Giving Thanks on the 10^th Anniversary of the Church

¡§Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.¡¨ (Psalm 107:8)

Thank God! This March 8 is the 10^th anniversary of the founding of the Richmond Peace Evangelical Church. It is a day of thanksgiving and joy for us, because the Lord has performed wonderful deeds for our church. Let us now count together the blessings and providence bestowed by God to our church these past 10 years.

Looking back to the early establishment of the church, although there were only a score or so people and everyone was crowded together when gathered in the garage of Brother David Ng, yet the whole church was united and really loved the Lord. We gladly followed the word of God and held firmly to the spiritual guidelines of the church. After ten years, the number has grown to around 200 currently. That¡¦s a ten-fold increase. For that we must thank God. In the last 5 years particularly, the church has gone through many changes. More than 30 members repatriated back to Hong Kong. The loss of these members created many service and nurturing difficulties for the church and each fellowship. Thank God! He produced other wonderful deeds - that is to separately lead many families and individual members to join our church. Some were even convicted and became believers through the testimonies of our brothers and sisters. These are all praise-worthy works of the Lord. In the past 3 years, 104 people turned to Christ through individual preaching or other evangelical gatherings. Over the 10 years, some 70 people were baptized into the big family that is the Peace Evangelical Church. God also raised up His servants from among us. 3 brothers pledged to serve the Lord full time, entering into the seminary for preparation to become the servants of God. That is proof of the grace we enjoy from the Lord. As well, the Holy Spirit moves our brothers and sisters into fervent passion for preaching the gospel. Many members completed the ¡§Evangelism Explosion III¡¨ and ¡§Short-term Missionary¡¨ training courses, and immersed into the service of gospel preaching. For this we must also be thankful.

Today we will also be holding a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of our new church. It is a milestone in the testimony of the Peace Evangelical Church for God on No. 5 Rd. in Richmond. Think back to over 2 years ago when, because the continued increase of attendees at our gatherings created a shortage of space, the deacons, elders, and preaching staff started to search for a more suitable assembly venue. After many twists and turns, the Lord finally guided us to purchase this farmland at 8280 No. 5 Rd. so that we may construct our new hall there, providing space as well that we can further develop in the future. Although in the process of construction we had encountered a number of obstacles, delays and hardships, especially in the explosion of construction costs that greatly undermined our budgeting, God miraculously moved many overseas brothers and sisters in the short period of a year into supporting our building plan through their prayers and donations. This strengthens our faith in God and gives us comfort and encouragement amidst our difficulties. If not for the unexpected grace bestowed by God, it would have been very hard for us to attain the stage we¡¦re at today. This makes me think of the verse in Psalm 127:1, ¡§Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.¡¨ These words are true.

Therefore, for the unfailing love that the Lord has shown to us and for His wonderful deeds, we must praise and thank Him. But on top of thanksgiving, I encourage brothers and sisters to ardently seek improvement. Don¡¦t just take the Lord¡¦s grace in vain. For the spiritual principle is, ¡§From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.¡¨ To meet the needs of the church-building especially, we should apply our own utmost ability to complete the construction process which has been entrusted to us by God. I believe everyone loves this spiritual home. Besides loving the house of God, we should strive ever more to finish the work of building through concrete action, for the glory of God and the spiritual future of our next generation.

By: Daniel To