Worship Night Songs

Just want to share with you the songs we had on the Praise and Worship night last Thursday. I felt the Lord has led the time.. Thankful for that night. :)

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這個家
願你帶著歡笑，走進這個家，
互勉帶著基督的愛心。
共探討天父真理，同明瞭神話語。
走每一步，能緊守主旨意。
多分享主愛，彼此擔憂慮，
願主帶領我路程不畏懼。
效法主關心與扶助，齊學習兼實踐，
願愛主事奉竭力在這家裡。

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I238oAgTnIc

 
讚美主
歡欣歌聲讚頌響遍四方，
歡呼聲充滿各方，
赦罪救萬人困苦得釋放，
全是那奇妙的救恩；


他的恩光今天普照四方，
叫世界黑暗變光，
新的開始有美好的境況，
奇妙愛今我頌讚。

*讚美主，愛是從來源源不間斷，
歌唱到永遠不怕倦未曾停斷；
讚美主，創造和諧完全的美善，
萬物同和應，大地亦高唱，
讚頌永不止息，願榮耀永屬救主，
到萬世。

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmQd12CuHjA


 
向至高者讚美
同心，皆向至高者讚美
頌讚主聖潔、誠實、無偽、正直。(x2)
*耶穌是生命、道路，最美善又完全，作世上磐石，
耶穌是生命、道路，最美善又完全，主恩光照萬世。

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfEyANv_tYI



一首讚美的詩歌

讓那讚美的聲音，在這空間響遍，
讓那敬拜的心聲，永不休止。
讓我心中所有意念，
此刻都交主的手裡，
心中只想獻奉我深深敬拜。

*人活著原是要歌頌讚揚，
創造我的主，你是配得榮耀；
人活著原是要將榮耀歸你，
一首讚美的詩歌，
願帶我到寶座前敬拜！

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2ikeCRKTwQ

 
寶貴十架

主耶穌，我感謝你，
你的身體，為我而捨。
帶我出黑暗，進入光明國度，
使我再次能看見。

主耶穌，我感謝你，
你的寶血，為我而流。
寶貴十架上，醫治恩典湧流，
使我完全得自由。

*寶貴十架上，醫治恩典湧流，
使我完全得自由。
寶貴十架的大能賜我生命，
主耶穌我俯伏敬拜你。
寶貴十架的救恩，是你所立的約，
你的愛永遠不會改變。

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFDo6JY17E


 
因著信
憑信，他離別吾珥；
因信，全然奉上愛子；
憑信，還有人全力抓住天使，
贏到祝福、換了名字...

憑信，他行近紅海；
因信，連潮浪也分開；
憑信，曾有人被困於獅子坑內，
仍敬拜上帝，發誓至死不改！

*在某天他下決心圍繞在城外，
憑信放聲呼喊，城牆便倒塌下來；
又有先知被擄他方常在心裡靜待，
仍確信上帝榮耀會回來！

憑信，他們懷著憑據；
因信，同尋著了應許；
憑信，能夠發現在世間只是寄居，
朝更美家鄉走回去！

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8E_2KF0uvM

 
以愛奉獻
敬拜與事奉，為神心意要一致，
歌聲飄遠，為証主恩可永添，
過去與現在，未嫌天冷怕路遠，
攜手去，同宣告，神大愛萬遍！

樂意將愛奉獻，甘心化作活祭；
求突破路途上，衝開綑綁掛牽，
皆因有你勵勉，定能跨過每天。

用信心去實踐，主的教誨未變；
縱有天或疲倦，都得保守引牽；
一生以愛奉獻，屬神的心不變。

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNmSF1Cu1j0

One Dedicated Couple

Although we ministered to the Chinese people in Puerto La Cruz, one couple in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, has been very influential to our mission team. They are Pastor Semson Nip and his wife Ana.

Pastor Semson is the chairman of the Association of Chinese Churches in Venezuela. He was born in Hong Kong and came to Venezuela over 30 years. He met his wife Ana in Hong Kong when she, a Venezuela born Chinese, came to Hong Kong. Love at first sight is the perfect description of their relationship. At the ages of 20 and 18, they got married in Hong Kong and settled down in Venezuela. Pastor Semson was a business man before becoming a full time minister. He was successful but he gave it up for God. He is the pastor of Lord's Grace Church in Caracas. He has a big heart for ministry, so he encourages his church members to help other less developed Chinese churches in Venezuela through local missions. He was instrumental in the establishment of Iglesia Evangelica China La Cruz.

