the abundant provision and miraculous blessing of our God over this past year as it is now fast drawing to a close.
Evangelising COCM began to organise a year-end Mandarin camp eight years ago, and we have seen dramatic increase in attendance over the past few years. Last year’s student camp attracted more than 150 campers. Among them over 30 young students made the decision to accept Christ. While we had to put many people on a long waiting list, this attendance already exceeded our facility’s capacity. The short-term mission team coming to support the camps every year has also grown from only a handful of people to nearly 40 members from different Chinese churches in the USA. For a long time COCM has placed a high level of strategic importance on reaching students from Mainland China
A group of students at 2009 Year-End Mandarin Camp
1 3
《未得之地》
2009 Year-End Mandarin Camp
with the gospel. Once these young people return to their churches or fellowships – and ultimately to Mainland China – they have the potential to testify for the gospel effectively in their local areas. In the light of such urgent need, this May we established a COCM Gospel Team. The purpose of the team is to both facilitate and broaden our scope for reaching out and connecting with our primary target group – Mainland Chinese students. The Gospel Team travels to different campuses to share the blessings of the gospel with students. Some of the team members are young people from various campuses who volunteer to take part. Before being sent out, we provide them with training and equipping. Their own faith is fired up through this partnership in the gospel, and they are encouraged to serve in their local churches more actively so that many more students can come to the Lord and follow Him. In August this year, we hosted our annual PHAT (Praise Him All Together) Camp. It is worth mentioning that this was the second year the whole camp was organised by local youth leaders from all over the UK. The weekend before the PHAT Camp, training was provided
Short-term mission teams from USA serving at 2009 Christmas Madarin Camp and Year-End Mandarin Camp
for these youth leaders at COCM Mission Centre to prepare them to minister to the younger generation of believers during the camp. This year more than ten young people made the decision to put their faith in the Lord, and over 80 reaffirmed their commitments to live for Him. May God continue to lead this generation of native English speaking Chinese believers. May they not only become a force for renewal and revival in the Church, but also a catalyst to stir up second-generation Chinese believers for missions. The Chinese churches and fellowships established and supported by COCM throughout the UK have responded positively to changes in this generation. We have a long term co-worker stationed in Perth and the surrounding regions of Scotland whose ministry extends to restaurant ministry and prison-visitation. Another co-worker based in Dundee and Stirling focuses on evangelistic outreach to overseas students. The Chinese churches and fellowships planted in Bradford, Hull, Lincoln, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester, Colchester, Reading, Exeter and Brighton have all seen new growth and development.
A Gospel meeting organised by COCM Gospel Team and the local Chinese Christian Fellowship at University of East Anglia in Norwich
1 4
Rev. Henry Lu encouraging the brothers working as construction workers in Romania
Hull Chinese Student Christian Fellowship
Yuen Yee Ting (middle), our coworker stationed in Perth, with brothers and sisters at Fife Chinese Christian Fellowship
The Chinese churches and fellowships are able to be the first point of contact for a variety of people groups in their local communities; aside from the large number of overseas students from Mainland China, there are also those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. Some churches have also begun to conduct Sunday worship services in English, as the English speaking second-generation Chinese believers are growing up and gradually becoming more mature in their faith. In addition, an increasing number of new Chinese immigrants are arriving to settle in different regions in the UK. Whereas in the past these people would be exclusively restaurant workers, now the professions in which new immigrants are engaging have become more and more diverse. The Mandarin speaking people group in the UK is seeing a yearly increase. In order to assess and respond to the changing mission field promptly, we must have partnership with more mature Chinese churches and fellowships. The churches are not just salt and light in their local areas, but they are our vital partners and supporters in spreading the gospel throughout Europe. Therefore, we have built up our network with many
Missionary Simon Tam (right, front row) with brothers and sisters at Basel Chinese Christian Church in Switzerland
TEE at Chinese Church in London (Croyden Congregation)
Chinese churches and fellowships over the years. We not only send our missionary workers to help with their ministries, but also encourage them to be our mission partners. Apart from the ministry in the UK, we continue to send missionary workers to Continental Europe on a regular basis. Currently, our main areas of ministry include Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, South France and Romania.
