Oceania Missions

LIBERIA & CONGO, AFRICA MISSION REPORT

2011-10-02T21:59:00.001-07:00

Praise God. The missions momentum in Oceania is going strong. There are several mission trips conducted by various churches over this coming summer. Do pray for the teams and believe for great things.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:38

Sending Church Mission Location

Hope Melbourne City Centre - Hope WA (Dandaragen, Busselton and Esperance) Oct 5-18
Hope Auckland - Lautoka, Fiji, Oct 10-18
Hope Brisbane - Suva, Fiji, Oct 12-17
Hope Adelaide - Chennai, India Oct 25 – Nov 2
Hope Hobart - Hope Newcastle, Nov 23-28
Hope Brisbane - Perth & Katanning Nov 23-30
Hope Brisbane - Chiangmai, Thailand, Jan 2-8
Hope Brisbane - Manila, Philippines, Dec 8-15
Hope Brisbane - Liberia, Jan 2012 & Mar 2012

In July 2011, the President of HIM, Ps Simon Eng, with Ps Brendan Kirby of Hope Adelaide went to visit our African Hope Churches in Liberia and Democratic Republic of Congo. They met with the pastors and leaders, encouraged them and deepened the bond with our international Hope family of churches. Here is a report of the visit.

May Cheung
Oceania Mission Coordinator
www.oceaniamissions.blogspot.com

[Hope Liberia, Africa]

A Liberia and Congo Ministry Report by Pastor Simon Eng

I want to share in particular one aspect. I was in western Africa in June. I travelled to the country of Liberia and after that, I went to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Pastor Brendan came along with me on this journey. We preached over in these two nations. We conducted crusades in these nations and we encouraged our pastors and leaders over there. In DRC, we have 51 churches going; in Liberia, we have six churches going. Both the pastors from our African churches are dynamic men of God. I really believe deep in my heart God has many wonderful things that he is going to do in Africa. We strategized; we talked about the things we want to see in Africa.

Pray with us for Africa because I believe there are huge needs there. These two nations have recently come out of civil wars and in many ways; they are just reconstructing the nation. The people are desperate, the people are poor; these people are looking for God, for peace and wanting to build their nation as well.

[Hope Congo, Africa]

Pray with us because I really believe God has many things he wants to do in these two countries and these two pastors and leaders as well are also visionary and enthusiastic to be able to carry the work in their entire nations and going into the nations of Africa. At DRC, our leaders speak French, so they can reach the French-speaking part of Africa. On the west-side in Liberia, they are English-speaking and fluent in their local language. So I believe this is a fantastic potential of what God is doing.

ZAMBIA & CONGO AFRICA MISSIONS TRIP

2011-07-03T14:59:00.001-07:00

A MISSION OF LOVE

A concoction of excitement of 'living the dream, childhood visions fulfilled, and mixed fears, brewed within a vibrant team of young, would be missionaries from Hope Oceania.

What made a group of 12 young, busy people carve out copious time, planning, strategizing, and praying for a foreign, potentially dangerous land?

Quite simply it boiled down to one word.....love. Whether it be love for God, love for the intrepid adventure, or the love for putting feet to Matthew 25v40.

Love was indeed leading us.

Our love affair was about to blossom for a continent Jesus is besotted with and favors....Africa!

The adventure began with Cathy-Lee almost aborting the trip, due to suffering an unlikely epileptic fit at the airport before boarding her flight. Fortunately sisterhood prevailed, and Jessica forfeited her much anticipated trip to Cape Town, in order to stay with Cathy at the hospital.

While Julie, Rachelle and Belle were traipsing around Cape-Town's police station after having a phone pick pocketed, Lance found himself preaching to a crowd of 4000 Kenyans in an open air meeting, during a 'sightseeing' trip. An eventful week to say the least, and we hadn't even started the missions trip yet!

Ministry in Lusaka, Zamba

Once all 12 members of the team finally reunited in Lusaka, the road trip began and we started to head north (via road) to Congo. Finally a culmination of 7 months of preparation reached a crescendo, where we would finally put feet to our dream, to love the least of these.

The first leg of the journey gave us plenty of opportunities to bond, as we travelled in our trustee van with our trustee driver Gift, a man who would later prove to be God’s divine appointment for the seed group in Lusaka. Going from town to town we ministered, learned, listen to the stories of some incredibly brave, strong people. Ps. Alice our escort and ‘mama’ on the trip, introduced us to one girl, in particular her niece who had been raped by a white, South African and fell pregnant, we listened with awe at her epic tale of incredible forgiveness, healing and how she overcame such a horrible ordeal by God’s grace.

We purchased many gifts for the whirlwind tour of 5 orphanages throughout Zambia. We visited four Christian orphanages, cuddled and prayed with HIV orphans. At one orphanage, we cast out demons, healed the sick and empowered the orphans to also pray for each other. We handed out an assortment of toys to the children to bless them.

We also prayed for the sick in a compound where women had been raped and abused, also giving them brightly colored, silk scarves. The church that worshipped there, usurped the former witch gathering ground, and converted it to a thriving church. God had blessed them with vast, fertile land so that they could be a self sustaining community.

After driving several hours through the north of Zambia we finally reached the much anticipated Congo border.

Drama followed closely behind every leap of faith we took.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Our first 24 hours in Congo resembled that of an Indiana Jones adventure, and also established

a precedent which proved highly effective for the rest of our ministry in Lumbumbashi. For several hours at the Congo border in 'no man's land' we battled territorial spirits trying to keep us at bay. Ironically this battle, provided the ammunition necessary to increase our motivation to seek God all the more. Many men tried to bribe us and take advantage of our perceived naivety. As prepared as we were with the necessary documents, we were quickly accelerated to a point of no return when it came to practicing the presence of God. We worshipped and prayed like never before, nothing like a good dose of adrenalin to drive you to your knees. Jessica our resident ‘jukebox’ led worship with gusto and determination for several hours in order to see spiritual breakthrough.

During our ‘little stop over’ Belle found herself prophetically declaring Isaiah 58 over the gates of Congo. Police and men started to gather to try and understand what she was declaring from the scriptures. At one point our Local escort Ps. Alice warned of potential arrest if she kept going. It was this defining point where God delivered Belle of much fear she was experiencing. She kept preaching and soon after, victory came and the final gates were opened and we were free to go.

After an arduous 6 hours at the border, 2 hours of travel to the bustling city of Lumbumbashi, the team was hungry for sleep. Several hours later we were faced with the prospect of being held captive. At one point at midnight, we were held against our will at a place of residence due to a cultural and communication malfunction. Subsequently, Kevin, Belle and Pastor Alice, tried to bust down the steely gates, so we could make a speedy escape to our beds.

Every time we were hemmed in by secret police, immigration officers, God would always convert our crises to revival. Resembling a pop up book for the wonders demonstrated in Acts, we saw the impenetrable darkness dissipate, with liquid raw love, that pierced the macabre, darkness of Congo.

Preaching, prophesying, healing the sick, led to outbreaks of intense warfare that would normally go undetected in the trappings of sleepy suburbia. At one point one of the police that

held us up got saved and brought his wife to be prayed for. Children and crowds, gathered to hear these, would be missionaries minister to them.

On the final day of these mini revivals many people expressed a desire to come to church, however the day was met with shooting on the streets and the city of Lumbumbashi was literally heaved upside down. The army closed down the city. As our faces glued to the van windows the next morning, the normally bustling city Lumbumbashi resembled a ghost own. We were astounded at the after-mouth of our witness. Could our revival endeavors have provoked the principality strongholds of Lumbumbashi? Could our meek efforts, bring the city to a holt? At this point we recognized our need for a greater authority and wisdom. This was a battle for another time, where greater spiritual preparation was needed.

During the hold ups we tried to contact intercessors who were covering us on prayer, we thank God for their diligence which enabled us to minister in safety.

The meetings for Hope Lumbambashi were off the Richter scale. The shanty little tin shed where we met, was filled a thick glorious presence. A presence that few could miss. At one point two of the team members had a visitation of Christ! Jesus had said to a team member, ‘this is my home and I am not ashamed to call these my brothers.’ He proceeded to dance and clap with His Congolese siblings.

Neru also saw a vision of Jesus placing crowns on the heads of the Congolese and was greatly touched by the Presence of Christ in the meeting. The Congolese responded with deep worship, wept and poured out there hearts to their King. The brothers of Jesus prayed like they meant it, no pretense or feigned passion, just uninhibited, raw passion for Christ. It was mos

t certainly contagious. We danced and clapped our hands till they turned red, our hearts were filled with unspeakable joy as we realized they these exotic people were not the least, rather they were highly esteemed kinsmen of Christ.

The team preached up a 7 hour storm and imparted the core values to the pastors. The pastors and leaders hungrily devoured the impartation as if it were there last meal.

We have so much to learn from our Hope family in Congo.

Other Africans look to the Congolese as incredibly deep worshippers, this was an understatement! With a simple pig skin, dusty drum, and a passion expressed in rhythmic clapping and boisterous voices and dancing, the worship peaked to a point of complete ecstasy and prophetic delights before God.

We wondered, how could the magnificent Author of life reside in a dusty shed, so powerfully? How was it, we found the glorious presence of Jesus in the dirt? No lights, stages, or entertaining speakers, just a sincere unadulterated devotion escorted us to delightful realms in heaven and an intimacy with Christ, few find.

Love was transforming us.

Escaping the clutter of our busy urban lives had quickly yielded unlikely returns. Within a month, we had planted a seed group in Lusaka which has since grown after our departure to 30 people. We ministered to over 50 pastors in the city of Lumbumbashi and will endeavor to buy over 50 bicycles for the pastors so they can minister to their respective towns and churches.

As the mission, drew to a close, lions, chimps, elephants, Victoria falls and river rafting were the order day for a much needed recovery for the team. With a couple of days to spare, the team crammed as much of the wildlife, thill seeking adventure sports, that Africa had to offer.

Love had caused our arms to extend wider, our hearts to synch with the heartbeat of heaven. Love led us to an incredible people. Love is not a schedule or program, Love is Jesus. Now the challenge will be this love transform our hearts so that what we tasted in Africa will forever remain in our hearts.

Written by Belle Wolter, Hope Church - Gold Coast (Australia)

belle.wolter@gmail.com

LIBERIA AFRICA MISSION TRIP

2011-02-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

Liberia Missions Trip Oct-Nov 2010

Towards the end of October 2010, a team of four brave-hearted souls embarked on a two week adventure to the distant continent of Africa to visit our Hope Churches in Liberia.

The Trans-Continental Team

The team was led by Cara Cheong, a staff member from HIM Missions. The team members (Inn Siew, Minghan and May) were from three different countries: Singapore, Malaysia and Brisbane. Ps Brendan of Hope Adelaide provided invaluable leadership and advice to help prepare for the trip.

We first touched down on African soil in Nairobi, Kenya. We met and fellowshipped with the Hope Kenyan team. We were greatly blessed by their hospitality, and encouraged by their joy in serving God.

