Hong Kong: The 6th Chinese Ministry Convention was held at Hong Kong Adventist College Health Center

The Sixth Chinese Ministry Convention was held on June 20 and 21 on the beautiful campus of Hong Kong Adventist College. Participants representing more than 20 organizations and entities from Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and USA attended the biennial convention. They were church administrators, workers, retired missionaries and lay members. Various Adventist administrative offices, supporting ministries, educational institutions and Adventist industries were represented, such as the Chinese Union Mission, Northern Asia Pacific Division, Gospel Outreach, Changing People’s Lives, Griggs University Asia, Adventist Colleges in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Adventist Hope Channel, Signs of the Times Publishing Association, ADRA and etc.

The purpose of this convention was to review the accomplishment of Adventist ministries in global Chinese communities during the past two years, and to coordinate future work for a greater success. Many representatives gave reports on the challenges and successes in their fields of work. It was clear to all that there was no one universal approach by which we could spread the gospel effectively among the vastly diverse Chinese communities in terms of economical developments, languages and dialects, cultures and etc. “It requires conscious and painstaking collaboration from all of our church bodies to accomplish the Great Commission.” said Pastor Stanley Ng, Assistant to the President of Northern Asia Pacific Division, in the first morning devotional, quoting the example of Nehemiah who united the Israelites to finish the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

This year happens to be the bicentennial anniversary of the arrival of the first Protestant missionary Robert Morrison. He was sent to China in 1807 by London Missionary Society. Morrison baptized his first Chinese convert in 1814. The difficulty of bringing the message of salvation to Chinese was self-evident. The first self-supporting non-official Adventist missionary was Abram La Rue who came to China in the year of 1888 at age sixty-six. Burdened with the desire for saving souls in the Far East, La Rue came to Hong Kong and supported himself mainly by selling Adventist literatures. By the time Jacob N. Anderson, the first official missionary sent by the General Conference, arrived in Hong Kong in 1902, La Rue had built a good foundation for the start of the gospel work of Seventh-day Adventist Church in China.

The messages of the Sixth Chinese Ministry Convention reminded all the participants of God’s faithful leadership in the past. Now, with the help of the modern technologies, with the dedication of numerous members, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, together we’ll bring the gospel work forward in the end times.