2013
ISSUE
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《未得之地》
From the General Director Reading through the stories in the Gospels, we can see an ever-increasing contrast between Jesus and His disciples. The disciples wanted Jesus to be the great power that would overthrow the rulers and establish a mighty earthly kingdom. They often urged Jesus to forget about the Samaritans, to not waste time on the woman suffering from bleeding, and to send away the little children; they felt that Jesus had more important places to go, more important people to meet, and more important things to do. But the earthly life our Lord lived was a life of incarnation, coming into our world and dwelling with us. His earthly ministry was a ministry of incarnation. Over and over again Jesus patiently revealed his incarnate ministry to his disciples, gently reminded them that "this is my journey, my ministry, my incarnation", and lovingly invited them to "come follow me, travel with me on my journey, and join me in my incarnate ministry." To do the work the Lord calls us to do in the mission field, we need to become like Him. As followers of Jesus, we travel the path He travels; we seek the lost He seeks; we go to love the outcasts he loves. To imitate Him in our interaction with people means to be willing to live among and rub shoulders with those who need us to lead them to Christ. Effective mission work requires us to draw near to the people in the mission field and get involved with them directly. Only by dwelling among them do we come to truly understand the people to whom we are called to minister. Only incarnate ministry develo ps the right opportunities that have power to make a lasting impact.
INSIDE Canterbury ~Editorial Committee From Ashes to Beauty ~Min Yin Bristol ~Editorial Committee The Sovereign God Changed My Heart ~Patrice Li COCM Finance ~James Lo
Incarnate ministry is costly. We tend to acknowledge the model of incarnate ministry as ideal but dare not to embrace it as a real life style. Today’s “me-first” culture tells people to focus on their own happiness and personal enrichment. Even Christians are influenced by this culture to look for a life with God’s blessings and self enjoyment instead of an adventure to fulfill God’s purpose and plan. As a result, not many are willing to give up the comfort and security of this world to follow Jesus further on His journey. How great is our God! He alone can motivate those of His choosing to carry out His purpose according to His plan. For several years I have been praying that the next generation of Chinese Christians will take courage to respond to God’s calling and offer their lives to serve the Lord in the mission field. Two of our new missionary workers are among the brave ones who have willingly given up their dreams of success in this world to take a leap of faith in joining our mission. Min Yin came to know Christ through COCM’s student ministry while she was a student at Nottingham University. Since then, God has been steering her into long term mission work. Min finished her PhD study at UCL at the end of 2012 and joined COCM as a full time missionary. Patrice Li is originally from Taiwan. She studied at All Nations Christian College where she was awarded a BA in Biblical and Intercultural Studies in 2012. Patrice joined COCM in February, 2013. I am excited to see young missionaries like Min and Patrice coming to serve with us. I pray that many more in their generation will respond to the invitation of Jesus. Together let us travel with Him on His adventurous journey, and join Him in His incarnate ministry.
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
Canterbury 肯特伯利
Editorial Committee
The historic city of Canterbury is situated on the south east coast of England and is famous for its magnificent cathedral, which draws tourists from all over the world. At the same time, Canterbury’s unique location makes it easily accessible from Europe and thus a gateway city to the United Kingdom with a constant stream of language students. As a result, Canterbury is not only a famous tourist city in England but also a veritable educational centre with four universities and three language schools. According to statistics, 22% of the local population is students. Among the four universities the Actuarial Science department in the University of Kent is the best in the UK and annually attracts many mainland Chinese students. The present Canterbury Chinese Christian Fellowship was founded by a few Chinese Christians in 2007. It has since grown to a regular attendance of between 20 and 30 people with mainly students as well as some families and professionals. There are a few Bible study groups and Sunday worship takes place twice a month. Ever since the beginning the Fellowship has been very enthusiastic in sharing the gospel with the Chinese, especially with the large number of mainland Chinese students there. COCM has always maintained a close relationship with the Fellowship and has prayed together with the brothers and sisters for God to raise up a worker to develop the student ministry there. We thank God for answering our prayers. In March 2013, COCM sent a new missionary, Sister Min Yin, to Canterbury to assist in developing the Fellowship. At the moment she travels there on the first and third weekend of every month mainly to participate and to develop the student ministry. God has already prepared a vast harvest field in Canterbury and may He lead our young missionary to taste the joy of sowing, planting and reaping a harvest. May God establish the work of Min Yin’s hands and bless the partnership of COCM with the local Fellowship to bear fruit that glorifies His name!