Ministry in Liberia

When we landed in Liberia, we were greeted with a very warm reception of dance and songs. The following days, we met with the pastors and leaders of the Hope Liberian churches. Though many of them are still rebuilding their lives after a devastating civil war, we were greatly encouraged by their hearts to serve God wholeheartedly. We found Ps Sonny, who oversees all the Hope Liberian churches, to be a man of humility and great faith in God. We preached, taught the core values, shared about life groups and mentoring, met with the key ministry leaders, and prayed with the pastors and members. We blessed the churches with bibles, resource materials and a keyboard.

We also went to the University of Liberia where we did evangelism training with the students. We went together to evangelise on campus. We were greatly encouraged when one person gave his heart to Christ.

We also researched about Liberia’s educational and commercial situation. We met with various business owners, non-government organisations (NGOs) and government ministries. God miraculously opened opportunities for us to connect with people in the United Nations (UN) office, and we even met the assistant Minister of Education! Our team members with a business background conducted training and consultation sessions with the businesspeople of the church.

Praise God for the following:

From the very start of the mission, we could see the hand and favour of God guiding us each step of the way. Some testimonies:

Unity in the team despite the members all coming from different churches and countries.
One of our team members who only received his passport just minutes before his flight was due to depart!
Thank God for His protection when we encountered a few "hiccups" along the way.
There was great joy in the fellowship with the leaders. We were all excited about the vision that God has placed before us.
Divine appointments with key people.
Favour of God when we met with the leaders and business people.
Our car broke down on the last day. Thank God for getting us to the airport on time for our flight!

And many more things we are ever thankful to God for.

After two weeks, we left Liberia with much faith of what God is doing, and is going to do, amongst our sister churches there. Though the cultural experience was very different, we truly enjoyed it - the food, the people, the hospitality. Let us continue to uphold Hope Liberia in our prayers.

We will be sending mission teams there in future. If you are interested to support in any way, please email: missions@hope-church.com.au.

May Chueng
Oceania Mission Coordinator

MUMBAI INDIA MISSION TRIP

2011-02-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

In December 2010, eight of us from Hope Church Brisbane’s student leadership team headed to Mumbai for an exposure and exploration trip. It was an overwhelming, eye-opening experience…in a good way.

We hooked up with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and rubbed shoulders with a number of missionaries and pastors at a Christmas dinner. It proved to be a good learning opportunity and through YWAM, many doors were opened. We had the opportunity to spend time in ministry with children in the slums and streets with songs, stories, cricket matches, and prayer and to bless them with food and necessities.

It was overwhelming and heart-wrenching to see the extreme poverty and hopelessness of the people, even as we walked the streets. It felt like we had to process everything we set our eyes on. It is hard to describe the experience in Dharavi (the world’s largest slum where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed). We were invited into one of the homes in the slum, and they served us dinner on their bed. Also through a divine appointment, we met a pastor of a church numbering 150 people in the slum; we spent some time with, and ministered to him and his team. The presence of God filled the room so strongly; we felt it physically. Prophetic words flowed as the Spirit moved and everyone was visibly encouraged and blessed. On Sunday, we visited a large, and growing, church of about 3000 in Mumbai. It was an amazing worship service as the congregation overflowed with passion and the Spirit. It was encouraging to see the gospel reaching so many from various demographics of the community through the church.

All in all, it was a fruitful trip. In terms of exploration, God revealed much through the prayer walks and times of intercession for the city - some keys to unlock the heavens over the city. For a short trip, there were some good contacts made. We are praying and trusting God that some long-term impact and opened doors will come forth from our time with various people and intercession. In terms of exposure, we got more than we hoped for. I believe God’s done some deep work within each of us in enlarging our hearts and deepening convictions for the Great Commission, as we continue to grapple with and respond to God’s purpose. Written by Sunita Pala

HOPE IPSWICH SUNDAY SERVICE LAUNCH

2010-10-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

On the 1st August 2010, 43 people gathered to celebrate the long awaited launch of Hope Church Ipswich. From the humble beginnings of a four person cell group, we became the latest addition to the HOPE family. It was a sweet and joyful victory as Hope Church Ipswich became a reality. Our God is good.

The weekly ministering to our Friday life groups is now reaping the fruit of the harvest; we were bursting at the seams of Rayon’s living room and we were barely contained in Room 113 at the University of Queensland’s Ipswich Campus. In all, at least 20 salvations have taken place since we started Ipswich life groups in 2008.

Our hearts skipped a few beats when Pastor Wilson addressed the team and the new centre on that Sunday morning. It was a true “we need to celebrate!” moment. For surely when God calls, it will come to pass when we respond. What was a response of faith is now harvesting the fruits of reality.

At the launch, Pastor Wilson shared about the mustard seed which grows into the mighty mustard tree which is a refuge to smaller and weaker creatures. It is a small, unremarkable seed that harbours a massive potential that belies its unimpressive size. The message was timely and spoke deeply into our being.

Currently a majority of university students with a smattering of young professionals form the core of Hope Church Ipswich. It seems an insurmountable task: winning the area of Ipswich, home of ex-prisoners, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, single parent families and juvenile delinquents. Hope Church Ipswich is a baby reaching out to tough soil.

So when Pastor Wilson shared and reminded us that we carry the DNA of God’s ultimate intent, His Church which holds the Answer, it gave courage to our hearts. We received the message with faith; to believe in the potential of this young centre because God's Spirit is infused in it. Because He is with us, we are able. A congregation of 43 people is just a glimpse. Isaiah 61 is our call. A Church that can reach the nations is when God is alive. Hope Church Ipswich lives and breathes because of that.

May this Church bring the harvest as we faithfully sow, harvest and reap on our part. All Honour and Glory to the Name - Jesus Christ!

Evelyn Sam
Hope Ipswich, Queensland

HOPE IPSWICH SUNDAY SERVIC LAUNCH

2010-09-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

HOPE QUEANBEYAN FIRST ANNIVERSARY

2010-07-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

On September 12, Hope Queanbeyan jubilantly celebrated our first year Anniversary. Planning the event for over a month beforehand, we were all so excited about how God had blessed us so tangibly that we put heart and soul into it!

We had 70 people at church on this day, with lots of guests and new faces at our church. We all say a big thank you to all the people who put in the hard work to invite so many visitors to church, especially Pastor Nonoi Condat. Hope Queanbeyan has a large proportion of Filipino members in our congregation, and many of our guests were Filipinos.

Starting out the proceedings, each Life Group brought an item to share. The Thomas Royal Life Group presented a short DVD presentation called “The Bridge Master”, which spoke volumes about the love of God, and how he let His beloved Son die in our place. The group then sang a lively rendition of Lamentations 3:22 and 23: “His love is new every morning; great is your faithfulness”.

The Tharwa Road Life Group presented a wonderfully colourful African rendition of a song that was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone! The kids and the adults from Tharwa group gave us a beautiful demonstration of joyful African praise. It was an absolute delight! The children from Kids Church performed a lovely dance presentation. It was really beautiful. The worship team led us in a wonderful time of praise and worship, and we really had a great time singing our hearts out in thanks to God! Then little Chelle-Pauline sang a beautiful song while the offering was being taken up.

Pastor Lance Wolter was our visiting speaker from Hope Gold Coast, and Pastor Lance blessed us with a message from Nehemiah 4: 6 “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.” It was a time of gratitude that so much work had been done, yet also recognising that much remains to be done. And praise the Lord, the people had a mind to work! Thank you, Pastor Lance, for giving us such an encouraging sermon.

After the sermon, came the time for prayer, with many of our visitors coming forward during altar call. It was then time for the Filipino Food Fiesta! What a feast! We thank all those who put in the hard yards of preparing all the culinary delights, especially to Sister Nene, who coordinated all the preparations. It was a great success, and everyone had a great feed!

We are all so grateful to God that we had such a wonderful first year. We thank Pastor Nonoi for his hard work over the last twelve months, and thank you to every member of the church for all their hard work. We hope to see God do even more wonderful things in the year to come. Truly, the people have a mind to work - praise the Lord!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGH SHORT TERM MISSIONS

2010-05-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

[Uganda, Africa Missions Trip Photos]

May Cheung serves as the missions manager for Hope Oceania churches. In her home church, Hope Church Brisbane, she pastorally oversees a student group, and the missions & outreach departments.
She is passionate about seeing God’s people capture God’s heart for the world, and be actively engaged in His global vision.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGH SHORT TERM MISSIONS

Short term missions (STM) has only been around since the late 1950s when groups like Youth With A Mission (YWAM) developed the concept that missionaries need not be those who go to the foreign for their entire lifetime, but they could be young people with just a few weeks to spare. Since its humble beginnings, the STM movement has grown explosively.

A short term mission is the mobilisation of a Christian to ministries done overseas, cross culturally or nationally for a short period of time ranging from days to one year. A short-termer is a willing and committed Christian to be used by God for a global purpose.

[Short-term Mission Trip to Uganda, Africa]

Why Do Short Term Missions?

There are many valuable benefits of being involved in short term missions – to the host church, to your friends and your church, and to yourself.

a. It stretches your faith and moulds your character.

You will have opportunities to do things you’ve never done before in your home church. It challenges you to rely on God. It grows your faith. It provides a context for the Spirit of God to do a significant work in your life.

b. It helps to confirm your vision.

Maybe you have sensed a call from God to be involved in long term missions. STM is a good preparation for long term mission work.

c. It can lead you to a deeper commitment to missions.

You become inspired by your experience which can lead to long-term commitment towards missions and even become significantly involved in the on-going missions thrust of your church. This includes becoming informed, enthusiastic senders, mobilisers, or even goers.

d. It helps your home church catch the vision

The testimonies and stories you bring back to your life group and church can encourage others to catch the vision. You will speak out of experience, not just textbook knowledge.

e. It increases your sensitivity to needs.

Exposure to issues of wealth, poverty and social estrangement challenges our perspectives and things we take for granted.

f. It gives you opportunity to interact with church planters and mission workers

The dedication, commitment and service of the missionary can inspire your personal walk with God.

g. It puts you in the right place at the right time.

STM teams may find God has placed them in a situation at just the right time to accomplish a special purpose eg to affirm & encourage a missionary who feels forgotten, to meet people who are ready to receive the gospel etc.

h. It honours and affirms the church planters and mission workers.

i. It extends the Kingdom of God

The benefits to the host church/country are: seeds of gospel are sown, people are converted, local church leaders are trained, local church is ministered and Body of Christ is encouraged etc.

What Types of Short Term Missions You Can Be Involved In

a. Exploration trip – to survey the land for pioneering opportunities and search entry vehicles.

b. Extension – ministry to existing local churches. Eg leadership training, evangelism & outreach, ministry training

c. Secondment or Attachment – to strengthen and serve in a church in another locality for several weeks or months

d. Community Development & Humanitarian Aid – in areas of medical, education, construction. Eg Watoto, Effective Aid

e. Intercession – do prayer walks in the target city/town.

f. Pastoral visitation – to encourage and bless the long term mission workers.

