Joy and excitement filled the gymnasium at Tai Po Sam Yuk Secondary School, Hong Kong, on the Sabbath of February 20, 2016, as more than a thousand Adventists gathered for the united worship service organized by the Hong Kong-Macau Conference (HKMC).
It has been a tradition for Adventists in the HKMC territory to celebrate a Sabbath together shortly after the Spring Festival, the first day of the Chinese New Year according to the lunar calendar. The lunar year of 2016, also known as the year of the monkey according to the Chinese zodiac, began on February 8.
Church members from different parts of Hong Kong and Macau came to the gathering. Many big churches hired chartered buses to help transport their members. It was a gorgeous Sabbath morning. Sunshine bestowed the warmth of spring upon the jubilant crowd.
Dr. Jairyong Lee, president of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD), was the honored speaker for the worship service. He awed his audience by greeting them in English, Chinese and Tagalog, which instantly drew closer the hearts of the people. When he spoke in Tagalog to greet those who were from the Philippines, a shout of jubilation eruptedfrom the crowd. Dr. Lee lived in the Philippines for many years when he studied and taught at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) and served as director of the 1000 Missionary Movement.
In his sermon, Dr. Lee preached on the concept of Total Member Involvement in light of the mission goal set by the NSD in its territories from 2016 to 2020. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the NSD is aiming for one million members by the end of 2020, from the current membership of 720,000.
“This is not impossible if every individual Adventist is involved in outreach efforts,” said Dr. Lee. Despite the tremendous challenges posed by the complexity of cultural, socioeconomic and politico-religious conditions of each member country, NSD leadership believes that the goal is reasonable and reachable if the whole Church is mobilized. “As God’s remnant people, we have a wonderful organizational structure that can efficiently reach the world with the good news of Jesus Christ and God’s end-time message.”
In the afternoon, representatives from different churches gave testimonies on how God had led them in community outreach and how they had been blessed as God’s people in the past year. There were lively special music performances which brought encouragement and enjoyment to the faithful. HKMC leaders also awarded certificates to several outstanding members of local ministries.
–reported by Edmund Cao of Chinese Union Mission
–photography by Jerry Ka (CHUM) and Tony Lin (HKMC)