Tuesday was Rest Day! The team explored and experienced Hong Kong in all its hustle and bustle, learning and understanding more about the city, its people and its culture. Travelling to the Peak gave us a birds’ eye view of one of the world’s most densely populated cities. We experienced eating lots of wonton noodle soup, egg waffles and egg tarts; getting squashed like sardines by crowds on the MTR; super cheap public transport (50 cent tram rides); wandering around the markets; the busyness of the city at night which is almost the same as the middle of the day.
During our team meeting on Wednesday morning, it was great to learn from Rev. Alex about the joys and challenges of ministry at St Andrews in central HK. Praise God that that over the last 3 years God has grown the church here by 30% and brought many new people to salvation. Challenges faced are similar and different to Sydney: how to best love and help new and regular members integrate into Christian community, the high value on work, family and education with accompanying pressures, time poorness, and hesitancy for commitment.
Ministry here can be daunting at times – but our God is faithful, powerful and mighty to save, and we are all convinced of the amazing goodness of the gospel to bring life to the full in Christ.
In the afternoon, some of the team were involved in Ministry Associate Program (MAP), a weekly 3 hour training session for the 6 ministry trainees across a few evangelical churches in Hong Kong. Jonty ran a theological seminar on the doctrine of the Trinity. It was wonderful to see the associates grow and engage deeply in this topic and to see the application click together for them.
The rest of the team headed to Hong Kong Baptist University to meet and share Jesus with people there. Two Chinese science students, C and J, had never heard about God or Jesus before. When asked what question he would ask God, J answered, “Who are you and where are you?” We were able to share how God has made himself known in Jesus and explained the gospel in Mandarin. They are both interested in finding out more and attending FOCUS. Pray that God would draw C and J to desire to learn more about Jesus, attend FOCUS, answer their doubts, and find eternal life in Jesus’ name.
Give thanks for:
- Rest and the opportunity to bond as a team and understand Hong Kong culture more.
- The spiritual openness to the gospel here.
- MAP and the opportunity to train future ministry workers here in Hong Kong.
Please pray for:
- Wisdom for the leadership at St Andrews as they seek to lovingly grow their core members in number and maturity in Christ together.
- Oxygen Hard Questions seminar “Can we trust the Bible” (Thursday night)
- Ceilidh Dancing outreach event (Friday night)