Someone once said that short term mission is a normal part of discipleship. The short term mission process is a great opportunity to disciple members.

We have been given stewardship of the gospel. Not everyone is called to be a missionary but everyone is called to the mission of bringing the gospel globally and cross culturally (the Great Commission). Short term mission is one way every person can be involved. I encourage you to aim to go on a mission trip at least once in your lifetime.

For His Kingdom sake,

May Cheung
Missions Coordinator, Hope Oceania
[Hope Oceania Missions Website]

Reference: Adapted from Hope Singapore “Stepping out to short-term missions”.

LIBERIA HEALING CRUSADES

2010-05-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

[Photos: Pastor Helen Kirby in Liberia, Africa]

My African Mission Trip -
October 2009

I have found my mission trip to Africa to be one of the most challenging feats of my life as a female pastor and Christian minister. The verse ‘All things are possible to those who believe’ (Mark 9: 23) was a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness and unfailing love to me throughout my three weeks mission trip to Liberia.

Woman's Conference and outdoor crusades

I was given the task to visit and minister in four Hope churches Liberia – Hope Monrovia, Hope Gbarnga, Hope Voinjama and Hope Foya. I was given a schedule to preach over 20 messages in 11 days which included a woman’s conference and 2 outdoor crusades!

I knew this was going to be difficult, and I underestimated how difficult it was going to get - because of the long travel and hazardous road conditions due to the rainy season, the continuous ministry from one church to another as soon as we arrived, and the spiritual pressure of preaching in a large crusade. I really learnt the value of fasting and riding on God’s grace during that time.

Thousands gathered for healing crusades

I really want to thank God for an opportunity to meet Ps Sonny who heads the Hope Churches in Liberia. What an awesome man of God! This man is always fasting and hardly sleeps. He had faith in God and in me when I was doubting my ability to preach in the crusades. He had faith that rain will not touch us during the crusade and God kept the rain away …

We had over 4500 in attendance over 3 nights and hundreds gave their hearts to Jesus Christ.

I want to thank God for all the miraculous healings and salvations we saw at the crusades. Many demons were cast out and people set free. The atmosphere was charged with faith & the battle had been won in prayer – almost every single person I touched was healed that night.

God's blessings & protection in Liberia

The road conditions were less than favourable during that time – just to put it mildly. There have been many accidents and deaths on these roads but God continued to protect us. One trip that usually takes 7 hours – took us 15 hours to get there! We got stuck in these huge ‘mud craters’ more than 3 times! (please see the photos). At one stage we were driving in pitch black without any headlights and holding on to a little torchlight from the side window as our only source of light!

All our luggage (2 sisters came with me) remained intact throughout the whole trip – nothing was lost or broken. A South African woman who sat in the seat next to us lost all her luggage when she arrived in Liberia. Although one of our luggage items almost got shipped to Turkey – we managed to get it back just in time. Also we did not miss a single flight.

Children's Conference in Liberia

I also felt really blessed by my mission team members, Anushka & Fiona, who were fasting & praying for me the whole time. Anushka's children's conferences brought a lot of joy & laughter to the kids in Liberia . Not forgetting Ps Willie, our International Missions Coordinator, who came all the way from Malaysia after a tiring mission trip overseas to visit and give some oversight to the churches in Liberia. Praise God for sacrificial men and women in our movement!

Greater faith in a supernatural God

This mission trip has indeed been a life changing experience for me – I will never be the same. I have been completely humbled and touched by the grace of God that was on me during this whole mission trip without which I wouldn’t have been able to do anything of spiritual significance.

I can say with great faith and confidence that we believe in an awesome God that will never let us down.

When God stretches us, He provides the grace to sustain us. I believe God has dropped an extra deposit of faith and trust in Him that will stay with me for a long long time. Hallelujah!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Pastor Helen Kirby
Hope Church, Adelaide

ORPHANAGE MINISTRY: UGANDA, AFRICA

2010-05-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Vision for Uganda orphanage

On the afternoon of Saturday 19th September 2009, I arrived in Uganda, a nation devastated by decades of war and by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Two years ago, I had only hoped that I could somehow contribute to the pressing needs on the other side of my world.

I first heard about the great work Watoto Child Care Ministries was doing in Uganda while I was at a womens' conference.

[Photo: Tina Wong in Uganda, Africa Orphanage]

I was inspired as I heard the stories of orphans who each had been placed into a new home, with 7 other parentless children, and a widow to look after them; and how these families, within a wider village community, were raising children into strong, God-loving adults. These children, most of whom had lost their parents to AIDS, now have hope again and believe in a brighter future. So I started raising funds. I thought I would help by contributing towards the cost of building a house. Little did I know that God had plans for me to join with a team to go to Uganda and actually build the house.

Teaming up with Glebe Rd Uniting Church

The team was a beautiful collage of personalities. From my church, there was myself, Melissa Toh, Kevin Choo and Mei Goh. The majority of the team were from Glebe Rd Uniting church in Ipswich, and a few of their friends.

All up, there were sixteen of us. We had been meeting up and praying together for months leading up to the trip, so we arrived in Uganda with ample anticipation. We were committed to building a house, but not just a house - a home. A place where precious lives would be restored.

Bulrushes, Watoto's Baby Centre

The day after we arrived, we visited Bulrushes, Watoto's baby centre, where orphaned or abandonned babies are rescued and nurtured. Babies scurried towards us from all directions, crawling into our laps and reaching out for cuddles. We all melted like butter! To think that many of these precious ones would have died had it not been for Watoto.

Many were brought to Bulrushes premature, malnourished or in terrible condition, but are now happy, healthy, bouncing babies!

Building a house in Suubi Two

The next day, we started to build in a new village called Suubi Two. We loaded and unloaded bricks and formed a long chain so that we could move bricks from A to B.

Each brick weighed 7.5kg so we got a great work out. With Ugandan builders assisting us, we all got the hang of bricklaying fairly quickly, and by the end of Day One, we had built eight rows of bricks. That evening, we all groaned in agony from sore muscles and aching backs, arms, and legs, but after some Tiger Balm and a good night's sleep, we were back on site early the next morning, eager to keep at it. We were determined to finish buillding the house! After a total of three and a half days of vigorous brick-laying, enduring scorching heat, braving shaky scaffolding, getting mortar and mud in our shoes, clothes and hair, we finally completed the house!

Together with the builders, we had a dedication ceremony to dedicate the house to the children of Uganda, and prayed a prayer of blessing over the house and over the lives of those who would call this dwelling their home.

We had worked hard, but it was a labour of love. While we were building, God was also building faith in us. We had an opportunity to visit and pray for one of the children in the village bed-ridden with malaria, and by the next day, he was out of bed, joyfully drawing with the colour pencils we gave him. On the final day of building, we also had the honour of seeing one of the Ugandan builders give his heart to Christ. We cherished every moment in our hearts, and felt so privileged to be a part of God's great work.

Fellowship with the locals

The highlight of the whole trip was when we went to one of the established Watoto villages where we had lunch with the families.

The family that I visited had eight girls and a Watoto mum, who greeted us at the door with big smiles and warm hugs. We were then spoilt with the best Ugandan home-cooked meal ever. As we ate, the girls happily shared about their favourite subjects at school and what they wanted to study in university. There was so much hope in their eyes. As they were excitedly showing us their rooms (4 girls to a room), we were saddened to hear the story of how only a year ago, they lost their previous Watoto mum to AIDS.

I couldn't even try to comprehend how it would feel to lose your parents and then to lose your adopted mum, to go through so much grief as a child. Yet these girls had a strength of faith about them that was remarkable. Before we left, they blessed us with a delightful dance and a couple of beautiful songs. We were so touched by their love and found it so hard to say goodbye. We already knew that coming to Uganda to build a house was going to make a difference, but after spending time with one of the families, we were absolutely convinced that what we have built will make a difference in childrens' lives, and a lasting impact in the nation of Uganda.

James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Compassion for the orphans and widows

As long as there are orphans and widows in need in our world, there will always be work for the church. We left Uganda with a strong sense that our work had only just begun, and that the building will continue when we landed back on home soil. So I am setting my sights on another house, another eight precious orphans rescued by 2012. Some team members have determined in their hearts to return to Uganda in the near future to serve as volunteers. All of us will continue to champion this cause.

We set out to build a home and change lives, and in the process, God built His compassion deep in our hearts and changed our lives forever.

Uganda Africa Mission Photo Website

Tina Wong
Hope Church, Brisbane

Write to Tina Wong for more information about "Orphanage ministry in Uganda, Africa: tinie_wong@hotmail.com

MISSION TRIP TO DARWIN

2009-10-24T01:22:00.000-07:00

GOING FORWARD WITH THE GOSPEL

Greetings Hope Oceania churches

I would like to remind us about God’s great calling upon our churches. He desires to see our city, country and the nations be transformed by the gospel. Let us reach out to the lost with a sense of urgency just like the early Christians in the book of Acts

“Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went.” (Acts 8:4 NIV).

The believers of Jerusalem were scattered like seeds OUT of the city TO the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria due to circumstances beyond their control. Instead of losing their faith, they instead spread the Gospel to a greater geographical area.

I was inspired by the recent mission trip to Darwin by Hope Gold Coast. The mission trip was made possible because Renee Gwee had to move from Gold Coast to Darwin due to work commitments.

Even though the challenges are great: she is on her own in a distant city, having to make new friends with the locals, and working with the indigenous communities, I admire her courage and vision to bring the Gospel to the city of Darwin and the Northern Territory.

We should bring the Gospel wherever we go. Maybe God is calling you to another city or country; maybe He is calling you to another neighbourhood or community; or even going on a summer holiday to another city or country. Wherever you go, be an ambassador for Christ – preach the Word wherever you go.

If you have a burden for Darwin and the NT and want to partner with the work there through prayer, going on a mission trip or through other means, do contact me at missions@hopebrisbane.com.

The story below is the testimony of the mission team from Hope Gold Coast to Darwin.

May Cheung
Missions Coordinator, Hope Oceania

Vision for Darwin

Renee Gwee from Hope Gold Coast moved to Darwin in April 2009 to work as a public health nutritionist in remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Before leaving the Gold Coast, God placed upon this young lady’s heart a desire to see a life group started in Darwin.

[Renee Gwee, Darwin - Australia]

Arriving in Darwin, she found many claim to be Christians and go to church regularly but they also turn to other spirits and practices. The environment is very laid-back.

These gave her a greater desperation to see a revival in Darwin, to see the city captivated by the love of God, acknowledging Him as their Saviour.
Mission Team from Hope Gold Coast

A mission team from Hope Gold Coast - Belle, Julie, Tom, Jason and Vivian, went to Darwin in July.

On the first day, they went to evangelise at Charles Darwin University. Although the campus was relatively empty, they were able to talk to a few students on campus and made some contacts.

