Christmas Dinner Highlights Photo credit: Alfred Au
Origin Church Mission Partner By Craig O’Brien For the past two years Origin Church has been able to count on VCBC for support as we seek to plant a Gospel-Shaped, DiscipleMaking, City-Blessing Church in the UBC campus community. Thank you, thank you, thank you for support! Your support has let me give myself full-time to the Great Commission work that Jesus has called us to. It has been a joy to see students explore what it means to follow Jesus and to see the Gospel infiltrate every area of their lives. God is changing hearts! Two students come to mind: The first, Eve, recently approached me after one of our gatherings and said with the biggest smile, “I think I will be baptized someday.” When asked why, she went onto share how God has shown her how much He loves her through Jesus, how her relationships are changing, how she is surprised by Christians who show her warmth and acceptance, and how her desires are changing about school and what it means for her life. She has a new perspective. To grow in her journey with Jesus she is now taking the Alpha Course and meeting weekly with another student who became a Christian just a couple of years ago through our ministry.!
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 6
Last week I had dinner with a student, Jeff, who has been a part of Origin Church since September. As I listened to him share his spiritual journey with Jesus I got excited about the gift of church in our campus community. Jeff has been able to:
connect
VCBC English Congregation Newsletter
March 2013
• Talk about his doubts. • Encourage other people to seek Jesus. • Take a risk and share with people he has been praying for. • Experience new ways of being at church. • Experience new ways of processing God’s Word. • Get a bigger vision of what it means to follow Jesus. • Work on developing new habits. • Be encouraged. • Be prayed for. • Be challenged. • Start praying about how he would like to lead “back home.” Wahoooo! Our vision for church planting is to plant the Gospel, make disciples, and then gather the disciples as His Church. We believe Jesus is building His church and it’s so exciting to me to be a part of Jesus is doing in our city. I’m glad that we are doing this together! Thank you for praying, giving, and encouraging Origin Church. Students’ lives will never be the same.
YOU NEED MORE THAN AN EASTER SHOT - PASTOR TOM COWAN PAGE 1
IN THIS ISSUE 1
You Need More Than an Easter Shot
continued from page 4
Pastor Tom
2-3
Urbana 2012 Caleb Tse
3
Lessons Learned From English Well Cindy Lim
Reflections on the Sunday LIFE class “A Christian World View for Social Participation”
4-5
Monica Chow, Stanley and Helen Yen, Sandra Cheung
Origin Church - Mission Partner
6
Craig O’Brien
Christmas Dinner Highlights
6
PUBLISHER Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church
PASTORAL STAFF Cindy Bridges Johnny Lo Tom Cowan
Have you experienced a God moment recently and want to share? A “God moment” is an experience in which God has shown Himself to you, through a trip, a story, a new revelation from His Word, or just an ordinary encounter. We’d love for you to share it on iiConnect! Email Wayne congregational_life@vcbc.bc.ca
IICONNECT PLANNING TEAM Alison She Christopher Cheung Cindy Bridges Cindy So Wayne Yu
DESIGNER Cindy So
EDITOR Alison She
Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church 7474 Culloden St. Vancouver, BC V5X 4K2 www.vcbc.bc.ca/english www.facebook.com/vcbcenglish
I found the ideas presented in this book to be ones that I have never encountered before in the church setting, and they challenged me to re-examine the social and economic system that have made many of us comfortable, but leave many less fortunate ones behind, and have despoiled the environment in the process. The authors point to scientism, technicism and economism (the worship of human reason, technological power, and increasing affluence) as the three false gods of this age, and, in the last part of the book, suggest a Christian response. The ideas presented here are very thoughtprovoking, and it will take some time to work this all out in my own mind.
By Sandra Cheung The first thing that I learned was that it is Biblical and a directive from God since the beginning of time for us to care about the world He gave us and to treat the earth and our fellow human beings with respect. I learned that in Genesis 1 and 2, God instructed that we take care of his creation and we reflect the right image of Him when we obey this. !! It was interesting to learn that through the ages, many Christians and the church have moved away from being concerned with the protection and well-being of the earth and our fellow humans.! Focusing
primarily on the spiritual condition, Christians essentially “separated” themselves from what was seen to be the concerns of the world. Very few actually spoke out or did anything against oppression, injustice, or the damage inflicted on the environment.! This is not to say that attention to our spiritual condition isn’t important or necessary. However, we don’t have a complete picture of what our responsibilities are as followers of Christ if our focus is only on the spiritual realm. The world’s problems are our problems and we have a responsibility to get involved where and when we are able and help make things right. Knowing that we have a responsibility as Christians to get involved to tackle our society’s issues and problems, I immediately wondered how I could play my part.! There are so many things in the world I could help with, but where and how to start? Where could I be the most effective?
