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| 2009: New challenges, Greater blessings |
A few words from Anthony:
It’s been a while since I last wrote an update. I meant to write sooner but I have been overloaded with work. While we were still soaking in the ‘newness’ of a New Year, another tragedy hit, the massive ‘Haiti Earthquake,’ dominating the news. Upon hearing that the earthquake hit on the 12th day of the month, I couldn’t help but recall the May 12 ‘Sichuan Earthquake’ in 2008, and my tears and emotions were stirred up once again. Our world needs more LOVE and our daily challenge is learning how to respond to the needs around us with our limited resources. Even though our donations have been dropping since 2007 due to the economy, we thank God for blessing us with monthly pledges (including individual and church support) totaling around $2300. No matter what happens to the economy, we will continue to do whatever He calls us to. 2009 was quite special for us as God brought our ministry to a whole new level. We witnessed even greater healing and transforming power through the ‘joyful noise’ we made for Him. By God’s grace, we were invited to visit Sichuan quake-affected areas two times last year; we were humbled to see people (including Communist party members & atheists) come to the Lord at our 4 outreach concerts commemorating the 1st anniversary of the quake. Seeing them deeply touched by His love, we felt blessed to minister to the Chinese and Pilipino church communities in Hong Kong and Macau. This was the first time our team had been to Macau; we all sensed the heaviness and felt the burden for this ‘dark’ place, which is being hailed as the "Las Vegas of the East," marked by casinos everywhere. The needs are great and we pray God would send more resources to the local churches there. Then in October, in responding to His prompting and leading, we went to Shanghai and Tokyo. It was our privilege to minister at a youth camp in Shanghai where we faced our biggest challenge ever. We had to completely discard our original plans but that forced us to earnestly seek after Him for wisdom as we adjusted our agenda session by session. By His revelation, we realized that the youth were all struggling with ‘absent father issues’ which became a barrier for them to know the Heavenly Father. It was a common phenomenon that their fathers were busy working outside and seldom had chance to stay with the family. But we witnessed ‘reconciliation’ in tears of joy, especially during the last ‘wrap-up’ session when one of the youth counselors stood in for all the absent fathers, and symbolically asked for ‘forgiveness’ and ‘understanding’ from the youth. It was totally His work and we glorify His Name. Besides overseas ministry trips, we continue to serve locally, offering workshops to churches and leading worship/teaching/sharing at retreat camps. Thank God that all our workshops last year were very well-received and some of the churches have invited us to come back on a yearly basis. We rounded up our year serving at WCCCC (West Coast Chinese Christian Conference) from Dec 26-29, leading 6 sessions of worship and one workshop. Yes, we had a fruitful 2009 and we have an exciting 2010 ahead. Thank God our new website has launched! In addition to our Facebook fan page, we will now be able to update you through our website more efficiently. We covet your prayers and support to do His work. Your humble donkey,
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