2021.12.18/19

From the Pastor’s Desk: Pastor Francis Chan

In the past year, many people have relocated from Hong Kong to Vancouver. Of the 3 fellowships I am overseeing, there have been no less than 30 HK people visiting us during this period. Thanks to the Lord, more than half of the newcomers have decided to stay in our fellowships and to call RCAC their new spiritual home.

Yet most of the people relocating from Hong Kong are not yet Christians and will not take the initiative to attend churches. Many of them left Hong Kong because they chose not to accept the ‘new normal’ of Hong Kong on its political, social, and educational fronts. A considerable number of them have participated in the social movements and have experienced psychological distress, which requires healing.

Coming to Canada, they must cope with numerous challenges and adjustments. For those who have come as a matter of emergency, very few of them are psychologically and financially prepared. As these people would put it, their departure from Hong Kong and arrival in Canada are not about immigration but fleeing from disasters. When I thought of their situation, there is a deep yearning to reach out to them, to help them, and to share the gospel with them. I therefore discussed with our senior pastor about holding an evangelistic meeting on Christmas day with the hope of sharing with them the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God! Pastor Simon loved and welcomed this idea. So we decided in early November to hold an evangelistic meeting during AYAYA’s worship time on Christmas day.

Since the beginning of our preparation for this meeting, my heart has been trembling and sometimes, I feel worried about the outcome. What will the weather be like that evening? What will the pandemic be like by then? Will there be guests coming to the meeting? Will brothers and sisters sacrifice their family time on Christmas night to accompany their guests to attend the meeting? Although there are many uncertainties, I am at peace when I pray in my heart. I understand that all that the Lord is asking of me is to respond to the Holy Spirit, to place a gospel seed in the hearts of our not-yet-Christian friends. The rest is up to the Lord.

In our preparation, prayer comes first. We set up a group of 10 people to pray for all guests who have been invited. This same group will attend to our guests should the latter choose to respond positively to the altar call that evening. For marketing and promotion, we have made a poster. It was designed by a brother who had only arrived in Vancouver for less than a month. We mainly use social media to send out e-posters and registration links to invite people to come. In addition, we have also printed 25 copies of our poster, all of which have now been posted up in different places in Richmond. For other supportive ministries (eg praise teams, care teams, etc), many brothers and sisters have come forward to serve. Now, I must focus on seeking the will of the Lord when I am preparing a message for the meeting. I humbly ask every single one of you to pray for our evangelistic meeting, to pray for our brothers and sisters serving in the meeting, and to pray for those whom God has chosen and will bring to the meeting. May we all work together faithfully to advance the kingdom of God and may God’s will be done in the RCAC family.

The trumpet has sounded, the harvest is ripe, the order has been issued, where are you?!

2021.12.18/19

作者: 陳榮基傳道

在過去一年，不斷有人從香港移居溫哥華。在我負責的三個團契中，曾經出現過的香港人，最少也有三、四十人。感謝主，其中超過一半的新朋友，都願意留下來，以列宣家作為他們屬靈的家。

但從香港來的人，多數是未信主的，不會主動尋找教會。他們離開香港，多數是因為不能接受現今香港在政治、社會、教育各方面的新常態。他們當中，也有不少人參與過社會運動，身心靈受了傷，需要醫治。

初來甫到，在生活上會遇到很多挑戰。其中有些倉猝決定離開香港的人，他們對加拿大的新生活，無論在心理或經濟上的準備，都明顯不足。套用他們的話，他們不是移民，是走難。當我想到他們的景況，心裏便產生一種很大的催逼，要去接觸他們，幫助他們，將福音傳給他們。所以，我跟主任牧師商量，要在聖誕節搞一個佈道會，希望可以將主耶穌基督的福音傳給他們。感謝主，李牧師非常喜歡這個提議。我們就在11月頭決定，利用AYAYA 12 月25日晚上的崇拜，舉辦一場佈道會。