I learned that even getting involved and speaking up for what is right with issues in our community is a good place to start. I could participate as a parent in the Parent Advisory Council of my child’s school. I could express my views or offer an opinion to my local politician with regard to policies and decisions that are being made for my community. I can make more environmentally
friendly choices to do my part in taking care of the earth. I can teach my children to look at social issues and discuss with them how they might get involved to make the world a better place. I don’t necessarily need to do anything grand. I just need to make the effort to truly care and with God’s guidance have the courage and wisdom to do or say something that will help bring positive change.
By Helen Yen "All aspects of God's world are created good, but all aspects are also fallen. In Christ all may be redeemed" This phrase seemed to echo in my mind as I was reading! through the book and! during the class discussions. The book discussed in depth different world views and cultures, which in turn determine our values and interpretation of the world we are living in.! Conversion to Jesus does not instantly wipe out years of being raised in former way of life. Only with the Holy Spirit to aid us, and with the help of many members in the body of Christ, can we overcome the pull of the dualistic world view in human culture, sacred and secular. But I believe that God is sovereign and just.! He will equip the right talents and gifts among members of body of Christ, working together despite cultural differences, to engage in the task of building His kingdom by reconciliation, forgiveness, healing and renewal of God's rule in every area of life.
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 5
A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR TOM
You need more than an Easter Shot This past winter, on the advice of my doctor, I got a flu shot. ! The pharmacist who gave me the flu shot, reminded me what a “shot”, or an inoculation, really was. It is putting a small part of the disease into your body so that your body will recognize it and know how to resist its full impact. In some reading I discovered that the Chinese practiced inoculation against smallpox as early as the 10th century.! Smart Chinese! The practice did not come to England until the 17th century.
Chocolate Easter eggs, bunny rabbits, and all kinds of mall displays camouflage the real story of Easter. You might even join some friends and be part of a genuine sunrise service and wait for first rays of the morning sun to push back the darkness of the night. But all that is still not Easter.
I started to think about this practice of taking a small dose of something to prevent you from getting “the full meal deal”, and I wondered – do some people inoculate themselves against receiving the full dose of Christian truth? Yes, I think they do!
The Easter story is this:
For example, I think many people inoculate or vaccinate themselves against the full meaning of the Christmas story. Presents, Christmas trees, decorations, parties, even Christmas Eve services and singing Silent Night can hide the real message of Christmas. They never really discover the full wonder of Christmas that “the Word became flesh...” As Christian truth, Easter perhaps suffers even more from this practice of cultural vaccination which hides its real impact.
If we were to walk through a mall like Metrotown and ask people what the real message of Easter was, I wonder how many people would actually know.
• On the 3rd day after he died on the cross, Jesus rose again. It was not just his spirit that rose; his physical body rose out of the tomb.! • People who knew him saw him in this resurrected state. He returned to his Father (Acts 1:1-11) and has given a position of honor.!
failure. Without the victory of Easter, Jesus, as others have also been, is no more than a great moral teacher. Without the victory of Easter, his crucifixion is a horrible death. Don’t miss the whole story or the whole truth! Easter bunnies are cute. Chocolate eggs are nice. Easter traditions in your home are great fun and valuable.! But let’s be careful that we do not vaccinate ourselves against the full and powerful truth of Easter. This is the message of victory that we have for our world.! We must not avoid the full impact of its powerful message. Remember the Easter Greeting:!
