A few months ago, William, the director of TWR’s Chinese ministry, travelled to Hong Kong to meet with various churches and ministry supporters. He had planned to travel around China and visit two churches who have been involved with TWR for many years. Sadly due to the Coronavirus, this wasn’t possible.
He intended to preach at both churches and meet with donors and pastors from those communities. “They need all the support that I can give,” said William. “I packed 2000 face masks, 1200 surgical gloves and almost 2 litres of sanitiser (that is the limit that I can bring) with me.”
After William’s arrival, he divided up all the face masks, gloves and sanitisers into different packages and delivered them to the parties who needed them. “You should have seen the expression on their faces, they just keep saying ‘thank you’ again and again. In Hong Kong there were people lining up every morning for the limited supply of masks that were available to them each day.”
Church worship in mainland China, much like the UK, had been called to a stop by the government and the members are dispersed into small family groups, with children’s and youth ministries cancelled. When William visited, overall morale was very low among Hong Kong churches. When he arrived, he recorded the sermons that he was supposed to preach in their churches so that they could send it to all the family groups for their home worship.
Here are some of the testimonies William received after his sermons:
“You used the Word of God to stabilise our heart and used the Spirit of truth to strengthen us. We will treasure the Word of God and we will continue to meditate upon it and to remember the teaching so that we can have the strength that we need to face the daily challenges.”
“During this time, we can’t go out much; we have so much time at home. You have reminded us to use our extra time to do more meaningful things for God and for our family, to show forth the ‘extraordinary’ peace and joy that Christians have.”
The sermons were then not only broadcast five times, but also posted on the church website for others to listen to. Members of the church will be encouraged to share the link among their friends and family too. We hope these sermons will bless more people who are looking for hope in this difficult time.
As William spent more time in Hong Kong, the situation worsened. “I felt so sad for Hong Kong. Rumours are spreading everywhere, and fears are occupying many people’s minds and affecting their normal living.” At that point, 14,000 people had become unemployed and many families were suffering. William noted a degree of phobia among the people of Hong Kong, and a lack of trust between the people and the government.
“Fear can only be overcome by faith; worry can only be rid of by truth,” William shared. “‘Speaking Hope to the World’ is TWR’s mission and that is exactly what I aimed to do on this trip. During this difficult time for the people of Hong Kong, we must focus on the hope that we have in Christ and carry out our mission for Christ.”
Join us as we pray for the people of Hong Kong. We particularly ask God to be with Christians unable to have fellowship with one another. Pray that they will keep steadfast in their faith and not live in fear or worry. We ask God to bless the relationships TWR has developed with churches and ministry supporters around the world, and pray we would serve them generously.
