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Church Anniversary
The church celebrated its 26th anniversary in November 2007. The actual anniversary date is November 22, but one of the guest speakers was not available then, so we celebrated a little early, on November 11. We had two guest speakers, both Filipinos. The speaker for the outdoor morning service in Kowloon Park was Bro. Enrique “Ricky” Ferrer, Jr., who ministers to the Kias Church of Christ in Baguio City in the Philippines. The speaker in the afternoon was Bro. Rodolfo “JoJo” Alvarez, Jr., who was then working at a secular job in the nearby Macau SAR and ministering to a church there on the weekends. (Since then he has returned to the Philippines.) His wife, Grace, who teaches at Aparri Bible Seminary in the Philippines, also came for the anniversary and presented some of the special music. The total attendance for both services was 139 different people – even more than came last year for the 25th anniversary.
Chinese New Year Seminar
At Chinese New Year we were blessed by another visit by Bro. David and Sis. Dian Ruder from California. Bro.David is the cousin of Bro. Ben Rees, and the Ruders have been here several times before. As usual, we scheduled a special seminar to take advantage of their presence and their talents. The theme for this year's visit was “Building Relationships for the Sake of Christ.” Sis. Dian taught 5 lessons on “Listening from the Heart”, and Bro. David taught a couple of lessons on “The One-Another Way”, plus a special class for those who want to lead singing in the church, on “Choosing Songs for Worship – a Sacred Task.” The classes and activities were held in several different locations: the YMCA, the Rees home in Mei Foo, and the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Gardens on Hong Kong Island.
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Resurrection Sunday (Easter) came earlier than usual this year, on March 23. Our theme for the day was "The Promise." In the morning we hed an outdoor "Sonrise" service in the Middle Road Park next to the Mariners' Club in Tsimshatsui. Bro. Ben Rees spoke about how Jesus had promised to die for our sins, but then to rise from the dead on the third day. In the afternoon we met in our usual meeting place in the YMCA. The choir gave a special musical presentation, and Bro. Ben spoke about the promises Jesus made that he would send his Holy Spirit, that he would come again, and that he would prepare a home in heaven for those who belong to him.
Mothers Honored, May 12
Mothers' Day is always an emotional day for the congregation, since nearly half of the members of the congregation are mothers, yet hardly any are lucky enough to have their children with them here in Hong Kong. This year, instead of a sermon, three of the older mothers shared their testimonies and words of advice for the younger women. The Faith Circle presented ribbon flowers to all the mothers, and also made a few special presentations to the oldest mother, the youngest mother, etc.
Faith Circle "Sports Fest, Part 2", June 9.
After heavy rains several days the previous week, culminating in a "Black Rainstorm Warning" and record-breaking rains and flooding on Saturday, June 7, God answered our prayers and granted near-perfect weather on Monday, June 9, the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Around 50 people -- members of the church and their friends -- gathered in the Quarry Bay Park for the Faith Circle Sports Fest, Part 2. Two teams, named "Dorcas" and "Phoebe" after famous women from the New Testament, competed for top honours in cheerleading, team banner, team clap, and a variety of short games. The competition was very close, with first one team then the other winning different parts of the contest
Fathers Remembered, June 15
Since most members of the church are from the Philippines, and most people from the Philippines in Hong Kong are women who are working as domestic servants and caregivers, there are very few men in the church and therefore very few fathers. The church did celebrate Fathers' Day, however. The two fathers who were there were honoured, one widow gave a testimony about how she has had to be both father and mother for her son, and we heard three open letters that ladies in the church had written to their fathers. In the Lord's Supper time and commitment time we turned our thoughts to God, our heavenly father's love for his wayward children and our response to him.
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