HOPE FAMILY NEWS

Hope Quito, Ecuador (South America)

Spiritual Rumblings……

Ecuador is a land of natural beauty, surrounded by rolling hills, mountains and even volcanoes. In fact, 3 of the volcanoes in Ecuador have been listed among the world’s top 10 most active volcanoes. Guess what, when a volcano is about to erupt, there is no mistaking it. Before Tungurahua (“Throat of Fire” in Quichua), one of the volcanoes, erupted last year, there were rumblings and fiery sparks emitting from deep within it.

Thankfully, Quito, the capital where our Hope family is based, is well-protected geographically from the adverse effects of any volcanic eruption. Nevertheless, in the last week of July 2007, we definitely heard rumblings of another kind……

During that week, Hope Quito was blessed by the visit of Pastor Ben from Singapore. Our team from Hope Lima, Peru also came by to minister for a couple of days. The conference started on Thursday 26th July. On that afternoon, Serene from Hope Lima conducted a guitar workshop, followed by a worship workshop, for the Hope Quito guitarists and worship leaders-in-training respectively. It was a valuable impartation not just of skills, but above all of the right spirit and heart attitude that those in the worship ministry should possess. That night, 14 people came for the prayer and worship night. The main purpose of that evening was to share about Holy Spirit baptism and to invite the people to respond for it. Serene led a powerful time of worship, with songs inviting the Holy Spirit’s presence. This was followed by a testimony by Delia, also from the Peru team, and a teaching session by Pastor Ben on what the Holy Spirit baptism was all about and why it was necessary. At the end, there was a response time and it was pretty amazing how people just responded in simple faith. Of the 14 members and visitors present, 2 had already received the baptism previously and 8 others came forward to be prayed for that night. Joshua (the Hope Quito coordinator) and Julian (the Hope Lima coordinator) laid hands and prayed for the people in 2 groups. Out of the 8 people who stepped forward, at least 5 received the Holy Spirit baptism with audible confirmation of praying aloud in tongues after that. One of them, Betty, a regular visitor and systems specialist, said that she had responded because she wanted to do what was right. Later, she shared that she couldn’t stop praying in tongues even as she drove home that night! A member, Ricardo, a law undergraduate, said that he had sensed throughout the day that something big was going to happen to him that night (even without knowing that we were planning to pray for the Holy Spirit baptism). He testified that he felt indescribable joy after receiving the baptism. Another member, Guadalupe, a grandmother, shared that as she read her Bible that week, God had somehow brought forth verses related to the Holy Spirit. She was in tears of joy after receiving the baptism that night and said that during the prayer and laying of hands, she had felt a current move over her body, followed by a feeling of great contentment. She was so excited that she couldn’t sleep that night! Praise God indeed!

The next day, Friday, was devoted entirely to a Vision and Philosophy (V&P) session with Pastor Ben, with Joshua translating. The day session was conducted in informal style, with people seated around the dining table, interacting and asking questions. It was a totally open and impactful time of sharing about who we are as a Hope movement, what we believe in and why we do what we do. Pastor Ben discovered that 4 of our university students were from the same university in Quito and challenged them to pray and plan together on how to win people over for Christ in that university. Towards the evening, the interest and the number of people continued to grow, as those who didn’t manage to take leave rushed down after their work. By nightfall, we had to move to the bigger living area where we normally hold our services. The attendance was about the same as the previous night. Building on the momentum and atmosphere from the previous night, we had an extended praise and worship session, leading people to worship God in the spirit and encouraging especially those who had newly received the Holy Spirit baptism to pray and to worship in tongues. With more than half the church now baptized in the Holy Spirit, you could definitely sense a difference in the worship atmosphere. Later that night, Pastor Ben continued with the night V&P session. It was such a blessing (not just for the locals but for our Singapore team too) to hear the biblical principles that bind us together as a Hope family, whoever we are and wherever we serve in the world. We believe that Pastor Ben truly touched many lives that day, as he shared straight from the heart, not just the values, but also examples of how to make practical life decisions based on those principles. For example, how we should always make decisions that reflect Christ’s lordship of our lives and that best extend the Kingdom, be it in choosing a job or a life partner etc. Many in the crowd definitely caught his spirit as he illustrated with some of his personal experiences and examples…and they caught his sense of humor too, our people said that our dear pastor was a very humorous guy!