The next day, they held a community BBQ in the city – feeding the homeless in the park and preaching in the mall. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned - they were delayed and missed the lunch time crowd. But they persevered on and managed to speak with a few people, and jammed with some guys on the guitar. Two of them were very keen to visit life group. They later accepted Christ at life group and were baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit at the same time!

The mission team went to the mall later that afternoon to perform a drama and share their testimonies. As they began to worship God, they sensed the presence of God. There was a new level of boldness and courage. Within half an hour, they had a salvation. They were blown away!

First Life Group in Darwin

During the first life group held the next day, 3 visitors came along. Even though Belle’s laptop failed to work, and she had to preach without it, that didn’t stop God from moving powerfully. Two people gave their lives to Christ!

Let Go and Let God

This mission trip was unlike many others. Even though their original itinerary fell through and faced much spiritual opposition, they saw the power of the living God move powerfully through the team when they chose to let go and let God do the work.

After the mission team left, Renee conducted her first life group on her own. She was nervous, but chose to trust God. She had expected only three persons to attend, but five people turned up! It was very exciting to see how God is working.

[Belle and Tom at
water baptism in Darwin]

Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.” His promise never fails, and His love will never fail. Please continue to pray that this ground breaking is the beginning of better things to come. The goal is to see at least 15 people come to life group by the end of this year.

Thank you for all your prayer and support.

Written by Renee Gwee

FIJI MISSION TRIP REPORT

2009-02-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

For many years we have talked about reaching the Fiji and the South Pacific Island nations, and planting churches there. After months of prayer and preparation, with prayers and support from Hope Brisbane, a team of 4 persons went forth to explore the land of Fiji on 29 October 2008 for 8 days.

Just like the exploration team that Moses sent to the land of Canaan, we too wanted to “see what the land is like … What kind of towns do they live in? … How is the soil?” (Num 13:18-20).

View Mission Trip Video

We wanted to learn more about the Fijian culture and lifestyle and understand the spiritual condition of the land. We went with fear and trembling, at the same time with great anticipation and expectation of seeing God lead us. It was a great adventure! Praise God, we really experienced God’s blessings, protection and leading throughout the entire trip.

Reaching Fiji for Christ

We got to meet a few key people who were extremely hospitable and helpful towards us.

Through one of our Fijian friends here, we came to know a key leader of the Methodist Churches of the Suva Division – a well-known man in Fiji. He was such a blessing to us. He shared about the condition of the nation and his heart to see Fiji won for God, especially the youth – the future generation. It gave us a greater burden for Fiji.

University of the South Pacific (USP)

We visited the University of the South Pacific (USP), where we met 2 key persons from the student union where we shared a great time of sharing and hearing their experiences on campus and their hearts to see the students grow in their relationship with God.

We also got to share our testimonies when we visited the USP Christian Fellowship night meeting. We thank God for guiding us and leading us to the right people. We also thank God for His protection over us. While traveling to visit a pastor in another town 2 hours away, our van went over a speed bump and we heard something fall off from the van. We found out that it was one of the brake pads. We prayed and thank God for bringing us to our destination safely as we slowly maneuvered the hilly roads for another hour.

Interceding for the nation

During the trip, we spent time interceding for the nation, did prayer walks and talked with the locals. We truly see that Fiji is a land of great harvest.

Although Fiji is predominantly a Christian nation, most of them are nominal Christians who hardly experience God personally. God showed us that there is urgent need to build the people with the Word of God and biblical discipleship. We also saw a great potential amongst the youth, who make up of 37% of the Fiji population. Fiji is a key connection point to reach the rest of the surrounding Islands in the south Pacific because of its central location and infrastructure.

Students from neighboring islands come to study at USP in Fiji. As we reach people living in Fiji, we can reach many of the other islands as well.

God’s heart is for the people of Fiji to come to know Him and walk in His truth. Let us continue to pray for this nation.

If you are interested to know more about our church planting efforts to Fiji, please contact:

May Cheung
Hope Oceania Mission Coordinator
Email: missions@hopebrisbane.com

Philippines Mission Trip Video

2009-02-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

Philippines Mission Trip

Africa Mission Trip Video

2009-02-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

Africa Mission Trip

Fiji Mission Trip Video

2009-02-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

Fiji Mission Trip

HOPE WOLLONGONG: PIONEERING NEW CHURCH

2009-02-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Wollongong is a coastal city 80 km south of Sydney, 1½ hours drive, with a population of over 200,000. Hope Wollongong started in May 2008 as an outreach from Hope Sydney, meeting in the university campus. There are many oversees students here. May Chung, from Hope Brisbane, gave a challenging inaugural address. We stepped out by faith with a few people who had a heart to plant the church with us.

Planting Church in Wollongong

We have been very excited to see how God has used different people and trust in His faithfulness for continued growth. There are many people with needs and I believe God will heal this city. We are very thankful because we had brothers and sisters in Christ who came to visit us. Many mission teams came to give us encouragement.

God is adding people to the group

God is moving in our church. Now we have more than 12 commitments. We try to mobilize people to serve the Lord according to their gifts.

We would like to see a dynamic church develop. In the last 6 months we had activities such as Friendship Sunday, Hope Olympics and the most exciting time was the first water baptism and BBQ. Praise the Lord, at that day we had 9 visitors!

You are most welcome to come and visit us! Please let us know and check for the exact location (Kent 0415 032 940).

Love in Christ

Kent Hemninrat
Hope Wollongong Christian Church
www.hopewollongong.org.au

FIRST MISSION TRIP TO PNG

2009-02-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

First international mission trip

This year, in early 2008, six people from HOPE Melbourne: Pastor Mark, Daniel, Haison, Yanyang and Jefferson (all from the city centre) and Rebecca (Frankston) responded to the calling of God by coming together and forming the first PNG mission team. This is the first time in ten years, that there has been an international mission trip. [View more photos]

This fulfilled the prophecy given by world recognised prophet John Jacks that the church will be like an aircraft carrier, sending missionaries to different places to do church planting. As a mission team, these six people came from different cultural backgrounds and nationalities: Australian, Malaysian, Chinese and Vietnamese. They also came from a diverse range of professions with a teacher, a pastor and IT professionals forming part of the group.

Mission trip preparation

With the excitement of this exploratory trip to PNG, the research work began. The information that this team gathered about PNG gave them a greater awareness of the safety and health issues facing them.

A lack of public health facilities means travelling to PNG involved a serious risk of contracting malaria, a serious tropical disease. Also the poverty in the country is accompanied by social instability. PNG is one of the countries that has been classified by Australia as a ‘no go’ country. There were a number of meetings carried out, with the assistance of Mission Coordinator Olivia Loh and the team were guided through the many checklists required to complete the trip and to identify the strength and roles in the team. There were preparations to be made such as: ordering flight tickets, booking accommodation at PNG, transport, food, malaria medication, vaccination before the trip, visas, budgeting of expenses, currency exchange, drama practise, fundraising events, collecting contacts to travel insurance.

Faith Challenging Journey

God has given us the key to PNG through the form of Ben. Although we had some contacts from PNG, they seemed inactive.

To prepare the heart of the whole church for this mission trip, HOPE Melbourne church also organised the first Islanders Sunday service and evangelistic outreach activities like witnessing to Islander students; that’s how they met Ben. He is the father of two wonderful children and his wife is studying at a university in Melbourne. One week before the trip, we still couldn’t reach any of our contacts. Based on the information and the limited details from their inactive contacts, the team managed, to the best of their abilities, to make the first itinerary. They planned to visit the biggest church at Gordon Town, stay with a few families to experience the local culture and lifestyle and visit some of the smaller churches outside of town.

Staying with Missionaries from different countries

It is really a blessing for the team to stay at Mapang missionary home at Boroko, PNG. It was a great experience talking every night over the dinner table with missionaries from different countries. There were some story-telling missionaries, bible translation and people from the Salvation Army in Japan.

“We are not coming to destroy the culture, by telling them what they should and should not do. But we are here to share the word of God and let the spirit work in them”, said Wally, a New Zealander missionary. People are just so passionate about God and gave their lives to serve on the mission field. “During the past 15 years, me and my wife have been living with a tribe, learning their language and translating the bible in their native tongue so that they can understand the Gospel,” said another missionary from the United States.

Sunday Service at Papua New Guinea’s AOG city centre

At first, when the team arrived at the meeting venue, they told the Pastor that they weren’t sure of where they were because they couldn’t see any building with any helpful signage or a big cross to mark the church. “We thought we came to the wrong place and yet we didn’t realise we are so close to the church. God really has a sense of humour.” It turns out that the church venue was just a small shelter with two big rusty containers and a few pieces of aluminium for the roof. The church lost their property due to financial difficulties, hence why the people had been meeting at this place for the past two years. Even with a tight budget, the church prepared three tables of food for the church service that day. Indeed, the team was so blessed because of their generosity.

Believing God had called the team to be there during this time and encourage the church, the team gave a message and a vision to give this church a new direction. We heard good news straight after the service with the church managing to find a new church venue. The spirit of joy and the atmosphere of blessing could be seen on everyone’s face.

Revival of the Prayer Meeting at PNG Parliament

The prayer meeting started in 1999 and it officially stopped during February, 2008. Khamis is one of the worship leaders at the AOG church we visited; he is also working as a reporter at the PNG Parliament. For the first time, the Melbourne Christian team visited Parliament and also:

The first politician attended the prayer meeting
Highest attendance for the past 9 years

University PNG and Melbourne Student Club Partnership Program

“We will continue to serve even if there is only one soul available; because every single person is precious in God’s sight, he loves every single one of us”

Meeting with presidents of student Christian groups from different denominations ( we work with one heart and one spirit and support the programs regardless the different of denomination)

Open air praise and worship and testimony sharing. (Provision of speakers, microphones, guitars, venue, and event were provided by the university. Additional support came from inter-denomination Christian student ministries)

One on one outreach with students at the student hostel (A student accepted Christ)

Fruits brought back from the PNG mission trip

Through the 10 days of the mission trip, the team has been blessed by God. Our report back to the church is that the land is very fertile. People are responsive and open to Christianity and speak fluent English. People are hungry for the word of God.

The people in PNG are poor; suffer with health problems and poverty. The major issue is government corruption in PNG. God’s hand is on PNG and he has his mind on the people there. The country is starting to develop with investment flowing into the country. The mission trip ended successfully with seeds being planted in different parts of the country, establishing connections with key people and the team has gained a greater understanding of the culture and environment of PNG.

For more information about PNG contact

Pastor Mark Rusic
Hope Melbourne, Australia (Website)
Email : markrusic@gmail.com

CHURCH PLANTING & HEALING CRUSADES IN AFRICA

2008-09-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

I’m Brendan Kirby and I 'm the pastor of Hope Adelaide church . I just want to encourage you that I’ve had the opportunity to visit some of the churches in Africa.

Africa Missions Trip Video Report

First mission trip to Liberia

We have a pastor in Africa who’s interested in Hope international movement, and so I went to Liberia in February 2007 and introduced the movement to Pastor Sonny and his leadership team in Liberia. And they have adopted the movement. They have really had the same vision to plant churches around Liberia, and a year or so later, we have 5 churches in Liberia.