The Lord has Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
• He is preparing a new home for us.! (John 14:1-3) • Then one day, he promises to return in power and in glory, and he will transform our bodies to be like His glorious body. (Phil 3:20-21). Without the victory of Easter, the Christmas story really ends in
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 1
URBANA 2012
Imagine for a moment sixteen thousand voices singing together “I will go, I will go, I will go, Lord send me”, “let me not be blind by privilege” and “let this life be used for change” and for the voices in the midst of that maelstrom of hope and faith was the conviction to see it through, no matter what the cost. (Starfield, “I Will Go”).If you can imagine the strength of such emotions and the driving need for the thousands of students, church leaders, medical staff, and business men to follow in the footsteps of all those before us in following the teachings and commands of Jesus, then perhaps you can grasp a glimpse of what Urbana 2012 was and what it meant for its delegates and, potentially, the world. Perhaps the above description sounds a bit over exaggerated, a result of the spiritual high, or a fleeting response to moving testimonies, and perhaps it’s true in hindsight. However, I believe that lives were changed, dreams were set into motion, and a wave of hope was arising. But what was Urbana in concrete terms? Urbana is an international conference that focuses on social justice and international missions. It is a conference that is held once every three years, bringing together students and adults to explore and discover what God is doing all over the world. This is accomplished by a mosaic of pastors from different parts of the world, testimonies from
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 2
missionaries, and workshops to help provide more specific instructions for the delegates. The days were densely packed with opportunities to learn more about God and his mission and where your place was in the larger picture. For me, it was a week of soul searching, a hard process of reconciling the things I was hearing, the need to be a part of it, and yet dealing with the fears and insecurities that it inspired in me. Urbana was a place to challenge your faith in a culture where spiritual stagnation has bound us in place, preventing the progress and change that we all seek in our hearts. Things that frustrated me or frightened me were made petty in my eyes. Waiting in hour long lines for food reminded me about the people who have no food. Lack of sleep reminded me of those who have no beds to sleep in. My fears of following through with His commandments were brushed aside by the staggering testimonies of faith by missionaries in places like Afghanistan. The whole atmosphere was “dense” in faith, as you spent five days almost continuously seeking Him and asking what everything you were hearing really meant. But it was more than the conference itself that inspired this development of faith.
I am a huge advocate of going to these conferences and camps for a chance to get away from the distractions in life and to focus on seeking God.
I saw God everywhere throughout the week, having prayers answered daily. I felt it almost immediately after getting off the plane in Saint Louis; while I was wondering how I was to get to the hotel and check in I overheard two men talking about checking in and when the opening ceremony started. Contrary to my usual response (I swear the latter part of this story is not something I would do normally) I ran up and asked them if they were Urbana delegates. They were and offered to let me join them in their taxi. They dropped me off at my hotel and refused to let me pay my portion of the ride. God not only helped me in my dilemma, He also answered abundantly on the last day when I was faced with the possibility of not having a room to sleep in that night due to miscommunication. Waking up that morning I prayed for a miracle, which would be a room that I could rent for forty dollars (I was currently paying twenty-five). continued on page 3
continued from page 2 After making several phone calls to different hotels the best offer I found was seventy-five after splitting with my friend Etienne, the man who taught me about living a life of intentional faith. We declined the offer because Etienne believed that God had something better in store for us that evening. He was right. After a gruelling day of hope and disappointments and a lot of prayer as God shut the door on potential places to sleep that night a total of three times that day, we found a place to rest our heads. The offers that we got improved every time as we went from fifty dollars a night, to forty (which is what I prayed for), to twenty-five, and finally down to fifteen. God taught me how difficult it is to be patient, but also the way he rewards us when we live a life of
intentional faith and prayer. Finally, with an hour to go before the conference ended, God opened the doors. That night, on the final night of Urbana 2012 after fifteen hours of frantic searching, phone calls, and prayer, God gave us a place to stay for free! This was Urbana and this is what sought to inspire into the hearts of sixteen thousand people so that they could bring it back and continue to let the wave grow. While the conference and the style of faith that it advocates is not easy and actually very uncomfortable, it was a reminder of what it means to take up our cross and follow Him. The road is narrow and the way hard, but as Deuteronomy 31:6 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” So picture again with me, sixteen thousand voices singing
from their hearts a desire to answer God’s call, not knowing what the future had in store, where they would have to go and knowing that they had just chosen to live a life of difficulties, but that God would be with them, even thorough the valley of death itself. And as a tsunami grows and doubts are swept away a flood of renewal is captured by the hearts and minds of His people. Urbana 2012 was a catalyst, but its lessons are already in front of us. Will you answer its call? Where will you let your faith take you? Where ever you may go, God be with you. The next Urbana is in 2015, Saint Louis. Caleb Tse is originally from Kelowna and has grown up at OCBC, our sister church up north. He is currently studying English Literature at UBC and lives in Vancouver.
