A new church 泉福堂

During the past year my wife and I had the privilege of working with a team of dedicated Christians to plant a new church. The planning started in early 2009. We started meeting for worship on Saturday afternoons in October 2009, at our mother church in Hung Hom. In half a year, the original 100 or so people had grown to 200+ by April 2010. Then on 1 May 2010 we moved to our own (rented) place near the corner of Jordan Road and Nathan Road in Yaumatei.

With 100 people to start with, we did not exactly start from scratch. But there were indeed a lot of work to be done, and lots of obstacles to be overcome. We are an amalgam of many strong characters. Yet there have been a wonderful team spirit. We seem to have been attracted, and united, by the clear vision of setting up a church to reach out. Everyone was truly placing the priority on the ministry.

At a prayer meeting one week before the first worship service, S and I sat down to pray. Pastor Y had said we should form groups of 3. So we invited a gentleman, Mr. H, that neither of us knew, to join us. H said he did not know how to pray. So we said he could just listen. But when we were finished, H said he wanted to try to pray too. He started by thanking God for being kind to him and his family 50 years ago. Time had run out by then so he only said a short, but obviously heart-felt, prayer. Afterward, it turned out, both H and his wife had decided to put their faith in Jesus!

When I saw him again a week later, he told me he had only intended to try to pray to be polite. But once he started, the words seemed to just tumble out automatically. Clearly it was God working in his heart. Isn’t it a wonderful miracle? And there are many many others.