Who would have ever thought that when seeJesus was invited to do PrayerLife last year and Person of Jesus this year at Christ Church of China in Vancouver, that it really would be a direct pipeline to the east?
I can honestly say that I think I saw more citizens of Asian descent than any other population demographic while in the area.
This stems from some very interesting history. Note this interesting excerpt from an article entitled: "The History of Chinese Immigration to Canada".
The first Chinese immigrants to British Columbia were men who came to "the Colonies of T'ang (China)," as they called British Columbia, for the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858 and a decade later to work on building the Canadian Pacific Railway. Because of various loopholes in the Head Tax and other anti-Chinese legislation, there was a steady influx of Chinese families from the late 19th century until the Second World War. Then in the 1980s, a huge influx immigrants from Hong Kong came to Vancouver in anticipation of and during the transfer of sovereignty of that former British colony from the United Kingdom to China. This continued a tradition of immigration from around the world that had already established Vancouver as the second most multi-ethnic of Canada's cities (after Toronto) before the Hong Kong influx began.
Statistics Canada data shows that over 17% of the approximately 2.5 million people living in the metropolitan area are ethnic Chinese. Vancouver has one of the most diverse Chinese-speaking communities (from several regions of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Hainan, Malaysia/Singapore, etc.) made available to consumers in Vancouver and adjacent communities such as Richmond and Burnaby. The ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong who speak Cantonese make up the largest group within Vancouver's Chinese-speaking community. However, the Chinese-speaking community has residents who speak Mandarin, Hakka, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, and Teochiu who have arrived in Vancouver via Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Southeast Asia. There are also many Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong whose origin is from other areas of China such as Shanghai. Immigration from Taiwan increased as of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and continues at a steady pace. Many Taiwanese are currently choosing to retire in Vancouver or raise their families in the city.[citation needed] The most recent Chinese immigrants to Vancouver are also those who come directly from Mainland China. Vancouver continues to receive immigration not only from Mainland China but also from Taiwan and Hong Kong, though to a lesser extent than in the 1990s.
Pastor Steve Ma was fairly new to his pastorate at CCC having only been in place for a few months when he ran across A Praying Life last year. He read it. Seeing the advertisement for the seminar in the back of the book, he called Julie Courtney and inquired about having a seminar over a four day period at the very end of July, last year.
Every year, the church hosts what it calls its "Summer Conference" or "SummerCon" for short. The very last weekend of July is considered a holiday weekend in the entire province so it fits perfectly in the life of the church. Virtually the whole church heads out to the campus of Trinity Western University in Langley to spend the long weekend together.
This year, Pastor Steve had a full year and a half behind him and he felt much more settled.
Last year, while doing the PL seminar for them, I kept trying to promote the concept and the "features/benefits" of the POJ material. Pastor Steve immediately asked, "Bob, could you come back next year and take us through it? I'll make sure we get unbelievers here, too!" I said, "of course, I would love to" but, I wasn't sure how serious Pastor was about the idea.
Well, he was very serious. He called Julie in no time and put it on the books.
Last month, I got to go do the POJ seminar for about 90 English speaking Chinese friends. We had a ball. In fact, it spoiled me rotten. :-(
But, that's another story...I digress.
Here is what I learned or was reminded of (and I will be completely honest and transparent since this is a purely internal blog):
1. It is one of life's greatest joys to get people focusing on Jesus. What God has given Paul Miller in both content (insights) and learning methodology never gets "old hat" to me.
2. It was my first time to use Jim Cristman's handout sheets for the lessons. They helped greatly.
3. Last year, when going out there for PL, I really didn't want to stay the whole four days due to so many pressing things on my plate back at seeJesus. I am glad I went, anyway. I had no problem going back this year. Couldn't wait!
4. Technically, we lost money on both of these seminars. (The cheapest airfare alone was over $1K.) I am glad money doesn't determine everything we do. We would miss some wonderful ministry if it did. I am so very grateful for our donors who make this work possible. This level of work simply cannot be done by part time people who have other full time jobs to handle. Seminars like this one required several days of focus.
5. God is moving in the Asian North American communities and I pray he would begin to move here in the USA like that. They are excited, grateful, interested, complimentary, good students, serious with questions (not just trying to undo you, in other words). These folks will spoil you in a good way.
6. Please pray for the following non-Christians (I should say not-yet-Christians because they really engaged me in private about the gospel.): Tania (pronounced Tanya), Jay, Jeffrey and Sue...all very close to the kingdom.
7. It was great to do some follow up with PL on the side. One lady, Angela, announced to the whole group last year that she "hated" her father. We met about it and began to pray for him and for Angela's heart toward her dad. This year, she said that prayer had made an amazing impact on her. "I understand him better. Things are much better."
8. My favorite question of all time and of both seminars came from a young lady named Lily (who I think was about 12): "What do you do when you want to speak truth into someone's life but you know you will be judged...i.e., you know you will be grounded?" LOL, I love it...in fact, I had to catch my breath I laughed so long and hard.
With so many direct immigrants, I cannot help but believe this might be a great door for us to the far east. Let's pray for a way in through these wonderful people!
Bob
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