HOPE FAMILY NEWS

HOPE CHIANG MAI: THAI PASTORS CONFERENCE

Pastors Conference (PC) is a bible conference for pastors and leaders in Hope churches throughout Thailand. It was held for the 5th time at Hope of Chiang Mai Church, in the Light of Hope meeting room on January 22nd-24th, 2008.

The topic was “A Strategic Church.” There were 4 keynote speakers; Pastor PN, Ps Somthob, Pastor Nimit & Pastor Sunee. More than 900 pastors and leaders from all over the country attended the conference. In the evenings members of Hope of Chiang Mai church also attended, bringing the total number to more than 1,000 people.

On the 1st day of the conference, in the morning, the pastor’s wives had a female leader’s meeting with Pastor Sunee, who encouraged them about serving God. In the afternoon there were teachings full of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and power.

On the 2nd day there were also workshops on 36 topics, with experienced leaders from around the country sharing about the topics. In the evening there were sports competitions between the 4 regions. You could say that at this conference, all were blessed physically, mentally, and spiritually. One other important event was the appointing of leaders for the mission team to Africa, to start more church planting work there.

Finally, the last day of the conference arrived, with the completion of much intensive bible teaching. Everyone who attended was so blessed and encouraged by the conference. The next Pastor Conference will be held in Surathani province.

HOPE PORTLAND & SEATTLE COMBINE SERVICE IN SEATTLE

The combined service in Seattle was definitely the highlight of the year 2007. There were 11 people from Hope Portland who drove 3 hours to Seattle on Friday night, Dec 28th. They all stayed with us in the ministry house. We spent time together playing games, praying and worshipping and sightseeing. They drove back only on Monday Dec 31st.

Hope Portland joined Hope Seattle for the last Sunday service of year 2007. Our ministry house as so packed that there were not enough seats. Some people had to sit on the floor. There were 35 people from Hope Seattle in the service. The presence of God was there to convict and encourage us for the years to come. Pas. JR led the worship that brought people touch the throne of God and Pas. David Lee preached a very inspiring message to all. It was the spirit of unity that touches us the most. We thank God for this combined service and the fitting end to 2007 welcoming the New Year.

Pastor JR & Warinda Pan, Hope Seattle (Website)

“It was an amazing experience,” said a Hope Portland member on our 3-hour journey back from Seattle. The combined service brought together a side of Hope that our members always heard about but never actually experienced.

Many Portland member and guests were touched and surprised by the dedicated spirit of Hope Seattle members along with their hospitality. God’s spirit of unity was flowing throughout the time we spent in Seattle, not only did we build a deeper relationship with the brother and sisters in Seattle, we also built a deeper relationship with each other. So echoing the quote from our member earlier, “It was an amazing experience.”

David & Ann Lee, Hope Portland

HOPE HONG KONG: CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

On the fourth day of the year of the Rat, brothers and sisters gathered again in high spirits for our Lunar New Year Sunday Service. After welcoming and blessing each other under warm and joyful music of Chinese New Year, Sister Rachel and her all-gold team in traditional Chinese costumes led us into a powerful session of Praise and Worship for our mighty God.

Testimony of Eric on God's provision...

A father of three and CEO of a company, testified how God led him through his period of financial difficulties after the birth of his third child...

Although he was blessed with a new baby and acquired his own property, he faced a hard time with his finances, which caused him to stumble and expose a lack of faith in the area of tithing. However, our faithful and graceful God rebuilt Eric's faith, and he repented. Even more, God blessed him with the successful sale of his property at a record-high price! Our brother reminded us of God's grace. Although we may from time to time stumble and fall away from God, we must always repent and hang onto Him and His ways. Have complete faith in God, and His wonderful and unpredictable blessings will surely follow.

After praying for each other that God will bless us in all areas throughout the year of the Rat, we sang Chinese New Year songs together in a festive and joyful atmosphere. The Children Church then went on to the stage to wish everyone a happy new year with good health in sign language! They also gave us New Year Fai Chun-s which they wrote themselves. Such wonderful blessings to have energetic and cute children in our church!

Amidst the laughter, awards for the Lunar New Year Costume Competition were presented. Sister Yvonne in her cute braids and red outfit outshone all the girls. Brother Ray defeated all his fellow brothers with his handsome gold Chinese suit. Of all the children, little Joseph with his full set of orange and yellow costume topped with a cute hat was the obvious winner. To push it up to a climax, a brother accepted Christ! Praise the Lord!

After the closing praise, we all left in happy spirits knowing that God will bless us in every way in the coming year.

Pastor Gavin and Arlene Toh, Hope Hong Kong (Website)

HOPE SOLO, INDONESIA: PS PIK JIANG & VIONA WEDDING

Congratulation to Pastor Pik Jiang and Viona on their wedding on Friday 15th Febuary 2008. Some of the special guests included, Pastor Hadi Kusumo (Hope LA) , Pator Denis and Hai Eng (Hope Kuching) , Pastor Kwong Lie (Hope Johor Bahru), Pastor Mariska Ningsih (Hope Hope Jakarta) , Akwila Raditya (Hope Jogjarkata), Peter Truong (Hope Brisbane).

