Congratulations Queenie!

Karen and I first met Queenie when she was in grade 6 as part of the initial group of youth that formed Joy Fellowship. Now, that fellowship has grown into a vibrant English speaking congregation at Coquitlam Christ Church of China.

It was an honour to be able to attend and witness her university graduation (my time flies!).

Congratulations Queenie on a job well done! We are so proud of you!

Tribute to a mentor and family friend

I first met Mrs. Ruth Chan in 1984, when my [Jonathan] family moved to the lower mainland from Fort McMurray, Alberta. My family attended church at Richmond Chinese Alliance where Ruth was a grade 6 Sunday School teacher and was one of the adult leaders in junior worship.

Auntie Ruth, as we used to call her, was always keen on building relationships with the youth she mentored, and I am sure she prayed earnestly for each one of us. One day, as we were getting ready for singspiration, I distinctly remember her coming up to me, and saying something to the effect of "you should think about leading singing one day too." I don't entirely know what motivated her to say this - perhaps she had been praying for me, but I do remember shyly shrugging it off at the time. I was very much a quiet, shy person at the time. (Little did I know of course how God would begin to change me and use me in the coming years!)

At a gospel camp put on by the same church, I rededicated my life to Christ at the age of 15. Several years later, I went to univerisity, and my family moved. Meanwhile, Ruth and her husband Sam, after having studied at Regent College were commissioned to be COCM missionaries in England for four years.

It wasn't until 1995 (the year I met Karen) that I would reconnect with them. At the time, both Karen and I felt God leading us to Christ Church of China in Vancouver. To my great surprise, Ruth's husband Sam was pastoring there, and serendipitously, Karen's childhood pastor was also pastoring there at the same time. As it turns out, both Sam and Ruth finished their term in the UK in 1992 and returned to Vancouver accepting a position as pastor of CCC.

Pastor Sam and Ruth would continue to be an influence in my life. Pastor Sam baptized me in 1997, and officiated my wedding in 2002. Ruth continued to mentor women, and often shared her experiences with us through the career fellowship called "Faith fellowship".

It wasn't until Karen and I were called in 1998 to go out to Coquitlam (CCCC) that I began to feel the full impact of what God had done through their ministry. Though I never realized it at the time, hindsight provides me with a view of God's faithfulness in answering prayers of those before us. At CCCC, we were mentoring youth in grade 6, and indeed, I was called to lead them in singing praises to God.

Ruth fought a courageous battle with cancer this past year. She died peacefully and went home to be with the Lord on April 21st, 2008.

Today, Karen and I went to say our last goodbyes to Auntie Ruth. It was a bittersweet moment - one that cannot be described adequately in words. Though we both miss her dearly, we know that she is finally at home, resting with the Father and free at last of her failing body.

As she leaves the world, it was more than evident the impact and legacy that she left behind. Streams of people, young and old, unified as one because they were all affected by her and her husband's ministry poured in one by one to honour, comfort, show support and to say "until we meet again in heaven". I can only imagine what God has been able to do as a result of her dedication to demonstrating Christ to others.

Ruth, thank you for your dedication to following Jesus and for demonstrating his grace toward even the youngest of believers. You looked beyond the surface of who I was, and saw instead the person God could transform me to be. You prayed that a new generation of godly leaders could emerge from the people you influenced, and I am very grateful for that.

That is truly a life well lived, a life lived with purpose and a legacy left for the next generation.

Congratulations Patrick, Mr. & Mrs. Ching and others ...

We had the opportunity to attend an Easter baptism service at CCCC this past Sunday. Because CCCC is currently under a building expansion, the church has been meeting at a lecture hall in Simon Fraser University lately. Well, SFU doesn't have any baptism tanks (except perhaps the pond...). So, the church met at Coquitlam Chinese Evangelical Free Church this past Sunday at 2:30pm. CCEFC does have a baptismal tank... sort of.

In a twist of irony, it turns out that a recent leak in CCEFC tank prevented it from being used. It was too late to postpone the service however, so the five baptismal candidates had to be baptized ceremonially instead by sprinkling. (This is not a general practice at CCCC for any able bodied person, but permitted under rare circumstances.) I later jokingly suggested to the pastor's wife that they really ought to come use the Bridge's baptismal tank next time. It never leaks, never needs refilling and doesn't require cleaning. (This is the advantage of going to a church next to a beach!)

