祈求和感謝2004 年 9 月
祈求和感謝
2004 年 9 月
加拿大中信蒙福二十五年感恩
金新宇牧師 董事會主席
「你們要稱謝耶和華，因他本為善，他的慈愛永遠長存。」詩篇136:1
廿五年來目睹神怎樣帶領我們渡過許多困難時刻，又賜恩超乎我們想像之外。值此銀禧誌慶之際，我不禁要為主之恩典及信實而讚美祂。
長話短說，我只能略述一些要點來慶祝我們的週年紀念；其實，要追溯過往廿五年之歷史，在現任各董事中，只有事奉最久之林主光 律師能自1982年開始，至於李帝平牧師、江錦培牧師、馬叔和醫生、梁斐生博士、連同我自己，都只能將記憶追至1984年！
這些要點在於提醒大家，我們的主對加拿大中信是如何的滿有恩典和信實。1983年我們在Kingsway租賃地方作會址，1987年遷至緬街，1993年於列治文自置物業，1997年又遷至菲沙街，直至2000年遷入鐵路鎮現址，好像無時不在搬遷中。但讚美主！每次都是遷到更好的地方。而且在不同的時間，我們都有能幹的同工參與事奉﹕1979年有汪予理姊妹，1986年有陳再來牧師，1995年謝偉光博士，以致現時之總幹事江錦培牧師。
1994年因積欠了一筆大債項，我們面臨經濟危機；卻得到台灣中信及美國中信先後免去我們對他們的負債。困難迫使我們謙卑向神祈求，而神總是滿有恩慈地垂聽禱告。
在事工方面，我們謹守著所受的託付﹕「福音傳華民，恩澤遍萬邦」
當我們遷至列治文會址時，該市政府曾就是否要給予物業稅豁免而查詢我們的活動，當時（1994年7月11日）我答覆如下﹕
1． 為基督教平信徒提供訓練講座
2． 於暑期間探訪卑詩省內陸及溫哥華島之華人社區
3． 每月寄發八千份免費福音性刊物至加國不同地區之讀者
4． 加國內外宣教工作
今天這些事工仍在進行，不過每月所寄發之刊物已增至一萬九千份；還添上許多其他的事工﹕
1． 差派海外宣教士前往中美洲及泰國
2． 中、南美洲及英國短宣工作
3． 中信中心每週舉行國、粵語節目
4． 婦女、耆英及兒童節目
5． 輔導服務
6． 中信卡城輔助中心及滿地可於中信中心分別於九二年及零三年成立
7． 橫誇加國五個省份之小城宣教事工
8． 雷卓明牧師記念基金協助神學生於加國神學院進修，然而由於利率偏低及資金有限，未能滿足他們全部需要
9． 與香港播道神學院合作，於中信中心舉辦國語神學延伸課程
展望
數月前，在2004年4月出版之《大使命雙月刊》中讀到一篇極好之文章﹕「新約所教導之“使命”」（頁29-31），作者給予我們一些重要的洞識。現嘗試用自己的話語來簡述，並加上一點個人意見﹕
1． 當向未信者傳講福音時，我們毋須懼怕向他們警告罪的結果，但須存溫柔及敬畏的心（彼前3:15），當謹記我們基督徒不過是蒙赦免的罪人而已。
2． 雖然福音預工能幫助非信徒對基督教信仰產生興趣，這其實沒有清楚的聖經理據；聖經只是教導我們﹕「我們傳揚他，是用諸般的智慧，勸戒各人，教導各人，要把各人在基督裏完完全全的引到神面前。」（西1:28）所以在作福音預工的當兒，我們切勿忘記告訴別人基督教的基本信仰。
加拿大中信過往一直關注傳福音，興趣小組只是作為福音預工，而非主要重點。我們相信只有聖靈加上神的話語才能真正改變人心。我們從未遺忘傳福音給萬民聽的託付。（可16:15）
25th Years of Blessings on CCM Canada
Rev. Sing Yui King Chairman of the Board
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever." (Psa. 136:1, NLT)
On this happy occasion of our Silver Jubilee, I cannot but praise the Lord for His blessings and faithfulness. These 25 years witnessed how the Lord has led us through many difficult times and has blessed us with blessings beyond our expectations.
To make a long story short, I can only highlight a few important points to commemorate our 25th anniversary. As a matter of fact, among our present board members, only our longest serving member, Barrister Bill Lim can best trace our 25-year history back from 1982 onward; Revs. T.P. Li and Edwin Kong and Drs. Ian Ma, David Liang and myself could do so only from 1984!
However, I shall present to you a few important facts to remind us how gracious and faithful our Lord has been to CCM Canada. We can remember these eventful years when our headquarters had to move from rented premises on Kingsway (1983), to Main Street (1987); to purchased premises in Richmond (1993), to Fraser Street (1997) and finally to our present location in Metrotown (2000). We were always on the move! Praise the Lord, each time we moved, it was to better premises. We also have at different times able people looking after our ministry, from Sister Esther Wong (1979) to Rev. Theodore Chan (1986), Rev. Dr. John Tse (1995) and our present Executive Director, Rev. Edwin Kong.
In 1994, we faced a financial crisis, having incurred a large debt, of which CCM Taiwan soon forgave our debt to them, and later CCM USA did the same. Our difficulties forced us to go on our knees, and God graciously answered our prayers.
Concerning our ministry, we have adhered to the mandate given us, namely "Reaching the Chinese to Reach the World."
When we moved to our Richmond premises, City of Richmond asked us about our activities in order to consider their Property Tax Exemption, I replied on July 11, 1994, with the following:
1. Holding training seminars for Christian Laymen.
2. Visitation of the Chinese community in B.C. Interior and Vancouver Island in summer.
3. Distribution of 8000 copies free gospel literature throughout Canada monthly, and
4. Missionary work inside and outside of Canada.
These are still valid today, only we distribute more literature, namely 19,000 monthly. In addition, we have now:
1. Overseas missionaries sent to Central America and Thailand.
2. Short-term mission work in Central and South America, and United Kingdom.
3. Weekly programs in Cantonese and Mandarin at the Centre.
4. Functions for women, seniors and kids.
5. Counseling services.
6. Similar CCM Centres in Calgary since 1992 and Montreal since 2003.
7. Small Town Missions in five provinces across Canada
8. Rev. Ray Lui Memorial Fund helping theological students financially to further their education in Canadian seminaries. With low interest rates and limited fund, we are not able to meet all their needs.
9. In cooperation with Evangel Seminary in Hong Kong, we have mounted theological courses (taught in Mandarin) at our present CCM Centre in Metrotown.
Looking ahead
A few months ago, I came across an excellent article namely "Missions" Taught in the New Testament (Great Commission Bi-monthly April 2004 pp. 29-31)
The author has given us some important insights. I try to put it simply in my own words, with a few remarks of my own.
1. In relating the Gospel to non-believers, we must not be afraid of warning people of the consequence of their sins, though we ought to do so with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). Remember we Christians are only forgiven sinners.
2. Though we can help non-believers get interested in Christian faith through pre-evangelism, which has really no clear scriptural backing, we are only taught to "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ" (Col. 1:28) We must not, however, do pre-evangelism and forget about telling people of the basic Christian faith.
CCM Canada has, in the past, been mainly concerned with evangelism, on pre-evangelism only in the form of interest groups, which are not our main emphasis. We believe only the Holy Spirit, with the Word of God can truly bring transformation to human hearts. We have never forgotten our mandate of preaching the Good News to all creation. (Mark 16:15)