Lessons Learned From English Well Cindy Lim, English Well Teacher
and hope that I’ve come to fully appreciate what a blessing it is that God has placed me to be living in Canada along with my family. I am also thankful that our church has provided a place of learning and refuge for these students – a place where they feel welcomed, accepted and loved.! It has been a humbling and rewarding experience teaching the students at English Well on Thursday nights. I’ve met students from all over the world including Mexico, China, India, Taiwan, Philippines and Vietnam. We follow a lesson plan each week but there are many opportunities to build relationships. It is through listening to these students’ stories of courage, loneliness, separation
Over the years, our class sizes have varied, but the students that show up are highly committed. This year, in particular, was a poignant reminder to me of how God looks at our acts of service. Initially, I was a little discouraged by our low attendance, but God used another ministry at VCBC to teach me what’s really important to Him – our hearts and our attitudes, not numbers.! My father-in-law attends
a weekly Bible study on Wednesday mornings. He is the only student there and is taught by a wonderful couple who come out each week to lead the study.! I’ve observed how much my father-inlaw looks forward to Wednesdays where he can share and learn from these two leaders. They are great role models to me of commitment and faithfulness in serving and have encouraged me to follow their example. The apostle Paul once wrote: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” (Colossians 3:23)! May God find us faithful in whatever ministry He has placed us.
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 3
Reflections on the Sunday LIFE class “A Christian World View for Social Participation”
By Monica Chow I am grateful to Bill Chu and Christy Lew leading us in the class. To give an overview of what this class covered, we began by defining what a worldview was – a model of how the world ought to be. A world view determines our values and helps us interpret what we see and experience, how we live, and shapes the choices we make.! Any world view answers 4 basic universally asked questions: Who am I? Where Am I? What’s Wrong? What is the remedy? A Christian worldview is based on how the bible addresses these in the narrative of creation, the Fall, redemption, healing, and transformation. Each of us are born into a given time and culture which knowingly or not, shapes our world view. Look no further than to the views of a Chinese person born in China, Taiwan, Canada, or South America. For Christians, we need to continually evaluate our world view so that it increasingly reflects the perspective of God’s word. Deut. 30: 15-20 aids us in this process, as we ask “Does it bring life or death, blessing or curse?”
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 4
In a Christian world view, we understand that every corner of creation is tinged with fallenness, but ultimately Christ can bring redemption to it.
understand it in a fuller sense – that yes issues are complex and daunting, and what it takes is all of us, spending ourselves – time, energy, intelligence, finance – whatever gifting. That is what is expected to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
The class looked at Old Testament passages relating to God’s directives in culture forming, as well as New Testament passages where Jesus challenges some of the cultural norms. It is part and parcel of our faith that we are involved in our culture in a redeeming way, be it in economics, environment, legal institutions, arts, politics, heritage, healthcare, education, etc. Making a dent in any complex issue or problem in society may seem daunting, and we might not know where to begin, and simply leave it to others or say it’s the government’s responsibility. Then I was reminded of the verse that talks about ‘spending oneself on behalf of the poor.’ I used to think this meant giving all I could financially to relieve poverty. Now I
The book for the course was “The Transforming Vision- shaping a Christian World View”, by Brian J. Walsh and J. Richard Middleton.! Some of the class lessons were based on this book. This book is very deep theologically, more akin to a seminary textbook, and not an easy read.
By Stanley Yen
I found the ideas presented in this book to be ones that I have never encountered before in the church setting, and they challenged me to re-examine the social and economic system that have made many of us comfortable, but leave many less fortunate ones behind, and have despoiled the environment in the process. continued on page 5
IN THIS ISSUE 1
You Need More Than an Easter Shot
continued from page 4
Pastor Tom
2-3
Urbana 2012 Caleb Tse
3
Lessons Learned From English Well Cindy Lim
Reflections on the Sunday LIFE class “A Christian World View for Social Participation”
4-5
Monica Chow, Stanley and Helen Yen, Sandra Cheung
Origin Church - Mission Partner
6
Craig O’Brien
Christmas Dinner Highlights
6
PUBLISHER Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church
PASTORAL STAFF Cindy Bridges Johnny Lo Tom Cowan
Have you experienced a God moment recently and want to share? A “God moment” is an experience in which God has shown Himself to you, through a trip, a story, a new revelation from His Word, or just an ordinary encounter. We’d love for you to share it on iiConnect! Email Wayne congregational_life@vcbc.bc.ca
IICONNECT PLANNING TEAM Alison She Christopher Cheung Cindy Bridges Cindy So Wayne Yu
DESIGNER Cindy So
EDITOR Alison She
Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church 7474 Culloden St. Vancouver, BC V5X 4K2 www.vcbc.bc.ca/english www.facebook.com/vcbcenglish
I found the ideas presented in this book to be ones that I have never encountered before in the church setting, and they challenged me to re-examine the social and economic system that have made many of us comfortable, but leave many less fortunate ones behind, and have despoiled the environment in the process. The authors point to scientism, technicism and economism (the worship of human reason, technological power, and increasing affluence) as the three false gods of this age, and, in the last part of the book, suggest a Christian response. The ideas presented here are very thoughtprovoking, and it will take some time to work this all out in my own mind.