Latest Updates from Liberia

"Ps Sonny has only last week (30th July) returned from a 4 week missions trip around Liberia and Guinea designed to strengthen and train his leaders. These are a few of the highlights from this trip:

Hope Foya which was started in January, and where we held two crusade meetings, now has over 220 people attending.

Hope Voinjama which we started after our crusade and has been averaging over 30 people - recently had over 50 people while Ps Sonny was preaching the vision to the church.

Hope Kouantan has now been birthed! Ps Sonny has started another church within a refugee camp in Kouantan, in Guinea (adjacent country to Liberia). This church has over 100 people already (most of whom Ps Sonny knew from his previous ministry in this refugee camp prior to his return to Liberia) - 30+ of whom just got saved after powerful deliverance meetings with Ps Sonny.

Hope International now has 5 churches under Hope Liberia, praise the Lord! Ps Sonny is doing great - please encourage him by emailing him on (sonnybrown2@yahoo.com) thankyou."

Healing Crusades in Liberia

I was recently there in march 08 and we did some crusades quite a few people were there and quite a few got healed. God did some quite miraculous deliverances there as well.

It was really quite exciting to see the number of converts and church attendance increasing. We actually did crusade church planting where we started our church straight after we did one crusade, where we gathered the converts and did a call for those interested, in contributing to a church plant.

Imparting the vision of Hope to African pastors

One of our hallmarks is that we’re not just starting a local church but we’re planting an international church movement.

we’re planting a network of churches so that when we commit to a local church we’re committing at the same time a network, a movement of churches . We are one church that meets in many locations, and this is very important that we stress this to the African pastors over there who are joining the movement, that we are part of an apostolic church planting movement, we’re not a series of independent isolated local churches but we are a network, we’re one family, with one heart, with one vision, to do our best, to extend the kingdom of God, by planting churches.

Ministry with Pastor Prapop & Pastor Thanon

We were very excited after our trip to Liberia, I was with pastor Prapop and pastor Thanon (Goft), pastor Praphop is the regional pastor for Africa, and pastor Thanon is the regional pastor for west Africa, so it was my privilege to travel with those 2 Thai pastors for about the first 5 or 6 days of my 9 day trip there, and that went very well. We were encouraged by what the Lord is doing.

Exploration trip to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

After Liberia I went on a scouting trip to the democratic republic of Congo (DRC) , where I met with a pastor who’s interested in joining the movement.

I was able to share the vision with him, and with his pastors, he has planted over 30 churches in DRC. I had a couple of strategic opportunities to preach the vision to over 30 pastors and their wife’s and their leaders and that was a real privilege for me to have that opportunity and to experience the African worship it was really touching .

The spirit of God really touched the pastors, and they are really inspired to plant churches all around DRC , which has got about 60 million to 80 million people. And God’s heart really reaches out to those people.

DRC Joining Hope Movement

"After my trip, Ps Mapya has since formally confirmed with his regional pastors that they are very blessed by our Hope Movement, and that as a local movement of churches they want to officially join us!

Ps Praphop and I will be making a followup visit to DRC in September to visit more of Ps Mapya's churches and to confirm the impartation of the Hope Vision and Philosophy to the 30+ churches there. We are most inspired by the work of the Holy Spirit through Ps Mapya and the churches that he has planted over the last 10 years. They too have a great vision to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to plant churches - often at great personal expense and self-sacrifice to the pastors. We love them greatly - they are our brothers and sisters in a common vision!"

Expanding Mission Fields in Africa

"I am also planning to visit a couple of other countries, where there have been expressions of interest to join our movement. Please pray for much wisdom, grace and protection (from sickness!) as I visit these places, thankyou! We love all our brothers and sisters in our Hope family and pray that we might excel in serving the Lord together."

I want to encourage you that it is a great opportunity, privilege and honour to be a part of the Great Commission, to be a part of the Hope International Movement, and to serve God together, Amen !

Pastor Brendan & Helen Kirby
Hope Adelaide, Australia

For more information about Western Africa church planting write to Pastor Brendan Kirby Email (helenk_hope@yahoo.com.au)

OCEANIA MISSIONS FOCUS: MISSIONS PREPARATION

2008-09-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

"I am so glad to see hundreds of church members in Oceania responded toward local, national and international missions during the recent Oceania convention in Brisbane. Hence, I would like to share some important steps to help leaders and members to prepare themselves for missions." May Cheung

Hope Oceania Missions Focus Video.

Study & research.

Start researching about the country or city God has placed upon your heart. Find out about their culture, their history, and their people. Befriend the people of that country in your local area.

Train yourself.

Grow and diligently train yourself in your character, skills and knowledge to be ready to go onto the mission field.

Be accountable to your shepherd and leader in your growth process. Complete a Church Planters Assessment (available from missions@hopebrisbane.com) to identify areas of your strengths and weaknesses.

Be a student of their culture and start learning the language as soon as possible, as it takes time to acquire a new language.

Explore the land

Go visit the country or city either for an exploration trip or a holiday. Start to identify entry vehicles for yourself into the country.

Pray

Commit all your plans to God. Prov 16:3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Pray and trust in God’s timing and preparation. Pray for your personal growth and preparation. Intercede for the needs of the city or country.

Church planting in Oceania

Hope Wollongong (NSW) started their outreach service on 4 May 2008.
Hope Darebin, Frankston, Ourimbah, Gold Coast, Katanning, and Mandurah are going on strong in the local missions efforts.

International Missions Updates…

1) Exploration to Papua New Guinea (22nd Sept - 3rd Oct, 2008)

Hope Oceania will be sending out our first 2 exploration teams to the South Pacific Islands in the next 3 months, as we aim to pioneer churches there in the near future. Hope Melbourne will be sending a team to Papua New Guinea.

2) Exploration to Fiji (29th Oct to 5th Nov, 2008)

Hope Brisbane is sending a team to Fiji. Please keep the teams in prayer as we embark on this very exciting journey. If you have friends in PNG and Fiji, please contact missions@hopebrisbane.com.

Reaching locally & globally,

May Cheung
Hope Oceania Mission Manager

Philippines Missions Report

Norma & Terry from Hope Brisbane went to Philippines for 6 months missions trip. Watch their video interview and read exciting missions report...

Philippines Missions Video Interview

We have returned from the Philippines within the last two weeks of the mission trip, my wife and me. All the things you gave us: the clothes, the glasses, and the many things we received from KFC - the children really appreciated it. Even I did some face painting with the gifts we received.

Hi! I’m Norma, I just came back from the Philippines, and I’m so just so happy that we served God over there. In obedience, we went and shared the Gospel, taught the Word of God, and blessed the people and children too with the money the church gave us.

Over 270 children were blessed; we bought some bag packs, school uniforms and were giving away balloons and other objects that were given to the church. There were also personal things to bless the people with desperate needs.

I really encourage you to come with us; the youth in the Philippines need to receive ministering as well. I really encourage you to come with us, we really in desperate need of youth to be ministered as well.

God has just been blessing us.

There were 331 people came to Christ.
Over 200 bibles have been given to the people

and also people are looking forward to their own church, to bless the people, and also to just be a blessing and just to give hope to the people.

Hope Manila is sending some people down in 2010. We are looking forward to have our own church in this region; to have a community centre, where all needs of the people from all different age groups are catered for.

By Terry & Norma

Hope Hobart 3rd Anniversary & Launceston Mission Trip

2008-09-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hope Hobart 3rd Anniversary & Launceston Mission Trip

On the 6th of July this year, Hope Hobart celebrated its third Anniversary. Indeed, the day marked a tremendous milestone as Hope Hobart dedicated the day to thank our God for what He has done in the last 3 years.

In the beginning, the church started off with only three members and the service was held in a house. The church has grown these years as God has graced the church with an amazing team of committed members who will faithfully go to the street to pass out gospel tracts weekly.

The church is now averaging around twenty people with a good blend of students, professionals, families, Australians, Africans, and Asians, and meets in a community hall in the city centre.

Hope Hobart has also seen God moving miraculously to minister to many people during their second Supernatural Sunday. For the first time, the church stepped out in faith to provide a sermon message that was coupled with Chinese interpretation for some of the Chinese students at the service. The team were so encouraged when two Chinese students gave their lives to Christ at the end of the service.

Mission Trip to Launceston

As the church grows, God has also graced Hope Hobart to have a heart for mission. Recently, 13 people from Hope Hobart went to their second mission trip to Launceston.

During the trip, the team shared the gospel message in the city mall through street preaching, one-on-one sharing, praise and worship and reading of the scriptures. The team also went to the university campus in Launceston for a prayer walk where they were burdened by God to pray for more harvesters to reach the students there.

During the trip, the team felt led by God to start the first Hope Sunday church service in Launceston. As the team stepped out in faith, God graced them by giving them a venue and seven visitors coming to the service. Since the mission trip, some team members have since grown in their heart burden to reach the people of Launceston for Christ.

We praise Him for his faithfulness to us and His work here in Tasmania as we look forward to the many amazing years ahead. It has been great to make history with God in this land.

Shen Yee
Hope Hobart, Tasmania

Missions Trip to Hope Ourimbah, NSW

2008-09-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

Missions Trip to Hope Ourimbah, NSW

Early this year in January, a small team of us from Hope Brisbane ventured down to Ourimbah, Central Coast, Australia. For many of us this was our very first mission trip, and it was definitely an eye opening experience. Our aim was to support and encourage the newly planted Hope Ourimbah centre in whatever way we can.

God used us in many unexpected and wonderful ways to plant and sow seeds into the hearts of the people in the quiet and peaceful community there. We shared the gospel in the shopping malls, distributed flyers to surrounding homes, supported the Hope Newcastle service, and even organised an outreach multicultural event. I was also challenged to step out of my comfort zone by reaching out people from a vastly different cultural environment. I was greatly inspired and encouraged by the simple faith and perseverance of the Hope Ourimbah pioneering team.

It was a life changing experience; each and every person learnt the value of church planting, and I was touched by the love for God and sacrificial hearts of the Ourimbah team. I didn’t know what to expect when we went down to Ourimbah, but after we came back, I’ve learnt that God truly uses every willing heart and hands that are ready to be used by Him for His kingdom.

Written by Florence Yip, Hope Brisbane

HOPE MELBOURNE WAVERLEY CENTRE

2008-05-05T22:28:00.000-07:00

HOPE MELBOURNE WAVERLEY CENTRE

Hi, I' m pastor Ian Foley from Hope Melbourne really exciting to see what God is doing in our churches around Oceania this time and in Hope Melbourne we have seen some very exciting developments over the last 2 years with the establishment of the Frankston centre and the Darebin centre last October

View Interview Video

Moving forward, starting new churches

And we are really going through an interesting transition stage in our churches as we seek to come together and work together as a multi site church as

we seek to form a core leadership team over the whole of Hope Melbourne and really to press on with the task of building our churches and really going out and starting new churches.

so there are already plans in place for the start of new senders which are been developed we don’t quite know when that is going to happen but during the next year or so, we hope to see more advances been made.

