“Be strong in your work…, trusting in our Lord.” “Work, for the night is coming, Work through the morning hours;…” With the excited tones of fellow co-workers raising their voices in song, the 2013 Annual Council of the Chinese Union Mission (CHUM) held on December 3-4, 2013, launched its meetings at Sai Kung, Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong Adventist College. The attendees of the Council included three administrators, three directors, and co-workers from the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD), 19 members of the CHUM Executive Committee (including two representatives from China), as well as 22 head of Departments of CHUM totaling 47 people.
The purpose of last year’s Annual Council was to allow the three administrators, the various departments and agencies, to review and report on their activities for the year to assess if each department has reached the goals and directions set by CHUM for 2013-2015, which is for Kingdom Growth. If the goals have been reached, these leaders will receive affirmation for their work. If there is evident space for improvement, constructive suggestions can be brought forward so that improvements can be made. At the same time, the goals and direction of 2014 were also decided upon during the meeting. In summary, the goals of 2013 were well met.
“Kingdom Growth” – How are we going to push forward?
For us to be able to expand the work of the gospel, we need to first understand the current world situation. We thank God for sending two visionary pastors who can give us an international perspective: NSD President Jairyong Lee, and NSD Director of Global Evangelism JohngHaeng Kwon. They spoke of the world situation and trends, gave spiritual exhortation, and shared the General Conference’s direction for the coming year.
Worldwide Situation
1. Since 2008, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities. It is estimated that by 2050, 70% of the global population will be living in cities.
2. There are more than 500 cities with a population of above one million worldwide; 236 of those cities lie within the 10/40 window.
Of the 500 cities with a population of more than one million:
1. On average, only one in 89,000 people is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church.
2. In 100 cities, not one in 20,000 is an Adventist.
3. In 45 of these cities, there is less than ten Adventist in each city
4. Forty-three of these cities have no Adventist church at all.
The situation in the areas under CHUM’s jurisdiction:
1. Of the 43 cities with no Adventist church, 18 are from the Unorganized Territories.
2. Two of the 100 cities that have less than one Adventist in every 20,000 people are Hong Kong and Macau.
The time has come – Urban Evangelism should not be overlooked.
The statistics that confront us are a warning signal, but at the same time this is also a tremendous opportunity to use Urban Evangelism to continue Kingdom Growth.
The details are as follows:
Vision: To have an Adventist church of considerable influence in each and every city while every believer uses Jesus’ method of witnessing through being a living testimony to those around them. Every believer should also actively participate in a comprehensive evangelism effort.
Goal:For cities with a population of more than a million people, that have no Adventist churches, we will mobilize resources from our global church to plant an Adventist church, and set up a ministry that meets the needs of the local community. In similar cities that have a population of more than a million, we will strive to increase the proportion of Adventists, and groups to the general population. Moreover, we will ensure that the division and its agencies, as well as the local church, put urban evangelism as their top priority despite the situation getting grimmer day-by-day.
One of the methods that CHUM intends to use to achieve their goals:
1. The Unorganized Territories – The city is to organize a large scale evangelistic meeting.
2. Hong Kong-Macau region – To organize one large scale evangelistic crusade.
After Pastor Lee and Pastor Kwon clearly articulated the direction of the work of the union for this year, they brought up the story of the invasion of Jericho, and Jesus’ call to his disciples to encourage everyone to move forward with a united spirit, and to seek the Holy Spirit. Pastor Kwon then added that from the global evangelism perspective, the title “Chinese Union Mission” shows evidence that the work of spreading the gospel to the Chinese communities around the world is not the responsibility of just each local community but also the duty of the Chinese Union Mission.
At the same time, Union President Bob Folkenberg Jr. re-emphasized to all the co-workers that for the Union mission to be able to be in line with the direction of the General Conference, CHUM needs to reach their personal target of having one million members by 2020. Also, the local church needs to be the centre of Urban Evangelism, and Pastoral Ministry work.
Gospel tracts meeting its target needs
A pastor from one of the Unorganized regions then described more specifically what it means to “put the local church in the centre.” It is that they hope that CHUM can provide the churches in different places with gospel tracts that are suitable for people of different ages, gender, social class, as well as believers and pre-believers, to make the first contact with the gospel.
Emphasis on Prayer
One of the special features of the Annual Council this year was the great emphasis on prayer. Our Union Mission had only established its prayer ministry last year when the Director of the Prayer Ministry, Mrs. Audrey Folkenberg, launched the initiative. Besides the 20-minutes small group afternoon prayers during the span of the two day meetings, Mrs. Folkenberg, and Assistant Director Louisa Cheng, regularly sent emails to colleagues in the Union office to update them on the progress of the meetings, as well as to encourage them to pray for the Council. A spirit of mutual support through intercessory prayer was reflected.
Through the power of prayer, the 2013 Annual Council was successfully concluded without much controversy. Glory be to God.
Reported by Cheung Mei Tin, Kristin
Assistant Editor of Last Day Shepherd’s Call