2012
ISSUE
2
《未得之地》
From the General Director
INSIDE
Each year, COCM comes into contact with thousands of students through the COCM’s Volunteer Scheme collective labour of our field workers in local churches and fellowship groups on ~Editorial Committee university campuses, through the evangelistic events organized by our Gospel Team and the various camps hosted at our mission centre. These young students come to Europe to The Journey of Grace pursue knowledge, degrees and a world of opportunities. Once they accept Christ as their ~Candy Zhang personal Saviour, they are drawn to a different dream and aspiration in God’s greater plan. I am excited to see this new generation rising up to follow the footsteps of Christ. Service to Glorify God and At the same time, I also observe some common obstacles they must face. They are full of Benefit People youthful energy but they don’t have enough experience of life in society at large as well ~Mengxuan Zhang as in the wider Christian community. They have a genuine desire to serve Christ, but they lack opportunities to gain practical experience in learning how to serve, and few of them You Turn My Sky Bluer have exposure to mission. COCM as a mission organization is in a unique position to ~Melody Zhang encourage and support these young believers in Europe. In 2010, we initiated the Gospel Team project to give young believers a chance to Understanding Mission learn hands-on evangelism and to work with our missionaries during the summer. Many through Volunteer Service students joined our team enthusiastically and took part in hosting gospel events on ~Hong Zhu different campuses throughout the UK. Some went a step further and gave a longer stretch of time from a few weeks to a few months to do volunteer work at our mission centre. Our My Volunteering Days in volunteer scheme was implemented in response to this phenomenon. COCM Young volunteers follow the work schedule of our staff at the mission centre. They ~Andy Wang begin by doing simple chores around the centre such as cleaning rooms, washing dishes, sorting and posting printed materials. They come to understand that mission ministry Letter from a Returnee actually includes many ordinary tasks. They see that real life missionaries do not just ~Wenbin Xu preach from the pulpit and lead people to Christ, they also attend to many tedious tasks that make up the whole of their ministry responsibilities. In addition, young volunteers are offered missionary training opportunities. They are regularly involved in traditional ways of learning such as group studies, prayer and fellowship. But a greater part of their learning is handson. At first they watch how our staff workers serve in many capacities and they help from the side. Then they take on specific ministry responsibilities with our help. After that they become leaders in well defined projects while our workers step to the sideline and offer on-going encouragement and guidance. By helping young people to gain exposure to mission work, we hope they will have a wider perspective of God’s plan in their life and they will be willing to consider going into the mission field themselves. Our goal is to help them to become mission minded and to have the burden to take up the responsibility for worldwide mission. It is my dream to see hundreds of mission minded believers getting ready to join our ministry at COCM as well as to participate in mission ministries when they are back in China or in other parts of the world. Let us pray that more Chinese believers will respond to the call for mission and will take part in the task of re-evangelising Europe as well as bringing the gospel to other parts of the world.
Rev. Henry Lu
神恩澤僑胞 福音遍全歐
Reaching the Chinese to Reach Europe
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《未得之地》
Encouraging
COCM’s Volunteer Scheme Editorial Committee
COCM’s volunteer scheme mainly uses our mission organization as a platform to recruit committed young Christians to take an active part in the ministry of our mission. Volunteers have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the frontline of the mission field, experience life as a missionary, receive practical training and learn to be like Jesus in His humble service.
Why do we need to develop the volunteer scheme? In the Bible, Jesus says: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Mission is close to God’s heart. He delights in us going to every tribe and nation to bring home the lost. To fulfil the Great Commission we need more believers with a global perspective on mission, who understand its true meaning and who are willing to give their lives to it. With this in mind, we set up the volunteer scheme so that through practical exposure to mission more young believers can have the opportunity to learn about global mission, to get to know the mission field and to have a correct understanding of the daily life and work of a missionary. This will empower volunteers to be the major force to promote mission in their future areas of work and service in the church as well as supporting and participating in mission themselves. The scheme also aims to encourage believers to recognize their gifts through service and to re-consider the plan for their lives so that they will boldly embark on the road to full time ministry when the time is ripe.