New office and church staff

And we are seeing blessing in our people and we are also restructuring Hope Waverley, has just leased an office space both Hope Melbourne Waverley and City centre we started employing other staff, so delighted to welcome Fook Chun on the staff and Ruth Hii coordinator of Frankston she’s working 1 day for the administrative task of our church, and we are looking soon to employ someone else soon to do some of the other work that is necessary so we are really seeing God's blessing in wonderful ways.

We are really praying for this year, pray with us that we may see many salvations this year and please come visit us, join us and visit any of our centers so you can see for your self what God is doing amongst us!

Pastor Ian & Daisy Foley, Hope Melbourne Waverley Centre

HOPE MELBOURNE CITY CENTRE

2008-05-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

HOPE MELBOURNE CITY CENTRE

Greetings from Hope Melbourne, where we are, we’re down under right in Melbourne, I' m here in Brisbane, with every body, its been a really fantastic convention, and we have really seen God at work here I think we feel particularly inspired to be more contextual and touch the local community in an even more powerful way.

View Interview Video

Oceania Convention: A Contextualised Church

In fact when we get back from this convention it has been in my heart that we need to touch families in our local area more effectively.

Our church is based in a community centre, so we have people coming in and out of our doors; the entrance to the hallway is sort of situated right next door to the entrance way into a community centre, where there are people from the local community coming in all the time.

Please pray for us, because we really want to touch the people that are coming in through the door there, that are using the pool and other facilities in the community centre for Jesus Christ.

Please pray that we will be able to upgrade our KFC (Kids for Christ) our outreach in that area of the church so that we can be more effective in touching the people.

Establishment of Christian Club

One praise point from Hope Melbourne that I want to share is that we really saw breakthrough in the student ministry at the end of last year.

When we started our church, I think it was significant that happened when we started what happened was this we had been trying to register a club a Christian group on campus at Melbourne Uni, which is one of the main unis in Melbourne and we’d been tying for 15 years could you believe it? 15! About that much time. And we have never been able to do it. Countless times, year after year, people have gone and spoken to the student union and requested that we could register the club, but every time the door was closed, and we were flatly rejected. and some how by the Grace of God last year, the student union, we reapproached them and they were favorable and one of the guys that actually initiated the process went to a conference and he got a vision of how this club will take on a very special form.

Its called 'SALTS" (Student, Arise Learning To Serve) and the kind of angle of the club is related to focusing on people’s needs..

Anyway miraculously God has blessed that vision and enabled us to register the club and it happened just as we started the church, and its meant that this year we were able to be a lot more contextual and involved in peoples life on campus because we registered there.

Mission Trip to Papua New Guinea

And I just praise God for his goodness and another exciting thing is that this year we are going to PNG. Which is one of our target groups.

PNG or Papua New Guinea is based obviously north of Australia, we don’t know much about it, but im planning to lead a team of people and even last night during our conference, there were quite a number that volunteered to be a part, please pray for us, because we are planning to go in September I believe. And we are looking at doing an exploratory trip that will lead to starting a church in PNG.

God bless you, and it’s great to be a part of what God is doing in Oceania and all over the world.

Pastor Mark & Susan Rusic, Hope Melbourne City Centre

HOPE MELBOURNE DAREBIN CENTRE

2008-05-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

HOPE MELBOURNE DAREBIN CENTRE

Hi, my name is Eric, im the centre leader for Darebin centre in Hope Melbourne I would like to share how God used me to pioneer the centre, it all started around 3 years ago when Pastor Ian and Mark shared the strategic direction of church planting in Melbourne and I actually wrote down a goal to plant a church in my life time.

View Interview Video

And it came to pass in 2007, I felt called by God to rise up and take the challenge, despite the internal challenge that I had.

I felt God spoke to me through the book of Mark as well, when the disciples and preached the gospel everywhere and God worked with them and accompanied his work by signs and wonders and as I claimed that word, as I had confidence in God and stepped out in faith, I almost immediately knew God confirmed His Word.

He is Faithful. and there was 11 visitors that came along to the 1^st meeting and the week after, an Australian guy accepted Christ and from then on we had people from Hope Bangkok and hope Singapore join us...

and encouraged to work the momentum and there were people who accepted Christ and were baptized and we formally launched the new centre in Darebin at the end of September 2007 and its been a real privilege to be involved.

I pray that all of you out there as well will really take the call of God and personalize in your life and make a significant difference in your life as well. God bless you.

Eric & Atom Fan, Hope Darebin Centre

HOPE AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

2008-05-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

HOPE AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Hi im Angela Soh with Hope Auckland, my family and I have been in Auckland for 8 years, we were in Hope Singapore before, and we took up the challenge to go to Auckland to resume the leadership there. It’s been a challenging 8 years, but exciting, and I must say that in the 8 years that we have been there we have never failed to see God not move in our midst, He’s always been there for us and done wonderful things.

Watch Video Interview

We started off with a very small group, but as time has progressed we have seen the birthing of CCM university care groups and last year the youth caregroup and this year has been really exciting, this year is break through and we are believing for break through in individuals lives, we are believing for break through in church and we are beginning to see that take place already

Student & Youth ministry in Auckland

In January this year we started an afternoon service in the west and we have been seeing new people come.

At CCM at the orientation this year we had a really good turn out with more than 17 new people signing up, not only that but that has since doubled our University caregorup numbers, so its really fantastic and we have just started recently, 8 young people in our church ranging from the ages of 15 – 21 who have committed themselves to come under training to be the future leaders of our church.

Take up the challenge

Now I really want to encourage whoever says to themselves I don’t think I can do much for the kingdom of God, that’s not true, God used my family, my kids who went there as very young kids, are now all serving actively Jared is 10 and he plays the guitar for kids church and both my girls are serving as leaders as well as in the worship team. If God can use them, God can use anyone, Thank you.

Bernard & Angela Soh, Hope Auckland

HOPE BUSSELTON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

2008-05-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

HOPE BUSSELTON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Hi, my name is Nigel Witter, I am the pastor of Hope Busselton Christian Church, Busselton is 3 hours south of Perth in Western Australia.

Watch Video Interview

Combined churches fasting & prayer

Things are doing very very well, last year the Lord placed on my heart to call a combined time of prayer and fasting, with all the churches in our area, that brought real break through, where we had people from all different churches praying and fasting and then after that we were leading people to the Lord every week.

New families added to the church

So towards the end of 2007, we had half a dozen plus baptisms and we had a few families join our church so we find ourselves after been, you know our family, I got a great family you know me and my wife and 5 kids just us and a handful of others, now we had some really strong families join us, quite a number of people.

So we are getting over 30 adults and 10 or more children and growing, and growing in excitement for the Lord..

We got excellent musicians and film makers, we got great prospects for the future, intend to plant more churches throughout western Australia and over seas locations One of our guys want to have some apostolic teams happening in other nations as well.

There’s tremendous sense of hope and faith of what the good things God is going to do.

Nigel and Sandy Wittner, Hope Busselton

HOPE OURIMBAH: CENTRAL COAST

2008-05-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

HOPE OURIMBAH: CENTRAL COAST

Hi my name is Danny, im from Hope Newcastle; we are the core leaders there. And in the last year I’ve been out to plant a new church in the central coast, in a place called Ourimbah, which is about 45 minutes south of Newcastle.

Watch Video Interview

I just wanted to share, over the last few years, God has been challenging me to get involved in church planting, and fulfilling the great commission through filling the hope movement’s vision.

About the end of February 2007, myself and 2 others launched Hope Ourimbah Christian church and it has been really exciting, God has done some really great things, some of the things he has done is that he has grown each of the team members so amazingly, it has been one of the best growth growing times of our lives. He has brought us together as a family and also added new people to our little church family.

We have about 10 people involved at the moment and God has brought some really key people to get involved and have the heart to reach the central coast.

I really thank God for what he’s done, and the great work that he has been doing recently we just had O Week in the central coast.

We had 41 members join CCM which is really big for us and we praise God for that, and we see God adding key people and we really thank Him for that as well.

I am really enjoying Church planting, it’s been one of the most difficult but also one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I want to spend the rest of my life doing it as well, even overseas or another place in Australia.

Praise God I just want to encourage you to be involved in Church planting, God is looking for someone who has a willing heart and who is willing to be used by Him, and Who wants to be trained and sent out, God can use you, don’t worry about your weaknesses, God will deal with those things, Gods going to use you, just have Faith.

So, I encourage you to step out, and come to Ourimbah, come help us church plant, or go to other places where God will call you.

Danny Whitbread, Hope Ourimba - Central Coast

HOPE HOBART, TASMANIA

2008-05-05T19:43:00.001-07:00

HOPE HOBART, TASMANIA

Hello everyone my name is Shen, and its been really really good to see what God has been doing in the whole movement so far, and such a great privilege to be part of the great commission....

Watch Video Interview

Called by God to plant Hope Hobart and this has been the 3 years where we have gone forth and we have seen God doing tremendous things during these 3 years.

The church has grown from strength to strength we have around 20 -25 people in our church these days, since starting 3 years ago where we only had 3 people.

And God has been so amazing when we went forth, he has provided me with a job and promotions after promotions he has given to me and even though I am working full time, and just preaching, worship leading, chairing every Sunday, a lot of things I' m just so impressed by the Grace of God. The grace of God and the love of God that is always there that God is Emmanuel always with us as we go forth.

And I want to encourage you, if God has a calling and a burden for your life to be part of the Great Commission I want to encourage you to go forth, because as you go forth the grace is there....

and that you will flourish and I want to encourage you to obey him for that is the plan that he has for your life. And there’s no other purpose no other plans that you can ever have that is better than Gods plan for you. Thank you

Shen Yee, Hope Hobart - Tasmania

HOPE HOBART, TASMANIA

2008-05-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

HOPE HOBART, TASMANIA

Hello everyone my name is Shen, and its been really really good to see what God has been doing in the whole movement so far, and such a great privilege to be part of the great commission....

Watch Video Interview

Called by God to plant Hope Hobart and this has been the 3 years where we have gone forth and we have seen God doing tremendous things during these 3 years.

The church has grown from strength to strength we have around 20 -25 people in our church these days, since starting 3 years ago where we only had 3 people.

And I want to encourage you, if God has a calling and a burden for your life to be part of the Great Commission I want to encourage you to go forth, because as you go forth the grace is there....

Shen Yee, Hope Hobart - Tasmania

HOPE KATANNING, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

2008-05-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

HOPE KATANNING, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Hi my name is James, and this is my wife grace and we are under Pastor Steven, from Hope Perth Christian church and we have been challenged by our leader to go down to Katanning which is 4 hours away to pioneer a church there.

Watch Video Interview

It is a really great blessing and privilege that we can see the people, in Katanning the Chinese people, they have received the sprit and even been baptized.