從開始籌備到現在，我的心情都是戰戰兢兢，有時也有患得患失的感覺。當晚的天氣如何呢？疫情會有甚麼變化呢？會有未信主的朋友來嗎？弟兄姊妹會否犧牲聖誕佳節的豐富節目去邀請、陪同福音對象來參加呢？雖然有很多不確定，但在禱告中，我是平安的。因為上帝要求我的，是去回應聖靈的感動，把福音種子放在未信的朋友心中，其餘的事，交託在上帝的手裏就是了。

籌備工作中，首要的是禱告。我們成立了一個陪談小組，去為已被邀請的朋友禱告，並在他們當晚決志信主的時候，為他們進行陪談。至於宣傳方面，我們邀請了一位從香港來了不到一個月的弟兄設計海報。我們主要是利用社交媒體發出電子海報及登記連結去邀請朋友參加。另外，我們也印刷了25張海報，現在已經貼在列治文不同的地方。其他崗位，亦已安排弟兄姊妺配搭事奉。目前，我要專心尋求神的心意，預備好當晚的訊息。懇請大家為我們的佈道會禱告，為所有事奉人員禱告，為上帝揀選並帶領來到我們當中的朋友禱告。願我們一同努力拓展上帝的國，願祂的旨意成就在列宣家。

號筒已經響起，莊稼已經成熟，命令已經發出，你在哪裏？！

2021.12.11/12

From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee

Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,

In my last article (1), I shared my initial thought on mentoring relationships through Barnabas and Paul: Prerequisites in spiritual mentoring. In this article we are going to look at the 3 phases of the mentoring relationship of Barnabas and Paul: Sponsorship, nurturing and multiplication.

1. Staunch sponsorship of the mentee

Whereas Paul (then Saul) had a reputation as a persecutor of the church (Acts 9:1-2), Barnabas was a well-respected leader and teacher in the Church in Jerusalem. Even Ananias, a disciple of Jesus at Damascus, when asked by the Lord to go speak with Paul was hesitant because of the “evil” he had perpetuated against the followers of Jesus (Acts 9:13-14). Paul also had to face the same challenge when he tried to join the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26). No one could trust Paul who not too long ago was the one who hunted them down to put them in prison. Barnabas put his reputation on the line in taking a risk in sponsoring and recommending Paul.  Because of that, Paul was able to preach boldly in the name of Christ. But he had to leave Jerusalem because the Greek-speaking Jews in Damascus sought to kill him (Acts 9:28,29).  The believers sent Paul away to Tarsus for safety and there he stayed for about three years (Gal 1:17-18). Again, it was Barnabas who sought Paul out to join him in teaching the believers in Antioch, resulting in many people being taught (Acts 11:25-26). Barnabas and Paul also were given the honour and responsibility to bring the special relief offering to the believers in Judea. In these ministries, Barnabas was a strong sponsor of Paul, helping to launch him in his early ministries.

During my many years of ministries where I have served, I had to recruit young Christian workers or mentor them, both in teaching and pastoring, I had on more than one occasion vouch for and sponsor and support young inexperienced workers. Sad to say I have been disappointed more than once, when the person(s) I strongly sponsor turns out to have his or her own agenda, or only give lip-service to entering a mentoring relationship. But I really treasure those who are willing to be mentored and even become valuable teammates who excel.

2. Nurturing the mentee to be a leader who excels

Usually after an initial sponsoring and initiation period, the mentoring relationships that survive go into a maturing and nurturing period where the mentor and mentee consolidate the cultivation process. This is the most satisfying stage of the relationship where there is mutual trust and respect.

Such is the case when Barnabas and Paul embarked on their first missionary journey. As they travelled, Barnabas took risks in letting Paul take the lead. This is seen in letting Paul speak on Cyprus, as well as letting Paul respond to the challenge of a false leader (Acts 13:9-12). We find in the Lukan account the names of Barnabas and Paul are mentioned in alternate order, indicating that Barnabas was starting to step aside to letting Paul take the lead (Acts 13:7, 13, 43; 14:14; 15:12, 25), until eventually Barnabas withdrew entirely into the background. At this stage, the mentor takes on the role of an advisor, letting the mentee develop into a mature leader, in fact one who excels over his mentor where he is gifted.

