HOPE FAMILY NEWS 2009
Hope Europe Leaders' Conference in Berlin, Germany
Hope Europe held Hope Europe Leaders’ Conference for the first time in 2008 with over 100 attendants. The conference on the theme “A Sound-Minded Church” was held from 27-29 November at YMCA, Berlin, Germany with Ps Prakich, Ps PK and Ps Marcus as the speakers. Apart from the inspiring teachings, the campers were encouraged by testimonies from various leaders.
- Bro Steve Mondala shared how he and his wife pioneered a care group in Haugesund, West of Norway. From one family, the group has grown to almost 20 people within a year. This is amazing, isn’t it?
- Another touching testimony was of Bro Steffen Cornehl, pastor of Hope Stuttgart. Because of his vision to plant and grow God’s church and his willingness to give all he has to God, God opened the door for him amazingly to reduce his work hours from full-time to 80% and now 50%. The Germans can tell you that this is very unusual in their country. This story has reminded me of a saying When there is a will, God will make a way.
Another programme that people always enjoyed was workshops. This year a great variety of topics by experienced leaders were catered to serve the needs and meet the interests of the delegates. Fellowship is something people always treasure as they update one another on their lives and ministries and exchange their experiences. The delegates had lots of opportunities to mingle with one another during meals and free time in the afternoons.
After the conference, pastors were invited for a special dinner served with nice homemade pizzas. Though they were from different countries and cultures, they felt they belonged to one spiritual family. The delegates went back to their respective locality with a heart full of joy and reassurance that God is great and faithful. He will bring great victory and success to all who serve Him faithfully.
Pastor Prakich
Hope Europe Churches (Website)
Hope Adelaide : Africa Wiatoto Choir
On the 17 Aug 2008, Hope Adelaide had the privilege of hosting the Waitoto Choir from Uganda. The Waitoto Choir is an african christian choir consisting of 25 kids and 5 or more adults.
Around 300 from the church and community turned up for the event. The event was advertised on the Christian radio around Adelaide. It was a good way to make our presence known in the community.
The Waitoto Choir is about raising children up specifically orphans to be leaders of tomorrow. The kids sang many songs with interesting hand actions and energetic dances. Each child also had came up to share about their aspirations for their future and also testified about God's goodness.
Ps Brendan culminated the day with a short 15 minute preaching session on the gospel. Overall everyone had a good time and we praise God for blessing the day!
Pastor Brendan & Helen Kirby
Hope Adelaide, Australia
Hope Kota Kinabalu : 12th Anniversary
The 14th of September 2008 saw a memorable 12th Anniversary for Hope Kota Kinabalu as 200 participants enjoyed the party-like atmosphere. The ‘Fiesta Night’ Anniversary was illuminated by ambiance such as ribbons, balloons and confetti as the theme ‘Better Than Life’ illustrated the enthusiasm and joy of the members serving in this Great Vision. The theme emphasised and reminded members that there is more to life than just eating, working and sleeping. Serving in this vision brings true meaning and real joy to life.View Anniversary Video
As the congregation dressed up in their party costumes and dresses, the programme started off with an energetic Praise and Worship session, followed by a touching testimony by three young siblings: Joseph, Grace and Helen from our children’s church. The highlight of the Anniversary was the launching of our ‘Global Mission Pledge’ whereby this pledge will be utilised to support missions and church planting works all around the world. The unprecedented animated 3D LCD clip truly wowed the audience with its spectacular visuals which brought out the essence of the ‘Pledge’. Pastor Anthony Ng officiated the launching of the pledge by unveiling the ‘Spinning’ Global Mission Pledge Box. The congregation truly played their part in boosting the atmosphere by cheering wholeheartedly for each event.
After a short preaching by the pastor, dinner was served in buffet style with a variety of traditional Chinese and western foods. After the cake-cutting ceremony, the congregation was treated with homemade anniversary cakes followed by a special award presentation to members who have been serving in this vision for more than 10 years.
