The incarnation ministry of Jesus has inspired generations of missionaries. From the very beginning of the mission of COCM, our missionaries endeavored to take root in Europe and to live among the Chinese diaspora they intended to reach out and to share life with. This is long-‐term mission work. Most of the time, we don’t get fruitful results immediately. We just need to remember that our job is to plant seeds in people’s hearts and it is God who will make the seeds grow over the years. In 1979, COCM missionary Frank Cheung was the first to sow seeds of the gospel among a small number of Chinese restaurant workers and students living in Dublin. Back then, there was no Chinese fellowship in Dublin. Through the hard work of both COCM and other Christian workers, the popula-‐ tion of Chinese Christians in Dublin has increased over the past few decades and the Chinese church has now matured. I participated in the celebration of 20th anniversary of Chinese Gospel Church in Dublin on 12th August. It was so encouraging to see that the church growing into maturity and start-‐ ing multi-‐linguistic services to reach the Chinese and beyond. God has also blessed them with a church premise in the city centre and Lucan Centre, a large modern worship hall with multi-‐purpose facilities. They have witnessed how God is working among us and through us. During the August Bank Holiday break, I spoke at an annual retreat organized by Hull Chinese Chris-‐ tian Church. Our missionary couple Rev. Kam Ho and Mi Ting have been pioneer workers in Hull and surrounding areas, including Lincoln, Scunthorpe and Grimsby. Although the church is still in its de-‐ veloping stage, I am excited to see how God is going to lead Christians in Hull and the surrounding areas as they continue to grow and mature in Christ. During the three days, we worshiped and shared our lives together. I am glad to see more and more brothers and sisters committing them-‐ selves to be rooted in God’s Word and grow in Christ. This is the fruitful result of long-‐term mission after many years of labor. Looking ahead, we see new opportunities popping up everywhere. In September, we are going to welcome many more Chinese students coming to study in UK and continental Europe. Most of them come with hopes, dreams and an open mind. Seeing this opportunity, we as a mission are actively engaging the new students and encouraging local churches to partner with us to meet this new chal-‐ lenge. On 29th August, the COCM Gospel Team went to Northampton to host a gospel event, partner-‐ ing with university chaplaincy and the local Chinese church. Many students came and heard the gos-‐ pel for the first time. Some of them committed their lives to Christ and many others were interested in knowing more about our faith. Please pray for our long-‐term mission development as well as how we should take advantage of these new opportunities in such a time as this!
Serving together in Christ, Rev. Henry Lu General Director