I have great respect for them because of their dedication to the Lord. Ana has kidney problem for over 10 years but she asked God to give her more time on earth finish her service to Him. Two years ago, she started dialysis three times a week. Ana has been a great partner to Pastor Semson in ministry. She translates for Pastor Semson and leads singing in the worship service. In addition, she uses emails to encourage sisters to study the Bible. She has been suffering much physical pain due to her illness. The day when we took the picture, she was suffering anemia. She has many scars in her arms and thighs because the doctors had to find a new area to insert the tube for dialysis when an old one was infected.

She never complains about her suffering but gives 100% in ministry when she is feeling well. Pastor Semson keeps loving Ana by taking care of her. He willingly drives Ana to a faraway hospital for dialysis three times a week. He has to spend at least half-day in the hospital. He sleeps in the hospital when Ana has to spend overnight in the hospital when the doctors have to perform procedures to take care of Ana's infection.

While they had many problems to deal with, they still invited the mission team to stay at their home. Pastor Semson and Ana have every right to complain and quit ministry but they press on. They spare no effort in helping brothers and sisters and reaching out to the lost. They find the joy of serving God stronger than the pain and inconvenience caused by illness.

I pray that Ana will be able to have kidney transplant in the near future, so that she will have more energy and time to serve God. I pray that other pastors and church leaders in Venezuela will be able to provide more support to Pastor Semson.

Story of Ga Hang

Picture 1: Sunday school

Picture 2: Pastor Ricky, Ga Hang, Lok

On July 25, Sunday:

We had our first Sunday service in Spanish and Cantonese. The songs are in combination of the two languages. Christina and I shared our testimony with Spanish translation. Pastor Ricky preached on a message of "Walk the path of Faith." It was a message on how we each search for a good home in life. But the eternal home with God is what we really look for.

After Sunday service we had Sunday school. Initially, Christina and I were to lead two individual classes. Because of some confusion, we ended up having a combined class led by Pastor Ricky. After the class, Ricky asked for feedback from brothers and sisters regarding the mission team. Christina started distributing different books such as "The Four Spiritual Laws" to the students.

I walked to the side where the youth sat and asked them their feedback, since it is usually harder for them to speak up in front of large group. A person named Ga Hang asked me why didn't we advertise about the church more because he thought it was really good. Then he shared how little he heard of Christianity and other religions in China. Ga Hang was very excited as he talked. Actually, he was very joyful and excited right after the service and wanted to take pictures with us.

As Ga Hang was sharing, I sensed the Holy Spirit said to share Christ with him. He was holding "The Four Spiritual Laws" in his hands, it was the one distributed from Christina earlier. I asked if he had read the book before. He had not. Then I went through the book with him:

1. The first Spiritual law said that God loves us. We were made by God and created to have relationship with him at the beginning. I have him to read John 3:16 which said, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." He read is rather slow but able to finish reading. I asked if he agreed and he did.

2. The second law said: We have sinned against God, which means we disobeyed God by choosing our own way of living, which resulted in many bad things we do in life, such as murder, lust, evil thought, greed..etc. Because God is the Holy God and He cannot allow any sins in His presence, Man are separated from God. Man tried to use different ways to reconnect with God, such as doing good works, devoting in different religions and others, but none of them can get us back to be with God. I have him to read Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death." and Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" I asked if he agreed and he did.

3. The third law said: Jesus is the Son of God and he was sent by God to the world to die for our sins, so that we can reconnect with God. I shared an example of someone paid for our fine when we got in jailed so we can be free. Jesus was the one who pay for our fine by being nailed on the cross, so that we can be free from God's punishment resulting from the sins we committed against God. In Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

4. Finally, it come to the forth law. We need to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. By having Jesus as Lord means we surrender our life to him, have Jesus to be in charge of everything in our life: works, school, relationships, money...everything that belongs to us. By having Jesus as Savior means we acknowledge his action of saving us from our sins, which we often called that Salvation. This Salvation is completely free and did not require any money or needing us to do any good works in order to have it. Like before, I have Ga Hang to read the following verse: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9)

Ga Hang agreed to accept all four spiritual laws. I asked him to pray with me to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. After the prayer, I told Ga Hang that now he was a Christian, a child of God. He was very happy and even more excited than before. We took another picture together. During dinner time, I shared with him that even though he had become a Christian, it doesn't mean he will not sin any more. There is God and also the Devil. The Devil will try to steer us away from God by telling us we are bad and cannot be with God. It was especially strong when we sinned: the Devil will persuade us to believe that God will not forgive us. I encouraged him to always remember this verse, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). That means if we truly repent from our sins, and confess to God and ask for His forgiveness, God will forgive us and cleanse us.