Opportunities for practical experience ●
Small group leaders in camps
Volunteers are to lead small groups in the Year-End and Easter camps hosted by COCM. They share, counsel and pray with members of the group so to lead them to a better understanding of God. Before the camps COCM will give training in leading small groups to equip these volunteers. After the camps there will be evaluation and feedback. ●
COCM Gospel Team
From August to November volunteers take part in evangelism on designated campuses in the UK and Europe as part of the Gospel Team. This involves distributing tracts, leading worship, drama, befriending students and counselling. ●
Supporting ministry in COCM Centre
Volunteers live in the COCM centre. In the morning they work as a team to maintain the facilities, at lunchtime they take turns to prepare lunch along with other COCM staff, in the afternoon they help the COCM Bookroom and the headquarters office to prepare for upcoming camps. In terms of spiritual input, there are devotions every morning led by our staff, prayer meetings on Wednesdays, evening fellowship and worshipping at a local English church on Sundays or accompanying our staff to minister in a Chinese church. Our staff
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members have a lot of in-depth sharing with the volunteers, answering questions that they have about their faith and helping them to understand God’s will more clearly.
Requirements for volunteers ●
Born again Christian
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Speak fluent Chinese and basic English
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Willing to learn about mission
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Teachable
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Willing to work as a team
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Have a humble attitude to service, willing to do menial tasks
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Flexible with schedule
Duration of service Small group leaders: 2 camps per year, maximum 2 weeks; Full-time volunteers in COCM centre: From 3 months to 2 years
Food and accommodation For full-time volunteers COCM will provide basic food and accommodation for duration of service.
Service certificate Upon completion of the scheme, volunteers will be awarded a COCM volunteer certificate, which lists the areas of service and the experience gained.
How to apply? Young people who have previously participated in our volunteer scheme have either learned about our needs while attending a camp at the mission centre or were made aware of it from our staff based in their area. Therefore we encourage you or young people in your church to take part in this scheme. You can go to our website at www.cocm. org.uk to download the application form and return it by post or e-mail. We will then arrange an interview and discuss the nature and duration of your volunteer service. For overseas applicants we can help with volunteer visa application. Please pray for our volunteer scheme that God would lead more young people into our midst, that they would have an increasing burden for mission through practical exposure and they would be challenged to seek God’s will and be prepared to offer up their lives for God to use them in global mission.
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《未得之地》
Encouraging
The Journey of Grace
Candy Zhang
Candy was born in China and went to USA to study for her undergraduate degree at Mount Holyoke College. She came to know COCM and its mission through serving as a short-term mission team member in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, as an exchange student to Paris, she came to serve at several COCM camps. Candy is now a volunteer working and living at COCM mission centre.
If I were to make a film out of my volunteering experience at COCM, it would definitely be a comedy. Whether I’m cleaning, cooking, doing other duties for the maintenance of the building, or during leisure time, there’s always laughter and joy around. It would also be an inspirational film. Working and living with missionaries, I am deeply touched and inspired by their beautiful lives carrying the aroma of Christ. And it would no doubt be one of those culinary films that make your mouth water too. There are daily devotions, weekly prayer meetings and spiritual formation courses. There are also counseling and sharing with mentors and peers. Plus everyday there is delicious food. I am so well fed with feasts both spiritually and physically. M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y, i t w o u l d b e a p e r s o n a l documentary, recording how God molds me using every situation. How I wrestle with God. How God’s call becomes clear to me, and how I have finally decided to take the first step in making the most important decision - to respond to His call. And the theme song for this film would be “The Journey of Grace”. When I look back on how God has taken me out of darkness and has brought me into His wonderful light, how He led me to COCM, and gave me faith to respond to His call, I could do nothing but bow down in front of Him to thank Him, to praise Him with fear and rejoice with trembling. I first came to COCM as a short-term mission team
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member from the USA for the Year-End Mandarin Camp in 2009. I was really surprised by the large number of Chinese students in the UK and how they were just like me. My generation enjoys better material life than that of our parents, but with empty and broken hearts my generation needs God’s salvation. At the camp I myself was deeply touched and encouraged. I continued to come to COCM in 2010 and got to know more about its ministry. In June 2011, I finished my exchange study in Paris and decided to take a gap year to stay in Europe. By January 2012, I began serving in COCM as a volunteer for 6 months. My main duty is the maintenance of the mission centre, which includes washing bed sheets after each camp, tidying up rooms, watering plants, testing fire alarm and so on. These tasks seem very trivial, but they are essential to the centre’s smooth running. Regardless of our position, we