Equipping In terms of the ministry of Equipping, we are facing huge challenges at present time and in the near future will need to go through a review and restructure of our residential training programme at COCM Bible College. This July, the Bile College held its last graduation celebration. We give thanks to God for all the brothers and sisters who have graduated and are now serving the Lord in churches in many different locations. Meanwhile, our TEE (Theological Education by Extension) correspondence course continues to develop and expand as the number of applicants increases each
Den Bosch Chinese Christian Church in Netherland
Brothers and sisters at Stirling Chinese Christian Fellowship
Leaders of PHAT Camp
A Gospel camp organised by the local Chinese Church in Helsinki and COCM Gospel Team to welcome the new students
1 5
《未得之地》
An Open Day celebrating COCM 60th Anniversary at our mission centre in Milton Keynes, UK
COCM staff at Hong Kong Office
year. Many churches and fellowships have seen men and women from their congregations being built up through taking the TEE course and better prepared to get involved in local ministry, and we hope that it will help believers from more and more churches to take root in God’s Word. Aside from regular long-term theological training, over the past year COCM has also made good use of our mission centre by conducting regular Bible seminars and other types of short-term training sessions. Our aim is to provide a platform for brothers and sisters hungry to know God to fellowship and share so they can grow together. It is our dream to see that not only these young people are grounded in the Word, but they will also be well equipped disciples with the potential to become the future driving force of mission. We will explore how to further develop our model for equipping and training. Our desire is for God to continue to use us in equipping the leaders and co-workers from established churches and fellowships. And we pray that God will also guide us to provide more opportunities for potential missionaries and pastoral workers to be trained and equipped so they will be ready to partner with us in the work of the Gospel.
Lawrence Chen, chairman of COCM Canada Borad, attending staff retreat this year
Encouraging This year is COCM’s 60 th anniversary. From around the world, our overseas boards have taken the opportunity to organise different activities to celebrate this special occasion, to mobilise and encourage participation and support for the mission of COCM. A 60th anniversary thanksgiving banquet was held in Malaysia in July where over 700 supporters both old and new gathered together to celebrate COCM’s 60 years labouring in the mission field; while in September, over 100 friends from different churches across the UK came to our mission centre in Milton Keyes for an open day of sharing and celebrating God’s faithfulness over the past 60 years. Our Hong Kong Office also organised a thanksgiving and vision sharing dinner in October to share our vision and mission strategy with many of our supporters, and at the same time to mobilise many others to partner with us in the future. Last year, COCM welcomed short-term mission teams from 13 churches in America, and we expect to have even more this year. When the short term mission team members come to see the work of God in the mission
COCM Bible College 2010 graduation ceremony and thanksgiving service
1 6
COCM USA Board
field of Europe, they return to their home churches with a burden for the spiritual needs of Europe. Through their personal testimonies, Chinese Churches in America are gradually developing a greater concern for the work of the Gospel in Europe. In mid-term mission, we received a number of workers from Hong Kong this year. They have had the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the mission field in the UK and Continental Europe, and to experience first-hand the urgent needs in these places. A few Chinese churches in the UK have also invited us to their Sunday worship services to share the vision of COCM, as well as the development and needs of our ministry. Because of this we have been able to encourage Chinese believers in different churches to actively engage in mission. In April, the Milton Keynes Chinese Christian Church joined with us in a short-term mission trip to Finland. We hope to have more opportunity in the future to partner with other churches and mission organisations to spread the Gospel. This year we have developed and printed a new brochure for COCM and a new set of promotional materials. The COCM Link publication has also had
a new design. Our hope is to provide more up-to-date communication materials in print as well as in multi-media format so we will be able to share our vision, mission, and strategy with more churches and mission partners in a wider area. In this way we can create more partnership opportunities with like minded churches and mission organisations. Our plans for next year will be to continue to push the ministry forward in line with our mission strategy. We thank God that ‘the eyes of the LORD our God are continually on us from the beginning of the year to its end’ (Deuteronomy 11:12), and we invite you to join with us in prayer. May God be our sovereign God and continue to lead us in the journey ahead. May He continue to call more and more brothers and sisters who share the same burden to come and join our army for missions. Together we shall reach the Chinese to reach Europe!
COCM supporters and returnees in Singapore
COCM Standing banners & brochure & Link COCM 60 th Anniversary banquet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1 7
Coming and going ● Eugene Chan joined COCM in March as our Finance Officer. ● Missionaries Gordon and Maggie Lam joined COCM in May.
