Anderson-Gary-Joyce-1983-HongKong.pdf

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HongKong

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Gary and Joyce Anderson2 Castle Peak Court l/F., I8V2 miles Castle Peak Road,New Territories, Hong Kong. Xel: 0-804774

FEBRUARY 1983

SPONSORED BY :EASTVIEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH1 70 5 T ow an da AvenueBloomington, Illinois 61701

FORWARDING AGENTS:MR . & MRS . ELOON WYMO R E4 0 0 H I LLV I EW DR I V EL EBANON , O R EGON 97355PHONE: 503-258-2865

I ncorpo ra tion and BuildingPraise the Lord, all of the money has been collected to acquire and remodel the placewe have been looking at for Tuen Mun Christian Church's meeting place. However, th egovernment has not yet fully approved the church's incorporation. So it may still beweeks before we are actually able to acquire the place. The builder is willing to hold the

piece for us until then, but it does not look like we will be able to have dedication beforeEa s t e r .

F lu a n d F lewThe flu had been going through our family and finally on Sunday morning, January23, just before people should start arriving at our house for worship, I really got it. Itwas decided that the best thing for all would be to cancel services. So, for the firsttime in my life, 1 was too sick to carry on a meeting.Fortunately, it did not stay with me, because Monday morning, January 24, I flew toManila to deliver five days of lectures along with Edd Tolusa and Fred each afternoon,and to another 120 ministers, church leaders and active members each evening at Cruzada

S t r e e t Chu r c h o f Chr i s t .

Where Churchc s Grow Like WeedsThe Manila trip really opened my eyes. The planting of churches according to theNew Testament has apparently advanced farther in the Philippines than in the U.S.A.The first such missionaries arr ived there in 1901, and within four yea rs there were15 congregations with 718 immersed believers. (In Hong Kong, our missionaries havebeen here fo r 20 year s , yet we have less than 300 members.)In 1926, the mission board (UCMS) expelled the missionaries from its support andconfiscated their mission property in the Philippines. Yet the movement grew to 86churches with a reported membership of 13,212 in 1942.For three years, Japanese occupied the Philippines. All missionaries were put inprison camps. Yet by 1957, the movement had grown to 266 churches with 41,000 reported members. Now, there are over 800 churches, not to mention numerous preachingpoints, and 200,000 members associated with the movement. Fully 2% of all Filipinos are

associa ted with th es e c hu rc he s.They have at least four seminaries training some 400 full-time students, not tomention several local training schools. Yet, newly-founded congregations often have towait four years before they can get a ful l- time preacher.Why Radio?

Five months ago, wc were beginning to wonder whether it was really worthwhile tocontinue broadcasting the Compass of Truth programs. So we decided to investigate.What we learned renewed our enthusiasm. The programs themselves were meeting realneeds and the possibili t ies were numerous:A. Radio can reach those unreachable by th e p rin ted page:1. The blind and those whose vision is failing due to age, di sea se, malnutrit ion, or poor living conditions.2. The illiterate and those who know quite a few words, but not yet enoughto really enjoy reading.3. Those too poor to afford reading material, glasses or proper lighting. Forthe price of a small radio and a few dollars of electricity, a person canreceive hundreds of times as much information as he could for the sameprice from books.4. The non-readers, such as conversationalists and people who work witht h e i r hand s .


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Radio has gotte n in to homes that books probably haven ' t gotte n in to yet . But whatis entering those homes through radio? T emptation and sin, or salvation and wholesome living? A person doesn't have to read to be up on basic world news, or toknow which brand o f c lo th es o r cigare t tes to buy , thanks to rad io . But what aboutknowing Christ?B. Radio can reach those u nre ac ha ble by the activities of our church:1. The active members of other churches and other religions, including their

preachers and priests.2. Folks who have to work so hard that they have no ext ra time to read orattend services: cleaning ladies, cab and t ruck drivers and shop proprietors . People can't read books and wash dishes, or drive cars or plowfields or run factory machines, bu t they can l isten to the radio and dothose things. Even our church members have more time to listen to ther ad i o t h an to a t t e nd more s e r v i c e s .3. Folks invo lved in lives of sin who bel ievers never have personal contactwith: drug pushers, barmaids, prosti tutes and alcoholics. Their lives arein ruins . They need help despera te ly, but so often there is a grea t gapbe tween t hem an d be l i ev e r s .4. Those living in remote areas. Churches have b een p lan ted by radio!