are God’s good and faithful servants when we serve with a humble heart. I am most grateful that God has made His calling clear to me during my time here as a volunteer. The main reason I decided to take a year off was to prepare a portfolio and apply to an architecture programme in graduate school. I felt that God was paving the path for me to go into architecture, and I never seriously thought about full time ministry. Coming to COCM, God made me stop being busy so I could reflect on my life, my future and my relationship with God. In the presence of God I realized that, I wanted both the world and God. When the idea of full time ministry started “bothering” me more and more, my sense of fear for the future was overwhelming, and I saw my sins, my brokenness and my lack of faith in God. God had mercy on me in my painful process of wrestling with Him. He used pastors and missionaries around me to listen to my struggles, to pray for me, and give me guidance. Their own commitment to serve God was great encouragement to me. These past months volunteering at COCM have been life changing for me. Going for Bible College and full time ministry seems an unexpected turn of events. But when I look back on my journey, it is clear that God has been holding my hand and leading me forward. The road ahead of me is long and will be full of challenges and uncertainty, but one thing I am sure is that my God is with me. He has led me this far with His amazing grace, and He will lead me into the future with His grace as well.
Service to Glorify God and Benefit People Mengxuan Zhang
Mengxuan was born in China and came to England to study for her undergraduate degree at the University of Nottingham. She is currently studying at All Nations Christian College. Mengxuan was a volunteer at COCM in July 2011 and participated in a variety of ministries.
As someone born after 1980, I grew up in an “atypical” family. The fact that my grandparents were Christians was rather unusual in China. I was taken to church from a very young age and when I later went to university I attended the student fellowship. When asked if I was a Christian I would say yes because of family tradition. I stayed this way until I came to study at Nottingham in 2009. I joined the Mandarin fellowship and attended the Bible studies and prayer meetings regularly. Gradually, I became attracted to the words of the Bible and the brothers and sisters around me. I was often deeply touched by the hope that the Word of God brought and the love that radiated from the lives of Christians. I became a truly born-again Christian and was baptized In June 2010. The Nottingham Fellowship is led by Grace, a COCM staff. As a result I am inextricably linked to COCM. In 2010, as a new born believer I attended 4 consecutive gospel and Bible camps held by COCM. In these camps God nurtured my new life through the messages, the sincere sharing of brothers and sisters and the warm feeling of home that COCM created. I began to grow and gradually changed from being served to participating in service as God’s vessel. I witnessed the love from above and the unceasing joy pouring into people’s lives. I truly experienced partnering with God through service and being blessed by it. As the light of truth captivated me, my only desire was to be a light of God to this generation and to bring the love and hope to those who still live in darkness. So it was in the beginning of 2011 that the idea of full time service entered my mind. I submitted my application and praise God that I was successfully accepted by All Nations Christian College. In the summer of 2011 I had a whole month free. I heard that COCM also needed volunteers over this period so I seized this opportunity with great expectation. I wanted to use this month to be involved in ministry and at the same time to gain some understanding of the work and life of a missionary in advance. The month at COCM proved to be a very rewarding
experience. Even the mundane things in daily life became for me the starting point of understanding what ministry was all about. I learned that in God’s eyes, even the most trivial of tasks was an offering that pleased Him. Brothers and sisters working side by side and the free flowing conversations at times of rest added much colour to the drabness. Seeing staff at the centre working diligently for the Lord every day, I came to understand the meaning of “being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses” and I was all the more encouraged and desired to offer up myself as a servant of the Lord, as they have done. The dynamic community that is COCM reminds me of the body of Christ. We are different parts of a body with different responsibilities and gifts but we all have the same Holy Spirit. Love compels us to strive for the same dream. I can see how powerful life is when it lives out God’s Word! Outwardly, this power leads the army that Jesus has formed to fight the good fight. Inwardly, this power binds every member together into a big family filled with love. The experiences of this month taught me that work itself is no comparison to a heart that longs to serve. Because whatever I did, as long as I had my eyes on God, He would accept my offering and could make me a blessing to others at any time. This experience set me free from my long held fear of an ordinary and mundane life. It helped me to realize that the true meaning of service is to glorify God and benefit others. I am now preparing myself to truly embark on the journey of serving God, and COCM has provided me with the platform for experiential training through participating in the Gospel Team and various camps. As I gain in knowledge I get to better equip myself through practical experience. I am also being nurtured and counselled through talking with those who are more mature in the faith. But what has influenced me most is the outpouring of their lives and their steadfast faith in following the Lord. All this has strengthened my resolve to enter into full time ministry. My journey to serve God has only just begun. I am so thankful that right at the start the brothers and sisters at COCM have been walking with me, helping me and bearing witness to my growth.
