FAMILY NEWS
South America Camp
South American Camp 2013
It has been 1.5 years since the three churches in South America met at the previous South American Conference in Quito, Ecuador. This time round, eight brothers and sisters from Hope Ecuador and four brothers and sisters from Hope Chile travelled to Lima, Peru for a long-awaited South American reunion.
After a passionate gathering at the Hope Peru church, filled with great shouts of “Hola!” and enthusiastic hugs, the entire group of over 40 Christians travelled in a bus (through “Apocalipsis” [Spanish for ‘Revelations’], a bus company owned by a Peruvian brother) to our campsite, an hour away from Lima in the dry desert area. The place where we would stay and enjoy the fellowship of the Spirit and the wisdom of the Word of God for three days was a Christian campsite named “Mahanaim”. In Genesis 32:2, Jacob named the place where his camp met God’s camp of angels “Mahanaim” (meaning “two camps”). Mahanaim was an apt name for our campsite as the South American church met God and we enjoyed a tremendous three days of celebration and learning from Him.
The camp opened with a roar with everyone waving Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Chilean and Singaporean flags to welcome representatives from the three South American churches dressed in traditional national costumes, presenting the cultural variety in their country and the need for the gospel in the various regions. As she introduced the various groups, Laura, our sister from Peru, roused the crowd with the question, “Who is willing to go forth and share the gospel to these regions?”
Andrew, leader of Hope Peru then gave the opening address for the camp “A Missional Community” and we welcomed the presence of God with vibrant praise and worship. Over the next three days, we heard from Brother Julian and learned from the Word of God what it meant to be a missional community. Indeed, we also experienced being the missional community as we lived and ate together, worshipped the Lord together, devoted time to the Word of God together and had great fun with games, jokes, sharing of life, music, dance and spending time at the campfire.
As we bade slightly tearful farewells to each other, the brothers and sisters from the three churches then made our way back to Lima and to our mission fields refreshed in the Spirit, encouraged by the fellowship and strengthened by the Word of God. We look forward to the next time we meet when we can share again, great testimonies of how God moved through us in our communities.
Hope Cabuyao’s 4th Year Anniversary
The mood: impeccably suitable for the movement of God’s spirit. The people: charged with uncontainable gladness. The place: a perfect avenue for powerful worship. All this describes this year’s anniversary with the theme, “Season of Harvest”.
How long has it been? Four years. Yes, four years of God’s extravagant reign in the church. This year’s celebration has, by far, been the most special. It was the first time we gathered in a place conducive for events of this nature. God had been truly faithful, working in mysterious ways that led to us being able to celebrate His goodness in the auditorium of one of the country’s premier schools. Our five-day fasting and praying had truly paid off with God’s mighty and miraculous hands working for the church.
The auditorium’s seating capacity is around 300. We claimed by faith to fill the auditorium up. Life group members seriously did their part to bring people to Christ. Invitations on Facebook were posted. Physical invitations placed in envelopes were handed out to different people. Word of mouth filled in when the invitations ran out. Amazingly, by God’s grace, we were able to gather 302 people, 259 adult and 43 children. Indeed, after many tiring days of sowing, one glorious day will be set for the great harvest. And this is exactly what the church experienced.
The day started with a motorcade by a certain group of invited motorcycle riders, who came up with the idea themselves. About 22 motorcycles drove through the streets of Cabuyao along with other vehicles from the barangay (Filipino term for village, district or ward) and church members. The church was blessed by their unanticipated participation.
People from all walks of life and ages started to fill the auditorium. Children’s cheerful shouts and adults’ warm greetings resonated within the building. As the program continued, the excitement kept on building up. The Impact Team, with a mix of children and college students, from the church danced in exuberance. The worship time was remarkably infectious, even to the first-time visitors. During the fast songs, a big orange balloon bounced over the congregation while the dancers from the church were joyfully running around the hall. The slow songs captured people’s hearts toward God.
Pastor Soradej Meesaengtham, Hope Manila’s Senior Pastor, delivered God’s anointed words. It truly worked actively in the lives of people as many responded to the altar call, and even some made a decision for Jesus. The program ended with a great hope that people’s lives will be more blessed by the God Who brings the abundant harvest.
Written by Hani Sevilleno
Ablaze Youth 6th Anniversary
Written by Sarah Leong
After a passionate gathering at the Hope Peru church, filled with great shouts of “Hola!” and enthusiastic hugs, the entire group of over 40 Christians travelled in a bus (through “Apocalipsis” [Spanish for ‘Revelations’], a bus company owned by a Peruvian brother) to our campsite, an hour away from Lima in the dry desert area. The place where we would stay and enjoy the fellowship of the Spirit and the wisdom of the Word of God for three days was a Christian campsite named “Mahanaim”. In Genesis 32:2, Jacob named the place where his camp met God’s camp of angels “Mahanaim” (meaning “two camps”). Mahanaim was an apt name for our campsite as the South American church met God and we enjoyed a tremendous three days of celebration and learning from Him.