C . Rad i o i s economica l :17 million people live within range of our ra dio p rogr am . How much would i tcost me to knock on the doors of each of their homes w ith the intent of sharingGod's will with them? Our radio p rogram knock s at thei r home every week. Ina survey done in Taiwan, it was determined that about 500 people listen foreveryone who writes in . Such opportunities to declare God's message can notafford to be neglected or abused.

Chris t never used a radio, bu t nei ther did the devil at tha t t ime. Paul never useda radio, bu t I think he would have if had had one, for he said, "I have become al l thingsto all men, that I might by ^ means (even radio?) save some." (I Corinthians 9:22)January 29th. I re turned f rom Manila just in time for Dwain and Becky to take Joyceand the wedding 3ake she made and the flower girl (Sandi) to the wedding of Compass ofTruth 's secretary Luk Wai Wan and the p reacher of Hong Kong Church of Christ YipMown Wai. That evening, we had the pleasure of sharing in their Chinese wedding feast.This was the f i rst time tha t Dwain, Becky and Jean Montgomery had a chance to exp er ie nc e such a twelve-course feast .February 5th through 8th: We will be h ostin g a lectureship at Mong Kok Church of

Chris t on II Corinthians by Fred Miller.February 9th through 12th: We will be hosting a workshop at Mong Kok Church ofChrist on getting into print as a Christian writer, j ou rnal is t and photographer with Edd

To l u s a .

February 13, 14 and 15th are the first three days of Chinese New Year, wheneve rybody v is it s everybody else that they have been wanting to al l year but haven ' t hadt h e c h a n c e .

EastvIew ChRisTiAN CkuRch1705 Towanda Ave. . Bloommgion, III 61701 309-662 -9376

Uord*9 Reape r slU L N. MainJopl in , MO clSCl

POSTMASTER Se


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1 9 8 2 FINANCIAL REPORT

INCOME: Gifts sent to Forwarding Agent: $33,555.86Gifts given direct ly: 3,094.76TOTAL INCOME: $36,650.62 $36,750.00

EXPENDITURES:A. Salary:

1. Living Expenses $11,374.82 $11,300.002. Tax &Social Security 2,327.73 2,400.003. Housing &Utilities 4,496.60 5,300.00TOTAL SALARY: $18,199.15 $19,000.00

B. Miss i on s :1. Furlough, Fund Raising $ 5,377.67 $ 2,500.002. Local Expenses 1,457.51 1,500.00

TOTAL MISSIONS: $ 6,835.18 $ 4,000.00C. Projects :

1. Benevolence 159.91 200.002. Hospitality (guest meals) 393.86 150.003. Evangelism/Church Projects 3,047.88 1,800.004. Building Purchase 5,119.91

TOTAL PROJECTS: $ 8,721.56 $13,750.00TOTAL EXPENDITURES: $33,755.89

BALANCE: $ 2,894.73

COMPASS OF TRUTHIn addition to the above, I also was in charge of the accounts for the Compass ofTruth Ministry. Their 1982 summary is as follows:Starting Balance: $ 1,930.06

Income (gifts) 11,308.66$13,238.72Expenditures $12,446.77Closing Balance: $ 791.95


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f-h>A} ^Gary and Joyce Anderson

2 Cast ie Peak Cou rt 1 /F., I8V2 miles Castle Peak Road,New Territories, Hong Kong. jel: 0-804774

April - May, 1983

SPONSORED BY:EASTVIEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH1705 Towand a AvenueBloomington, Illinois 61701

FORWARDING AGENTS :MR. & M RS. ELDO N W YM ORE4 0 0 HILLV IEW DR IVELEBANON, OREGON 97355PHONE : 503-258-2865

We're In a New Building!This newsle tte r is late because I held i t . back until Tuen Mun Chr is ti an Churchmoved into their new premises. To th e best of our ability, each aspect of the place

