HOPE FAMILY NEWS

Hope Perth Camp: A Growing Church



Pastor Stephen gave the church this year’s theme: “The Year of Empowerment!” And we could see the empowerment from God come to strengthen the life of each one of us and the church as well. “A Growing Church” brought Hope Perth together with the other Hope centres in WA to come to have good time in fellowship, fun and teaching. [View Camp photos]

There were around 104 of us from Hope Perth, Hope Busselton, Hope Joondalup and Hope Mandurah. The camp lasted two days and two nights; all of us could tell we grew not only through the spiritual teaching, but also with the aerobic exercises, bush dance, campfire and hope games and during free time too. We had such a great time in praise and worship and during the worship concert. We have learnt to grow in a balanced manner, and we are still continuing to grow in our normal daily life after the camp.




This year, Our Hope Camp had the privilege of having Pastor Wilson and Lai Ling from Hope Brisbane. As the theme of our camp for this year was “A Growing Church”, Pastor Wilson preached with great vigour on how we can be fruitful Christians, and not just grow in quantity but in quality in many aspects too. Pastor Lai Ling delivered the teaching for the youth about growth in the Romantic Choice at the Youth Camp and followed by teaching about growth in unity.

Pastor Nigel and Sandy with their family from Busselton also added to our blessings. We started off the first night with an Aussie bush dance led by Pastor Nigel. Also it was tremendous fun to mingle and worship along with a group of young talented fellow Aussies.




Pastor Lai Ling ended the camp on a good note saying that it was a very well organised camp, where everyone supported and encouraged one another willingly. She feels the spirit of family, unity and warmth and is very happy to have spent her time counselling and teaching us.

We would like to give many thanks to Pastor Stephen and Hannah who organised this year’s camp and for their outstanding leadership in really encouraging our church to grow in all areas. Every step we take is moving closer to experience God’s hand upon us. We also want to appreciate the Camp Committee. They have done such a great job for this year’s camp!

We ended the Camp with an engaging media presentation “Mission Possible” brought to us by our dedicated Media Team. The camp’s theme next year is “An Evangelistic Church”. Come along and join this mission with us in 2009 Hope Perth Camp!

Pastor Stephen & Hannah Pitavanik
Hope Perth, Australia


Hope Auckland Camp: A Mission -Minded Church

The theme of this year’s annual camp was called a “Mission-Driven Church”. We had a total of 52 adults and 13 kids. The camp was held at the start of May in the beautiful foothills of the Waitakere Ranges in Auckland. Amidst the beautiful greenery of the camp site, the church received a fresh challenge to impact the world with the message of the gospel.

Watch Camp Video Camp

During the camp, many were inspired, as evidenced by the number of people who responded to the call to be involved in the mission field in one way or another. It was truly a heart-warming sight to see numerous people rising up to the challenge of future roles in the pastoral ministry. Even as the word of God began to stir within the hearts of the more mature, the younger ones were not left out either.

Two newcomers to our church, both still in their teens, made decisions to be disciples of Jesus Christ during the camp. At the end of the last service, many lives were deeply touched, as people wept openly and prayed for one another.

Truly, the presence of the living God was amongst us during the camp. May the Lord of the Harvest continue to call and rise up many workers with a missionary outlook from our church. It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of missions who has a church in this world. [View Camp photos Website]

Pastor Bernard & Angela Soh
Hope Auckland, New Zealand

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



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






Record attendance at camp

With the largest attendance ever by far in any Ablaze Camp, there was an atmosphere of anticipation and sheer hunger for God’s Word at Ablaze Camp 2008. The raising of the bar in the promotional materials added to the expectation. An unprecedented number of interstate (Melbourne) and international visitors (Singapore & New Zealand) to the camp added diversity to this year’s camp.

The size this year also saw the number of teams for games and drama performances increase to 12 – a record. The sound, worship and logistics team worked overtime to get the campsite ready for the influx of young people, desperate for God.

Watch Video of Ablaze Camp

Desperation for God's presence

The first session began with loud cheers to a multimedia reflecting the camp theme of “where does your desperation take you?”

Torchie set the tone for the rest of the weekend as he preached on the topic “Desperation: Key to God’s Presence”. The words ‘We need to seeks God’s face, and not just His hands’ resonated dramatically to every single life in the room.

Many flooded the altar call as young people sought ministering, encouragement and conviction of God’s plan for their lives. There were many defining moments as God’s presence filled His house. Time stood still as the musicians stopped playing and every heart joined in unison in worshipping and adoring our awesome God.



Workshop and fun activities

Workshops heralded in the second day as campers were taught about relationships, sex, service and so much more. Next were the always enjoyable games where the four teams (red, yellow, green and blue) tried to outshine, outplay and outwit their opponents in games testing everyone’s physical, dramatic and gastronomic capacities. Free time saw teams rehearse their mini-dramas and unearth new acting talent.

Desperation for God's glory

After dinner, Pastor Shirley spoke about Desperation: Key to God’s Glory and encouraged the members to take hold of God’s promise that the glory of the present house will exceed that of the former house.

Moving in the Spirit

Words of prophecy over each group in Ablaze were given during times of ministering, blessing every person in the room. Also, Pastor Shirley gave a word to Ablaze as a whole saying that God is planning a new chapter, a new season. There will be a new wave of the Holy Spirit where God will bring us higher, deeper and wider.



After the amazing session, the always popular skits allowed each of the 12 teams to show off their acting and improvisational skills. Raucous laughter and cheers could be heard in every skit. The eventual winners stole the show with a combination of tongue-in-cheek humour, references to old school video games and the clever homage to Ocean’s 11. An impromptu dance presentation by several of our very own dancers brought the house down.

Key to Building God's house

Sunday service began with words of prophecy to several young people signalling God calling the next generation of Ablaze members to take their place in the Kingdom. This appropriately matched the sermon which was Desperation: Key to Build God’s House by Pastor Shirley. Communion saw people from all life groups promising each other to serve wholeheartedly with God at the centre.



After a photo session, it was unfortunately the time to go home. However the lessons learnt, the encounters with God, the friendships made and so much will ensure that Ablaze Camp 2008: Desperation will linger on in the Ablaze community and in the lives of its members for many more seasons to come.




Torchie K.L
Ablaze Ministries International Director
www.ablaze.org.au