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《未得之地》
Encouraging
You Turn My Sky Bluer
Melody Zhang
Melody is from China and she went to study for her master’s degree at the University of York in 2010. She has been volunteering at COCM since November 2011.
“You turn my sky bluer—You show me miracles in impossible situations. I want to shout, how simple it is to enjoy your love!” This is a Chinese worship song I’ve loved a lot recently. As I listened to the song and organized my thoughts, I realized that I'd been volunteering in COCM for almost four months now. Although much work needs to be done each day, the love and care from brothers and sisters around me is what I feel the most in all circumstances. There were tears and laughter and the sense of real happiness. And happiness is very simple here: everyone helps out doing the dishes after a meal; someone makes toast for you in the morning, brings you a cup of hot tea in the afternoon; someone lends an ear to you and prays for you at night. That's love, which cannot be faked. I thank the Lord for bringing me to COCM and making me a member of this big family. Because of His love for us, we grow with love.
Someone once joked that our life in COCM seems like the life in an abbey: we follow the same daily schedule with prayer, worship, mealtime and all sorts of tasks. Yes, that's partly true. However, I enjoy this simple life and I can feel God's presence through it. I had laughed about it with another sister, "I bet my parents would be amazed if they saw what I had been doing here." A friend came to visit me recently and told me, "Do you really enjoy this life here, cleaning the toilet and mopping the floor? Why not look for a decent job and find yourself a good boyfriend?" I found myself at a loss for words. Actually few people would know about our efforts here, but God knows. If I were to choose again, I would still make the same decision to serve God as a volunteer in COCM and to use this period of time to quiet my soul, so that I can have an intimate relationship with God and think through the next step of my walk with Him.
Understanding Mission through Volunteer Service
Hong Zhu
Hong came from China to study for her master’s degree at the University of York in 2010. After graduation, she volunteered at COCM from October 2011 to February 2012.
In June 2011, I came to COCM to attend a Bible Camp. There I met many fellow Chinese students whose lives had been changed by knowing Jesus. During the camp, I noticed a team of young people serving quietly in the kitchen, the book shop, or assisting with the sound system. Later I found out they were volunteers
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of COCM. My respect for them brought this challenge: what about me? Am I willing to give up my time to serve God this way? In August 2011, God confirmed my quest to come to COCM as a volunteer through a phone call from Rev Henry Lu. That September, I joined this big family of COCM and got to understand the meaning of mission. People usually think of mission as proclaiming the gospel to non-believers or planting churches – big ideas to
enlarge the kingdom of God. However, mission in daily reality is not as “glorious” as people think. Most of the time, mission in my COCM volunteering means doing routine housekeeping chores. All these are repetitive and boring, but that’s what God wants me to learn – to be faithful in small things. If I cannot be faithful in small things, how can God entrust me with big things? Once my heart was changed, I no longer saw these as boring routine, but used every one of them as an opportunity to practise my faithfulness towards God. From then on, my heart was filled with joy. With my heart in the right place,
my identity was changed from being a guest to being a host. As a host, I would not do the chores passively, but actively. This place became a home to me; I learned to serve, rather than being served. These six months in COCM were the happiest days in my life; I was loved by brothers and sisters in the Lord, and received encouragement from the pastoral workers. By volunteering in COCM, I am blessed to play a small part in the mission of proclaiming the gospel to Chinese in Europe.
My Volunteering Days in COCM
Andy Wang
Andy is from China and went to study at the University of Nottingham in 2010. He volunteered in the mission centre from June to September 2011. Apart from working at the centre, he also participated in the COCM Gospel Team.