Andrew, leader of Hope Peru then gave the opening address for the camp “A Missional Community” and we welcomed the presence of God with vibrant praise and worship. Over the next three days, we heard from Brother Julian and learned from the Word of God what it meant to be a missional community. Indeed, we also experienced being the missional community as we lived and ate together, worshipped the Lord together, devoted time to the Word of God together and had great fun with games, jokes, sharing of life, music, dance and spending time at the campfire.
On the third and last day of the camp, we rejoiced at the baptism of four brothers and sisters from Hope Peru and Chile in a ceremony led by Shawn, our leader from Hope Chile. It was a joyous time of celebration as we witnessed their declaration of faith and decision to follow Christ. As the camp ended, brothers and sisters from the three churches shared how God had impacted them through the fellowship and teachings from the camp. Brother Julian then led us in a closing prayer, encouraging all of us to lift our hands and challenging us to be wowed by the presence of God and to bring the amazing presence of God with us to build missional communities in our respective countries, homes, offices and schools.
As we bade slightly tearful farewells to each other, the brothers and sisters from the three churches then made our way back to Lima and to our mission fields refreshed in the Spirit, encouraged by the fellowship and strengthened by the Word of God. We look forward to the next time we meet when we can share again, great testimonies of how God moved through us in our communities.
Hope Cabuyao’s 4th Year Anniversary
The mood: impeccably suitable for the movement of God’s spirit. The people: charged with uncontainable gladness. The place: a perfect avenue for powerful worship. All this describes this year’s anniversary with the theme, “Season of Harvest”.
How long has it been? Four years. Yes, four years of God’s extravagant reign in the church. This year’s celebration has, by far, been the most special. It was the first time we gathered in a place conducive for events of this nature. God had been truly faithful, working in mysterious ways that led to us being able to celebrate His goodness in the auditorium of one of the country’s premier schools. Our five-day fasting and praying had truly paid off with God’s mighty and miraculous hands working for the church.
The auditorium’s seating capacity is around 300. We claimed by faith to fill the auditorium up. Life group members seriously did their part to bring people to Christ. Invitations on Facebook were posted. Physical invitations placed in envelopes were handed out to different people. Word of mouth filled in when the invitations ran out. Amazingly, by God’s grace, we were able to gather 302 people, 259 adult and 43 children. Indeed, after many tiring days of sowing, one glorious day will be set for the great harvest. And this is exactly what the church experienced.
The day started with a motorcade by a certain group of invited motorcycle riders, who came up with the idea themselves. About 22 motorcycles drove through the streets of Cabuyao along with other vehicles from the barangay (Filipino term for village, district or ward) and church members. The church was blessed by their unanticipated participation.
People from all walks of life and ages started to fill the auditorium. Children’s cheerful shouts and adults’ warm greetings resonated within the building. As the program continued, the excitement kept on building up. The Impact Team, with a mix of children and college students, from the church danced in exuberance. The worship time was remarkably infectious, even to the first-time visitors. During the fast songs, a big orange balloon bounced over the congregation while the dancers from the church were joyfully running around the hall. The slow songs captured people’s hearts toward God.
Pastor Soradej Meesaengtham, Hope Manila’s Senior Pastor, delivered God’s anointed words. It truly worked actively in the lives of people as many responded to the altar call, and even some made a decision for Jesus. The program ended with a great hope that people’s lives will be more blessed by the God Who brings the abundant harvest.
Written by Hani Sevilleno
On March 23rd, Ablaze celebrated its 6th anniversary – a fun filled event packed with games, food, new and old friends and of course, an awesome sermon! It was a great night at Unidus where we celebrated the youth service of Hope, its diversity, its energy but most of all, its passion for God. We saw up and rising talent in our service rise up with new faces taking the mic and MCing, and an open mic session after service to showcase our hidden gifts. Bethel room was open and inviting with no chairs to confine or limit our space and capacity to worship our Lord, as Ablaze bound together to praise God at the top of our voices.
Torch delivered another top notch sermon, commemorating what has come and passed in this service, and giving us the opportunity to look forward to so much more. The welcome team also conjured up a feast of scrumptious nibbles after service, well prepared to feed the masses plentifully and satisfactorily. As they say, the way to the heart of youth is through their stomach! It was thus a great night to reflect on God’s provision throughout the last six years, as well as what to press on for in the future. Happy 6th Birthday, Ablaze!
Written by Sarah Leong