This mentoring phase was a relatively long period that began from the conversion of Paul and lasted till the end of the Antioch mission at the conclusion of the Jerusalem Council. One big problem I see in the succession plan of leadership in the Chinese Churches worldwide is the failure to cultivate leaders over a longer period.

On the other hand, the problem preventing the full development of the mentee is when the mentor always hangs onto his position as the leader, or the opposite is true when the mentee is too assertive or too eager to take over the leadership, prematurely thinking that he or she is ready to assume leadership. Jesus teaches us the servant leadership model. Jesus called them (the disciples) together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

3. Multiplying healthily the mentoring relationships

While mutual respect in the mentoring relationship should continue to flourish, the mentoring structure must end when maturity in the mentee is attained, indicating the goal in the relationship has been achieved. It is natural that the mature mentee wants to be independent and that indicates there is a healthy relationship, ready for termination. Sometimes when honest differences in opinion start to surface in the mature mentoring relationship, the best thing to do is to allow it to move into a separation phase where the mentoring relationship is redefined, and perhaps multiplied.

In the case of Barnabas and Paul, the separation phase came to a head when they decided to return to the places where they had preached the gospel (Acts 15:36). Barnabas wanted to take Mark, but Paul was not in agreement because Mark had abandoned them during the first missionary journey. Eventually they went their separate ways, Barnabas taking Mark, and Paul taking Silas.

I like to see this result as the mentoring model being multiplied. We do not know much about the relationship of Barnabas and Paul after this as the Lukan account focused on Paul (the mentee) as he continued his apostleship to the Gentiles. But one snapshot of Paul much later asking that Mark come to him because he regards him as useful to him would indicate he later saw Barnabas was right in giving Mark a second chance, investing in his life (I Tim 4:11). In the mentoring relationships of Paul and Timothy, Silvanus, and Titus (2 Cor. 1:1; I Thes. 1:1; Gal 3:1), we see Paul continuing mentoring in the footstep left by Barnabas.

What the church needs today is more mentoring relationships at all levels. I tried to do this when I was professor in Hong Kong, forming “Pastoral mentoring groups”, some of which still are active today. Paul in writing to Timothy his spiritual son and mentee, says “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:1,2)

Your servant in Christ,

Rev. Simon Lee

2021.12.11/12

作者: 李耀全牧師

主内列宣家的弟兄姊妹：

在上一篇文章(1)中，我分享了我對師徒關係的初步想法： 屬靈師徒關係的先決條件。在這篇文章中，我們將看看巴拿巴和保羅的師徒關係的三個階段：推薦、培育和延伸。

1. 師父給徒生鼎力的推薦與機會

保羅（當時的掃羅）以迫害教會而聞名（徒 9:1-2），而巴拿巴則是耶路撒冷教會中備受尊崇的領袖和教師，就連耶穌在大馬士革的門徒亞拿尼亞，當被主要求去與保羅說話時，也因保羅對耶穌的追隨者施加了「苦害」 而猶豫（徒 9:13-14）。當保羅試圖在耶路撒冷與耶穌的門徒會合時，他也不得不面對同樣的挑戰（徒 9:26），沒有人能信任保羅，因他是一個在不久前追捕他們，把他們關進監獄的人。巴拿巴卻冒著危及自己聲譽的風險扶助和推薦保羅，因此，保羅能夠奉基督的名放膽傳道，但因大馬士革講希臘話的猶太人想要殺他，保羅不得不離開耶路撒冷（徒 9:28,29）。為了保羅的安全，信徒們差他往大數去，他在那逗留了大約三年（加 1:17-18）。再次，是巴拿巴找保羅一起去安提阿作教導的工作，使許多信徒被造就（徒11:25-26），巴拿巴和保羅也榮幸地負責將大饑荒的捐款送到猶太的信徒那裡，在這些事工中，巴拿巴鼎力推薦保羅，幫助他在早期的事工中開展。一直以來，巴拿巴師徒培育是我的模範。

在我多年的服侍中，我需要招募、教導或牧養年輕的基督徒工人，我不止一次提攜、推薦和支持沒有經驗的年輕工人，可悲的是，我不止失望過一次，有些我大力提攜的人有自己的議程，或者只是口唇上說要進入師徒關係，但我很珍重那些願意被教導，甚至成為與我同工的優秀工人。

