HOPE FAMILY NEWS

HOPE UNITED KINGDOM FESTIVAL

I thank the Lord for a great Easter Fest. It was certainly our best so far with an attendance of 142 people. Representatives from all the Hope UK churches in Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Reading, Ealing, Hatfield and London came to the Fest.

[View Camp Photos Website]

Watch United Kingdom Festival Video

I also thank the organising committee and helpers for doing a fantastic job. We had three decisions for Christ, six water baptisms and many people receiving baptism in the Holy Spirit. We also had a white Easter Sunday. The scripture in Isaiah 1:18 came to mind that morning, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” Praise the Lord for washing our sins as white as snow!

Fest stands for both a festival and a feast. It is a time when the people of God gather together to celebrate God's goodness in their lives. There was certainly no shortage of celebration during praise and worship, in listening to the Word of God, in games, in the creative presentations, in eating or in fellowship. There was a tremendous buzz throughout the whole Fest. Praise the Lord for His presence throughout!

We have chosen the theme "Kingdom UNITED - Unity in Diversity" based on the Heterogenous Church teachings. The people are encouraged to reach out and enfold all people, all nations. They are also strengthened in their faith and commitment to God!

There is an excitement in my spirit that something great is going to happen in the UK and Europe in the not too distant future.

In the Fest, I reminded the people of a prophecy I gave 2 1/2 years ago. I said in 3 years' time, the light of the Gospel will break through the cloud of spiritual darkness and will start to shine in this land again, as said in Isaiah 60:1-3.

I have chosen the theme "Enter the Land" for our 10th Anniversary in October. It signifies that our churches will launch forward to take the land in Jesus’ name!

God bless,

Pastor PK & Kim Tse, Hope United Kingdom

HOPE PJ, KUALA LUMPUR: FIRST STUDENT SERVICE

Woohoo! Hope PJ finally has its own Student Service and it was held on the day before Easter! Before the Easter Student Service commenced, we, the student group, had put a lot of effort and planning into this project to see it come to fruition. As it was our first service, all those who were ministering on stage at altar call were first timers.

View Student Service Video

We kicked off the night with first time worship leader Kimberly from the College Group, to leading us through a time of high praises with songs like “Jesus You Are So Good”, “Jesus is alive”, “Celebrate Jesus”, “Allah Bangkit” and “King of Majesty”.

The entire sanctuary hall was filled with the Spirit of Joy as we all sang along and praised the Lord on High. We did not forget to worship God either with songs like “God so Loved” and “Amazing Love”. It was indeed incredible to see how God worked among His people. The musicians did not miss a single beat and the back up singers sang with angelic voices as they harmonised the songs.

After our praise and worship session, the college team performed a skit with the song “Everything” by Lighthouse playing in the background.

The skit talked about how a girl, who had come to know Jesus, was tempted by the world. She went through a series of dark times, and it reached a stage where her situations pushed to her to a point where she almost killed herself. As she went through her struggles, Jesus was always there to intercede for her. In the end, she was saved by His power. I must say that this is one of the best skits I have ever seen because it nearly brought me to tears! (View video)

That night, in conjunction with Easter, Pastor Willie shared with us with the sermon “Because He Lives...” He reminded us all, once again, the reason why Jesus was crucified. Because He Lives, we are able to:

1. Overcome ourselves – especially what is inside our heart [James 3:6, Proverbs 6:16-18]
2. We have courage to face tomorrow [Proverbs 27:1, Heb 13:5 & 1John 4:4].
3. We have the courage to confront death, because the last enemy is death [1 Cor 15:26]

The highlight of the night was when we had four people receiving Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour!

Indeed, if you ask me, I would say “What a wonderful way of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!”Amen.

Reported by: Joyce Wong, Hope PJ

HOPE MANILA: EASTER CAMP "A MOBILISED CHURCH"

From March 20 – 22, 2008, Hope Philippines celebrated their most anticipated event of the year: the annual Hope Camp with this year’s theme being “Get Involved”. The speakers were Pastor Soradej and Pastor David Chen from Hope Bangkok. God blessed us as we more than reached our goal of over 230 participants at the camp.

[View Photo Website]

We were challenged to be mobilised and follow God’s calling to get involved in expanding His kingdom. Many hands were raised when special guest speaker Pastor David Chen asked those who wanted to be involved in God’s kingdom.

