HIM FAMILY NEWS
Hope Norway News
Annual youth gathering in Follo: “FREE AT LAST”
Over 140 participants came for the Free At Last Event in Drøbak (Follo). We thank God that over 80 of this group were local youths from Drøbak. The bull ride was one of the must-do events this year. We had an awesome and inspiring message from Seb. Praise God that two girls received Christ on this night.
TRYSIL TRIP
We had a trip to Trysil for the JP (Jesus People) youth group. There were two full minivans packed with youths on this trip. The hut we stayed at was full to the brim and many new friendships were formed during the trip.
Since Christmas, we have had 13 people accepting Christ. It is awesome to see the youth turning to Christ in Norway. We have started the Holy Fighters course/ group for our new spiritual warriors.
Hope Taipei Annual Camp 2010
Hope Taipei was again blessed to gather together to experience the presence of the Lord at our annual camp. The theme of this camp was “A Sacrificial Church”. This year’s guest speaker was Pastor Kwong Lie along with his wife, Swe Min, from Hope Johor Bahru (JB). They are not only a great couple who have been taking care of Hope Taipei since last year, but also a living testimony of a sacrificial spirit and life.
Through the time of teaching, Pastor Kwon Lie encouraged and challenged us to make our hearts and attitudes right with God. He also shared about how he and his family, as well as the whole church, experienced God’s provision and mercy and grace when they were willing to follow in Jesus Christ’s footsteps in developing a sacrificial spirit. Pastor Kwon Lie pointed out the difficult and challenging factors for Christians in big cities to have a sacrificial attitude naturally. We should all follow the sacrificial spirit like our Lord Jesus Christ without any reservation. Pastor Kwon Lie shared biblical principles to help us lay down a strong and biblical foundation to being sacrificial individuals as well as becoming a sacrificial church. He also strongly encouraged us to apply all these biblical principles in our daily life. The brothers and sisters were stirred up in the Holy Spirit, longing to know more about the biblical truth. This desire saw one of the evening teaching sessions extended till midnight on the last night of our camp.
We were also grateful that there were 16 brothers and sisters from Hope JB and Kuala Lumpur (KL) who came to encourage us and fellowship with us during this camp. Many of the brothers and sisters in Hope Taipei were greatly encouraged and touched by their life testimony. It also served as an opportunity for Hope Taipei to exercise a sacrificial spirit in showing hospitality to their overseas visitors. One interesting fact was that all the overseas visitors stayed at a house provided by one member’s non-believing brother-in-law. God is truly our provider; He even moved a non-believer to support the camp.
Praise and worship sessions always play an important role at the annual camp. Brothers and sisters really offered a sacrifice of praise to the Lord passionately. Brother Elijah from Hope JB also led one of the worship sessions and brother Keelong played the drum for this session. It is always wonderful to see God’s people from different backgrounds and different cities to worship our Lord together in one accord.
God can do all sorts of wonderful things in His amazing way. There were four non-believers joining us for this camp, which is really an unusual situation. One girl from this group took the leap of faith by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior on the second day of the camp. During this camp, there were five brothers and sisters who were water baptized. One sister, who is a nurse, could not make the water baptism initially due to a busy workload. However, God opened the way and she got off duty in time for the water baptism. Not only her, but also the whole care group was excited about God’s wonderful intervention.
At the end of the camp, we had an open session for the brothers and sisters to share what they have learned from this camp. Many of them were convicted and mobilized to give oneself to the Lord completely. Our Hope Taipei brothers and sisters are willing to commit more fervently to the Great Commission and Hope Vision. Many profess to turn away from the past and enter the lives God has predestined for them. Praise God!
Hope Sabah Camp 2010
The annual Hope Sabah camp was held at Zen Garden, Kundasang in close proximity of Mt Kinabalu the highest mountain in South-East Asia. The theme was “Crossroad”.
Unlike previous camps, we started our sessions with nothing but prayer and worship to prepare our hearts and spirits to reach greater spiritual dimensions. Ps Denis Lu, the executive pastor from Hope Kuching, Malaysia was the speaker. His teachings covered our relationship with God, spiritual gifting as well as our roles as ambassadors for Christ.
