Page 181 - Preservation for the Documentation of Chinese Christianity

The Council and I

Dr. Heyward Wong

It w as in 1967, upon the invitation o f the C hinese guidance so that H is om nipotence m ight be revealed
C hristian L iterature C ouncil that I cam e from the in my w eakness.
U nited States to H ong K ong and consequently
represented C CLC to sit on the E xecutive D uring that tw o-year transitional period, there
C om m ittee o f the H K CC. T hus began my m any things for w hich w e should be thankful to the
Lord. I shall m ention ju st a few to share w ith you:
association w ith the H K CC.

E arly in the spring o f 1974, Rev. D r. Peter W ong The Staff
had a talk w ith m e regarding the situation of the In that period, the A lm ighty especially prepared
two very dedicated servants for us. They both
churches in H ong K ong, especially the
w illingly left their respective good positions in
circum stances o f the C ouncil at that tim e. D r.
A m erica to return to H ong K ong rendering their
W ong indicated that if I concurred he w ould like to
services to the HKCC.
recom m end to the H K C C Executive Com m ittee to
consider the possibility o f inviting m e to serve in
T he first person is the present G eneral Secretary,
the capacity o f G eneral Secretary since the then
the Rev. Dr. Tso M an-king, a person of great
A cting G eneral Secretary, Rev. A lan C han, had no
intelligence, capability and vision. Since he began
interest in being considered for that post. I w as
his duties in A ugust 1990，w e can all see his
very grateful to D r. W ong but had to decline his
contributions on different levels. U nder his
kind offer because I had already prom ised the
leadership，every area o f the C o u n cil’ w ork has
s
U nited B ible Society to w ork for the H ong K ong
been progressing steadily.
Bible Society after the end of my contract w ith
CCLC in the sum m er of 1975. M oreover, I
A nother person is the Executive Secretary for
recognized that I w as not the ideal person to be the
C om m unications, Rev. W endell P. K arsen, Rev.
G eneral Secretary o f H K CC. T here w ere so m any
K arsen is an A m erican but speaks M andarin,
m ore com petent clergy and lay C hristians w ho w ere
C antonese and the M innan dialects. H aving served
m uch m ore suitable than I w as to lead the H K CC.
in H ong K ong before w ith m any o f those years at
the Council, Rev. K arsen has been able to take up
Q uite unexpectedly, after 14 years, in the sum m er
every task capably. T he Council has been m oving
of 1988, the H K C C again invited m e to return to
forw ard rapidly w ith his assistance.
H ong K ong from A m erica to be the G eneral
Secretary. N orm ally it w ould have been absolutely
But, the m ost precious of all is the C ou ncil's loyal
im possible for m e to m ake such a com m itm ent to
and hard-w orking staff. W hatever the task, large or
serve again. I had already retired twice, and had
sm all, they all w ork together to get things done, and
purchased a house in southern U SA to spend my
help each other in any way they can. I consider it
retirem ent years there. M oreover, I had ju st com e
my great privilege and pleasure in having the
out o f the hospital recuperating from an illness, and
opportunity of w orking w ith them .
had not yet regained m y health to be able to assum e
such heavy responsibilities. Y et, it w as at this
juncture that the H K C C w as experiencing its m ost The Tasks
From 1988-90 the political situation in m ainland
difficult tim e in its history w ith only h alf o f the staff
C hina had a m ajor im pact on H ong K ong society at
left and no leader in charge. T he H K CC
large. U ndoubtedly, the w ork of the Council had to
desperately needed som eone in the leadership to
reflect the situation to a suitable degree, w hich need
allow the w ork to continue sm oothly until the crisis
not be m entioned here. I ju st w ant to nam e som e
w as over. U nder these circum stance I really could
not decline any m ore but could only pray for G od's special events below:
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