Recently the weather in England has stopped being gloomy. The sky is brightening up gradually. The warmth of sunshine in the early afternoon reminds me of my volunteering days in COCM. Before we started our work in the morning, Tzyy-Terng, our big brother would lead a session of group devotion, which always gave me strength for the day. After a busy morning, we would have our lunch break, and that was the happiest time of the day for me. Everyone gathered around the table to enjoy the food our fellow staff made – the staff in COCM are not only gifted in ministry, they have culinary skills as well! Lunch time does not just confined to the tasty food; it’s the laughter around the table that makes it the happiest moment of the day. Gordon is our entertainer; he can always make you laugh! On my sleepless nights, I could talk to our spiritual elders. Together we found encouragement and draw strength from the Lord. Words are not adequate to express how I feel towards COCM. Through this sketch of my life in COCM, I hope to tell the overflowing love of God among his children.
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Letter from a Returnee Wenbin Xu
Wenbin came to the UK in 2009 to study in Dundee and Cardiff. After he finished his master’s degree in October 2011, he came to volunteer at COCM. He went back to China in November 2011 and is actively serving in a local church.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
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 Room 522, 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
MALAYSIA OFFICE
Greetings in the Lord! From October to November 2011, before I went back to China, God gave me the opportunity to serve as a volunteer in COCM. During that time, I went with COCM’s Gospel Team four times to preach to Chinese students in the UK. God used my time in COCM to change my attitude towards brothers and sisters. He gave me various opportunities to be equipped and prepared for my return to China. When I first came back to China, I had reverse culture shock and found it hard to settle back to life at home. Soon God brought me to a local Chinese church, where I met many Godfearing brothers and sisters. I was given many opportunities to serve in this local church - I was asked to share in the students group, and also in two funerals! I still remember vividly the day before the funeral. Sister Rui asked if I could share in the funeral on where people go after death and why people need the Lord. I was very nervous at the time but, by the grace of God, I was able to share the message clearly. These funerals gave me a glimpse of the hardship of those in the lowest level of the society in China. I pray that God would open my eyes to see the needs of those people, not just my own. It was such a blessing to be a volunteer in COCM, I often think of the wonderful time I had with my COCM colleagues. Please pray for me, that I would be persistent in prayer and have the boldness to share the gospel with my family. Let us remember one another in the Lord. May the Lord be with us always.
Mr David Liew Unit 697-2-2, Desa Kiara, Jalan Damansara, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel：+60-(0)3-7722-3670 E-mail：davidckliew@gmail.com cocmmsia@gmail.com Web Site：www.cocmsea.org Chairman：Mr Bryan Lee
SINGAPORE OFFICE Chairman：Professor Hanry Yu 420 North Bridge Road #05-07 North Bridge Centre Singapore 188727 Tel：+65-6338-6283 E-mail：cocmspore@gmail.com Web Site：www.cocm.org.uk
USA BOARD Chairman：Rev Daniel Chan 1960 Silas Deane Hwy, 2nd Floor, Rocky Hill, CT 06067, USA Tel：+1-860-257-3896 E-mail：info@cocmusa.org Web Site：www.cocmusa.org
CANADA VANCOUVER BOARD
Emmanuel, Wenbin
Chairman: Mr Lawrence Chen P.O. Box 32528, Richmond, B.C. V6X 3S1 CANADA Tel：+1-778-591-0109 E-mail：lrlchen@telus.net Web Site：www.cocmcanada.org
www.cocm.org.uk
Published by the: Chinese Overseas Christian Mission. Registered Charity No.232651 No.1135892 Company No.7106567
Editorial Committee：
Rev. Henry Lu．Ling Lu．Min Yin． Yu-Mei Wu
Translator：
Monica Li．Connie Yu．Josh Shek
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God called us to serve in Europe, and we are thankful for the financial support from individuals and churches around the world over the years. The vast majority of people living in Europe have yet to accept the Gospel, hence we ask humbly for you to work with us. If you are moved to support us financially, please get in touch. Donations from UK By Cheque Cheques made payable to “COCM” may be sent to: COCM, 2 Padstow Avenue, Fishermead, Milton Keynes MK6 2ES By Bank Transfer or Standing Order Please contact COCM Headquarters for detailed information. Donations from overseas Please contact Your local COCM offices / boards or COCM Headquarters (Please see the contact information at the right-hand column on the back page.)