My church (Ottawa Mandarin Alliance Church -- OMAC) is part of Intercultural Community of Alliance Churches (ICAC), consisting of 3 churches with congregations speaking English, Filipino, Mandarin, Arabic & Spanish (and more languages are coming ...). The vision of ICAC, people who worship in their own language but do outreach and fellowship cross-culturally, started with a young seminary student who dreamed of going abroad as missionary, but ended in his own country serving as church pastor. He then realized that there are lots of immigrants in his community & at school his kids attend. "Glocal" (local outreach becomes global mission) leads him to the dream of starting a multi-cultural campus at his own church.
Cross-cultural ministry is not an easy task. The leaders (pastors & elders particularly) might not be familiar with the language of the target group, but they need to speak the language of love, grace, embrace, patience and sacrifice. Just like USD is the global currency, "food" is the universal language that connects various ethnic groups (imagine an international potluck dinners feathering various national dishes!). Self-inferested congregations & inward-looking churches are definitely not candidates for such ministry.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9).
Monday, June 10, 2013
An Evening with "Super" Moms
My wife & I had privilege to attend a gathering of single moms organized by a sister from my church last weekend. It was an evening without kids -- these ladies are blessed that they have parents living with them to take care of grandkids while these moms are working or doing something else (like this gathering :-). Sophia & I are very busy with 2 kids in our life, and I cannot imagine how these "super" moms juggle between work, kids, parents & life.
It is also an evening with heart-broken stories. No one wanted to enter marriage with projection of failing & divorce, but the dreams of happy families turned into nightmares for these sisters, and eventually they decided to take kids and re-started a family without dad & husband.
To me, it is a night of hope & grace. Some of them came to church because of broken relationship. They lost marriage but found God instead. There are still lots of challenges in their life, and I pray that our Lord will give them strength, courage & faith to journey on...
It is also an evening with heart-broken stories. No one wanted to enter marriage with projection of failing & divorce, but the dreams of happy families turned into nightmares for these sisters, and eventually they decided to take kids and re-started a family without dad & husband.
To me, it is a night of hope & grace. Some of them came to church because of broken relationship. They lost marriage but found God instead. There are still lots of challenges in their life, and I pray that our Lord will give them strength, courage & faith to journey on...
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
A Middle-Class Church? ("中產階級" 教會?)
不可諱言, 教會的主要組成份子往往決定了教會的文化與氣氛。渥太華是聯邦政府所在地, 本市西區的 Kanata 也號稱是 "北方的矽谷", 自然在華人社區中有許多政府員工及高科技從業人員, 因此多數本地的華人教會也成為以中產階級為主力的群體。
中產階級的行政能力強, 經濟條件也佳, 所以教會的事工及奉獻自然的會成長。但是牧會六年來我漸漸發現一個現象: 中產階級 (或是華人移民?) 往往不自覺的排他性強, 導致非主流的新移民 (經濟條件尚不能自給自足者), 學生, 單身, 年長退休者較難融入教會的 "主流文化" (重視婚姻家庭與親子教育等課題, 對兒童及青少年事工有極大需求), 易成為教會的 "邊緣少數族群" - 他們的屬靈及事工需要較易被忽視 (因為往往不是教會的當務之急)。