I was in awe that he would actually receive Christ in such short time. This is the second time he visited a church and actually first time hearing the Gospel. I often expect a person will ask many questions or have doubts as he hears the Gospel. But it was like what Jesus said, "Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." It is true there are many who are ready to receive, and all we need to do is to share the good news. The experience taught me that everything is in God's control and he prepares the hearts of the people to receive Him. There are many restless souls who are seeking freedom from the darkness. The only way to free a restless soul is by the power of the Gospel - Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossian 1:13-14)
"他 救 了 我 們 脫 離 黑 暗 的 權 勢 ， 把 我 們 遷 到 他 愛 子 的 國 裡 ； 我 們 在 愛 子 裡 得 蒙 救 贖 ， 罪 過 得 以 赦 免 。 "(歌 羅 西 書 1:13-14)

Worship Service at Iglesia Evangelica China La Cruz

This was a new experience for the mission team members from Chinese Baptist Church to worship in a Chinese-Spanish service on July 25. In my training course on Personal Evangelism, I requested the participants to write their salvation stories. In their first ever Chinese-Spanish service, Christina and Lok shared their salvation stories with the church members and some seekers.

It was a great experience for our team to serve together with the brothers and sisters over there. I have captured some videos for you to have a glimpse of the service. Enjoy!

After worship service, we had Sunday School. Originally, Christina and Lok were to teach two classes but it ended up all the students combined in one class. Due to this change, I was leading the class with Lok and Christina as the assistants.

Amazingly, something wonderful happened in that class because of the combined efforts of Lok and Christina. I will let Lok to tell you about it. Stay tuned.

Amazing Grace

On July 23, Friday:

It was a beautiful morning with the sea breeze from the Carribean. We enjoyed the great works of God with Sunshines and beautiful sea shore. Ironically, there are great needs in the heart of the people in this beautiful city. With the constant concern of personal safety, limited freedom, strong financial burden from a weak economy and serious corruption in the government, people of Venezuela are facing great challenge.

Nonetheless, the Word of God is speading steadily among the chinese immigrants. There are many physcial and emotional needs among the group; however, I believe spiritual need is the most imminent one. Afterall, everything will come to pass but the Word of God will endure forever. The power of the Gospel will triumph over the works of the devil among the people at Venezuela.

Today we visited Ho Yin and his family. It was not long after he settled down at Venezuela, he was robbed two times. The second robbery turns out to be a great tragedy. An inexperienced robber accidentally fire his shotgun (散彈槍) and the debris injured his eyes. Since then he became a blinded man.

Pastor Ricky hold his hand and encouraged him not to lose heart and continue to trust in God. Ricky also suggested more serving opportunity for Ho Yin, such as teaching Spanish. We also noticed some infection in his eyes, and we suggested him to have a check up in the hosipital.

Ho Yin shared with us his interest in worshipping God with songs. His favorite song was "Amazing Grace." It was a touching moment that we sang the song together. Here are the lyrics:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Pastor Ricky also taught Ho Yin one of his favorite song as a gift. It was a simple song about the love of Jesus. We focused on the chorus because it is easier to remember: "Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes Jesus loves me for the bible tells me so."

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:10-12

The Story of Siu Fung

On July 22, Thursday.

Pastor Wan, Mario, Christina and I visited Mrs Lau at her grocery store at Barcelona. It was a half and hour drive under a hot and humid weather. On our way there, we saw many beautiful houses on the water. Most of them had their private boats parked by their house. This showed a rather distinct contrast between the rich and the poor in Puerto La Cruz. We saw a big shopping mall which was the usual hang out destination for the local youth.

Finally we arrived the grocery store. A young man named Siu Fung greeted us at the entrance. We settled down at the storage room upstairs. The room was filled with many grocery items such as toilet paper, toothpaste, sugar and other items. As we expected, most of the items are made in China. Looking around the store with the interesting smell brought back some memory of those old grocery/stationary store I used to visit in my childhood time.

Mrs Lau started sharing her story: her family was kidnapped by local robbers some years ago. One evening, as they departed from the store after dinner, three cars intercepted their car and kidnapped them. After some negotiations on the phone between the robbers and other relatives, they were released within several hours. The robbets dropped them off at some remote area. Luckily the other family members were able to locate them. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the experience had created intense fear for the family.

She said the kidnapped business were quite prominent here, and they even have "express service" for the kidnapping business, which means smaller amount of money is involved and usually the hostages will be released in a short period of time. These "express" kidnap was rather small scale and they could be done by local civilian who are struggling to make a living.

As she shared her story, Siu Fung suddenly came up into our room and started asking questions about Christian faith. This rather surprised us because we did not plan to have discussion with him intitially. He had questions as to whether the Bible is still applicable in the present time. We answered his question with 2 Timothy 3:16 followed with explanation. We then explained John 3:16 with him about the Gospel. Later he had questions regarding good works so we talked about Ephesian 2:10. In the end, Pastor Wan invited him to receive Christ as his savior and he did. We were very grateful for him. Siu Fung showed great joy after receiving Christ as his Lord and Savior and he even walked us out the store with a sincere and joyful spirit. Later he also joined us for lunch and we were able to talk to him more about the new life in Christ.

