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Monthly Prayer Letter (Sep 2024)

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Dear companions of FES,

I recently had the privilege of speaking with several seminary teachers about how to shape a trauma-sensitive church, and we all affirmed that this pastoral issue is of great concern at this time and place. Conventional churches are accustomed to placing objective truths above subjective emotions; to make their congregations obedient to certain teaching principles, the churches do not intentionally create space for emotional dialogue, which can easily lead to indifference and even conflicts in interpersonal relationships. Failure to address these emotional drivers will eventually bring some damaging harm to the church community.

We need to transform ‘dogmatic faith’ into a ‘presence-based faith experience’. We need to be aware of the Lord’s presence in our daily lives, likewise we need to be open to the needs of others. Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ (Mt 11:28-29). We act in His name and carry the burdens and hurts with Him and in this way, we can be re-strengthened and move on with a vision.

I would like to share with you some of our ministry highlights: We have been very busy in the past six months. From the end of last year when we initiated the ‘Survey on the Faith Conditions of College Believers in Hong Kong’, we collected responses from more than 400 tertiary students, and we are grateful to a few professional fellow believers who volunteered their time to help us with the analysis of the data, and then we organized the Youth Ministry Forum in June to share the results with more than a hundred pastors and leaders. We are keenly aware of the enormous difficulties and challenges of pastoring young people in the church context today. FES is grateful to be able to contribute our part in walking with the church, cheering up our fellow believers, and encouraging all of us not to give up ministering to the youth, as our cherished young people are in desperate need of the hope and comfort offered by the Gospel.

Between October and December, FES staff will be teaching courses at the China Graduate School of Theology (CGST) and the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary (HKBTS): Fox Lo, our Associate General Secretary, will be teaching a course of Theological Education by Extension (TEE) at CGST on ‘Bible Reading is a Journey of Traversing’, which will tie in with the forthcoming book, and will promote a more life-relevant approach to reading the Bible in the churches; The ‘Word-Centered, Listening as a Strategy for Life Formation’ course, which Willam Lam, our Associate Director of Fellowship Department, and I have developed, will be offered in the Lay Theological Education Program of HKBTS, with the hope that it will help youth mentors to understand the importance of listening to the voices of life. By partnering with the seminaries, we anticipate being able to serve the church more effectively and share our ministry experience with the church.

Thankfully, after more than two years of restructuring, the middle management of the FES staff team has been able to steadily lead the development of the departments, and we have new staff joining us to inject creativity and vitality into the team. May the Lord guide us on our journey and keep us faithful to our trust. In the coming year, we look forward to having you alongside FES. We need your prayers and support in the Spirit. FES needs about HKD 10 million per year to fulfil our ministry plan, and we believe that the Lord will provide on time, and that the Lord’s Spirit will move our supporters to give unconditionally in response to this heavenly vision for the growth and equipping of the next generation of our faith.

May the grace of God abide, and the hope of God be everlasting!

Your brother,

Barry Cheung

General Secretary

Donation Methods (Local)

      1. Faster Payment System: (FPS ID: 1915727), transfer to “Fellowship of Evangelical Students (Hong Kong) Ltd.”. Please fill in your donation items and donor number (if any) in the remarks or message column.
      2. Crossed cheque: Please make it payable to “Fellowship of Evangelical Students (H.K.) Ltd.”.
      3. Direct deposit / E-banking: Hang Seng Bank 286-126024-002 / HSBC 108-074980-001

    * Please send us the Donation Envelope, enclosing with cheque, bank-in slip or screenshot of successful FPS payment via mail or email (for bank-in-slip and FPS screenshot only).
    * Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.

    Mailing Address: 11/F, Cheung Lee Commercial Building, No. 137-143 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Email Address: account@fes.org.hk

    Donation Methods (Oversea)

    Donors desiring tax-deductible receipts for income tax purposes must give through the following organization to receive the necessary receipts.

     

     

     

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