They are currently based in COCM Headquarters. Their main focus is on student ministry. ● Missionaries Lawrence and Clara Sin joined COCM in May and are based in Birmingham. They focus on helping the student ministry of churches and fellowships in the Midlands. ● Yutian Li joined COCM in August as a COCM Missionary Trainee. ● Rev. and Mrs. Tiger Liaw joined COCM in September and are based in north London. Their ministry is to reach out to the university students in north London. ● Our dear sister Mary Wang continues to live at Manor Farm in Somerset. Her husband Ernest has been the primary carer for her in an excellent way. Throughout the year, various Council members and staff workers have gone to visit Mary and Ernest in their home. We are glad to know that Mary's physical health condition is quite stable. We continue to remember our beloved sister Mary Wang and pray for her full recovery. ● Yuk Shan Mo, our chef, left COCM in January because of family needs. ● Kevin Wu, Mission Centre facilities coordinator, left COCM at the beginning of February to start an auto repair business. ● Samantha See, our fulltime bookroom volunteer, went back to Malaysia in February after working with COCM for 7 months. ● Gracelim Mak, our missionary staff worker in training ministry, left COCM in February to study theology in Edinburgh.
Financial Matters
HEADQUARTERS General Director: Rev Henry Lu 2 Padstow Avenue Fishermead Milton Keynes MK6 2ES England UK Tel：+44-(0)1908-234-100 Fax：+44-(0)1908-234-200 E-mail：cocm@cocm.org.uk Web Site：www.cocm.org.uk
HONG KONG OFFICE Rev Tang Chi-Ming Rm522, Metro Centre II, 21 Lam Hing Street, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel：+852-2549-5288 Fax：+852-2549-5155 E-mail：cocmhk@cocm.org.hk Web Site：www.cocm.org.hk Chairman: Rev Cham Nai-Bun
COCM Treasurer - Derek Hall
We would like to share with you our financial information. We are grateful to God’s abundant blessing in many ways that we are able to provide funding and resources for all of our ministries. Even though it has been a period of difficult financial times, our mission partners from around the world continue to support us through their faithful prayers, provision through sacrificial giving, and active participation. In 2009 we finished the year with a small deficit and this trend has continued throughout this year. I would like to explain to you how this has arisen. We have a policy that all our missionary staff workers should raise their own support which is usually from either their home church or churches that have adopted them, as well as from other personal sponsorship. However, this is not always possible particularly for those coming to join us from China. They do not have a home church and will need a long time to look for churches to adopt and support them financially. In view of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel we believe it has been right to take the approach of bringing them on board while helping them to find mission partners for long term support. Here you will also find our budget for next year. We would ask you to prayerfully consider whether you and your church are able to adopt one of our missionaries by providing regularly prayer and financial support. Your partnership in the Gospel is strategically important to our mission. Thank you for your faithfulness in the Lord. Percentage of revenue in each region Currency: GBP (year ended 31 December)
MALAYSIA OFFICE Mr David Liew Unit 697-2-2, Desa Kiara, Jalan Damansara, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel：+60-(0)3-7954-5884 E-mail：davidckliew@gmail.com cocmmsia@gmail.com Web Site：www.cocmsea.org Chairman：Mr Bryan Lee
SINGAPORE BOARD Chairman：Mr Alan Wong 420 North Bridge Road #05-07 North Bridge Centre Singapore 188727 Tel：+65-6466-7678 E-mail：cocmspore@gmail.com davidckliew@gmail.com Web Site：www.cocmsea.org
USA BOARD Chairman：Rev Daniel Chan c/o Lily Chuang 38 Stonegate Drive Wethersfield CT 06109, USA
2009
Tel：+1-860-257-3986 9%
E-mail：info@cocmusa.org
4% 1%
Web Site：www.cocmusa.org 40%
19%
CANADA VANCOUVER BOARD Chairman: Mr Lawrence Chen P.O. Box 32528, Richmond, B.C. V6X 3S1 CANADA
27%
Tel：+1-778-591-0109 E-mail：lrlchen@telus.net Web Site：www.cocmcanada.org
2010 11% 6% 1% 40%
Editorial Committee： Rev. Henry Lu．Ling Lu．Min Yin． Yu-Mei Wu
22%
Translators： Paul Golf 20%
● Hong Kong ● UK and Europe ● USA ● Australia and Canada ● S.E. Asia ● Other Ministry Income
COCM Link is a bi-monthly publication reporting on the work among Chinese in the UK and Europe, free upon request. We welcome you to visit our website at
www.cocm.org.uk
Published by the: Chinese Overseas Christian Mission. Registered Charity No.232651 No.1135892 Company No.7106567