HIM FAMILY NEWS

Hope Quito, Ecuador Creative Care Group



Our Hope Quito care group leaders, Katty and Claudia, led a very creative care group on what peace is. It was a combined care group so the family care group had the opportunity to interact with the young adults care group. We had a fun time drawing, painting and sharing to each other what “peace” means to us.



First, we were divided into two groups. Then we were given markers, colour pencils, crayons and paper to draw and paint. It was a chance to demonstrate our artistic side as we visually expressed our thoughts of peace.

Group 1 had a baby sleeping in a mother's arm, meaning peace is like God protecting us. Group 2 had a boat in the midst of a storm, meaning that peace is not based on circumstances but rather the confidence we have in Christ.



After that, Katty and Claudia did a discussion and shared with us the biblical understanding of peace in our lives. My wife, Phoebe concluded by highlighting the importance of being at peace with God, ourselves and others. It was a fun and fruitful time of learning together. :)


Hope Kuala Lumpur Central Region Bible Conference




On March 4-6 2011, Hope Kuala Lumpur held its Central Region Bible Conference (BC) with the theme “Passion”. There were 431 local delegates and 140 outstation delegates from Kuantan, Ipoh, Kampar, Mentakab, Seremban, Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bahru. It was a time where passion was reignited and even fanned into flame.



For this BC, there were three main speakers: Ps. Simon, Ps. Moses and Ps Kit Siang. Our speakers spoke with great passion, fire and zeal through the Word of God and their life examples. Every session was a revelation of God’s passion and an opportunity to rekindle the fire in our hearts. The first session on Friday night was preached by Ps. Moses. He highlighted the power of passion and defined the meaning of passion. During the second session on Saturday morning, Ps Simon shared about burning the right passions and the three passions that every Christian must have: passion for God, for people and for the Great Commission. Following that, Ps. Kit Siang shared about focusing our passions. On the third session on Saturday evening, Ps Simon shared about increasing godly passion to greater heights. The final session was held on Sunday afternoon, where Ps Simon shared how to avoid passion meltdown.



Through this BC, we have learned that passion is like fire and vision is the roadmap of life; both are needed in our lives. Passion is essential; it is what makes us different from others and allows us to influence others in this world. Our goal after this BC is to catch God’s passion and be a people of passion who bring the fire of God to our workplaces, schools, universities, families and community. It is time to rekindle the passion and let the passion of God burn in us.


East Malaysia Teachers’ Conference

We held a Teachers’ Conference for the first time in Hope Church history. The three-day conference took place at Hope Sibu, East Malaysia on December 20 to 22. The enthusiastic speakers: Pastor Denis Lu, Pastor Margerita Murib, Pastor Kung Ching and Pastor Laurence Lee shared the common message about the pivotal role teachers have to play in transforming the next generation. Despite the short notice, the conference hosted 38 registered delegates from the various Hope centers across the Malaysian Eastern Region, with the majority of delegates from the teaching profession covering Kindergarten school to the University level.

“Transformation Teachers Conference” resonated the theme of the first-ever teacher’s conference. The sharing sessions were followed by a brainstorming activity. It marked the winds of change and transformation of the teaching paradigm among the delegates. The voice of the Holy Spirit echoed the message that teaching is not just a profession or career, but a God-given ministry and an evangelistic tool. If this realization is interwoven with our teachers’ willingness to pastor over their students, God’s Kingdom will be expanded. Hence, teachers should raise the bar in their profession; not just focussing on the student’s academics, but transforming them mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Our students are anointed ministers of God and the next generation of world changers. This message was reinforced by the showing of a documented video-testimony of how Canadian school students who came to know God transformed the spiritual atmosphere of their school.

During the Ministering night, many hearts received inspirational words and prophetic messages from the Lord. The Commissioning session on the last day of the conference depicted biblical act of sending disciples into their mission fields; similarly the delegates were also commissioned to their schools. In a nutshell, transformation and change begins from oneself, and whoever wants the next generation the most will get them!


Hope Brisbane: Mumbai Mission Trip – December 2010



In December 2010, eight of us from Hope Church Brisbane’s student leadership team headed to Mumbai for an exposure and exploration trip. It was an overwhelming, eye-opening experience…in a good way.

We hooked up with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and rubbed shoulders with a number of missionaries and pastors at a Christmas dinner. It proved to be a good learning opportunity and through YWAM, many doors were opened. We had the opportunity to spend time in ministry with children in the slums and streets with songs, stories, cricket matches, and prayer and to bless them with food and necessities.



It was overwhelming and heart-wrenching to see the extreme poverty and hopelessness of the people, even as we walked the streets. It felt like we had to process everything we set our eyes on. It is hard to describe the experience in Dharavi (the world’s largest slum where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed). We were invited into one of the homes in the slum, and they served us dinner on their bed. Also through a divine appointment, we met a pastor of a church numbering 150 people in the slum; we spent some time with, and ministered to him and his team. The presence of God filled the room so strongly; we felt it physically. Prophetic words flowed as the Spirit moved and everyone was visibly encouraged and blessed. On Sunday, we visited a large, and growing, church of about 3000 in Mumbai. It was an amazing worship service as the congregation overflowed with passion and the Spirit. It was encouraging to see the gospel reaching so many from various demographics of the community through the church.