Plumbing leaks aside, it was nevertheless great to hear the testimonies of the candidates. It was particularly touching to see Patrick (who attends the English congregation and is the lead singer in the band "One Arm Bear") give his testimony and get baptized. It was also deeply moving to see how God had touched the lives of a couple (Mr. and Mrs. Ching). Karen and I had the privilege of teaching their daughter Jolli while we were at CCCC, so their public confession of faith in Christ had that much more of an impact on us.

Congratulations all. May God continue to bless you as you take this step of obedience in faith.

Congratulations Teresa Leung!

We've known Teresa (second from the left in photo) for the past 9 years. We first met her at CCCC - she's Danilla and Daniel's mum. As we ministered there, we grew to know her and her family.

We were privileged to be invited to her ordination ceremony at Maple Ridge Baptist Church. We felt honoured to have been part of her life as a Christian, and to have ministered to her children. It was also a reunion of sorts - we saw, albeit briefly, many of the people from CCCC. See photo below:

Teresa: We're so happy that God has called you to this ministry in Maple Ridge, and that God has led you to serve him full time as a chaplain in the Baptist Housing ministries. We have seen what your influence has had on the residents there. May God continue to bless you and your family as you continue to serve Him.

After the ceremony, we headed back home just to be stuck in traffic for two hours(!) due to an accident on the Pitt River Bridge. Both Karen and Katherine had to think of some pretty creative ways to keep Erich and Elias occupied!

Joey graduates and walk down memory lane

Jonathan had the day off from work today. The Ngs took advantage of this extra time by attending the graduation ceremony of Joey Lee. We met Joey through Anna Wong at CCCC. We became friends and had the opportunity to share our faith with her. Through a brief study of the first few chapters of Romans in the fall of 2005, Joey came to experience the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in a fresh new way. We were delighted to be able congratulate her as she graduated.

Karen and I also took time to reminisce. We noticed how much SFU had changed now with the UniverCity project. We were also encouraged by the presence of new ministries on campus such as the Point Church - a ministry similar to the Bridge catering to residents of the new UniverCity.

After the ceremony, we decided to drop in on our favourite off-campus cafe: Cozmos. Irene, the owner/manager there was delighted to see us. It was amazing how she recognized us even after all these years. She, of course was delighted to meet Erich for the first time.

Shown here (right): My attempt at self-portraiture with Erich (using a cell phone camera). Erich evidently is enjoying his time with daddy!


We also took a walk down memory lane to the place where Jonathan proposed to Karen (atop Burnaby Mountain) and took pictures with Erich. At last, a decent photo with my son!

Farewell and Thank you Joy Fellowship!

Today marked our last official service at Coquitlam Christ Church of China as their English missionary. Much to our surprise, we were greeted with flowers and a grand farewell party in the parking lot. Thank you CCCC for making our last day with you such a memorable one. Thank you also for the kind words of appreciation and encouragement as we move on to our new ministry at the Bridge. We'll miss you too!

Below is a transcription of the farewell speech given to our dearest brothers and sisters in Christ at Coquitlam Christ Church of China on August 13th, 2006 for the benefit of those who were absent.

August 13^th, 2006

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ. This year marks the 8^th anniversary of the English congregation here at Coquitlam Christ Church of China. Over the past eight years we have seen how God has been faithful to this ministry: We have seen our congregation grow from nine youth holding worship services in the Sunday school room to now over 60 young adults worshipping, praising and serving God. Our church has grown so much in fact that we now have a problem of space and thus see the need for expansion. We have seen God move this ministry as a small attachment to the children’s department to a full fledge department having its own children’s ministry and having full representation on the deacon board.

Most importantly though, we have seen many people brought to salvation through Christ over the past eight years. We have seen God move in the hearts of all of us here: first learning about God, then personalizing that faith through knowing Jesus, and then ministering to others in the community through the Holy Spirit. God has indeed been faithful to us, and He is indeed a powerful God.

God has also changed me tremendously through this ministry. Although I’ve always had a heart to serve God, my stubborn and self-confident attitude presented a stumbling block to being effective in ministry. Through many challenges, God humbled me and taught me that in order to be effective; I had to rely on Him fully. He taught me that effective ministry is not only about DOING, but also about BEING an effective Christian. Our relationship with Him MATTERS and has a direct correlation to how effective our MINISTRY is.

God has not finished working on me yet. Karen and I have both felt that over the past while, particularly with Erich’s arrival, that God still has so much more to teach us. For starters He has been stretching us as we’ve learned to become new parents. But God has also used Erich’s arrival to give us pause. During this pause, He has prompted us to meditate about this one question: would we be just as effective of a Christian if we were placed beyond our comfort zone – beyond our normal cultural context?

