HOPE FAMILY NEWS
Hope Adelaide - Pastor Simon Eng's visitation 
Hi, I am in Hope Adelaide. We just finished our Sunday service. I just wanted to say a few words to connect with you guys. Hope Adelaide is filled with people: 70% who are non-Aussies and were not born in Australia. It’s a wonderful, incredible opportunity. For example, for the large African contingent who contains many Liberians, they are our mission on our doorsteps. They are people who can reach out, and train people from African nationalities around Adelaide.
Pastor Simon in Adelaide Video
Leadership training in Adelaide
I also had the opportunity to conduct leadership training with yesterday, Saturday afternoon. The whole day we ministered to people, taught them about leadership and challenged them to continue working together as a team. It was wonderful. We had about 80 to 100 people who attended and it was terrific.
[Pastor Simon at Hope Adelaide - Centre]
The leadership team is growing in different ministries and different core teams are forming. Continue to pray to God that we will be able to really see a solid team rise up. We pray for a solid team to come up and build the church and to be able to hold the church together with the leadership.
Pastor Brendan and Helen are terrific in the way they have given of themselves, how they make themselves available and keep giving and giving and giving. Brendan is just doing two, three days in his job, serving the Lord together with the other teams. They’re just getting there.
[Pastor Simon at Hope Adelaide - Payneham Centre]
Church Planting in City Centre
Dr Eddie Fong, who has started a new city centre, is beginning to build up attendance to 30 people now. We now see an opportunity where new leaders are coming in. I talked to him last night and he was saying the spirit in the group is really good. So I told him to move to the next phase: building leaders.
So there are good things, wonderful things happening in Hope Adelaide. We prayed and ministered to the people. God is among us here in Hope Adelaide. The church is targeting to grow. I set them a goal to grow beyond two hundred people and with this momentum; I believe they can get there.
God Bless you!
Pastor Simon Eng
President of HIM
Hope Auckland Church Camp
Hope Auckland had its annual church camp from May 8-10 this year. We had a record attendance of 74 adults and 18 children. Our theme for the camp was “Uncover…God’s Plan for the Ages”. Our camp speaker, Ps Ian Foley, systematically, clearly and powerfully walked us through the whole bible to uncover God’s plan for mankind during the weekend.
View Church Camp Video
Despite the rather wet weather, this did not dampen the spirits of the people. The teaching sessions were dynamic with many people responding to altar calls after the sessions. Many people were ministered and received the touch of God. Some shared how camp has been a turning point for them.
The Opening ceremony showcased the talents of the church members and we were surprised to discover some hidden talents. Worship sessions were dynamic and we were privileged to have Corinna Teh from Hope Melbourne Waverly lead one session.
Fellowship was also good. There was much laughter especially from the Family group people during meal and free times. On Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day as well and all the mothers were given a special lunch service with a mother’s day gift too. The children too had their own powerful encounters with God.
On the final session, 10 children received Christ, five received visions and eight were baptised in the Holy Spirit.
The camp started with three goals: for people to have a greater understanding of the bible in its entirety, for increased fellowship across and within life groups, and for people to encounter God. In all, every goal was achieved!
Pastor Bernard & Angela Soh
Hope Auckland, Zealand
Hope Perth Bible Conference - A Christ-Centred Church
Hope Perth just finished our annual Bible Conference (BC) from June 19 to 21, 2009. We praise God that Pastor Nigel brought his team from Hope Busselton, Hope Dandaragan and Hope Esperance to join the event. There was an expectation to see the people grow in their walk with Christ.
Over 100 members from Hope Western Australia (WA) attended this relaxing and relational BC. There were children, teenagers, and young people and also the older ones celebrating God together in our worship concert. Everyone listened to the Word of God and participated in Hope Games at the end of program.
With this year’s theme “A Christ Centred Church”, Pastor Wilson and Pastor Lai Ling Lim from Hope Brisbane shared lessons about Christ-centred characteristics and how to build up Christ-centred relationships with God, friends and your life partner. All of us learned very practical ways to put Christ at the centre of our heart in our daily life.
As Pastor Stephen Pitavanik mentioned in the conference, the purpose of choosing this year’s theme was to see people grow in their spiritual lives by leading Christ-centred lives. It is important for us to be Christ-centred in order to have the right foundation and be focused obeying God.
We asked some attendees about how they felt about the conference:
- “I learnt about the different identities of Christ and how to develop a Christ-centred attitude and behaviour through our relationship with God.” - Katrina Siew
- “The content of Bible Conference focused on how to build up a closer relationship with God and how to practice our commitment with God. Pastor Wilson is a good speaker and he shares his own experiences of being transformed in Christ as the examples in his teaching.” - Timothy Tay
Besides learning the word of God, Hope Games brought us together and we had such great fun and enjoyed the time with one another:
- “The games were fun and exciting; we learnt the importance of teamwork and communication while cooperating with others.” Katrina said.
Pastor Stephen and Hannah
Hope Perth, Western Australia
Hope Gold Coast, Australia 4th Anniversary
Hope Gold Coast celebrated its 4 year anniversary on the 26th of April which turned out to be an incredible night truly blessed by the Lord. There were around 50 people attended this special event. The theme for this year’s anniversary was “The Power of God” where people were encouraged to wear something red that represented the fire of God.