was selected not on the basis of whether or not it was unique, flashy or cheap, buton the basis of whether or not it was the best way to use the resources God hadgiven us simply to glorify Him.As the development progressed, there were some very anxious days, but Ipraise th e Lord that even some seemingly unsurmountable obstacles were overcome, sothat the end results were better than we ini tial ly imagined possible. For example, wewanted to mount a lighted cross on an outside wall. Our lawyer said that there wasno point in asking; it clearly violated the building covenant. But the buildingcustodian said we ought to go ahead and submit a request. It was not onlyapproved, but ways were even recommended to us to enhance its visibility.Other examples: We planned to leave the wiring and sprinkler systems exposedalong the ceiling, what we got was two-by-four-foot accoustical tiling.Wg planned to leave the portable baptistry j us t s itt ing; in the end, it was builtin with steps and changing room. Mei Foo Christian Church used the baptistry forthe first time this past Sunday afternoon.We d idn't t hink we could get a piano at first, then maybe an old beat-up one, ora cheaply-made Chinese one, what we finally got was a new, American one on sale.We planned to leave the ori^nal linoleum tile on the floor, but the contractorssaid it had to go and recommended four-by-eight-inch ceramic tiles. What we got wasterrazzo (polished, chipped marble).I was af ra id tha t the te r razzo seemed odd because i t made ou r f loor an inchhigher than other shops in the building. However, last Saturday night we had athunderstorm. A drain clogged, and water gushed down the hall to stairs where itcould flow down. It flooded fifteen shop areas around us. If it entered the chapel,all the metal cabinets, piano and woodwork would be damaged. But the raised floormade the chapel just enough higher than the edge of the stairs that water didn'ten t e r . Pra i s e t h e Lo r d .Speaking of rain, it 's been so long since we've had much sunlight that it seemsunbearably bright today. I shouldn't complain. Hong Kong has just completed itstwelve wettest months in recorded h isto ry , over 12 feet of rain. One man is reportedto have seen a bright yellow UFO over Hong Kong, but someone else po in ted out thatthe UFO was only the sun, it had just been so long since the man had seen it that hedidn't recognize it. The easiest way to tell t hat sp ring has come is that the walls aret u rn ing green. Ha!Remodeling of the church's premises was finished soon enough for the churchto hold their first service in them on resurrection morning. It was the perfectopportunity fo r the church to commit itself to a renewal of its ministry in the newplace.


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HongKong

/v4n LGary and Joyce A nderson

2 Castle Peak Court 1/F., I8V2 miles Castle Peak Road.New Territories. Hong Kong. Tel: 0-804774

August , 1983

SPONSORED BY :EASTVIEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH1 70 5 T ow an da Avenu eBloomington, Illinois 61701

F ORWARD ING AGENT S:MR , & MRS . E LOON WYMORE4 0 0 H(LLVIEVV DR I V EL EBANON . O RE GON 97355PHONE ; 503 - 258 - 2865

OOPS !A sentence in our last newslet te r should have said, "I've had more con tact s (no tconflicts) with adults on a real spiritual level during this past three months thandurin g th e previous two and a half years ."

LOOKING BACKSeptember 5, 1973, (ten years ago), Joyce and I arrived in Hong Kong. Ithardly seems possible. watch Joyce Joking with fr iends in Cantonese. I hear Jeanand Becky sing a duet in Cantonese, or listen to Dwain impart God's Word throughCantonese, and it just doesn't seem possible that there was ever a time when nothingin this vast language made any sense to us. Recently, I tried to tease Sandi withAmerican slang that was almost untranslatable, but she rebounded with Cantonese

t rans la t ions t h a t were b oth accu ra te an d f luent .July years and 10 months from now) China intends to take overHong Kong. That seems just as hard to believe.Christian church missionaries have only been in Hong Kong twenty years. Theyhave been in Japan almost 100 years. Dwain and family spent ten days there in Julyvisiting missionaries and attending a convention of Japan's Christian churches. FromHong Kong to Japan is about as far as from Los Angeles to St. Louis, not as fa r asfrom Los Angeles to Hawaii. Japan is a very different culture than Hong Kong withdifferent barriers to the Gospel, too. In fact, it's hard to believe just how different.Many would readily admit that it's harder to evangelize Hong Kong.

PROGRESS REPORTAt the end of July, I began a pastor's class for four junior highers whom I hopewill become the nucleus of the church's youth group.In Au^st, I preached once by invitation at the Tuen Mun Church of Christ inChina. This is a merger church of mainline denominations.During July and August, about 45 correspondence course lessons were gradedand re turned and at least 18 new adults and several new children a ttended chu rch forthe first time. An average of 35-40 different people attend some meeting of the

chu r ch ea ch w eek .