Thank God for a wonderful wedding ceremony at the church and wedding reception at Solo Convention Centre with thousand of people attending

View Wedding Video

HOPE DAVIO CITY, PHILIPPINES : CHURCH PLANTING

I joined the Hope movement through Hope Labuan, Malaysia in 2003. At that time, I was the only Filipino in a church comprising of mostly Chinese and native Malays. As I settled down, and became comfortable in the church, I, with Kevin Su, the present coordinator and my ex-colleague, started to reach out to other Filipinos working in Labuan in 2004. We usually missed lunch to visit and follow up our contacts. Later that year, we saw the Filipino group grew to about 12 people. Amazingly, the majority comes from Davao City.

As foreigners, I realised that we will eventually return to our home country. It led to me thinking about life after Hope Labuan. I prayed about it and God put a burden in my heart: to continue the work in Davao City. Little did I know that by so doing so, I am obeying the vision that we recite every Sunday.

In May of 2007, two sisters Joy Vidal and Irene Villanueva went home to Davao and started a CG with their family members. In August 2007, a group of Malaysians went to Davao for a mission trip; the Lord blessed that trip with the birth of our student group in one of the colleges in the city. The home CG is growing as well as the student group. Since my arrival in January, we saw 6 students receive Christ.

At the moment, we are looking for a place to rent in the city to be used as our centre. Also, we are working towards being registered with the government authority. We plan to have our first Sunday service on 30th of March.

Truly God is faithful. All glory to God

Joaquin B. Gonzaga, Jr, Hope Davio

HOPE BANGKOK IF: MISSION TRIP TO INDIA

Hope Bangkok International Fellowship sent Jacky on a mission trip to Ajmer City, India from November 30, 2007 to January 2, 2008. The objective of the mission trip was to minister to a family who accepted Christ in January 2007. When Jacky arrived in Ajmer, the family warmly welcomed him. They were very excited to know more about God. Jacky stayed there for one month and helped them deepen their understanding of God.

After a week, they opened a care group in their house. Brothers Navin and Nanik of IF Bangkok joined them; they were so blessed when one family member also accepted the Lord. Jacky said, “I really felt the Holy Spirit moving in our midst. I saw their hunger and desire to have a deeper relationship with God. Therefore, I really spent my time sharing with them about God.”

On his final week before returning to Bangkok, Jacky had dinner with the whole family. They prayed for each other and they were very thankful and encouraged. The most inspiring part of the trip was the family’s desire and vision to have 500 people joining them in Ajmer. They want to see God’s kingdom establish in their City! Truly, God’s zeal has consumed them.

Jacky will never forget this stimulating journey and the enjoyable experience he had with these new disciples of Christ in Ajmer City. He thanked God for this opportunity to serve and know Him more during this mission trip to India.

For information on Ministry in Ajmer City.

Contact Missions Coordinator: Chortip Pramoolpol. Email: deachor@yahoo.com

Hope Bangkok International Fellowship (Website)

[Photo of Pastor Isaac & Mapring, Hope Bangkok IF]

HOPE MELBOURNE: CHURCH PLANTING IN DAREBIN

Pastor Mark Rusic in Hope Melbourne City Centre appointed Eric Fan and a team to help pioneer a centre in Darebin, Melbourne. Below is a church planting testimony written by Eric Fan.

Pioneering work in Darebin

This year, I have personally been involved with pioneering work in Darebin, Melbourne since February. I have witnessed the grace of God from the very start when 11 visitors came to our first discussion meeting on a Wednesday night. Some visitors even brought their friends which encouraged the team greatly.

First Fruit - Aussie accepted Christ

One week later, God gave us the first fruit with a young Aussie guy coming to accept Christ. He was actually the only Aussie guy in our meetings and was feeling a bit uncomfortable about this fact at first. However, what he and others visitors noticed very quickly was the friendliness and love of the members, and he was ripe to accept Christ.

Since then, God has blessed us with 3 more salvations. God has even sent workers from other parts of the Hope Movement to help us particularly at La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus with our outreach to students.

Working together as a team

I praise God for the hearts of the members who have committed themselves to the pioneering work in Darebin, whilst at the same time juggling other responsibilities. On a personal level, my wife and I are expecting our first baby at the end of July. I believe delivering a spiritual baby is equally amazing and exciting. And we feel so privileged to be involved.

Although as a team we have been challenged and stretched, there is a sense of joy as we know that God is refining and preparing us for greater things.

We aim to have a Church service started in Darebin by the end of September this year by God’s grace.

Filfilling the Great Commission

Over the coming months we pray that the momentum for his work in Darebin will continue to increase with designated care groups taking ownership of the Church, with members volunteering their time and energy in taking turns to go out for evangelism on a regular basis.

We know that apart from Him, we can do nothing. Our confidence is in God alone because we are serving a living God. We are simply obeying his command to GO in spreading the gospel everywhere. We have full confidence that God is working with us and will continue to give us encouraging signs that accompany his work in Darebin.

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached every-where, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16: 19-20)

Please do join with us to pray for God’s work in Darebin to flourish.

All Glory to God!
Eric Fan