Almost as if to test this question, God has been placing a new burden in our hearts – one for our immediate urban community of Kitsilano. Although I grew up in a non-Chinese church, most of my recent Christian life (the last 22 years) has been spent serving in Chinese churches. Karen, too also grew up primarily in the Chinese church. It is our comfort zone and our familiar context. Even as we outreached to other communities such as through the Short term teams to England, we still ministered within the local born Chinese context.

Vancouver’s urban Kitsilano and West End communities, the community that we live in is perhaps as far removed from the local born Chinese culture as one can get. Although it is one of Canada’s more educated and affluent neighbourhoods, it also has one of Canada’s highest divorce rates. It also has a large concentration of gays and lesbians. Far from a culture where church is valued, churches and “organized religions” are devalued – seen as unnecessary impositions of old fashioned conservative values.

God’s question – would we be just as effective of a Christian if placed beyond our comfort zone kept haunting us. As we pondered, God continually brought us back to our own community. To this end, we began searching to see what we could do to influence our immediate neighbourhood. We found that as we sought opportunities to minister, God began placing people in our lives: from coworkers to neighbours – all in need of the love of Christ. We also found a local church ministry called the Bridge filled with people with the same burden.

Could God be calling us to move on? After much prayer, Karen and I believe that it is indeed God’s will and timing for us to leave our ministry here, and to serve our own community through the Bridge. Coming to this decision was both easy and extremely difficult at the same time. The easy part is -- once you know what God’s will is, the decision is clear – we had peace about it. The difficult part, however, is dealing with the emotional consequences. Karen and I have grown up with all of you, and we’ve seen each other grow. We’ve seen each other mature spiritually and in wisdom and have watched as your faith guides your decisions from academics to dating and marriage. As we reflect on our last summer retreat together, we have seen the realization of the seed that God planted in our hearts 8 years ago. Praise God!

As we move on from one chapter in our lives to the next, so too does Joy Fellowship. This congregation started as a missions plant from Vancouver. Now is the time for the missionaries to leave and for the local leadership to take root. We look forward with much anticipation as William and Juliana take on the leadership and pastor-ship here in the fall. We pray that God will allow them to continue to work well with the counselors and leaders here and that the ministry would be blessed abundantly.

In closing, we want to say how very proud we are of what God has done in your lives. We feel tremendously humbled to have been offered the privilege to be your missionaries, your mentors, your Sunday school teachers, your worship leaders, your prayer partners, your elders, your deacon, your friends, and most of all your brother and sister in Christ. Although this is farewell as your missionary, we are nevertheless all in the body of Christ. We will continue to support the ministry here both in prayer, through limited engagements, and through sponsorship in the expansion project. Our home, as always, is open to you. In return, we ask that you don’t forget us! As Karen says, we’ll be eagerly awaiting your wedding invitations! Seriously though, you will be forever etched in our hearts. We love you all. May God bless you.

Summer Retreat 2006

CCCC's annual Summer Retreat was again held at the old Pioneer Chehalis camp just past Mission. This was the first year of course that Karen and I went with Erich and it was (for the most part) very fun. The camp staff was very accomodating and we appreciated them sparing extra rooms just so that our baby would sleep well at night. It was also the first time we had little to no involvment in the planning of the retreat. But our lack of involvment brought about an unexpected blessing - we saw our youth step up to the plate and began to take ownership of the retreat and its evangelistic focus.

About 90 people attended our camp - many of them non-Christians, as well as some people from Paul Fellowship. We had a chance to spend some time connecting with some of the youth and we were grateful for the chats we had.

For Karen and myself it was a particularly bittersweet experience as it was likely the last camp we would be attending with CCCC. I will not elaborate too much on this as later postings will talk about our departure from CCCC, but we will say that we were greatly encouraged to see our youth grow in Christ and to see their hearts for others. God has indeed been very faithful in our ministry. :-)

More Photos of the retreat can be found here.

Purpose Driven Life

The ministry that I am involved in at Coquitlam is starting a campaign of 40 days through a book called the Purpose Driven Life. You may have heard of it. Basically, for the next forty days, we are going to be reading a chapter a day and learning more about what on earth we are here for!

Now admitedly, most of this isn't new material for me and Karen, but we are in a new stage of life. With the new baby comes new challenges, and fresh perspectives. For instance, the whole notion that Paul talks about in his letters about God knowing us even while we were in mummy's tummy is seen in a completely new light having gone through pregnancy (well Karen anyway), birth and now rearing.

Over the next forty days, I will try to post some of my thoughts as I read through the book.