主耶穌基督"傳福音給貧窮的人, 宣告被擄的得釋放, 瞎眼的得看見, 受壓制的得自由" (路加福音 4:18) -- 我們不應將物質的富足與屬靈的豐富劃上等號, 但是扶助有需要的人確是主的教導! 感謝主, 國語宣道會雖是一個以中產階級（双薪家庭，夫婦多有大學以上學歷及專業工作，擁有房子，車子，孩子）為主的教會，但是多年來新移民，學生，單身及年長者在教會持續聚會，提醒教牧長執不要忽略不同群體的牧養及需要。最近神給同工們有負擔，逐步開始個別群體的事工，包括 "找工作者小組"及 "單親家庭小組"，盼望能成為這些弟兄姐妹及朋友們的幫助，也希望將來有機會與其他本地的國語教會合作，整合資源，一起開展"單身"，"跨國聯姻家庭"及"特殊兒童"等事工。願教會不畫地自限，走進人群，成為本地華人社區的祝福！
中產階級的行政能力強, 經濟條件也佳, 所以教會的事工及奉獻自然的會成長。但是牧會六年來我漸漸發現一個現象: 中產階級 (或是華人移民?) 往往不自覺的排他性強, 導致非主流的新移民 (經濟條件尚不能自給自足者), 學生, 單身, 年長退休者較難融入教會的 "主流文化" (重視婚姻家庭與親子教育等課題, 對兒童及青少年事工有極大需求), 易成為教會的 "邊緣少數族群" - 他們的屬靈及事工需要較易被忽視 (因為往往不是教會的當務之急)。
主耶穌基督"傳福音給貧窮的人, 宣告被擄的得釋放, 瞎眼的得看見, 受壓制的得自由" (路加福音 4:18) -- 我們不應將物質的富足與屬靈的豐富劃上等號, 但是扶助有需要的人確是主的教導! 感謝主, 國語宣道會雖是一個以中產階級（双薪家庭，夫婦多有大學以上學歷及專業工作，擁有房子，車子，孩子）為主的教會，但是多年來新移民，學生，單身及年長者在教會持續聚會，提醒教牧長執不要忽略不同群體的牧養及需要。最近神給同工們有負擔，逐步開始個別群體的事工，包括 "找工作者小組"及 "單親家庭小組"，盼望能成為這些弟兄姐妹及朋友們的幫助，也希望將來有機會與其他本地的國語教會合作，整合資源，一起開展"單身"，"跨國聯姻家庭"及"特殊兒童"等事工。願教會不畫地自限，走進人群，成為本地華人社區的祝福！
A Confession of a "Trophy Dad" (一個 "虎爸" 的告白)
I never thought that I am a "traditional" Chinese parent who is driven by kids' performance & excellence. Recently my daughter's school produced a musical -- I attended the show on the opening night and was touched by their dedication & commitment (it is already not easy for a small school to produce a theater production :-). But frankly, I did not personally enjoyed the show -- it is not the scale of "Les Miserables" or "Phantom of the Opera"!
However, I started to get emotionally attached to this show when it was announced that this school production was nominated 12 cappies (annual award for all high school drama productions in Ottawa), a record even surpasses many large public schools. Last Sunday evening our whole family went to NAC to attend the Gala (just like Oscar or Tony award ceremony :-). I realized that I have been very proud of my daughter & her school in the past few weeks. I even have tendency to "brag" such achievement to several friends.
You might think that I am overreacted. What is wrong when parents celebrate kids' achievement & share their joy? But deep in my heart I know my attitude is not healthy: I should be proud of my kids (& their schools) whether or not their school team win any regional, provincial or even national award! We are all made of God's image, so my kids' identity should not be reflected by their achievements, and of course my self-esteem should not be shaped by how many trophies my kids have.
This is a simple biblical truth, but it takes me years to discover this blind spot of mine. I am going to discuss "parenting style" (using the following article) with a group of fathers in my church this weekend, and I pray that we will all benefited from mutual sharing & encouragement, and even from our own failures.
Resource: "Does Performance Drive Your Parenting?" by Ted Cunningham, Thrivng Family, March/April 2013 issue. pp.45-47. <http://www.thrivingfamily.ca/Features/Magazine/2013/does-performance-drive-your-parenting.aspx>.
However, I started to get emotionally attached to this show when it was announced that this school production was nominated 12 cappies (annual award for all high school drama productions in Ottawa), a record even surpasses many large public schools. Last Sunday evening our whole family went to NAC to attend the Gala (just like Oscar or Tony award ceremony :-). I realized that I have been very proud of my daughter & her school in the past few weeks. I even have tendency to "brag" such achievement to several friends.
