Great Peace in God’s Presence

The church is entering her 19th anniversary; we have been walking in the times and blessings of our heavenly Father. By His Presence, He is leading us forward. God is real which I am largely grateful. In His Presence, there is peace.

It happens that my wife, Delphine shall turn 61 this January. I am truly grateful for her health and vitality. When we first came back to Hong Kong, she was physically frail, suffering from uterine fibroids and even metrorrhagia at times. In the meantime we needed to find a place to settle but she was unable to do house hunting with me, leaving me to do the searching by myself. Finally we moved to North Point Terrace which was a slope away from the main road, making the journey extremely hard for her. In those days, she was a frequent visitor to the ER but now she is energetic, strong and highly innovative. Together, we are building up Tree of Life churches, this I am deeply thankful. In His Presence, peace shall surely come.

Since last June, social movement has broken out in Hong Kong. Coincidentally, I was in Israel amid chaos and anxiety in Hong Kong, receiving message of “Peace of Jerusalem” which I was delighted to bring back to Hong Kong. Worship conference happened to be going on in our church at the same time. Responding to the situation, naturally, we entered the stream of prayer and began “Reignite Fire of Love 247” prayer meetings, setting up prayer altars to pray incessantly for Hong Kong. Unceasingly, God is sending us His messages of comfort and encouragement. Truly, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you.’”

Not long ago, pastors’ couple camp, the first “Tree of Life Pastors’ Couple Camp” was held in Taiwan. At the beginning, the vibe was a bit cold which C-Mo and I found off-putting. Thank God for strengthening us as the participating pastors gradually getting more involved and engaged. “The Church is not made up of ministries”, I stated, “The Church is about leading disciples and building up lives.” Reflecting on his own pastoral care of many years, a pastor wept. The “Tree of Life Pastors’ Couple Camp” was not only about marriage and family relationships, it also changed pastors’ perspectives of Church. Our teacher team and I are very grateful for that because God is using us to assist our mother church in Taipei and other Taiwan churches. We are blessing more couples and families and our impact is increasing.

Just as last Sunday preaching on the book of Isaiah: “Thus says the Lord: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages.’” Thank God that He has seen us and protected us. As long as we stand firm in faith and walk in the will of God, He will surely be with us and protect us. In this Chinese New Year, may I bless each and every brother and sister with sound health, peace and joy! • [2020.01.26]