Page 188 - Preservation for the Documentation of Chinese Christianity

Youth Committee

The Outreach of an Inter-Denominational Committee

Major Gideon Lam

F irst o f all, I w ould like to thank G od for H is grace m eetings in order to enable them to hear the Good
and guidance to me. W e have all benefitted from N ew s and m ost im portantly, to believe in God.
the Y outh C om m ittee’ exchange o f ideas and
s
interflow . S haring w ith other young C hristians T he Sem inary lecturers and students are eager to
further deepens the understanding betw een serve G od no m atter how hard it is. T h eir quarters
churches in H ong K ong, overseas and in m ainland and classroom s are not very good facilities. The
s
C hina. T he goal o f having unity w ithin ‘G od’ conditions are acceptable in w inter but it is ju st like
body' can be achieved. an oven in sum m er. T hey are w illing to be the
c

‘lay m oulded by our L o rd ’according to H is will.
T he three events arranged by the C om m ittee are as A s good C hristian soldiers they fight the battle
fo llo w s: against sin and strive to be good Shepherds of the
sheep, the people given to them by G od to care for.
1. T he V isiting Y outh T our to C hina C hurches

T he G uangdong C hristian C ouncil kindly arranged 2. T he Y outh E xchange C am p
for us to visit the church in the city, X ie He
Sem inary, Y W C A , R en Ai Social Service C entre T he them e w as lT he past, present and future
and the church in the village. relationship betw een the churches in H ong K ong

.
and G uang zhou’ P articipants cam e from m em ber
churches and also non-m em ber churches o f the
A lthough the tour m em bers cam e from different
C hristian C ouncil. T hroug h the invitation o f the
churches, w e all had the sam e aim w hich w as to
W orking C om m ittee m em bers, seven young pastors
w itness and share our personal C hristian experience
serving in G uangdong w ere invited to jo in the
w ith the local C hristians. W e did not have m uch
C am p helping to further the understanding of us
understanding o f the churches, especially the rural
all. T he them e, discussion and talks enabled us to
ones in C hina. W e all left the G uangzhou Station
reflect on our thin kin g and rem inded us to m ake
w ith som e uncertainties. T hree questions occupied
good preparation for the changes w hich w ill take
our m inds: (1) D id the serm on given by the pastor
place in the transition period follow ing 1997.
at the Sunday M eeting have to be approved first by
the T hree Self M ovem ent o f the P rotestant
3. C onferences
C hurches? (2) H ow could the congregation be led to
believe in G od since there w ere no evangelical
Four representatives w ere sent to attend the Y outh
m eetings ? (3) W ere there any Y oung C hristians
C onference held in Seoul in 1992 at the invitation
w ho had responded to G o d 's calling to becom e
of the C hristian C onference of A sia.
Pastors? W e w ere grateful to G od because all
questions w ere quickly answ ered by the visit. O ur
A representative w as sent to attend the 'A sian
w orries vanished im m ediately. T he C hristians
Students and Y outh G ath erin g ' conducted in South
there serve G od earnestly and faithfully,
India and the E cum enical G lobal G athering of
particularly those w ho live in the village. O n
Y outh & Students in B razil in 1993.
Sundays the brothers and sisters in the rural areas
usually have to spend three to four hours, or even
m ore tim e, to go to the church to w orship G od and T hese m eetings broadened the horizons of the
to listen to the G ospel. T hey also encourage and participants, enriched their experience and
take other fam ily m em bers and relatives to attend strengthened their faith.
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