HIM FAMILY NEWS

Hope Fest - Western Europe Churches

The Hope Fest is an annual celebration of Hope churches in Western Europe. This year, we had representatives from France, Switzerland and The United Kingdom. With 318 participants, it was the largest Hope Fest ever. The event themed “In His Presence” took place in Shropshire, a county in the West Midland region of England.

21 days prior to the celebration, the campers were encouraged to study the Gospel of John, one chapter per day; to fast and pray, asking the Lord for His visitation. All praise to God! His tangible presence was felt in the congregation every night of the Fest. As the speakers led them to respond to the Spirit-empowered message, hundreds of people stepped out to re-dedicate their lives to their Master. Many received words of prophecies. Others simply enjoyed soaking in God's presence.

Besides a variety of workshops, this Fest featured forums for the first time. In the three forums allocated for families, students and professionals, different individuals were interviewed and shared their successes and tips. All the attendees gained valuable insights from the experiences shared at the forums. In the family forum, many couples were touched by real life testimonies and sharing. 27 Christ-followers decided to offer their total commitment to Jesus through water baptism.

The Fest was aimed not only to renew spiritual life, but also to meet physical, emotional and social needs. In the afternoons, the campers enjoyed various outdoor activities. Children tirelessly played in the bouncing castle. Time flew, and as the event reached an end, everyone felt like it had just begun. Everyone went back home with a heart full of joy, longing to gather again for the Fest 2012.

Hope Santiago, Chile - Easter Service

Chilean churches have traditionally seen a bigger turnout at Easter rather than Christmas. Easter marks a time of remembrance and the solemn observance of the death and resurrection of Christ. Although it still remains true, in recent times, it has been an occasion for families to go for their holidays; taking advantage of a rare three or four-day weekend. Consequently, “Holy Week” is a great time to travel; therefore fewer people attend Church on those days.

With that in mind, our team worked together with two local core team members to plan ahead of our Easter Sunday service through prayer and invitations. As Sunday drew closer, to our disappointment, we were getting news of people unable to confirm their attendance. So we decided to call some of them to see if they were coming to the Service and the BBQ afterwards. Unfortunately, most of our invitees chose not to attend. When I heard the news, I was really downcast. I remember asking God what I was doing in Chile. And all He said was that I was supposed to deliver His Easter message to whomever came and that was it.

I woke up pretty early on Sunday morning and relying on adrenaline to keep me conscious. And when the hour came for our service, by the gracious miracle of God; families by families, they came. The young, the old; they all came. We saw two university students and even an 11-month-old who came with his mother. It was all the glory of God! We actually used up all the white plastic chairs for seating and it was just enough for that crowd.

What followed was just a simple but wholesome worship session (most Chileans are traditionally Catholic; therefore most are not accustomed to lively and loud music in church). Initially, you could see many with folded arms and a reserved demeanour; but as we praised and worshipped God, His amazing Spirit worked through the songs and softened some hearts as we could hear more new voices joining in the chorus and actually starting to worship God. It was fantastic!

The sermon followed the worship session. There was also a special presentation by our two young, foreign members of Hope International Ministries. The video animation and the lyrics of the song moved many people. Finally there was altar call. Three groups of people were asked to respond and almost all of the hands went up, some even answered twice! Praise God!

Written by Shawn Liu

Hope Taipei, Taiwan - Easter Service

It was really a different and memorable Easter to all of us this year. In the morning, during the Sunday Service, we had a special presentation which included a video clip of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection extracted from the film, “Passion of Christ”. A group of sisters from family group also presented a song to share their appreciation to the grace of God with the whole congregation. In the afternoon, we invited the General Secretary from the Organ Donor Association to give a special talk.

It was our intention to share with our family and friends the Christian perspective regarding our life and body on this earth. Not only were there invited friends with us, some walk-in visitors also attended the seminar. The General Secretary herself is not only a family member of a donor but also a sister in Christ. She shared her personal experience as well as the Christian view in helping people to share the Love of God to the general public. Members are not only impressed with the mission of the association, but also are motivated to contribute our organs to help others. Many of young generation are seeing life differently and are now willing to join the mission of love. We are longing to see more and more people be touched by the love of God and receive the eternal life as the ultimate gift of life.

Easter Celebration at HIM Chiang Mai, 24 April 2011

As per our tradition, HIM Chiang Mai held a sunrise service on Easter Sunday. Our three congregations gathered together in one place to worship Jesus Christ and remember His grace towards us.

This was followed by an Easter service at the regular time and fellowship during the rest of the day. We had the privilege of welcoming Ps. Yongyuth Wirapornsawan and Ps. Billy Henk from the USA who ministered to us and taught in the area of making disciples.

Hope Manila Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday has always been a meaningful because it is the day we celebrate the truth that Jesus was indeed resurrected and is now very much alive! We had a wonderful preaching which talked about the resurrection of Jesus which remains very relevant for us all. Here, we heard about how people tried to disprove His resurrection by coming up with several theories which really didn’t disprove anything in the end because we have the undeniable proof that He indeed rose from the dead and that is His empty tomb.

Ok now that we know this as truth, what is its importance and relevance to our lives now? Well, this just proves Jesus’ divine nature. That He is indeed the Son of God Who is still very much alive. Now, this is relevant because it also shows that His resurrection power is still at work in us. It’s this resurrection power demonstrated by Jesus that delivers people from whatever struggle that they maybe be experiencing. There are many people who can testify about how they have been freed so no one can say that this is not real.

We thank God because for the first time our attendance in Easter Celebration is 230 people. Many people also came to know Christ. God is certainly displaying His favor with His Church. During Lunch Fellowship, we had Water Baptism and 10 people publicly declared their faith to follow Jesus Christ! God is doing a marvelous move in our Church.

By Sharee Bernardo, New Manila Student Care Group


Hope Oceania Convention 2011

We have had a tremendous Oceania Convention at Phillip Island, Melbourne. God is so good. God turned up and many people's lives were touched. So many people gave their hearts to God; consecrating their hearts to Him. Everyone left the OC seeking God to use them as revolutionaries for Him; asking God to purify their lives and to be sanctified for Him. It was a wonderful time that we had together. And God just spoke to us all and really bound our hearts together.

There was a whole host of speakers, including Ps. Simon (Hope Kuala Lumpur) who came to our OC for another visit. We were really blessed as he shared his heart about how we need to keep ourselves pure and keep ourselves holy to God. Ps. Brendan (Hope Adelaide) shared as well and stirred our faith to see revival. Ps. Ian (Hope Melbourne) shared about the importance of being close to the Holy Spirit in our lives. And we had Ps. Joshua (Hope Brisbane), sharing about how the church needs to develop in leadership and discipleship and in doing life together. I shared about being a revolutionary and being IN the world, but not OF the world. We were so excited because it is a very, very important and relevant message in our day and age. I believe God has promised this to so many of us right now.

I really want to encourage you to get ready and prepare yourselves for 2012 when we have our next Oceania Convention at the Sunshine Coast.

By Dr Wilson Lim, Chairman of Oceania Churches