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To God be the glory for blessing us with a wonderful 7 th Congress of the Asian Baptist Federation in the Northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai from May 2 to 6, 2007. Praise the Lord for many great things He has done through the APBF throughout the years! We are ever thankful for His presence in every aspect of APBF life.
The Lord has a plan for us all. Just as He guided the Australian Baptist Federation to seek the incorporation of the word Pacific into the ABF nomenclature, so has He blessed us with the wisdom of seeing how this will promote the growth and spread of His word. Among the many other reasons that I personally have to thank the Lord for, one is most certainly the privilege of serving as the first President of the renamed Federation after May 2007. During my five-year tenure of stewardship under His guidance it will be my privilege to serve Him with the federation in building on our solid foundation through visionary plans in the forthcoming years.
We are already into the eighth year of the new millennium. It is a time for us to reflect on the past, to rejoice in the present and to coordinate and unify among ourselves to evangelize even more in the coming years. As we do so, we must be fortified with the confidence of embarking on yet another leg of a golden era in history.
I was blessed to extend the greetings in the Opening Ceremony during the 97 th Annual General Meeting of the Korea Baptist Convention held at Gwangju, Korea from 17 to 20 September 2007. It has also been a privilege to attended the 54 th Annual General Meeting of Chinese Baptist Convention as well as the inauguration ceremony of the General Secretary, Rev Dr Joseph Tseng, at Taichung, Taiwan between 7 and 9 October 2007.
Just prior to Christmas I attended the 5 th Living Water Conference at Dimapur, India from December 13-16. I used a creative method to share a subject of “Telling people about Jesus creatively!” during the conference. I was privileged to assist the President of Baptist World Alliance, Rev David Coffey, for the foot-washing service. The warm hospitality extended to Baptist representatives from around the world was memorable for us, but more importantly was certain to have been noted by God.
I also had the opportunity to rejoice with 95 youth delegates from nine countries while participating in the Asian Baptist Youth Leadership Conference in Okinawa, Japan from January 10-14. As one of the speakers, I shared my experiences with the youth on the subject of the “Fundamentals of Preaching.”
As a President, I would like to have more time for “sharing” within the Executive Committees at this year. We in the APBF are like members of a family, and as in any conventional family it is essential for us to get better acquainted among ourselves so that the ministry can benefit from the strength of our bond. It will afford us the opportunity of labouring together in reaching Asia Pacific for the Lord as well as correlating the work of APBF better through closer relations, good communication and spiritual discernment.
With a tight schedule, time would be at a premium for me in this, the 70 th anniversary of the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong. As the largest Christian denomination of 153 churches, chapels and preaching points, God has blessed the preaching of Gospel, the founding of churches and testimony of His love to the people of Hong Kong. A wide rang of activities are planned to celebrate this momentous occasion in our history.
After a busy year, I plan to take one-month’s annual leave to visit various Baptist Conventions and governing bodies of the Asia Pacific region in year 2009. I am looking forward to having a blessed fellowship with the leaders, brothers and sisters in Christ. It is definitely a spiritual tonic for our ministry as we strive to build a stronger rapport and maintain close relationships with each other. I believe this forthcoming visit will generate ideas for strengthening Baptist witness, responses and information-sharing among us.
Praise the Lord for the gift of the opportunity to invest our lives in discipleship in the joy of ministry. It is my deepest desire that we continue to be strengthened in our faith, rooted and built up in Jesus Christ. Let us forge ahead with renewed vigor and passion for the ministry of Jesus Christ.
May God crown us with His blessings in the family of the federation for the ultimate advancement of the Kingdom of Christ in Asia Pacific region. |
