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Monthly Prayer Letter (March 2023)

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22nd March 2023

Dear companions of FES,

 

Many pastors have expressed that how can there be a plan for pastoring a church in this time and place? With the impact of the times, perhaps it is the beginning of the church to be renewed. If we go into a pastoral scene with a set idea of how things should be, thinking, “Everything is going to be the same,” we will only find that everything has changed. Simply pursuing a previously set goal can easily lead to blindness, a failure to see the true needs of the audience, and a failure to hear the voices of the congregation of these years. The urgent priority of the church is not a change in format and operation, but a change in spirituality.

 

In our recent seminar on FES Day, we explored the close connection between spirituality, mission, and community. After the meeting, one sister shared with me that she felt disconnected, lost her mission community, and didn’t know where she was headed after the impact of the past few years. I encouraged her to be a connected person, to keep a lively soul, and to share what she has received in the Lord with others. We need facilitators of spiritual reformation, as well as sharers of the Lord’s vision, just as Daniel saw the vision of the historical changes (Dan. 7-9) and directed it to the sorrowing and traumatized people to restore hope for their lives in a foreign land.

 

The foundation of hope is in the awareness of what the Lord is doing all the time. As Pastor Eugene Peterson stated, “Always God is doing something before I know it. So, the task is not to get God to do something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it.” (The Contemplative Pastor, p. 4). In this way, all the results achieved are a gift from God. A person of hope does not limit him or herself to any definite outcome, but leaves the future open, accepting the fruits of interrelationship with God and with people, taking each step toward the end of life.

 

If life is just a replay of a tournament with a known outcome, or if you just want to know exactly how things are going to happen, there is no hope. Let’s listen to a student’s experience of regaining faith and hope while attending the Inter-College Bible camp:

 

“While the events of the world continue to subvert my understanding of faith, God demonstrates His presence in the most direct way possible. Once when I had a panic attack, I remembered the counselor’s advice and tried to pray. Although my mind was completely blank and my prayers just kept calling out to the Lord, I was greatly comforted by God. Although nothing in the outside world has changed, from then on, I can proclaim God’s love for us to myself and to others. Even though I had so little faith, when I turned to God, He certainly opened His arms to receive me.”

 

Have you ever wanted to be part of a community with these young people of hope to support each other in the Lord? The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt. 25:40) Jesus invites us not only to reach out and help people, but to find God’s goodness in those who are helped. The young generation growing up in Hong Kong are the “least brothers” whom the Lord loves and cherishes. Perhaps through these “least brothers”, the Lord will make our poor lives truly rich. Let us encourage each other.

 

Your brother,
Barry Cheung
General Secretary

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