The next day, we had a Saturday celebration service. After 2 days of prayer, worship and teaching….our service attendance couldn’t help but go up! On that day, we had 24 people, about a one-third increase from our usual attendance. During the icebreaker time, people were divided into groups to build something that represented God’s house, using different materials. A group built figures of people, instead of a building. Other groups shared about wanting to see more people entering His house. It was exciting to see that slowly but surely, more and more of them are beginning to capture God’s heartbeat and vision for the church…indeed, by faith, we believe that amongst them are people who will invest their lives together with us as living stones to build a spiritual house for Christ. After the praise and worship session, Pastor Ben preached a message entitled “Heart Tuning” from Proverbs 3:1-10. Again, simple yet timely biblical words of wisdom that fell on good soil that day. A first-time visiting law undergraduate (named Julian) responded to Christ, and he stayed with us the entire day as he liked the fellowship. After the service we had a celebration BBQ and many of our members and friends (including a first-time visitor) did not want to go home and actually stayed on till evening to bid Pastor Ben farewell before his night flight.

Before Pastor Ben left for Santiago, Chile, our members and friends also shared how they had been tremendously blessed over the past 3 days. Here is just an example of what 2 of them said. Our member Ricardo said that what impacted him most was the global vision that Pastor Ben talked about, and how each of us has a part to play in it. Lennin, a father and core-team member, shared that he had learnt so many biblical principles, about the importance of the local church, about discipleship etc. He said that he wanted to be like Elisha to Elijah and to support Joshua fully in good times and in challenging times, as Joshua led the church in Quito.

Our team in Hope Quito truly thank God for His presence and providence (by sending leaders and co-laborers from Singapore and Peru) over the 3 days. We are also grateful to Pastor Ben and those who have taken the time to leave an indelible imprint in the hearts and spirits of all those in our Quito church. Now we can hear a distinct rumbling beginning to arise from deep within our people. A spiritual rumbling, a spiritual awakening. Sparks of vision and desire have been ignited. Please do continue to pray with us, because we know that one day, like an active volcano, there will be a spiritual eruption. Beginning from our seed church, may the revival fire cover Quito and then one day, all the land of Ecuador. God’s dream for this small yet breathtakingly beautiful Andean country has become our dream, His passion our passion. Through this conference, we thank Him that it is beginning to become the dream and passion of the locals in Hope Quito too. The very people for whom we have traveled so far, that we may serve and disciple them. The very lives whom we pray will continue to run with the vision long into the future. The road ahead is still long and challenging, for our present team and the future team to come. There is now much follow-up to do. But we thank God. Because the rumbling has begun…

Written by Joshua/Hannah Yeo & Sharon Wong - Hope Quito Church

Hope Manila: Friendship Day

Hope Manila had a “Friendship Day celebration”. There was excitement in the air as many people brought their friends, and we were blessed to see 15 of them coming to know Jesus as their new best friend.

God’s favour continued to pour down on Hope Manila as we saw 201 attendees at this special event. God is surely faithful as we continue to pray for and reap the harvest. Heaven is rejoicing!

The speaker for this special event was Dr. Eunice Tan Meesaengtham and the topic was, “Am I a true friend?” We were blessed by the presentation from the Impact Ministry and Hope Kids.

They showed their abilities and talents to the Lord through song and dance. After the Sunday Service and lunch fellowship, two photo service booths were available. Many people were blessed by the Friendship Day celebration. Praise God for His faithfulness.

