愛睦教會20週年
EFC CHINO VALLEY 20TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY
奔向標竿
感謝主!愛睦教會成立滿20年了!20年前在母會東安教會,
一、牧者的流動性過大,甚至沒有固定的牧者,
二、能獨當一面的同工不多,事工落在少部份的同工身上。
三、教會內部不夠合一。如牧者離職、建堂等情況,
2009年,我的家庭來到愛睦教會事奉,
愛睦未來的發展主要有三個目標:
一、英文牧者與英文事工發展。20年前的兒童主日學小朋友,
二、再次遷堂與建堂。會堂座落在墨西哥人區,
三、Eastvale的植堂開拓。
就人的一生來說,20歲正是成年最強壯的時候,
Pressing On Towards the Goal
Senior Pastor Nathanael Wang
Praise be to the Lord! It is EFC Chino Valley’s twentieth anniversary. Twenty years ago, there was a group of brothers and sisters in Christ at EFC East Valley responding to the Lord’s Great Commission and to EFCGA’s 2050 Vision (to establish 50 EFC churches by year 2000). They were sent to Chino Hills to plant a church there, which later became the 45th EFC church. In the beginning, there were 10 families and each of the families all had the heart for missions. The coworkers saw the Chinese population moving towards the east of Greater Los Angeles, and decided to use Mandarin during worship. This was a breakthrough for brothers and sisters that were used to worship using Taiwanese.
In the beginning, EFCCV had experienced many blessings from the Lord, especially on the facilities. According to my understanding though, the church faced three main difficulties as the church continued to grow:
1. Pastor turnover rate was high and at times there was no pastor to shepherd the church; this had a great negative impact in terms of church growth and spiritual growth.
2. They lacked capable coworkers, and many responsibilities fell upon only a few coworkers. Many brothers and sisters were not willing to get involved, hindering church development.
3. There was no strong unity. In the situations of a pastor leaving or the issue of purchasing a church building, both lead to members leaving the church. The church grew, but then declined due to those situations, and had to start from the beginning again.
In 2009, my family came to EFCCV to serve; it was, coincidentally, the church’s 10th anniversary. Before that time, the church has experienced a big split and had no pastor for nearly three years. At that time the church had about 20 members plus my family of 6. My feeling inside was that I had arrived at a place that was extremely thirsty for God’s Word. I was moved by the Lord to deliver a series of message on unity. At the same time I visited all brothers and sisters. Soon after, we restarted the prayer meeting, Children Sunday School, and invited counselors to lead the youth fellowship. We also invited Minister Jessie Wang to start the Young Adult Ministry, promoted small group ministry and fellowships, improved Sunday Service programs and worship teams, and arranged for core team members. Praise the Lord! In the past ten years, we saw the unity within the church become stronger; additionally, the church loan is close to being paid off. All these accomplishments are because of the Lord’s grace.
There are three goals for future development:
1. Add an English Ministry Pastor and develop the English Ministry. The children that attended Sunday School 20 years ago have all grown up and have become the church’s core coworkers. They are mostly English-speaking members; therefore, there is an urgent need for an English Pastor to lead them.
2. Second church building via relocation. Our church facility is situated in a Hispanic Community and most of our church members are living in other cities. It is difficult to reach the Chinese population in this community and invite people to the Gospel events. In addition, the facility is insufficient for having more education classes and limited for other events. We are praying that God will lead us to a location with more Chinese population and a bigger facility for church expansion.
3. Church planting at Eastvale. Eastvale is a new community situated east to EFCCV. Many Chinese have moved there and currently, the city has a population of 65000. There are three Chinese churches in that area and hoping that we can plant a church there as well. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary, it is time to plant a church for the Lord. This is a different, but important approach to church growth.
In a person’s life, the their 20th year marks their strongest year and is their golden era. EFCCV is 20 years old and has matured and is ready to step and fly like an eagle. We can’t be complacent and stay at the same place, losing the vision that we have received at the beginning. Paul said that “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). I truly believed this is Lord’s encouragement to us: whatever has happened is in the past, we need to press on toward the goal of the future. It was God’s good will to plant EFC Chino Valley; may EFCCV accomplish what God has commanded us and not neglect what he has entrusted to us, all so we give God all the praise and glory.