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Seldom is everyone expected to attend the same meeting s in ce the chapel willonly seat 45. The only exception was th e churc h's first evangelistic meeting^ heldAugust 26, 27, when 37 and 40 a t tended respec tively .

The speaker was Mr. Choi Wai See. He is unique. He has only held oneministry since he graduated from Bible college, and the church he ministers to hasonly had him as i ts min is te r s in ce i t formed two years before they called him. Yetduring his 25 year ministry there, the congregation has filled its building, plantedtw o d au gh te r c hu rc he s, buil t a lovely youth camp, and sent out missionaries , Ibelieve, to Chinese living in South America and Africa.

The evangelistic meetings indeed added impetus to the growth of Tuen MunChristian Church and to several people's progress t owards s alva ti on . We d id n't askpeople to come forward at th e invitation bu t r a t he r to m ark one o f s ev era l choices ondecision cards, and children who wanted to be Christians were advised to getparenta l a pp ro va l, b ec au se paren ts are most likely to know whether or not thei rchildren are old enough to know what they are doing.

I am one of three managers of a kindergarten with over 100 half-day s tudent s .During July and August, negotiating new job contracts, hiring new employees, andhiring pain ting o f the bottom story of the school, in sid e and out, took some time.And through i t all, Joyce somehow managed to keep us all fed and clothed, andto keep on top of letter writingeven with three kids home for summer holidays.The boys started back to school August 10. Sandi star ted school September 1.

PRAYERThan k you for your prayers. It is such a joy to se rv e th e Lord when we knowthat o th ers a re pra jr ing for us.Please continue to pray that :1. We wil l help each person who is open to us to progress in his/herrelationship with God.2. The believers here may b e k nit to gethe r even more in the unity of the

Spir i t .3. The Thurstons may obtain the support they need to get to the field.4. The church in China might i nc re as e and mature.

Eastview ChRisriAN Chi/Rch1705 Towando Ave. Blq>orhjngton. Ill 61701 309-662 -9376

Lcrd's111: M. r ia! n

"0 - ' - i c n

POSTMASTER Senaaddfess lo IheEastview Chrt*nChufch 1705Towanda Ave . Stoommgron, IN 81701

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPe rm i t 233

Bloomington, IL


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Kong

Gary and Joyce Anderson2 Castle Peak Court 1 /F., ISVz miles Castte Peak Road,New Territories, Hong Kong. Xel: 0-804774

December, 1983

SPONSORED BY:EASTVIEW CHRI ST IAN CHURCH1705 Towanda AvenueBloomington, Illinois 61701

FORWARDING AGENTS:MR . & M RS . E LD ON W YM ORE4 00 HIL.LVIEW DR IVELEBANON, OREGON 97355PHONE ; 503 - 258 - 2665

A Christmas PrayerFather, thank You for picking a stable for Your Son's crib. Poverty-strickenbillions must still cradle their babes in dirt and grime. Our age of informationaccurately predicts the death rate of their babes, but You underst and the ir quietdespera t ion.Thank you. Father, for Your Son's midnight escape to Egypt from the cruelparanoia of tyranny. Nowadays, feasted U. N. diplomats straddled by protocolhaggle over world peace, but more folks are re fugees of oppress ion than ever. Ohwhat a comfort to know that th e Prince of Peace was a refugee, too!Thank You for revealing hosts of angels to hil lside herders. Video wizardry isa big thing these days ~ for the very few who can afford it. But You, the only

Master of real special effects, shared it with those who couldn't afford any extras.Finally, thank You fo r patterning the church's birth after Your Son's bir th.His church, like His body, was miraculously conceived and announced (Acts2:1-16) so that none would think that i t has to be ladened down with endlessgadgetry before i t c an func ti on .His church, too, was born amidst poverty yet grew (Acts 2:44-47, 6:1,7 and11:29), so that none should think that its continued growth is only a matter of goodfund-raising.And, His church in its infancy was also a refugee movement scattering frompersecution (Acts 8:1) yet growing all the more, that all might learn that theevangelization both of those who believe (Acts 8:4) and of the ungodly world (Acts11:19-21) was first of all no t a ministerial enterprise nor even a missionaryent erpr is e, but an enterprise of r efugees.So thank You, Lord, for ChristmasGod incarnateincarnate in His Church.

