13th Church Anniversary Celebration & Banquet

August 28, 2005

Our 13^th Anniversary on Sunday 28^th August started off in Sheraton Hotel with a celebration service, which was attended by more than 400 brothers and sister and their friends and relatives. Twenty-five new believers accepted Christ during our special celebration service.

Sister Pui Pui and sister Christina from Sunday school started off the celebration service by leading a group of kids with a power-point presentation, showing the growth of Hope Hong Kong, vision and mission of sister churches in Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

Sister Noi and sister Kenya from the Thai group gave their testimony as shepherd and sheep. Sister Noi joined Hope Hong Kong 13 years ago and she has been co-working with sister Kenya to start the Thai fellowship with five persons, which has now grown to 80. With care and concern, they have been able to help the Thai sisters with their family issues and financial problems. Sister Kenya has been encouraged by sister Noi, her shepherd, who has shown zealous serving spirit, commitment and support at all times.

The second testimony was given by sister Rosanna Ng and her younger brother Thomas and sisters, Julia and Louisa. Sister Rosanna came to know Christ in Australia. Since she joined Hope Melbourne in 1993, she has been praying for the salvation upon her family. After returning to Hong Kong upon her graduation in 1997, sister Rosanna invited sister Julia to Hope Hong Kong. As God miraculous love changed sister Julia, sister Louisa accepted Christ in 1999. Brother Thomas joined the family of God in April 2005 as his three sisters have been praying for him over the years. They all believe that their parents will accept Christ too in the near future. The Ng family, as well as sister Noi and sister Kenya, thanked God for providing them with the Hope family.

Pastor Gavin delivered his sermon on “Hope, Sweet Home” We believe that the hope in Jesus Christ, which is the foundation of God’s family, is the key to Hope, sweet home. Building a sweet home together, we must choose to belong to the church by taking up a membership. We need to develop friendship and learn to share. We must also do our part in the partnership and contribute to the family of God. It is most important to form close relationship and the deepest level of fellowship is kinship, according to Pastor Gavin.

The 13^th Anniversary banquet started at 5:00pm in a local Chinese restaurant. As brothers and sister gathered patiently for our group photo session, others have been busy preparing the venue. The banquet started with a toast to Jesus by Pastor Gavin. During the dinner, games were played and awards were presented. The Best of the Best awards were given to 19 members who received favorable comments from the church.

Our Dessert Making Contest, which involved members from Group 1 to 8, revolved around our main theme of “”Hope Sweet Home””. Group 1 was awarded both the Best Design and the Best Taste prizes for their well-decorated blueberry mousse cake, and of course, it was shared amongst the members in Group 1. Group 5 was awarded Best Team Spirit in the contest.

At the end of the dinner, everyone pledged their commitment to Hope Hong Kong by putting their figure print on a “Hope Sweet Home” picture, which will be displayed in Hope Centre in the coming year. The dinner ended in a joyful note with a praise and worship session.

We thank God for providing us with a wonderful Hope family. Let us continue to work together to build strong and biblical people and churches in Him.