An Update from Timor Leste’s Team

In May 2002, Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor) became the world's newest nation, following 24 years of Indonesian control and three years of UN administration. After voting for independence from Indonesia in 1999, an estimated 75 percent of the population was displaced and nearly 70 percent of all the buildings, homes, schools, etc. were destroyed by an orchestrated campaign of violence carried out by militia groups. The World Bank has been assisting Timor-Leste since 1999 to help rebuild the fledgling country’s infrastructure, stabilise the economy, and build up strong government institutions.

Ps. Margerita and her brother Harry landed in Timor Leste on September 2006. Currently they have a group of contacts from the university.

After facing some challenges due to the country’s instability and riots; the team have continued to press on and share their love & concern to the community. God has been great and currently they run Sunday gatherings monthly with about 10 people joining them. Ps. Margerita also went to the open refugee camp to care for and share the gospel to the refugees. Praise God that some of them responded. Last week, they had Hope Dili’s first retreat in Cristo Rei. Ps. Margerita plan to bring the team to join the Malaysian National Convention in Kuching this year. Thank God for the Timor Leste’s intercessory team (Hope Kuching) who consistently pray and intercede for the safety of the team.

Sejam bem-vindos a Timor-Leste!
Soyez bien venus à Timor-Leste!

Reported by: Erin Tang (Mission Department, Hope KL)
Information gathered by Eden Ong, Hope Kuching

Hope Hong Kong Bible Conference

The theme for this year’s Bible Conference was the "Life of Jesus". 259 brothers and sisters joined together and receive biblical insight from Pastor Prakich. During this 5 day conference, Pastor Prakich, the International Zone Leader of Hope Europe, was the main speaker for this Conference.

The lessons were powerfully and succinctly presented in the following framework:

• General Understanding Required for Studying the Life of Jesus
• Life of Jesus: Preparation Period
• Life of Jesus: Public Ministry Period
• Life of Jesus: the Last Period

To motivate us and ignite our interest in studying the bible, Pastor Prakich shared that Jesus is our God and is the greatest person in human history. He is the God of the past, today and forever more. Pastor also shared that the life of Jesus as stipulated in the bible is not a biography but a testimony that endorses and records the life of Jesus Christ. For example, the crucifixion of Jesus was heavily emphasised throughout the four Gospels. In contrast, a biographical book would not have focussed so much on the subject’s death. We also learn that each author of the gospels looked at the life of Jesus from different perspectives. Also, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were aimed for different audiences. Hence the gospels are like jigsaw puzzle pieces put together to form one picture. This testimony is very important for all of us to learn and be equipped to share the good news in Jesus' way.

Pastor Prakich positioned us to look and understand Jesus' life example from new angles and perspectives. For instance, Jesus knew, from the start, that Judas would betray and Peter would deny Him. However, His love for them was so great that both of them were treated with forgiveness. From the perspective of Peter and Judas, we should follow Peter's willingness to repent when we have done something sinful. Another example of Jesus' wisdom in evangelism is the Samaritan woman drawing water from the well. Jesus' remarkable wisdom of comparing well water with the living water successfully convinced the Samaritan to choose living water and follow Jesus whole-heartedly. Last but not least, when Jesus was placed in a seemingly "dead-end" situation where a woman who had committed adultery was about to be stoned to death, Jesus amazingly told the audience that those without sin could cast the first stone. As a result, nobody dared to stone this woman and the woman's sin was forgiven.

In the final analysis, Jesus gave the Great Commission to the disciples. Jesus also gave them authority and tasks to do. Today, as Christians, we are also Jesus' disciples. Therefore, we should also carry out the Great Commission and spread the Word of God to all corners of the world. At the end of the last lesson, Pastor Prakich gave an altar call and almost all of the brothers and sisters came forward and committed themselves to be restored by God and be used mightily to fulfil the Great Commission together. Hallelujah!

We thank God for such wonderful teaching and sharing from Pastor Prakich. May God continue to use all of us powerfully as we experience miracles today, just as what had been experienced in the days of Jesus. To God be the glory!