[Photo: Ps Wilson, Ps Lance & Belle ]
What a sight it was!!! And what’s a party without food? Dinner consisted of food from all the cultures in our church including Asian, African and Aussie dishes, yum!
Hope Gold Coast 2nd Anniversary Video
God’s anointing was truly there from the beginning of the night where the Holy Spirit’s presence came and moved hearts during worship. Judith from our Acts 29 lifegroup shared her testimony of how God has bought her through many tough times and was able to perform a song she had written called “Put a Smile On My Face.”
Pastor Wilson Lim shared a message that as Christians, now is the time for us to SHINE, to rise in prominence, live in God’s ways and ultimately bring change to the community. There was also time to pray for healing for our brother Jason whose left eye had been suffering that night and praise God he is healed!
Hope Gold Coast was able to honour Pastor Lance and Belle with a token of appreciation and really thank them for being such a huge blessing to the church. A short media presentation was also prepared by a team that showed us the good times Hope Gold Coast as a family has shared so far.
This year’s anniversary was a night for Hope Gold Coast to reflect on what has been achieved in the last 4 years and a time to get excited about what God has in store not only for the church but every individual. All we can say is, IT’S GOING TO BE EXCITING. PRAISE GOD!!! (Written by Elise Mueller)
Pastor Lance & Belle Wolter
Hope Gold Coast, Australia
Hope Brisbane Afternoon Service
Hi! I’m Wen’an from Hope Brisbane Christian Church Afternoon Service. I think it’s been amazing over the last 12 months seeing how God has blessed us and encouraged and inspired us at the same time.
Church Planting in Ipswich
I think that not too long ago, I spoke to different ones that we will be launching out a new centre, and last year, we had a small team that physically relocated to this town called Ipswich, which is about 40 minutes away from Brisbane. This group has been growing steadily and God has been adding different ones into their midst, and right now, their life-group is averaging around 15 people and we also have a number of people who would take the effort to drive up to Brisbane and join us for our service. It is our prayer that we will start a service in Ipswich this year. So pray with us as we continue to trust God and to look to Him for His providence.
[Church planting in Ipswich, Queensland]
Pastor Wenan Video Interview
Fulfill His Great Commission in Queensland
As we desire to fulfill His Great Commission in Queensland, we also see that God has blessed us as well as He has grown the service from strength to strength. Right now, we are facing a very interesting challenge: we’ve run out of seating. We’ve outgrown the seating capacity of the current hall where we’re meeting right now, and the university has not given us any other larger rooms. As a result, we have launched a simulcast room where every Sunday we have close to 70 people meeting in another location, but at the same time enjoying the same service. It’s been a challenge doing so and God has blessed us with different ones who have experienced God through this whole journey and process and we really thank God for all that He has done. Right now, we’re seeing more than 300 on every single week and we thank God for what He has been doing.
[Hope Brisbane Afternoon Service]
It is our desire that we do not just see the service grow, but to see it growing strong, we see it growing right in God and it is our hope that through the service, God will bring different ones into His house, help different ones to mature and to fulfill the call that He has given them.
Do continue to pray for us, we have many young people with us, we have many young working professional with us, and all that we ask is that God will lay His seeds of faith, hope and purpose in our life that we will finish strong in this race He’s given us. So we ask for your prayer and we thank you for all, God bless.
Pastor Wenan Zhu
Hope Brisbane Afternoon Service
Hope Brisbane: Eureka Outreach "Ready Steady Cook"
Eureka is a fellowship within Hope Brisbane Church aimed at reaching Australians. Eureka is better known for the church planters sent out to Busselton, Hobart and the Gold Coast in the first few years since its inception.
[Photo: Puji Silva leading Eureka group]
Ready Steady Cook Video
On Friday 27th March, Eureka held it’s own Ready Steady Cook E-week event. Based on the cooking gameshow broadcast on Channel 10, participants were divided into four groups, each required to prepare a separate gourmet dish (meat, vegetable, rice and salad). Meals were to be judged with the criteria of presentation, hygiene, safety and nutrition.
With the allocated time of 20 minutes, competition was fierce as participants set out to prepare their respective cuisine with restaurant-quality precision and quality. With over 50 participants, each team member was put to the test of their culinary skills in the kitchen.
Once the meals were cooked, prepared and the winner decided, we all sat down for the best part of the night: dinner! Not only was this a great time of, but it was also a rewarding experience for those who were willing to share in the gift of hospitality. Last but not least, Peggy Tan a qualified nutritionist from the family group concluded the night with a short lecture of proper nutrition and healthy eating that proved to be highly educational and practical.
The event attracted between 15-20 visitors, many of whom local Australians and first time visitors, while others had joined Eureka in previous events.
Eureka has been focussing the monthly outreach events towards attracting unchurched local Australians through engaging them in the event, so as to foster a greater sense of closeness with the Eureka members, through participation. Let us pray that we will have those opportunities to be hospitable whenever Christ sees fit to allow us.
Puji Silva
Hope Brisbane - Eureka Group
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