You might think that I am overreacted. What is wrong when parents celebrate kids' achievement & share their joy? But deep in my heart I know my attitude is not healthy: I should be proud of my kids (& their schools) whether or not their school team win any regional, provincial or even national award! We are all made of God's image, so my kids' identity should not be reflected by their achievements, and of course my self-esteem should not be shaped by how many trophies my kids have.
This is a simple biblical truth, but it takes me years to discover this blind spot of mine. I am going to discuss "parenting style" (using the following article) with a group of fathers in my church this weekend, and I pray that we will all benefited from mutual sharing & encouragement, and even from our own failures.
Resource: "Does Performance Drive Your Parenting?" by Ted Cunningham, Thrivng Family, March/April 2013 issue. pp.45-47. <http://www.thrivingfamily.ca/Features/Magazine/2013/does-performance-drive-your-parenting.aspx>.
Prayer Walk
I had prayer walk with brothers from ICAC (International Community of Alliance Churches, including English, Filipino & Mandarin congregations) last night. We walked around the area near the church, and prayed on the way for the community housing project, Chinese language school (it is said to be the largest one in Ottawa), French college, hospital & neighborhoods near the church. We prayed that God will use different language/cultural congregations to reach out the residents in the east-end. May God use different outreach programs (summer VBS, Alpha Course, gospel meeting...) to introduce gospel to the lost souls. I asked God to forget my "self-centred" sin, that I only see the urgency of sharing gospel with my fellow Chinese (the "Chinese diaspora" or Mandarin-speaking community), ignoring that many Canadians and immigrants from other nations are also in His salvation plan!
Friday, May 31, 2013
Our Task Has Just Begun...
As a former economist (yes, I worked for Federal government for 3 years -- the length of our Lord Jesus Christ's ministry on the earth :-), I am still sensitive & interesting in statistics & figures. So when I spent sometimes reading Statistics Canada's Census 2011 few days ago, the following news came to my attention:
(1) Out of 910,000 population in Ottawa, around 19% are immigrants (177,000). If we include Gatineau into the picture, 16% of the combined population (1,220,000) are immigrants (201,000). The nation's capital region is still pretty multicultural & Mosaic, although the degrees (%) are much less than other major cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal) in Canada.
(2) Chinese population represents 2.9% (26,000) of Ottawa's residents, or 2.2% (27,400) of Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area. However, we often quote an alternative source (not sure where it originally came from) that we have 30,000~40,000 Chinese population in Canada's capital region.
(3) I did a rough calculation: the total congregation no. of 9 Chinese churches in Ottawa are around 1,800 (definitely less than 2,000). Not counting non-Chinese participants (mostly in English congregation) attending Chinese churches & excluding Chinese who attend non-Chinese (mostly Caucasian) churches, we are only reaching out less than 7% (1,800 out of 27,400) of Chinese population in the capital region. I do not think our Lord will be pleased (or even impressed) with the work we have been doing so far...
(4) Kanata is a community with 5% Chinese population (5,000 out of 100,000 total residents in Kanata). This Chinese concentration ratio is much higher than other regions across Ottawa & Gatineau. I even heard from various sources that there is a village (they called it "華西村" -- 渥太華西區的某村) in Kanata North (Kanata Lakes exactly) that 80% of residents are Chinese! However, we have only 2 Chinese churches located in (or near) Kanata. To reach out Kanata's Chinese community, we could have planted at least 1-2 Chinese churches!
My dear friends, our task has really just begun! I do not have enough saving to move into Kanata Lakes neighborhood (and we are quite joyful as Barrhaven residents :-), but I pray that our Chinese friends in rich, middle-class or poor communities, will become friends of our church members across the city. Our new church site at EGAC is only few minutes away from both the richest & poorest communities in Ottawa -- I am exciting to see God's work through OMAC congregation in the future. May the peace & gospel of our Lord be spread into these communities and pray that we do much much better than 7% (although 7 is a perfect no. in the Scriptures)!