Canterbury 肯特伯利
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From Ashes to Beauty “ F i l l m e w i t h y ou r love for all and reach your hand to hold them once again.” As I listened to this worship song on a packed bus in Shanghai, God showed me a picture o f m a n y outreached hands, longing to be held by Him. I was deeply touched by this image and I just couldn’t hold back my tears. Never before was I faced with the urgent needs of lost souls in such a vivid way. That was the beginning of 2008. Having been baptized in England less than a year earlier, I went back home with my newfound conviction to follow Jesus.
Chosen before I knew
Min Yin
feel the burden to tell others about Jesus. The leader of my fellowship was a missionary. Although I’d never heard of the terms ‘missionary’ or ‘full-time Christian service’ before, somehow I was terrified that God might call me to do this kind of work. When I finished my one-year study in England, I actually breathed a huge sigh of relief seeing that God did not call me into full-time service.
Lost souls in darkness In 2008, I received a PhD scholarship from a university in London. After much prayer, I came back to England to further my education. This time, I had a sense that God brought me back not just for me to attain a degree, but also for me to accomplish something else. God took me to a Chinese church and I had many opportunities to get involved in various ministries. Witnessing some young students coming to Christ was the most joyful moment while I was serving in a student fellowship. My heart was greatly encouraged by God’s love when I saw how God miraculously touched the hopeless during our weekly visitations to a detention centre. Short-term mission experiences also broadened
I first set foot in England in September 2006. Like most Chinese students, I was eager to find opportunities to practise my English and learn about British culture. The local English church seemed to be the ideal place to do both. A month later, I became a Christian at a gospel event, prompted by a desire to be a ‘good person’. At the time, I was mainly attracted by the genuine love and care of the Christians I met at church. Deep inside, I did not grasp what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. As a new believer, I was scared by the thought of telling the gospel to strangers. But as time went by and I began to practise church life and spiritual devotion, the truth of God was revealed to me gradually. I experienced the inner peace and joy of being a Christian. I started to
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《未得之地》
Encouraging
my horizon. Seeing the eager response of my compatriots everywhere to the gospel, I often asked God to send more workers to the harvest field. God’s blessing was also with me in my study. Even though I invested a big chunk of time serving in the church, I was the first among my peers to pass the PhD qualification exam. I came to the conclusion that it would be best if I could be a tent maker serving in the church while advancing my professional career. One night, my pastor was driving me home with a few students in the car when a brother asked him, “How does one know that God calls one into full-time service?” “When you see people walking in darkness, would you not have compassion?” answered the pastor. My heart was greatly stirred by the question in his answer and I silently prayed, ‘O Lord! I do see people walking in darkness. I do feel compassion for them.’ That very moment I was also trembling with fear of having to give up the academic accomplishment I had worked so hard to achieve. I prayed again, “Lord! Unless you take away this fear, there is no way I am going to step out of my boat.”