By Sandra Cheung The first thing that I learned was that it is Biblical and a directive from God since the beginning of time for us to care about the world He gave us and to treat the earth and our fellow human beings with respect. I learned that in Genesis 1 and 2, God instructed that we take care of his creation and we reflect the right image of Him when we obey this. !! It was interesting to learn that through the ages, many Christians and the church have moved away from being concerned with the protection and well-being of the earth and our fellow humans.! Focusing
primarily on the spiritual condition, Christians essentially “separated” themselves from what was seen to be the concerns of the world. Very few actually spoke out or did anything against oppression, injustice, or the damage inflicted on the environment.! This is not to say that attention to our spiritual condition isn’t important or necessary. However, we don’t have a complete picture of what our responsibilities are as followers of Christ if our focus is only on the spiritual realm. The world’s problems are our problems and we have a responsibility to get involved where and when we are able and help make things right. Knowing that we have a responsibility as Christians to get involved to tackle our society’s issues and problems, I immediately wondered how I could play my part.! There are so many things in the world I could help with, but where and how to start? Where could I be the most effective?
I learned that even getting involved and speaking up for what is right with issues in our community is a good place to start. I could participate as a parent in the Parent Advisory Council of my child’s school. I could express my views or offer an opinion to my local politician with regard to policies and decisions that are being made for my community. I can make more environmentally
friendly choices to do my part in taking care of the earth. I can teach my children to look at social issues and discuss with them how they might get involved to make the world a better place. I don’t necessarily need to do anything grand. I just need to make the effort to truly care and with God’s guidance have the courage and wisdom to do or say something that will help bring positive change.
By Helen Yen "All aspects of God's world are created good, but all aspects are also fallen. In Christ all may be redeemed" This phrase seemed to echo in my mind as I was reading! through the book and! during the class discussions. The book discussed in depth different world views and cultures, which in turn determine our values and interpretation of the world we are living in.! Conversion to Jesus does not instantly wipe out years of being raised in former way of life. Only with the Holy Spirit to aid us, and with the help of many members in the body of Christ, can we overcome the pull of the dualistic world view in human culture, sacred and secular. But I believe that God is sovereign and just.! He will equip the right talents and gifts among members of body of Christ, working together despite cultural differences, to engage in the task of building His kingdom by reconciliation, forgiveness, healing and renewal of God's rule in every area of life.
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 5
Christmas Dinner Highlights Photo credit: Alfred Au
Origin Church Mission Partner By Craig O’Brien For the past two years Origin Church has been able to count on VCBC for support as we seek to plant a Gospel-Shaped, DiscipleMaking, City-Blessing Church in the UBC campus community. Thank you, thank you, thank you for support! Your support has let me give myself full-time to the Great Commission work that Jesus has called us to. It has been a joy to see students explore what it means to follow Jesus and to see the Gospel infiltrate every area of their lives. God is changing hearts! Two students come to mind: The first, Eve, recently approached me after one of our gatherings and said with the biggest smile, “I think I will be baptized someday.” When asked why, she went onto share how God has shown her how much He loves her through Jesus, how her relationships are changing, how she is surprised by Christians who show her warmth and acceptance, and how her desires are changing about school and what it means for her life. She has a new perspective. To grow in her journey with Jesus she is now taking the Alpha Course and meeting weekly with another student who became a Christian just a couple of years ago through our ministry.!
MARCH / IICONNECT / PAGE 6
Last week I had dinner with a student, Jeff, who has been a part of Origin Church since September. As I listened to him share his spiritual journey with Jesus I got excited about the gift of church in our campus community. Jeff has been able to:
connect
VCBC English Congregation Newsletter
March 2013
• Talk about his doubts. • Encourage other people to seek Jesus. • Take a risk and share with people he has been praying for. • Experience new ways of being at church. • Experience new ways of processing God’s Word. • Get a bigger vision of what it means to follow Jesus. • Work on developing new habits. • Be encouraged. • Be prayed for. • Be challenged. • Start praying about how he would like to lead “back home.” Wahoooo! Our vision for church planting is to plant the Gospel, make disciples, and then gather the disciples as His Church. We believe Jesus is building His church and it’s so exciting to me to be a part of Jesus is doing in our city. I’m glad that we are doing this together! Thank you for praying, giving, and encouraging Origin Church. Students’ lives will never be the same.
YOU NEED MORE THAN AN EASTER SHOT - PASTOR TOM COWAN PAGE 1