Participants were involved in everything: from sports, witnessing water baptisms, cheering, teaching, discussions, praise and worship and prayer. We rejoiced to have our daughter church in Laguna to join this festive event with 65 participants! With God’s Word, many members have been more challenged to get involved in God’s Vision in all areas of their lives! Praise God for a successful camp this year.

Easter Sunday Celebration: “The Way of Victory”

We began the celebration with a grand opening from our Creative Arts Team. Many came to celebrate and remember the victory of Christ on the Cross and His resurrection. The teachings of God’s Word motivated all of us to move beyond all things in the past that hinder us to draw closer to God.

Pastor David Chen asked us, “Are you walking a life of victory?” Easter Celebration reminded us to be confident in living the life of freedom from the obstacles that hinder us in following God’s will because of our Risen King, Jesus Christ.

[View Photo Website]

We were challenged by God’s Word to grasp every one of His promises for our lives and live the life of victory that God wants us to have. Thank God for five people who entered into a relationship with Him at the end of the service. Praise God for He is risen!

Pastor Soradej & Dr Eunice, Hope Manila - Philippines

HOPE PHUKET, THAILAND: BURMESE MINISTRY

I thank God for bringing more Burmese people into our church in Hope Phuket. It all started when I discovered that there were four Burmese Christians attending my church.

One of them was a foreign worker who was able to speak fluent Thai and he told me he knew about 40 Burmese Christian friends in Phuket. I invited these people to my house for care group. Four people attended the bible study in my house. In the first week, I taught them about the foundations of Christianity.

Holy Spirit Baptism among Burmese

I also asked the Burmese members in our church to do a special song presentation at church service on Sunday. Twelve of them sang a special song on stage and a total of 20 Burmese attended church. Many people in the church were encouraged to see a new group of people joining the church. At one bible study, I taught about being baptised of the Holy Spirit. After the teaching, five Burmese were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in a new language.

Burmese Service in Hope Phuket

Then I challenged the Burmese Christians in my church to start a Burmese Sunday afternoon service at 2 pm. We started the first Burmese Sunday service on March 16 with seventeen Burmese and five Thai people. God continues to grow this group. A few weeks latter, we had twenty two Burmese people. God also blessed the Burmese church with an electric guitar and a sound system. Please continue to pray for the Burmese ministry in Phuket.

Pastor Matthew & Sandra, Hope Phuket - Thailand

For more information about Burmese Ministry in Phuket, please write to Pastor Sandra (hopepkt@yahoo.com)

HOPE KUCHING: CHURCH PLANTING IN DILI, TIMOR LESTE

On 30th March 2008, Hope Dili Family had our very first one day Bible Camp in Dili. The theme is "A Higher Ambition". We have 20 people joined this camp, and we have about 10 new visitors. Praise the Lord!

This is an interview with Harry who is in Dili, Timor Leste doing pioneering work.

How did Harry expand God’s work in Dili, Timor Leste?

He is faithful in reaching out to contacts weekly and nurturing them to be strong and biblical disciples through vision impacting and biblical teaching.

What are the goals for Hope Dili in 2008?

• To build a strong and biblical foundation in the lives of Timorese contacts

• To keep enforcing the value of the church as a community of God’s redeemed people meeting together to fellowship and worship

• To focus on vision impartation to all members and ensure the 7 characteristics of Hope is planted strongly in them

What are the challenges he is facing at the moment?

• The political instability, high cost of living, the increased number of people in refugee camps as more people take advantage of aid from the government and NGO’s.

• No electricity, no water and erratic power supply with blackouts occurring everyday at unpredictable times and lasting for several hours.

• Occasional street fighting and domestic violence amidst the presence of Timor Leste National police and military and no transportation is available at night.

What can the Short Term Mission Support team contribute?

We can organise IT related seminars and Intensive English courses for the university students. Spend some time to fellowship and minister to them.

Prayer Points:

• Pray that Harry will continue to build a strong core team in Dili.

• Ask God to protect Harry physically, mentally, emotionally and socially when he is serving in the midst of tough situation in Dili.

• Pray for breakthrough in spiritual stronghold (ritualistic worship of Mary and the Saints) among the people.

Reported by: Eden Ong (Hope Kuching)

*Dili, Timor Leste is a Creative Access Nations (CAN). Please do not circulate this information around to possible avoid persecution. For more information about Hope Dili or employment in Timor Leste please write to Harry Ting (ting_heng_wei@yahoo.com).

