23rd Church Anniversary Banquet
August 23, 2015
Praise the Lord !
The celebration of the Hope of God Church Hong Kong’s 23rd anniversary also entails the celebration banquet at the Paramount Banquet Hall at Megabox, Kowloon Bay.
Brothers, sisters and friends from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and the Promised Land gathered at the banquet hall, which started at around 6pm in the evening.
At the beginning of the banquet, the MCs led the congregation to play an ice-breaking game, which was to test our ability and creativity to make spaghetti stand ! Exciting!
The leaders led the congregation for the toast, and Pastor Gavin blessed the food for the night.
One must not forget the special dress-code for the night – the colours from our church logo – Red, Purple, Blue, and White,all together representing the Lord’s sacrifice,kingship,purity and righteousness. Brothers and sisters were so creative in fitting their special costumes for the colours. While we saw traditional choices like suit and tie, there were also pleasantly surprising costume ideas including Smuffs, Super Mario Brothers, and even airline crew members ! We were so joyful that rounds and rounds of photo-taking had been going on for the whole night. And at the end, the Group 3,5,and 8 won the Best Dressing Awards !
The anniversary banquet was also the best opportunity for brothers and sisters to revisit the wonderful events and God’s work throughout the preceding year – the Recap Video. Basketball match, bible conference, worship revival, friends day, community visits, etc., were all the events that left us with wonderful memories. And the Medical Relief in July this year was also the 10th time that our church started the first Medical Relief Mission – Praise the Lord for His Wonderful works and provision !
As a family, the organising committee also prepared a special event for the night, which was for each group to bless one another with their specialised tailor-made dessert – the Dessert Blessing. Brothers and sisters from different groups had different ideas to bless the others, including healthy fruit platters, deliciously chocolate puddings, and even a special dessert symbolising God’s sheep were led to and dwell in an area of clear waters and green pasture. Praise the Lord for the love and care !
Last but not least, the church also made use of the wonderful opportunity to recognise the contribution of the effort made by brothers and sisters for the Kingdom of God, including the long-term membership awards (7, 10 and 15 years), best assimilation effort,service and care group attendances, evangelistic and follow-up efforts, etc. Praise the Lord for the willing hearts of our brothers and sisters.
We thank God for leading our church into the wonderful 23rd anniversary, and we believe that He will continue to lead us into many more years to come !