His gentle touch In November 2008, I went to a routine prayer meeting at my church. When it was my turn to pray, I suddenly felt a very gentle nudge inside my heart and I recognized that nudge was from God. Immediately, my longstanding fear of full-time service was completely Min with her parents g o n e a n d i n s t e a d my heart was filled with inexpressible joy. As soon as I went home I knelt down and prayed: “Lord, I am now willing to do anything you ask me to, even if you call me into full-time ministry.” Another year passed after I prayed this prayer but things went on as usual in my life. I was wondering whether perhaps God did not think my prayer was serious. Eventually God revealed His plan to me at the end of 2009 when Rev. Henry Lu asked me to consider serving part-time at COCM. He said that it might help me to seek further guidance and confirmation from God. I knew Rev. Lu and his wife well and had been encouraged by their testimony of leaving their professional jobs in the USA to respond to God’s call to the mission field of Europe. Now it was my turn to hear the call to serve
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Min with COCM Gospel Team in Dundee UK
the Lord, yet my feeling of excitement was mixed with hesitation. I wanted to fulfill my vows to God, but my parents were very upset about my decision. Like many Chinese of my generation, I am the only child of my parents. I didn’t want to disobey them but I also wanted to follow God’s plan. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” If I believe what Jesus said is the absolute truth, would I be willing to submit to Him and walk in His way? Would I be willing to commit my parents into God’s hands? I continued to seek God’s guidance while sharing my struggles with spiritual elders and Christian friends. In the end, I made up my mind to join COCM despite my parents’ opposition. On my first day at the mission centre, Isaiah 41:9-10 popped out the moment I opened my Bible for morning devotion. I knew right away it was a confirmation from God. He told me, “You are my servant and I have chosen you. Do not fear, for I am with you.” God took away my fear completely!
The cost of being a disciple Over the next two years, God enlarged my vision to see the rapidly changing landscape of the European mission field. Through the ministries of COCM I came in contact with many more Chinese students. They reminded me of the years before I met Jesus when I was sitting in darkness, pondering the ‘who am I’ question. Many of these young people were open to the gospel and eager to respond. I felt so overwhelmed by the urgency to reach my compatriots that I wanted to know what more I could do. At the same time, living and working with other missionaries helped me to see mission from a whole new perspective. Eventually I came to understand the cost of being a disciple that Jesus talked about in Luke 14. God continued to bless my research and I published two journal articles within two years. My supervisor had high expectations of me because I was on a fast track to completing my thesis. From time to time I had second thoughts about God’s call and started to calculate the ‘cost’ seriously. If I was going to enter full-time ministry, what was I going to say to my parents? What would my academic mentors and peers think about me? Would I be willing to give up my ambitions in academia? Would I have a secure future? I wrestled with these questions.
research field. He told me that the most important thing was to follow my own heart. Praise the Lord that He spoke to me through my supervisor, reassuring me that my research work was finished and I could move on without any regrets. Min with some mainland Chinese students
Brothers and sisters from Min’s sending church were laying hands on her at the commissioning service
In spring of 2012, I spent ten weeks at All Nations Christian College taking an intensive mission training course. It was such a privilege to study with many likeminded people and share life with them. It was also a period of quiet time for me to wait upon the Lord. Just before leaving the college, I received a note in my pigeonhole from an anonymous sender. On it was written, “Take me by the hand; I will take care of you and I will lead you.” I was convinced that these words of encouragement from Isaiah 41:13 were God’s promise to me. Later, my parents came to visit the UK and stayed with me for a while at COCM. I thank God that even though my parents couldn’t fully understand my choice, they still accepted my decision to work with COCM simply because they loved me. The change in my parents’ attitude was truly a miracle and I knew it was the final and the most important confirmation from God. I do pray that God’s love and blessing will reach my whole family through me.
A life from the ashes
Canterbury Chinese Christian Fellowship organized an installation service to welcome Min and to pray for her.
God’s final confirmation
In my 4-year PhD research I often marveled at the mechanism behind the formation of glaze covering the surface of ceramics. One might be surprised to know that these shiny and beautiful glazes are made merely from black and fluffy wood ashes. But when these ashes are heated in fire with temperature as high as 1300°C, they undergo an amazing transformation. This is also the reflection of my life – from ashes to beauty, by the fire of God the refiner. He lifted me from the ash heap and seated me with princes. All I can do is to submit to Him in the fire and say “You are the potter and I am the work of your hand!”