HOPE TAIPEI, TAIWAN, 12TH CHURCH ANNIVERSARY

Hope Taipei celebrated their 12th Anniversary on March 29, 2008. It was a time full of thanksgiving, blessings and joy. There were almost 100 people there, young and old, coming to celebrate this event together.

All of our guests enjoyed all the programs: praise and worship, the Chinese talk show, a drama performance, and listening to the teaching. It was the first time that we have tried a drama, and it went for almost an hour that afternoon. The success of the drama was due to the devotion and effort of all the team members. Many were touched by the performance and content of the drama.

Praise God that five of our guests, composed of students and professionals, accepted Christ that afternoon.

Two more friends made their decision to follow Christ days following the Anniversary celebration. The whole church has been grateful and excited to witness the great works that God has done in our lives as well as our friends.

The momentum of evangelism and caring for lost souls has been stirred up in the church. All of our members participated in the 21-day fast-and-praying preparation before the big event.

With such a spiritual preparation leading up to the event, we saw the powerful movement of God’s Spirit in lives of our members and guests. We believe that God will continue to use us to touch many more souls in Taipei and the whole island of Taiwan. We are longing to see more breakthroughs and victories in Hope Taipei and in the lives of people in Taiwan.

Jessica Jen, Hope Taipei - Taiwan

HOPE TOKYO, JAPAN: EASTER SUNDAY & WATER BAPTISM

Hi everyone! Happy Easter from the land of Sakura! Hope of Tokyo celebrated Christ’s resurrection from early morning pray meeting at 7.00 am: the time in the Bible where Mary Magdalene and some women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body. The church prepared a breakfast and we went to pick up our guests. Thank God for eight new visitors.

Sister Masami preached a message entitled “The power in Christ’s resurrection” reminds us to believe in His resurrection power and live in a victorious life.

Fun and games in the park

In the afternoon, we carried out an outdoor activity at a nearby park, as this is the season where the cherry blossoms start blooming all around Japan. One of the visitors who came to our service, attended again the week after and he finally accepted Christ. He shared with us that after he invited Jesus into his life and prayed for his family, he felt that the Lord completely healed him from the wound of his parent’s divorce. He is assured that God loves him and he no longer has to compare his family with others.

Water Basptism in Tokyo

During that Sunday, five other members were also baptised by brother Chew. They shared their testimonies of how they came to know God with tears of thanksgiving.

It was amazing that their faces obviously turned so shiny after they were baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit. We praise God that He is alive and always help us to serve Him here.

Chew and Masami, Hope Tokyo, Japan

HOPE HONG KONG EASTER SERVICE

We thank God for over 440 people who gathered at the HKCEC to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus who has given us the wonderful opportunity to obtain our Eternal Pass to heaven.

The service opened with a skit set in the Sahara Desert. Then Brother Allen led us into a Spirit-filled session of powerful Praise and Worship. Afterwards, we saw a video where three brothers and sisters testified about God's wonderful work in their lives.

Brother Kwok Hung shared with us how he has been changed by God since he decided to commit his life to Christ after experiencing God throughout his late mother's battle with cancer.

Sister Edith testified God's miraculous work in her life and her studies. She has changed from being a typical teenager to a girl with direction and passion for God, who has blessed her with wonderful results for her faithfulness.

Sister Precy from the Filipino group shared her moving testimony of how God has healed her from her nightmares and bitterness due to her childhood memories. Praise God that these three blessed brothers and sisters all wish to serve Him more and more. God will surely use them in his great plan!

Pastor Gavin's preaching from John 11:25-26, titling "Eternal Pass", reminded us of the meaning of Easter. He shared why we can only get the eternal pass to heaven from Jesus.

In addition, Jesus is the resurrection and the life; He is our hope in times of trouble and despair, and our way to a new life which death can never conquer. As Jesus has gracefully forgiven our sins and offered us this Eternal Pass which no earthly treasure can compare, how can we reject this wonderful gift?

Praise our Lord Jesus: ten new souls were touched and accepted this special gift from Him! Let us continue to trust in Jesus, serve Him together and never lose our eternal hope, so that we can pass it on to this world which truly needs it.

Pastor Gavin & Pastor Arlene Toh
Hope Hong Kong (Website)