Progress Repor tSpeaking of refugees, two years ago I had a couple of meetings with about onehundred boat refugees from Vietnam, most of whom accepted Christ through Christianand Missionary Alliance people while they were in the refugee camp. Sadly, those

refugees were all sent to Communist China. But I recently received a letter from oneof them. He said that in talking to those he met about his faith, he had given awayall the Christian literature he had and hoped that I could send him some more. Whata joy to see s uch s te ady faith.Interest in our Bible Correspondence course has been picking up. About 200lessons were graded and returned during the past couple of months.Within ten months, Communist China intends to unila tera lly announce its plans totake over Hong Kong at some, as yet, unannounced time within the coming 13 yearsand 7 months. This has had a numbing effect on people here. Typical of theresponse is a booking office for the horse races about 50 yards from our chapel.Hundreds of men waste their time and money there regularly. Some have a lready lost

all family ties, and everything except the clothes they wear. I have personally triedfor six months to help one man face hi s problem. At least four times in these sixmonths he has been totally penniless with only a rescue-mission-type place to sleepin , even though he is fi t to work.


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God has been known to save his lambs unharmed even from the very jaws oflions (Daniel 6:22, Acts 12:11) in response to the fervent prayers of saints. HongKong's present plight may be such a time for such praying. Chinese Communists, forall of their polite talk, still are committed t o e limina ting al l religion by any expedientmeans.

I 've been preaching through the Acts of the Apostles for some time now, andhave found it to b i a very uplifting study, often amazingly appropriate to th especific needs of our c hu rc h.

Attenders at worship services this fall have included Ind one sian Chin es e,Malaysian Chinese, Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese (Communist China), B ritish and oneFilipino. At our last fellowship dinner, the group was pret ty well d iv ided betweenthree lan gu ag es: English, Mandarin and Cantonese. But we got along okay b eca usesome knew English and Cantonese, a nd some knew English and Mandarin and someknew Mandari n and Cantonese though no one knew all three. Pray, though, for thechurch and for Joyce and I as we minister to i t . Attendance hit record highs inSep tembe r and almost h it rec ord lows in November.

Pray also for Dwain and Becky. Back pain has kept Dwain flat on his back mostf last month. He's gett ing good medical care, so we're looking forward to hisr e c o v e r y .

Two years ago, Ben and Karen Rees opened thei r home to C hristian Filipinamaids living in Hong Kong. Incredibly, that group has grown faster than just aboutanything else in Hong Kong. I spoke at t h e i r anniversary on November 20th.Danny Thurston safely arrived on the field, November 3rd, and has been busyever since. I was really surprised how good his Cantonese s till was .In September , Joyce made s u i t s for Stevie and David so t h a t Stevie could b ering boy in the wedding of Ng Fui (my former assistant) and Elisa Siu. Joyce also

made the wedding cakes, sweets and took care of the table service.Last month, Joyce made four winter su its for the ladies who teach a t Christ ianSchool of Hong Kong's kindergarten. And with the help of our church ladies, sewedcloth book holders for the backs of our chapel chairs. (She also had some dental

work done, a part ial bridge on one side.A popular nightc lub opened in Hong Kong called the California Bar and Grill bya proprietor named Gary Anderson. This le d to us getting a couple of amusing phonecalls from people who seemed somewhat embarassed to find that although I was fromCalifornia, I was at the church instead of the bar and I couldn't provide them thelighting effects they were hop ing for .Vm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Since our children are in Chinese s choo ls, it 's impossible for us to takefurloughs during th e school year without jeopardizing their education, so we squeeze.all of our furlough into about three summer months. This year, though, we're takinga Christmas vacation. In fact, our first vacation except for furloughs.The Lord willing, we will be leaving Hong Kong for Boise, Idaho on December19th, and le av ing Seattle for Hong Kong on January 5th. My sister and her

h u s b a n d , who are missionaries i n Mexico, will b e t h e r e , too.Our children are so excited. They have already been counting th e days formonths. At every meal they pray that (3od will let them go to Grandma's but not le tthem get stuck in the snow.We wish-flll nf you wonder fu l people a very wonderful Christmas.,,too,.

EaSTVIEW ChRiSTIAN ChuRch1705 Towanda Ave. . Btpofhingtpo, III 61701 3 0 9 - 6 6 2 - 9 3 7 6

L o r d ' s U e a p e r a1111 N. MainJoplln, MO 64801

POSTMASTER Send address to the Eastview ChrislianChorcn. 1705 Towanda Ave . Bloominglon. ID 61701

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