Family • Breakfast • Meeting

All our staff gets together for breakfast meeting once a week. This is an exclusive time for me and Pastor Joshua to connect with them. Recently, I have renamed it as ‘Family Breakfast Meeting’, which is far more appropriate. Marian is here to soak and learn, she loves and longs for this “Family Breakfast Meeting”. The following is her sharing.

The name “Breakfast Meeting” gives most people the impression of focusing on having meeting while breakfast is merely a side dish! However, it is a totally different matter in 611.

Once, a new staff asked about official working hours. To that, Pastor Deborah replied with Pastor Johnny’s well-known line, “When I first joined the staff team, I was thrilled to hear that there was no fixed working-hour. Later on, I realize that one does not get off work in 611!” That brought great laughter to the audience. Pastor Johnny added on, “It’s our ‘home’, no one asks about when to report duty and when to get of f-duty at ‘home’.”

Indeed! Working at home does not require fixed workinghour! When time is up and the agenda is clear, that’s the end of a meeting. Family relationship is of life-long, not to be defined by “clocking-in and out”.

Since the first breakfast meeting I attended, my understanding of “family” has been turned upside down.

First of all, truly, breakfast is key! Our staff takes turn to prepare healthy food and then share the dishes together. Afterwards, we enter into the hall when the staff freely gives thanks, mostly related to our life and not the works. Later on, Pastor Joshua and C-Mo happily tell us where they have been, what they have done and whom they have met in recent days. It is so relaxing and happy that it is nothing like “lecturing from senior pastor”.

In many breakfast meetings, I have seen personnel changes, heard people sharing their deepest fears and breakthrough in life; experienced corporate sin confession and repentance, prayed for staff suffering from physical sickness; welcomed new-born babies, and also handled marriage deadlock. Pastor Joshua asks to hear about the progress of his spiritual daughter’s courtship. I even heard his love song to wake up C-Mo.

Little did I expect “meeting” to be full of surprises and is honest and warm. Here is a family where our parents take the lead to express true feelings and everyone is being accepted and understood. We praise one another for growth and bear each other’s weaknesses. Occasionally, we make mistakes and mess up, but deep down we know that we are still loved by the family. Nowadays, ‘Family
Breakfast Meeting’ is my favourite “work time”.

The Church is a spiritual family, as we show a picture of family breakfast full of warmth, love, ease and fun, it is actually manifesting the Glory of God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.•