The next day we were told that Siu Fung might actually had received Christ before; however, he was rather unstable in the church. In addition, he often refused any visitation from mission team but at same time he continued to ask many questions about Christian faith. Therefore it was a surprise for us to see Siu Fung proactively came and ask us questions on that day.

I personally believe he had received Christ with a genuine heart; we prayed that Siu Fung will grow strong in the Lord in the fullness of Christ's love and God's truth. Thanks for reading my long blog. I still owed another story to share with you all, but I will save that for tomorrow.

Note: Everyone was doing fine and we are in good spirit. The Lord continue to show us favor in visitation and I can see God's hands are moving in His work. Please continue to keep us in prayer.

A Special Family

July 21 was the first day that we visited some seekers and new believers during day time. In order to energize ourselves before the visitation, Brother Mario and Sister Kit Mei took us to have breakfast in front of the Caribbean Sea. We ate some very delicious pastry with fresh (not from concentrate) juice. God was so good that we were able to have breakfast while enjoying the beautiful waterfront scene.

We started our visitation in two teams. Dr. Johnny Wan and Christina formed one team. Mrs. Grace Wan, Lok and I were the other team. Dr. Wan and Christina visited 5 families mixed with believers and non-believers. Mrs. Grace Wan, Lok and I visited two families in the morning. One of the families had a very moving testimony that I am going to share with you.

The family that touched all of us deeply was not formed by blood but love. It is a beautiful family built on the love in Christ. This family has two members - Mei King and Aunt Chu Lai. Mei King is a 27 years old Chinese girl from En Ping, China. She came to Puerto La Cruz last December. After arriving here for about 10 days, she was involved in a severe car accident. She suffered serious injuries to her spine and hips. She did not have medical insurance to pay for her surgery. She called her older cousin back in China for help. Her cousin finally was able to have a friend in Venezuela to pay for her surgery. However, she had to face a difficult road of recovery.

Mei King had no close relatives in Puerto La Cruz. She had no one to take care of her while she was recovering from the injuries. Due to her serious injury, she had to lie on the bed for three months. In other words, she needed someone to feed her, bathe her and take care of personal needs. When the members of the church of Puerto La Cruz heard about the difficult situation of Mei King, they mobilized their members to help her.

First, a church member let Mei King live in an apartment unit owned by her. It was a good news to her but she was still desperate need of care givers. God moved two sisters Kit Mei and Aunt Chu Lai to help Mei King. Kit Mei is a deacon of the church. She helped Mei King to shampoo her hair. Aunt Chu Lai, a devoted Christian in her 60s, agreed to live with Mei King to take care of her other personal needs. If you are a nurse, you will know that it is not an easy task to take care of someone who has to lie on the bed. Aunt Chu Lai did not know Mei King but she was moved by God to take care of this poor girl.

Aunt Chu Lai told us that God gave her the ability to take care of Mei King in an amazing way. At the beginning, Aunt Chu Lai found it very difficult to take care of the personal hygiene of Mei King. The smell was so strong that Aunt Chu Lai was about to throw up. Amazingly, after she prayed about it, Aunt Chu Lai did not smell anything disgusting when taking care of Mei King. You may suspect that Aunt Chu Lai lost her sense smell at all. No! Aunt Chu Lai could smell the aroma of food but not the odor.

Aunt Chu Lai's loving service led Mei King to Christ. Mei King was very disappointed in people because no one wanted to help at the beginning. Aunt Chu Lai's action showed her that Christ's love is the bright light in this dark world. With God's healing, Mei King was able to come off the bed to learn to walk again after three months which was a surprisingly short period of time.

Aunt Chu Lai prayed to God that there would be a bigger place for Mei King to learn how to walk again. God's timing is always perfect. When the doctor said that Mei King could take away her cast, there was another apartment unit available in the same building. This unit also belongs to the church member but with much more space for Mei King to exercise.

I am very impressed by the love shown by Aunt Chu Lai and Kit Mei in helping Mei King to know Christ. Lok and I were happy to hear the story of Mei King, Aunt Chu Lai and Kit Mei. We found it a privilege to conduct a Bible study with Mei King during our visit in order to strengthen her faith.

Mei King may have to move to another city where the friend of her old cousin lives. She would have to work there to pay back all the medical expenses. As far as we know, there is no Chinese church in that city. We would like to pray that Mei King does not have to leave the church of Puerto La Cruz and still be able to repay the medical bill.