HIM FAMILY NEWS
Hope Fest in United Kingdom
Hope Fest is the annual camp for Hope UK held over the Easter weekend. This year, the event took place from 6-9 April in Shropshire, a county in the West Midlands region of England. By God’s grace, the attendance of Hope Fest has been growing every year, with over 360 attendees for this year. Apart from the majority of our UK members, the event saw visitors from France, Sweden, Germany and Singapore.
Our mission is to fulfil the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. In order to challenge our people for mission in the UK and beyond, the theme for this year was Missio Dei or Mission of God. We believe that mission originates in God. This is seen clearly in His Son, Jesus Christ, who was sent by Him to do His work in the world. The church was the outcome of His mission and therefore is a part of His mission. Apart from Ps Vincent Ong, the pastor of Hope London Central, and me, we had Ps Marcus Rose, a successful church planter of Hope Germany, as the event’s speakers.
Not only the teaching, but also the testimonies, of Ps Aaron, who is leading Hope Paris, and the young students who courageously started a group in Newcastle and also in Southampton, inspired the congregation. The Holy Spirit touched lives every night during the altar call. Many youths testified that they experienced the presence of God for the first time in this camp. This helped strengthen their faith in God. One of the highlights was water baptism. Over 20 people decided to commit their lives to the Lord through water baptism.
It has been more than a week after the event and the inspiration from the camp remains. Many are discussing about how to reach out to their friends, colleagues and even willing to venture into the unknown.
Written by Ps Prakich
Hope New York Retreat 2012
This session climaxed for myself when I said in my preaching that as I was preparing for the camp, I prayed to the Lord that I wanted this camp to succeed so much because of previous failure experiences during retreats. I cried out to the Lord that I stake my reputation on this camp, and the Lord spoke to me, "No, its not yours, it's mine."
Amazingly I never cried when I prayed that, but as I said that in my preaching, I broke down and wept in front of the camp folks. At that time, the atmosphere was intense and the presence of the Lord was tangible.
Our invited speaker Ashley Byrd, a full time staff with InterVarsity at Columbia University, had us break out into teams and spoke on the fact that "who you are is more important than what you do for God." We plan for another retreat in Sept/Oct when all the freshmen students are in. I know the days are ahead will not be easy, but I know God is with us as we build this church in the greatest city in America.
Written by Pastor Albert Ngu
Hope New York Retreat 2012
Twenty-five people, mostly New Yorkers with a few from Boston and Connecticut, packed our retreat place in New Jersey for two nights on a weekend. We had great praise and worship, and teachings on leadership development and the Pentecostal church in Acts.
This session climaxed for myself when I said in my preaching that as I was preparing for the camp, I prayed to the Lord that I wanted this camp to succeed so much because of previous failure experiences during retreats. I cried out to the Lord that I stake my reputation on this camp, and the Lord spoke to me, "No, its not yours, it's mine."
Amazingly I never cried when I prayed that, but as I said that in my preaching, I broke down and wept in front of the camp folks. At that time, the atmosphere was intense and the presence of the Lord was tangible.
Our invited speaker Ashley Byrd, a full time staff with InterVarsity at Columbia University, had us break out into teams and spoke on the fact that "who you are is more important than what you do for God." We plan for another retreat in Sept/Oct when all the freshmen students are in. I know the days are ahead will not be easy, but I know God is with us as we build this church in the greatest city in America.
Written by Pastor Albert Ngu
Hope Philippines Local Camp 2012
Many new things have been occurring and have been stirring this year in line with 2012’s theme of “New Wineskin 2012”. We believe that God is willing to pour out His anointing on his people so this April, we held our annual local Filipino Camp in Laguna with the theme “Prophetic Wave 2012.” We had 240 participants in the Camp – whose hearts were excited to seek God’s face!
The three days felt too short because of just how much everyone enjoyed not only the activities and bonding time, but also the very eminent presence of the Lord. We were given the chance to learn more about what roles prophets really play in the church, the prophetic anointing and many practical ways to practice this gift and walk in deeper in our relationship with God through our speakers, Pastor James Loke and Pastor Soradej Meesaengtham. We were all truly blessed upon hearing these and I believe that these will not remain as stock knowledge only, but also be applied in our daily walk with God.