Before Christmas in 2011, my supervisor asked me what I would do after graduation. I mustered the courage to tell him that I was considering full-time Christian service, thinking he would be very disappointed with my decision. Surprisingly, he was very supportive and pleased with what I had already contributed to the
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《未得之地》
Encouraging
Bristol 布里斯托
Editorial Committee
Bristol is a densely populated historic port city in the south west of England. Chinese people, mainly from the catering trade, began to settle here very early on. There are two tertiary education institutes in Bristol; one is the University of Bristol, nicknamed 'the MIT of England'. Because of its prominence in the league table, it has always been a popular choice with students from China. According to statistics, there are around 2500 students from China, with a year on year increase. Bristol Chinese Christian Church was the first Chinese church to be established. It was previously the Bristol Chinese Christian Fellowship, which was founded by Chinese students in the 1970s, speaking mainly Cantonese. On account of the high mobility of students, who leave upon graduating, the Fellowship began to strengthen its witness among people in the catering trade, who subsequently became the mainstay of the Fellowship. The English speaking section was added in 1994 in response to the growing needs of second generation Chinese youth. In March 2000 the Fellowship formally became Bristol Chinese Christian Church. With the influx of students from mainland China over the last decade, the Church also began to develop its Mandarin ministry.
Bristol 布里斯托
Ever since its inception, Bristol Chinese Christian Church has maintained a close partnership with COCM and COCM has also assigned various missionaries to help the Church to develop and mature. Beginning in March 2013, COCM assigned missionary Patrice Li to Bristol Chinese Christian Church, to be a member of the Church's pastoral team and to support the Church's ministry, especially in the development of work amongst mainland Chinese students and of the Mandarin ministry amongst new immigrants. She also has partial responsibility for the English speaking ministry to encourage and build up second generation young people. May God bless Patrice's ministry amongst the Chinese in Bristol and may the Chinese there be blessed by our serving together in unity!
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The Sovereign God Changed My Heart Patrice Li
I was born into a Christian family and grew up in the church, but I didn’t become a born-again believer until I was a university student. After I decided to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, I wasn’t attracted to full-time ministry and I always thought that God would never ask me to be a full-time Christian worker. But over the past 10 years, God has engineered many circumstances to accomplish His will and purpose in me despite my human frailty. Now I have been proven wrong. In 2013, I joined COCM to become one of the missionaries serving in Europe. Looking back at the path I have travelled, all I can do is in awe of God’s work. My journey of entering full-time ministry started at an English church in south London. While I was jobhunting after graduation, my small group leader told me about an apprenticeship scheme created by this English church. This apprenticeship was designed to encourage young Christians to explore God’s calling and purpose in their lives by serving full-time as part of the church staff team. It gave me a chance to observe full-time ministry from an insider’s perspective. At the time, I thought this was just an interlude in the play of my life. Little did I know that I was about to embark on the most wonderful journey God had set out for me. I discovered the fun of serving full-time in the church. Motivated by the idea of working for the Lord, I found that even the repetitive job of setting up hundreds of chairs three times a week became something very meaningful. There were challenges because of language barriers and cultural differences, yet I thoroughly enjoyed the apprenticeship. This experience led me to begin to consider the possibility of serving as a full-time ministry worker. The apprenticeship was followed by a time of testing. I struggled with financial insufficiency, lack of suitable accommodation, and difficulty in extending my UK visa. It seemed impossible for me to find another full-time ministry opportunity. With a leap of faith (and a lot of encouragement from many Christians), I applied and was accepted for the Cornhill Training Course in Scotland. This was an opportunity for me to do in-depth study of certain books of the Bible and to learn principles of biblical preaching through practice. During this period, God opened windows of amazing provision. A new visa policy was introduced so I was able to stay in the UK; a Christian family whom I had never met kindly offered