We really believe that the great commission will be fulfilled, that thru all the brother n sister joining hands together we pray that we will see the Katanning centre will be planted and biblically to be fulfilled with the vision of hope. We really want to thank God as well for the many opportunities we have had with the Chinese.

Wee had a sports day for Chinese people and we also celebrated Chinese new year and about 40 people attended, and we had 2 people been baptized, whole family been baptized, so that’s a great start to our centre at Katanning.

James & Grace, Hope Katanning - Western Australia

MISSIONS TRAINING - KAIROS INTENSIVE COURSE

2008-05-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

What Karios Course is about?

The Kairos Course is a nine-session, interactive course on world Christian mission, designed to educate, inspire and challenge Christians to active and meaningful participation. It is ideally suited to be conducted in local churches, organizations or with special interest groups such as Christian businesspeople.

The Kairos Course utilizes a variety of adult learning styles including group discussions, short lecture introduction, devotions, video teaching and student participation in specially designed activities.

Kairos looks at the four main areas of mission concern which are the Biblical, Historical, Strategic and Cultural dimensions of mission.

Hope Oceania Missions Coordinators

The week after the Oceania Convention this year, 18 missions coordinators and leaders from various Hope Oceania churches stayed on in Brisbane to attend an intensive 4 day Kairos Course at University of Queensland.

This course was aimed at training us in the biblical, historical, strategic and cultural aspects of MISSIONS. We were privileged to have Elsabé de Wet, who is the national coordinator, to conduct this course for us, together with a team of facilitators who generously shared with us their time and experience.

This course was well attended by missions-minded delegates from Brisbane, Auckland, Hobart, Busselton, Melbourne, Newcastle & Ourimbah. 16 of us went on for another 1 day to be trained as facilitators. Though many of us did feel the hard work of doing the intensive, this was greatly surpassed when we were deeply challenged and convicted by the biblical mandate God has given to us.

May Cheung
Oceania Missions Coordinator
missions@hopebrisbane.com

For more information about Kairos Course read curriculum below and visit website www.kairoscourse.org

CURRICULM OF KAIROS COURSE

Kairos looks at the four essential areas of mission concern.

BIBLICAL

1. God’s Purpose and Plan
We will discover from the Bible, that mission lies at the center of all God’s concern.

God – The Bible is the story of His Glory
God’s Purpose – To re-conquer His usurped kingdom and reconcile the nations to himself
God’s Plan – To engage His chosen people in His world-wide mission of mercy.

2. Israel, The Covenant People
We will study God’s dealing with the nation of Israel in His desire to fulfill His purposes through them.

Israel’s Obligation – To bless and be God’s priests to the nations of the world.
Israel’s Opportunity – God did everything for their fruitfulness and success.
Israel’s Response – On the whole negative – but God still outworked much of His missionary purpose through them.

3. The Messiah, the Message & the Messengers
We will see that God’s concern for all nations is still His central purpose as we move into the New Testament.

Jesus, Messiah for all peoples – Jesus, ministered to both Jews and Gentiles.
A Message for all Peoples – Jesus’ preaching on the Kingdom was for both Jew and Gentile.
Messengers for all Peoples – The advance of the Church into intentional missions after Pentecost.

HISTORICAL

4 . Expansion of the World Christian Movement
We trace the advance of Christianity from its beginning to the present day

The five periods of mission history since Christ.
The three eras of modern missions
The Final Thrust

STRATEGIC

5. Mission Strategy
We consider the place, value and nature of strategy in world Christian mission.

The value of strategy in mission, combined with prayer and power.
Church planting, people movements and church planting movements.
Local churches and mission agencies

6. The Task Remaining
We look at the mission task remaining, who and where the majority of the unreached are, and what methods should be used to reach them.

The nations and cross-cultural evangelism – Understanding mission terms and the priority in missions.
The major blocs of unreached peoples.
Modern strategies and approaches in missions today.

7. World Christian Teamwork
We look at the variety of exciting ways the whole church can and must get involved in accomplishing strategic world mission.

Teaming Up with God – Becoming a World Christian and finding our role.
Teaming Up Locally – Active Local Church involvement in missions
Teaming Up Globally – Partnership worldwide to fulfill the Great Commission.

CULTURAL

8. Cross-Cultural Considerations
We address issues, in this chapter, on communicating the gospel cross-culturally. We also look at aspects of church contextualization and its implications for seeing unreached communities of peoples discipled and won for Christ.

The Kairos Course is designed to lay a solid foundation in the life of the believer and of the local church, in world Christian mission. From this foundation, exciting and meaningful missions endeavor, can result.

MIRACLE HEALINGS AT REFUGEE CAMP

2008-03-04T22:53:00.000-08:00

Hope Brisbane and Hope Gold Coast Centre sent a mission team to

Thail

and

for two weeks (31st December till 10th January 2008). The mission team ministered in an orphanage called Bann Fan Sighy, a two hour drive from Chiang Mai. They also conducted healing meetings at a Karen refugee camp called Maelaoon in the mountains, near the Thai and

Myanmar

border.

[Photo: Thailand Mission Team]

Pastor Lance and Belle Wolter were leading a multicultural team of 12 people born in

Australia

Singapore

Indonesia

Vietnam

China

and

Malaysia

. The mission team worked with Effective Aid organisation in the refugee camp. .

[View Mission Photos Website]

Preaching Good News at Refugee Camp

The whole team preached at the refugee camp; some members preached for the very first time! We were all captivated by 1000 people who came to the meeting place at the refugee camp. Some sessions saw the whole meeting place full and overflowing!

Renee (an Australian university student) and Ngoc (a Vietnamese physiotherapist) made everybody cry with their real stories that the Karen refugees could really connect with. Renee’s shared how God helped her trust him through the sudden and tragic death of her parents two years ago. 38 orphans who had lost parents in the war responded with many tears to ask God to heal them. Ngoc, a former refugee from Vietnam and now serving God as a physiotherapist, shared how the Lord helped her forgive the Vietnamese government for the hardships they caused her family. She also shared the hope that was made possible by God to succeed in a second country.

The Power of God came down

According to Pastor Ian, we were apparently the first team ever to come to the camp where none of the team got sick: we created HISTORY! Apparently, it has been many years since the meeting place was this full and the children had never worshipped that passionately.

There were two, three year olds who were in tears as they worshipped Jesus with all their hearts! This camp had never seen so many miracles and neither had we!

The miracles at refugee camp

Many people’s bad/partial hearing was restored and we saw people who were completely deafness fully healed!

Chest pains were healed!
Skin rashes, infections, irritations were healed!
Sore joints, backs, ankles, knees, bones were no longer sore
Kidney pains gone!
Hips back in place allowing people to stand upright!
Countless headaches disappeared!
An Animist gave his heart to the Lord!
Feeling and nerves were restored so people could feel again!
Ear infections or water ears were healed
Eye infections/diseases healed
Lumps/tumours removed
Various swollen joints and lumps were removed
Stomach and pelvis pain healed.

There was one man with severe burn marks on his face and pus-filled sores on his head. Lance felt challenged to place his hands on him and show Christ’s love and pray for him. Praise God that the man’s face was healed from the scars and the sores dried up.

We prayed for a blind animist, who has yet to be healed, but he received Christ as his Lord and Saviour! We also prayed for an ex-Karen soldier who lost his leg in the war. His leg is still missing, but by faith, we gave him a pair of shoes to try on each day he prays!

Many refugees responding to Jesus

Furthermore, the alter call was so big in the first session that we actually broke half the stage!

Elise cut her foot but amazingly the people were so desperate for God, they stayed on the terribly slanted stage as if nothing had happened! Apparently they didn’t want to lose their place in the crowd of people waiting to receive prayer.

On the last session, Lance held an alter call for people wanting to be trained as
missionaries, evangelists, leaders and to go back to Burma, or sacrifice their lives for Christ. Over 130 people dedicated their lives for service. And God is still blowing us away with the testimonies from the team.

A fulfilled Prophecy

Ps Lance and I recieved a prophecy confirming we would get a breakthrough in miracles and healing at the Prophetic Conference a year ago.

In fact one of the team leaders called Julie played me a tape of prophecy she had received in 1997. The prophet John Jack stated that he saw her serving in a village with children and people who had faced turmoil and hardship. He even described her going up a hill on a mountain and described in detail the colour of their clothes. She did not plan for the mission trip to fulfil this prophecy and in fact she only remembered the prophecy while she was at the camp. When she went home to find the tape she was completely overwhelmed with God’s sovereignty and grace for her life.

The grace of God

God is sovereign; I am constantly amazed by God’s grace. The journey and stories we shared has had a wonderful ripple effect: telling our bosses, our workplaces, and people on the street, and telling of the wonders that God has done to friends and family.

Pastor Lance & Belle Wolter
Hope Gold Coast, Australia

HOPE PERTH: FIRST WATER BAPTISM IN KATANNING

2008-03-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

HOPE PERTH: FIRST WATER BAPTISM IN KATANNING

Praise God for the latest and most exciting progress the Katanning mission has made among the Chinese workers. On Saturday, 17th February, 2008, we held the very first water baptism day for the three new believers in Katanning.

[Hope Katanning Photo Website]

[Photo: Pastor Stephen & Hannah]

Our brothers and sisters have publicly proclaimed their determination to follow Christ. We conducted the water baptism and issued baptism certificate to the converts. After the water baptism, other new believers in Katanning also expressed their interest in being water baptised.

Full Gospel Assembly church from Perth and Katanning Baptist church who have been working on this group of Chinese people, have recognised our efforts and would like to provide us with best support to our ongoing mission to Katanning.

In the last 15 months we have travelled more than 400 hours, travelling 7.5 hours per week to faithfully build up our contacts in Katanning. God is faithful: He has extended our connection to the shire, to the key local factory and the local churches.

We, the Hope Katanning Mission team (Pang Chieng, Peybin Ho and Andy Jun Liu) want to give glory to God for the fruits among the Chinese workers in Katanning.

Please continue to pray for us to see the Hope Katanning continue being established. We have a weekly care group running with a regular attendance of 10 to 15 people. We are planning to begin a service in the future to make a deeper impact to the area.

[Sport Day Outreach Event in Katannning]

God bless!

James Ling Zeng, Hope Perth

CHURCH PLANTING - HOPE OURIMBAH

2007-09-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

In the Hope Movement, we wholeheartedly believe that we can help fulfil the Great Commission by building strong and biblical people to plant strong and biblical churches all over the world. We in Hope Newcastle desire to join with our sister churches all over Australia and the world, and we believe that even though we are a smaller church (at the moment, that is...), God can use us to plant many healthy churches.

Hope Newcastle pioneering in Central Coast

This vision compelled us to start a seed Care Group on the Central Coast earlier this year on February 25th, with a team of 3 people.