As in every camp, the Hope Games were again a feature event. All three teams did their best in a friendly competition in sports such as basketball, table tennis, badminton, volleyball, our version of The Amazing Race, and an obstacle course where the unity and cooperation of each team would be seen, tested, and strengthened. It was a very dynamic time, which, I am sure, was not only enjoyable for everyone, but also built their team spirit. It was a close fight, but Pink Fearless Obadiah emerged as the overall champion in this year’s games. Still, each team received individual awards for both the games and other traits such as the Shepherd Award and the Bida Banner award.
As we all know, fellowship, not only with God, but with fellow believers as well, is very important, so this year, a significant amount of free time was allotted so that everyone would not only be able to unwind, but get to know and grow closer to each other. This wasn’t simply time spent solely for relaxation and fun, but also so that the bonds we have as brothers and sisters in Christ would be reinforced and strengthened.
We enjoyed a lot during this camp, and we made a lot of memories but what truly made this camp unforgettable was the great moving of the Holy Spirit throughout the entire duration. Many people were refreshed and filled by the Holy Spirit and many rededicated their lives to God once again, consecrating themselves and committing themselves to God’s purpose for their lives and I believe that everyone was able to meet and experience God in a new and powerful way.
Three days quickly came to an end, and I am sure that many wanted this year’s camp to last longer. However, as Pastor James said, just as the apostles wanted to stay on the Mount of the Transfiguration after having such a great experience, we must come down and return to where God placed us so that we may serve as beacons of His light, making God’s glory known to the world.
This year’s camp truly was filled with new experience which I am sure will not end here, but instead, serve as the beginning of a new chapter in our walk with God. Just as the theme for 2012 says, let us all shed old and have new wine skins so that we may be ready to receive the new anointing of God.
Written by Ms. Sharee Bernardo, Campus Ministry
Hobart’s Local Paper (The Mercury) captured Hope Hobart's Easter Street Outreach activities
The Mercury, which is the local paper, captured our Easter street outreach in the mall on Saturday. A journalist and a photographer came and interviewed me (as the pastor of the church), and took pictures of me holding the cross right in our city mall (as attached).
It is one of the many ways God has been encouraging the team and me to SEE and take courage. It is because we know He sees and will honour our work here. I initially thought of placing an advertisement for our church in The Mercury’s Sunday paper under the classifieds.
I decided against it after weighing up costs vs. effectiveness. However, God has a way of surprising me. Someone, who saw our street outreach, rang The Mercury and had them come down to interview and take a picture of me. The article and photo was colour-printed and included what I shared, smacked bang in the middle of the local news – and yes, all free! I am humbled once again at how God honours the desires of my heart! He provided with a car this year (a great new second-hand car) and now this!
I want to take this opportunity to really thank the faithful outreach team that has been hitting the street of Hobart every fortnight: Andrew V, David M and Rebecca. I am humbled to serve alongside you in this ministry, and feel extremely privileged that day to hold the cross and be a "symbol" of your relentless passion to see this city come to Christ.
Thank you also to Andrew O and Daniel L, our musicians, and Helen and those who helped wrapped those Easter eggs together. Lastly, I give thanks to all who are praying (and fasting) for God's work here. May we all take heart and be encouraged by our living God!
Written by Shen Yee
At HOPE church KL, people from the English, Chinese and Malay service as well as the student group had an extraordinary New Year’s Eve celebration. On 31 December 2011, there were approximately 500 members, each given one entrance ticket to record the things they want to give thanks to God for His blessings in 2011 and prayer points for 2012. These tickets symbolized our invitation to thank God for the past, and more of the same for the future. All participants, man or woman, young or old, were in suits of blue as they entered the Lutheran Church. Blue symbolizes the presence of Holy Spirit – we are a big family in God, prepared for the coming of 2012, Year of Holy Spirit.
Then, all the members from different groups came together to share and pray under their Pastor’s guidance. There were also chilled and relaxing activities such as the best costume award and a lucky dip session. The prizes of lucky dip were a coupon for Haegan Daaz ice cream, Pastor Simon’s personal prophecy and words of encouragement on the winner – true blessings indeed!
At the end, the entire congregation counted down for the coming year with exciting atmosphere. 3…2…1… the Year of Holy Spirit approaching to fill us with joy, hope and power.