One slot of the camp was designated for a Vision and Philosophy (V & P) session where the various units each presented a performance based on their understanding of their V & P using their own creativity and talents. The skits provided closure to the previous V & P quarter.
On the ministering night, almost the whole church responded to the altar seeking God for new direction and growth. Many, if not all, were strengthened in their faith and spirit. We were also encouraged to exercise spiritual gifts by speaking words of encouragement and knowledge for one another. There was a sense of breakthrough among us, through the extended praise which lasted til midnight.
On the final day, Ps Anthony Ng launched the pledge for our new centre set-up in Alamesra, a rapidly growing area in the city of Kota Kinabalu where a number of higher education institutions are located. We want to believe God for a total collection of RM 35,000 within three months time. This camp was indeed a curtain-raiser for more miracles and greater things through the Spirit of God in the second half of 2010. All glory to God!
Hope Myanmar Service in Kuala Lumpur
Hope Melbourne - Born To Fly program
The days took off with cars streaming into the parking lot at Brandon Park Community Centre on the cold and crisp mornings of the 1st – 3rd July 2010. Parents and children filled the registration hall where they were welcomed with big smiles by the registration team. Our program began with a big bang with 200 excited children filling the halls.
Led by various leaders, the kids memorised the 5 “I wills” of sensitivity and loyalty, and learnt the songs and cool dance moves to the songs written by our resident song and script-writer, Alicia. Characters were taught through hilarious skits performed by the skit team and story-telling by Chiann and ‘Muff’ the puppet. The art and craft sessions were among the children’s favourites, where they made loyalty badges and sculpted flower pot out of clay.
The scrumptious meals prepared by the kitchen team kept kids’ and volunteers’ tummies filled throughout the day. Elena and her posse of logistics crew were incredible pillars of support to the program. We were honoured with the presence of Mayor of the City of Monash, Mayor Charlotte Baines and a Councillor from the City of Monash, Councillor Denise McGill at the prize-giving ceremony.
A big thank you goes out to all parents who entrusted their children to us for this period and special thanks to our army of volunteers, who worked tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of the program.
Hope Brisbane News
Christian Campus Ministries (CCM) Conference
It was our great pleasure to see the inaugural CCM Brisbane Student Leadership Conference being successfully held in July 2010. 188 youths involved in student ministries (both students and working adults) gathered for three days and two nights to experience God through worship and sitting under the Word of God.
Pastor Wenan Zhu shared three empowering and anointed messages to challenge the delegates to unleash our PASSION, POTENTIAL and INFLUENCE in our student ministry. Through the sessions, we saw 11 people water-baptised and six people baptised in the Holy Spirit. We have truly seen how this conference has fulfilled its aim: everyone walking out of the camp carrying the call of being a leader for God in our university campuses. Written by Ray Chan
Ablaze Conference: Unstoppable
Lying on our individual bunks in darkness (as lights out was at 12 midnight), the girls in my cabin laughed a please-stop-it-hurts, gut-wrenching laugh into the wee hours of the morning as we confided with each other the most intimate, lame, random aspects of our lives. Snapshot moments like these are memories of Ablaze Conference 2010 that I will never forget.
Ablaze Conference: Unstoppable was a powerful three days where God worked in every facet of our lives. Along with disgustingly fun games (of which Tina Wong could only be the culprit),great food, and a God-sized amount of energy (especially on games night where Justin Chan and Wynnie Cheong hosted the infamous Minute to Win it TV show) -conference was a time of refreshment and reconnecting our lives back to our Saviour.
Chris Bee taught us ‘messed up punks’ how to change the world, while Nick Lim intrigued us by initiating his sermon with (what else, but) Spongebob Squarepants! And (our one and only)Torchie, shone his light into our hearts and made us look at the endless possibilities with God –His destiny for our lives. I’d say this year’s camp was the best yet, but then again, we say that every year. God is amazing –seriously! Written by Nancy Hsu