(1) Out of 910,000 population in Ottawa, around 19% are immigrants (177,000). If we include Gatineau into the picture, 16% of the combined population (1,220,000) are immigrants (201,000). The nation's capital region is still pretty multicultural & Mosaic, although the degrees (%) are much less than other major cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal) in Canada.
(2) Chinese population represents 2.9% (26,000) of Ottawa's residents, or 2.2% (27,400) of Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area. However, we often quote an alternative source (not sure where it originally came from) that we have 30,000~40,000 Chinese population in Canada's capital region.
(3) I did a rough calculation: the total congregation no. of 9 Chinese churches in Ottawa are around 1,800 (definitely less than 2,000). Not counting non-Chinese participants (mostly in English congregation) attending Chinese churches & excluding Chinese who attend non-Chinese (mostly Caucasian) churches, we are only reaching out less than 7% (1,800 out of 27,400) of Chinese population in the capital region. I do not think our Lord will be pleased (or even impressed) with the work we have been doing so far...
(4) Kanata is a community with 5% Chinese population (5,000 out of 100,000 total residents in Kanata). This Chinese concentration ratio is much higher than other regions across Ottawa & Gatineau. I even heard from various sources that there is a village (they called it "華西村" -- 渥太華西區的某村) in Kanata North (Kanata Lakes exactly) that 80% of residents are Chinese! However, we have only 2 Chinese churches located in (or near) Kanata. To reach out Kanata's Chinese community, we could have planted at least 1-2 Chinese churches!
My dear friends, our task has really just begun! I do not have enough saving to move into Kanata Lakes neighborhood (and we are quite joyful as Barrhaven residents :-), but I pray that our Chinese friends in rich, middle-class or poor communities, will become friends of our church members across the city. Our new church site at EGAC is only few minutes away from both the richest & poorest communities in Ottawa -- I am exciting to see God's work through OMAC congregation in the future. May the peace & gospel of our Lord be spread into these communities and pray that we do much much better than 7% (although 7 is a perfect no. in the Scriptures)!
My Dreams for the Future (But Starting Now...)
Here are my dreams for the future (but the vision starts to be implemented from now...):
(1) Pass my ordination interview before my sabbatical time -- this is quite embarrassing.. :-(
(2) To complete the OMAC-EGAC joint building project & setup the ICAC (Intercultural Community of Alliance Churches) partnership framework .
(3) To transform OMAC into a discipleship-making & missional church.
(4) Find a good program to study spiritual formation (靈命塑造), spiritual discipline (屬靈操練) & discipleship (門徒訓練) on part-time basis.
(5) Partner with other Chinese churches to start a church planting project in Gatineau ("河北省").
(6) Together with my beloved wife Sophia, serve as missionaries overseas (preferred area: a country where there are lots of Chinese but very few Chinese churches or missionaries). Hopefully Elim & Shalom could visit us from time to time.
"Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." (Proverbs 29:18)("沒有異象, 民就放肆", 箴 29:18)
(1) Pass my ordination interview before my sabbatical time -- this is quite embarrassing.. :-(
(2) To complete the OMAC-EGAC joint building project & setup the ICAC (Intercultural Community of Alliance Churches) partnership framework .
(3) To transform OMAC into a discipleship-making & missional church.
(4) Find a good program to study spiritual formation (靈命塑造), spiritual discipline (屬靈操練) & discipleship (門徒訓練) on part-time basis.
(5) Partner with other Chinese churches to start a church planting project in Gatineau ("河北省").
(6) Together with my beloved wife Sophia, serve as missionaries overseas (preferred area: a country where there are lots of Chinese but very few Chinese churches or missionaries). Hopefully Elim & Shalom could visit us from time to time.
"Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." (Proverbs 29:18)("沒有異象, 民就放肆", 箴 29:18)
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