We have been meeting at my house on Sunday mornings since then. Each step of the way, we have seen the miraculous hand of God moving. God powerfully called one team mate into the team with multiple confirmations. He then provided two fantastic ministry houses in Ourimbah on the Central Coast, only about 1 kilometre from the uni! The houses are literally in the same street, which greatly assists in communication and avoids lengthy travel times between the houses. God has provided employment in the local area for the two team members who needed a job.

We launched CCM earlier this year, and had a total of 22 contacts during Orientation week.

Starting fellowship Group with 3 people

There are other major praise points too. We have had a steady stream of regular visitors, with care group attendance reaching 15 people at our Care Group on 20 May 2007. This outreach care group included 7 people from Hope Newcastle.

I rejoiced at the fact that they were willing to travel to support us, and that we had 8 people from the Central Coast join us - this is more than double the 3 people we started with!

It has been wonderful to see the servant-heartedness of the Hope Newcastle Care Groups, who have taken turns almost every single week since we started to come down to the Central Coast and support us. My heart is so blessed too when I think of my faithful team members Kane and Christine. We have all grown so much this year, in our ministry skill, in our steadfastness, in our zeal, and in our passion and love for the lost. Christine is such a valuable asset to our efforts, and Kane's consistent joy and enthusiasm has been a constant encouragement - his lack of complaining and unwavering keenness in travelling 1.5 hours or more on the train to join us each Sunday morning is convicting!

The photos are of a care group earlier in the year. That was seriously one of the most powerful experiences of the presence of God I have had in a care group, and a highlight of 2007 for me. It was a truly wonderful time.

God is with us during our challanges

We have had many a battle and struggle over the last few months. However God is our Encourager.

Several phrases seem to keep popping up, such as

"Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Gal 6:9),

and "It's all worth it". Brothers and sisters, do not give up. The harvest is coming to your church! It will be all worth it. If your Pastor challenges you to get involved in church-planting, I urge you to seriously take up the call to pray and seek God about what he would have you do. It's all worth it!!!

God bless you abundantly,

Danny Whitbread
Hope Ourimbah

HOPE HOBART - FIRST MISSIONS TRIP TO LAUNCESTON

2007-09-10T22:56:00.001-07:00

HOPE HOBART - FIRST MISSIONS TRIP TO LAUNCESTON

Praise God for our 2nd Anniversary on Sunday. After the church anniversary, 12 of us from Hope Hobart went to Launceston for our church's first mission trip from Wednesday - Saturday.

Below are some highlights from our trip:

One of the non-Christians (Sophia) who came along to the mission trip accepted Jesus into her life during our evangelism training where the gospel was presented and people were learning how to share their faith and the gospel message. While Sophia went out with us for evangelism that very morning, she boldly shared her faith and testimony as to why she made her decision to accept Christ.

We also did prayer walk and evangelism at the city of Launceston and at the University of Tasmania campus situated also in Launceston. We were encouraged with our ‘spiritual babies’ who went out and boldly shared the Gospel, many for the first time, on the street. One Korean new believer found it difficult evangelising on the street when he encountered rejection, but found it easier to share the gospel in Korean to his housemates.

God also gave us the boldness to praise and worship Him in the middle of the park near Launceston and we also prayed for the city together. A new and stronger team was built during the trip as people spent time together and participated in great fun team-building activities leaving everyone which brought much laughter and fun. Praise God that all the young members want to get involved with mission again! Four of our new believers are keen to get water baptised and to bring friends to, and help out with Hope Hobart events such as O Week & Alpha etc. On Sunday, we saw them put their words into action, with one believer bringing 3 new visitors.

Hope Hobart Church (Video)

Hope Busselton: Operation Esther

2007-06-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

Hope Busselton: Operation Esther

In January this year, Sandy had seen a vision of the South West and that the key for breakthrough was gathering local leaders together to PROPHESY over the land. In April God brought prophets (John and Monette Jacks) and we saw it as the perfect opportunity to gather local leaders and we, together, prophesied over the land from a high point. This led to a chain reaction of combined church activities (with 4 other churches involved) that lasted for 4 weeks.

One of these was the annual psychic fair. For the last 2 years we’ve had to change our venue for church, so they could have the fair. We preposed the possibility of doing something together and the churches got behind us. We ran a stall titled ‘spiritual re-birth and healing’ and the churches did a prayer chain that lasted the duration of the fair. It was a great success with one person after the other lining up for prayer and counselling for bad dreams, unwelcome apparitions, and guidance for the future. We set up a Christian bookstall and gave out many Bibles and ‘40 days of purpose’ books. We have since been able to follow up some contacts. The unity of the churches was wonderful to see.

God has now given Nigel a vision to start ‘operation Esther’ – a strategy of prayer and fasting for the kids in the local Christian school, most of whom aren’t following God.

After a time of real testing, God is now bringing some new and exciting strategies for breakthrough. He has revealed to us the 2 key strongholds here are ‘false religion’ and ‘compromise’, but we are starting to see some release. Please pray for us as we move forward in him.

Nigel and Sandy Wittwer

Hope Busselton, WA

Hope Auckland: 10th Church Anniversary

2007-06-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hope Auckland: 10th Church Anniversary The faithfulness of God

Hope Auckland celebrated its 10th Anniversary on Sunday, May 27th. More than 70 people were at the service. It was a time to thank God for all He had done and will do in the future. As we reflect on the ten years in the life of Hope Auckland, we have many things to be thankful for. Our family has been here for 6 years in Auckland. Through difficulties and struggles, through victories and blessings, we have seen God’s faithfulness through it all. Two of the five Care Leaders are converts in our church and have been discipled and trained up to serve the kingdom of God. One Care Leader has been in church from the very beginning.

Building a Multicultural Church

The church comprises people from Fiji, Kyrgyztan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Burma…a wonderful family of God. We are thankful for each person.

Moving in signs and wonders

Ps Brendan preached about “Inheriting the Promises of God” at the church anniversary. It was a tremendous weekend for the church. The first time experiencing the running of healing services and seeing people restored to health and also receiving valuable teaching from Ps Brendan. Praise God!

After the service, people were ministered to again and prayed for to healing for various illnesses. Praise God for His healing power! Kizito’s arm was healed. He had sustained injuries from work and could not lift his arm. After prayer, he could now move his arm freely with no pain. Tom had a back injury and as he received prayed, he experienced heat flowing on his back and that he was able to bend over, something he could not do for a long time.

At the end of this month, we look forward to our Annual Church Camp, A Seed Church, with Ps PN as our Camp Speaker. Do pray for us!

Pastor Bernard & Angela Soh

Hope Auckland

HOPE ADELAIDE: LIBERIA HEALING CRUSADES

2007-06-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hope Adelaide: A Multicultural Church

Pastor Brendan oversees Hope Adelaide church in Australia, and he works as a research scientist for Defence Science and Technology Organisation. Brendan's wife Helen is an accountant, but currently works for the church 2 days a week. They are leading a church of around 140 people which consist of a number of nationalities such as Australian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Vietnamese, Chinese ,Hong Kong, Liberian,Sudanese, Zimbabwian, Botawanian and Congoian.

Pioneering African Ministry

The Lord gave Helen a vision to see an African care group start up, and she began with 2 africans and worked with them for about 4 months with no growth.

In May 2005 an opportunity arose to reach recent immigrants from Liberia, and a
number of Liberians then began attending the church. The church began visitation to the Africans in the community and invite them to church. Through building friendship with Africans, they started to attend church and invited their friends. Currently there are
about 65 Africanin the church.

Africa in Hope Adelaide

Country	Number of members
Liberia	35 people
Sudanese	10 people
Congolese	10 people
Zimbabwe	5 people
Botswana	4 peopl

The Africans have brought great joy to the church because of their friendly culture. It is great to see the Africans beginning to serve God in various ministries in the church and reaching out to their friends.

Liberia Healing Crusades

Some African members in Hope Adelaide introduced Pastor Brendan to Pastor Sonny from "Abundant Harvest Pentecostal Church" in Gbarnga, Liberia. The church has over 60 adults and 30 kids attending. Pastor Sonny invited Pastor Brendan for Healing Crusades over a 4 days period.

"I recently had the privilege to go to Liberia, Africa and join with Ps Sonny in Gbarnga City in Bong County for the Healing Crusades.
Over the three nights we had over 100 people
get saved, a number of healings. One notable healing where a man returned the second night without his crutch. An average attendance of probably about 400 each night. The fourth night of the crusade was washed out by intense deluge of rain, but back at the church we still managed to see 3 people saved, praise the Lord!" Pastor Brendan Kirby

Sharing the Hope Vision in Liberia

Ps Sonny is used to seeing the power of God in his crusades. I spent 10 nights in Liberia with the church, mainly preaching and teaching about the Hope Vision, Vision & Philosophy, apostolic covering and church planting.

"For four of those days I spent over 6 hours preaching/teaching and answering questions. After some deliberation and meeting with the Leadership of the church in Gbarnga, Ps Sonny agreed to join the Hope Movement."

Pastor Brendan & Helen Kirby
Hope Adelaide

CHURCH PLANTING IN DAREDIN, MELBOURNE

2007-06-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Pastor Mark Rusic in Hope Melbourne City Centre appointed Eric Fan to help pioneer a centre in Darebin, Melbourne. Below is a church planting testimony written by Eric Fan.

Hope Melbourne City Centre

Pioneering work in Darebin

This year, I have personally been involved with pioneering work in Darebin, Melbourne since February. I have witnessed the grace of God from the very start when 11 visitors came to our first discussion meeting on a Wednesday night. Some visitors even brought their friends which encouraged the team greatly.

First Fruit - Aussie accepted Christ

One week later, God gave us the first fruit with a young Aussie guy coming to accept Christ. He was actually the only Aussie guy in our meetings and was feeling a bit uncomfortable about this fact at first. However, what he and others visitors noticed very quickly was the friendliness and love of the members, and he was ripe to accept Christ.

Since then, God has blessed us with 3 more salvations. God has even sent workers from other parts of the Hope Movement to help us particularly at La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus with our outreach to students.

Working together as a team

I praise God for the hearts of the members who have committed themselves to the pioneering work in Darebin, whilst at the same time juggling other responsibilities. On a personal level, my wife and I are expecting our first baby at the end of July. I believe delivering a spiritual baby is equally amazing and exciting. And we feel so privileged to be involved.

Although as a team we have been challenged and stretched, there is a sense of joy as we know that God is refining and preparing us for greater things.

We aim to have a Church service started in Darebin by the end of September this year by God’s grace.

Filfilling the Great Commission

Over the coming months we pray that the momentum for his work in Darebin will continue to increase with designated care groups taking ownership of the Church, with members volunteering their time and energy in taking turns to go out for evangelism on a regular basis.

We know that apart from Him, we can do nothing. Our confidence is in God alone because we are serving a living God. We are simply obeying his command to GO in spreading the gospel everywhere. We have full confidence that God is working with us and will continue to give us encouraging signs that accompany his work in Darebin.

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached every-where, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16: 19-20)

Please do join with us to pray for God’s work in Darebin to flourish.

All Glory to God!
Eric Fan