Finally the much anticipated result for best dressed ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ of the Night was chosen. Everybody had a great time and to cap it off, we had a photo taking session to capture memories of a truly unforgettable night.
Pastor Anthony & Moi Moi
Hope Kota Kinabalu
Hope Wollongong: Church Planting
Wollongong is a coastal city 80 km south of Sydney, 1½ hours drive, with a population of over 200,000. Hope Wollongong started in May 2008 as an outreach from Hope Sydney, meeting in the university campus. There are many oversees students here. May Chung, from Hope Brisbane, gave a challenging inaugural address. We stepped out by faith with a few people who had a heart to plant the church with us.
Planting Church in Wollongong
We have been very excited to see how God has used different people and trust in His faithfulness for continued growth. There are many people with needs and I believe God will heal this city. We are very thankful because we had brothers and sisters in Christ who came to visit us. Many mission teams came to give us encouragement.
God is adding people to the group
God is moving in our church. Now we have more than 12 commitments. We try to mobilize people to serve the Lord according to their gifts.
We would like to see a dynamic church develop. In the last 6 months we had activities such as Friendship Sunday, Hope Olympics and the most exciting time was the first water baptism and BBQ. Praise the Lord, at that day we had 9 visitors!
You are most welcome to come and visit us! Please let us know and check for the exact location (Kent 0415 032 940).
Love in Christ
Kent Hemninrat
Hope Wollongong Christian Church
www.hopewollongong.org.au
Hope Brisbane : Chosen for God: A Priesthood Church
On November 15 and 16, 2008, Hope Brisbane Christian Church held its annual church seminar. This year’s topic was ‘Chosen for God: A Priesthood Church’. The members were blessed to have a variety of excellent speakers teaching over the weekend: Pastor Wilson, Pastor Lance, Torchie, May Cheung and guest speaker Pastor Prakich, who is leading Hope London and overseeing the Hope European churches.
The ‘Priesthood Church’ seminar was centred on revealing to members that as Christians, we are to be available and devoted unto God and what it truly means to be chosen for God’s purposes. Over the weekend, the speakers taught about topics such as:
- What is a Priest
- The Tabernacle
- The Offerings
- Believers as Royal Priests
- How to Build a Priesthood Church?
In a first, Sunday Service was conducted in two locations – Afternoon Service at the University of Queensland and Morning and Ablaze Service was at Griffith University. The sermon was about how Jesus was our High Priest and how he was the perfect sacrifice for us and the mediator and God and us.
The seminar concluded with another uplifting praise and worship session before the members left with hearts convicted to serve God as his holy priesthood.
Reported by Trung Tang
Hope Hong Kong: Youth 3rd Anniversary
Praise the Lord for giving us a warm and exciting celebration of the 3rd Anniversary of SD3 Youth Group! The celebration was kicked off at 1:30 p.m. with a powerful prayer led by Sister Ivy.
Followed by our featured programme – Rice Bowl Drawing, brothers and sisters each got a bowl and gathered around the table. The design and drawing of the bowls were glamorous, leveraging the talents from God and the scene was great when the products were put together on display.
After that, we started our 3rd Anniversary service at 3:00p.m.. The Praise and Worship was powerful. Then Sister Ling shared her testimony of God about how she learnt to pray in a more Christian way. Before having the sermon, we watched a video .It consisted of the sharing of creative words and performance of brothers and sisters, with different ways in different groups, to celebrate the joy of the 3rd anniversary of the Youth Group.
Before the service ended, Sister Ivy shared the sermon of this week. She covered 1 Cor 12:12-26 and how brothers and sisters were connected by love. She said that when we were connected as Christians, we would have fellowship and shared the burden and workload of one another. Moreover, the importance to accept and encourage one another was also stressed.
At the end of the service, 3 new friends committed themselves to God and became a part of our family. Thank God for His great wonders!
After the service, brothers and sisters stayed and had dinner together in the Hope Centre. It was a nice event and thank God again for giving us all these blessings!