free accommodation; seekers who worked in Chinese restaurants brought meals to us spontaneously when they came to attend the free English classes in church. With much timely help from many people, both believers and non-believers, I managed to complete the training course. The knowledge and real life experience I gained from this course strengthened my faith in responding to God’s call for me to enter full-time ministry. With confirmation, I made the decision to study for a theological qualification. At All Nations Christian College, I was taught to reason theologically and to communicate theology through written expression. I also learned to live in a structured community. These were two years of intensive and fruitful training. Visible changes became apparent in my course work and my theological approach. New friends, as well as old, patiently and quietly supported me even when I was completely occupied with assignments. I thank God for their faithfulness in praying for me. COCM came into the picture through a Chinese fresher I met at All Nations. “Have you been to COCM? You should go to take a look. They are really nice people,” she told me. After a year of praying and participating in events organised by COCM, I felt that God was directing me to a new path of ministry. Until now I had had virtually no experience of working with Chinese churches or organisations in the UK. My desire had been for crosscultural mission reaching out to internationals coming to the UK for education and business (although many
Patrice did Bible study with international students
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of them would be Chinese). God used the Apostle Paul’s case to show me that through firstly reaching out to one people (the Jews in Paul’s case) many nations would hear the gospel. In addition, I witnessed clear evidence of God’s hand working in COCM. There has been an unprecedented spiritual openness amongst Chinese studying in the UK. Of over 50,000 Chinese students coming and going each year, many are very curious about Christianity and have a longing to know Christ. Most of these COCM staff workers and volunteers were praying for students will go back to China and become Patrice before she was sent to Bristol future leaders in their local society. COCM responds to the need to harvest this field by introducing Jesus to these searching souls in their native language. At the same time, COCM also works among new Chinese immigrants and the British-born Chinese by supporting local churches to develop their Mandarin and English ministries. My placement this coming year will touch on all three ministry areas mostly by teaching and preaching to congregations, speaking different languages. God has provided for me in so many ways over the past ten years. He has been there with me along my life journey, to face one challenge after another. Some of the obstacles seemed impossible to overcome from a human perspective, but God arranged different people to encourage me. Their faithful friendship and support have seen me through all my struggles. I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for all the love, prayers and care I have received from God’s people. I thank them for accompanying and helping me on this journey of faith. I recognise that this is not a journey that I can travel alone and I will continue to rely on Him to strengthen me and on His helpers to support me. If the Lord puts such a burden on your heart to be His helper in this work, then please pray for me and be my partners so that together we may spread the Good News and share in its blessings.
COCM Finance
James Lo - Treasurer
Income & Expenditure Account for Year Ended 31/12/2012 (unaudited)
Currency: £ (GBP)
As reported in the last issue of Link, 2012 has been a bumpy y e a r. T h e m i s s i o n ' s income has slipped by 11 % c o m p a r e d w i t h 2011. So although our expenditure was kept below budget, we still managed to record a deficit of £78,271. An increase of 9 percent of our income would see us in the black. Good cause of thanksgiving is that Q4 perform reasonably well, bringing the year's deficit to below forecast.
HEADQUARTERS General Director: Rev Henry Lu 2 Padstow Avenue, Fishermead, Milton Keynes, MK6 2ES, 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 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 c/o Mr Guang Xu, 611 Belchertown Road, Amherst, MA 01002, USA Tel：+1-860-413-275-4718 E-mail：info@cocmusa.org Web Site：www.cocmusa.org
CANADA VANCOUVER BOARD Chairman: Rev. Benedict Chan P.O. Box 32528, Richmond, B.C. V6X 3S1 CANADA Tel：+1-778-591-0109 E-mail：revbchan@yahoo.ca 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
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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 click "Provision" under "How to Help" column on our website www.cocm.org.uk or get in touch with us for further 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.)