Pray in Unity, Experience God’s Ascent
Our 40-day Fasting and Prayer ended in early March which coincidentally marked the cancellation of the government’s three-year mask mandate. Immediately following that we started the celebration of Purim. It has been only several weeks since then and we have already experienced God’s ascent in many aspects.
The cancellation of the mask mandate announced right before the performance of our Purim musical made our actors perform freely without masks. There were newcomers coming to Christ in each of the six shows. Right on Purim Sunday, “611 Bread of Life Christian Church” is on top of the list of landmarks at Exit B of Tai Wo Hau MTR station.
In the following weeks, we sent Pastor Yohane and his wife Anna to our Hokkaido branch church and ordained Izuru and his wife Katsura in our Osaka branch as Pastor and C-Mo. From the beginning of 2023 until now we have sent three co-worker couples to our branches in Japan and Taiwan to begin their new ministries. Remembering that I shared the vision of Planting Trees of Life Everywhere in 52 Years in our Bible School on March 1, I feel deeply moved and know that God is reminding us that the vision will surely be fulfilled.
Besides, from our 40-day Fasting and Prayer until now, God has added to us daily those who were being saved and let us ascend continuously. During the Fasting period, Pastor Lyan led the evangelist team to outreach every week and brought a total of 600 people to Christ. Moreover, all pastoral zones have altogether brought 160 newcomers to Christ. In the Children’s Church, more than 100 new children have participated in services of different age groups in the past month. In the tour for newcomers last week, 15 relatives and friends of our brothers and sisters accepted Jesus during the trip.
It’s been tough in the three-year pandemic, churches and different industries experienced hard times. But now is the time for everything to be revived. We acknowledge that God hears our prayers so that we may experience God’s ascent. Our brothers and sisters are coming back to physical gatherings, bringing up attendance. Moreover, we purchased a property for retreat in Cheung Chau during the pandemic: an answer to my prayer twenty years ago. Now the sapling of Tree of Life education is also growing up and it calls for our continuous prayer and God’s watering and nurturing. Surely, God’s Will shall be done.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have received good news one after the other as we follow God. I realize how important prayer is — it is the key for us to encounter God’s ascent. God is telling us that this phase is over. May we continue to pray in unity, we shall definitely see greater works of God in our midst. Bless you all! ■【2023.03.26】
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