All in all, it was a fruitful trip. In terms of exploration, God revealed much through the prayer walks and times of intercession for the city - some keys to unlock the heavens over the city. For a short trip, there were some good contacts made. We are praying and trusting God that some long-term impact and opened doors will come forth from our time with various people and intercession. In terms of exposure, we got more than we hoped for. I believe God’s done some deep work within each of us in enlarging our hearts and deepening convictions for the Great Commission, as we continue to grapple with and respond to God’s purpose. Written by Sunita Pala


Hope Darebin, Melbourne Third Anniversary



September was a time to celebrate for the Darebin Centre, Melbourne as we came together to celebrate our third anniversary on Friday night, September 24. The theme for the night was titled 'Home,' as the church has been a shelter and a second home for many of the members ever since the church was planted back in 2007.



It was a time of reflection as we remembered how far God has brought us so far. There was entertainment with dancing and multimedia, worshipping God through a multicultural praise and worship team. We also had a time of appreciate as each life group came forward to thank our leaders, Eric and Atom, for their hearts in beginning the Darebin Centre, and making us all feel part of this spiritual family. We are very thankful for the serving hearts of so many people who were involved in bringing everything together on time, and making it a night to remember.



Above all, we really want to thank God for all He has done, and for the lives we have seen transformed over time by His grace and love. Without Him, we would not be here today to share this special occasion as a church. We also want to praise God for the fact that this is just merely the beginning! Reported by Simon Hardy


Hope Manila - Valentine Day "I am so in Love"



February 2011 was another eventful month for Hope Manila. We celebrated the month of love with the theme “I’m so in Love”; a time to remember God’s unconditional and everlasting love for His church. The teachings during Sunday Service focused on “forgiveness” since we believe that there can be no love without forgiveness, and no forgiveness without love. Keeping these in mind, the topics shared with the congregation included:

(1) A Living Lesson on Forgiveness (February 6) by Pastor Soradej
(2) The Actions of One Who Forgives (February 13) by Pastor Soradej
(3) The Characteristics of One Who Forgives (February 20) by Pastor Soradej
(4) The Motives of One Who Forgives (February 27) by Ching Hong



The grand celebration for the month was held on February 13, with around 300 people in attendance. As per the usual practice at Hope Manila, all the care groups prepared lunch packs for their own members and guests. It was a festive day for the church and everyone, including the guests, enjoyed the sharing and camaraderie. Truly God’s love was felt by everyone!

To deal with the more “serious” side of love, there were Boy-Girl-Relationships (BGR) Seminars for both singles and couples. The seminar for singles was themed “Better Relationships” and was handled by Pastor Soradej and Sherrilyn Cheng on February 6. The couples’ seminar with the same name was handled by Pastor Soradej and Dr. Eunice TM.

The church held other fun activities. All the care groups were challenged to prepare one advertisement each promoting a certain product related to love. Units Elijah and Gideon showed off their presentations on February 20, with the Young Adults care group bringing home the prize. Units Nehemiah, Joshua and Caleb had their chance on February 27 with Pasig Family Care Group bagging first prize. Energy Pro Care Group received a special award for their presentation. Everyone had a lot of fun with the creative, original and meaningful presentations.




Of course, Hope Manila also had a special celebration for all its couples on February 13, 2011, with the theme “Addicted Two You.” There were 26 attendees (13 couples) who enjoyed the fun games and dancing from afternoon til early evening. The husbands serenaded their wives while the wives performed a special dance presentation for their husbands. It was an enjoyable yet emotional afternoon for the couples, who also had the chance to renew their marital vows to each other.

Overall, it can be said that Hope Manila’s Love Month Celebration was a complete success. We were not only able to share God’s love to its own members and attendees, but also to a lot of unbelievers as well. To GOD be the glory!


Hope Penang Chinese New Year Celebration




Hope Penang celebrated our annual CNY 2011 reunion at Berjaya Hotel, Penang this year. This was the very first time that we had the opportunity to hold this event in a hotel, thanks to the church’s subsidy! Even though this was not planned as an outreach event, we thank God to have four visitors from the family group joining us. We had a very filling buffet lunch, with plenty of fun and excitement lined up.



We started off with a questionnaire about CNY: everything from ancient history to the traditions of the Chinese culture still practiced to this day. It was followed by presentation from different life groups. It included a CNY song presentation and a funny kung-fu tribute show which had the audience in fits of laughter. We even had our dear Pastor Zech, with a wonderful sense of humour, taking part in the kung-fu show. It was one of the highlights of the event. The lucky draw session wrapped up the program, with almost 40% of the audience receiving prizes, all smiling from ear-to-ear.



Overall, the atmosphere was really joyful. It was certainly a great time for us to get together and have some fun and laughter as we serve God together. Praise God for such a cozy and wonderful event!