2. 培育徒生成為青出於藍的領袖

師徒關係若能跨過初期的推薦和提攜階段，會鞏固培育過程，進入成熟和栽培的階段，相互信任和尊重，這是關係中最令人滿足的階段。

巴拿巴和保羅開始他們的第一次宣教之時，正正在這狀態，他們在旅途中，巴拿巴冒險讓保羅帶領，他讓保羅在塞浦路斯宣講神的道，以及讓保羅回應假先知的挑戰（徒 13:9-12）。我們發現在路加的記載中，巴拿巴和保羅的排名次序交替出現，表明巴拿巴開始讓位，讓保羅帶領（徒 13:7, 13, 43; 14:14; 15:12, 25），直到最終巴拿巴完全退居幕後。在這階段，導師扮演顧問的角色，讓徒生發展成為一個成熟的領導者，甚至在他的恩賜上青出於藍。

這個師徒階段是一個相對較長的時期，從保羅歸信開始，一直持續到耶路撒冷會議決定差派他們到安提阿宣教後才結束。我看到在全球華人教會的領袖接班計劃中有一大問題，就是未能有較長培育領袖的時間。

另一方面，阻礙徒生全面發展的障礙是導師總是固守自己的領導地位，或者相反地徒生過於自信或急於接管領導權，過早地認為自己已準備好擔任領導職務。耶穌教導我們僕人領袖模式，耶穌把他們（門徒）叫過來，對他們說：「你們知道各國都有被尊為元首的統治他們，也有官長管轄他們。 但你們中間卻不要這樣；誰想在你們中間為大的，就要作你們的僕役， 誰想在你們中間為首的，就要作大家的奴僕。 因為人子來，不是要受人服事，而是要服事人，並且要捨命，作許多人的贖價。」（可 10:42-45）。故此耶穌以身作則，為門徒洗腳。

3. 師徒個別延伸培養師徒的關係

雖然師徒關係中的相互尊重應該繼續發芽，徒生的成熟表明關係中的目標已達成，師徒架構也必須結束，成熟的徒生想要獨立是很自然的，這表明關係健康，準備好結束。有時，當成熟的師徒關係開始出現坦誠的意見分歧時，最好的辦法是讓它進入分離階段，重新定義彼此的關係，或許師徒關係可以個別延伸。

就巴拿巴和保羅而言，當他們決定回到他們傳過福音的地方時，分離階段出現（徒 15:36），巴拿巴想要帶馬可一同前去，但保羅不同意，因為馬可在第一次宣教旅程中半途而廢，最終他們分道揚鑣，巴拿巴帶著馬可，保羅帶著西拉。

我喜歡把這個結果看作是師徒模式在延伸，在此之後，我們對巴拿巴和保羅的關係知之甚少，因為路加記述的重點是保羅（徒生）繼續作外邦人使徒，但後期保羅的一個片段表明他看到巴拿巴給馬可第二次機會，投資在他身上是正確的，保羅要求馬可到他那裡去，因為認為馬可對他有用（提前 4:11）。在保羅和提摩太、西拉和提多（林後 1:1; 帖前 1:1; 加3:1）的師徒關係中，我們看到保羅效法巴拿巴的足跡繼續作教導。

今天教會需要的是在各個層面上更多的師徒關係，我在香港做教授時就嘗試這樣做教牧培訓，成立了「教牧菁英小組」，其中一些今天仍然很活躍。保羅在寫給他屬靈兒子和徒生提摩太的信中說：「所以，我兒啊，你應當在基督耶穌的恩典裡剛強起來， 又應當把你在許多見證人面前從我這裡聽見的，交託給那些又忠心又能夠教導別人的人。」 (提後 2:1,2)

主僕

李耀全牧師

2 Tim 3:16-17 (New International Reader’s Version) 

16 God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. 17 By using Scripture, the servant of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing.

For Kids’ Ministry, we’ve kicked off our 2nd year of Online Awana and listed above is our Theme Verse for Sept 2021-June 2022. We place a high priority on the teaching of scripture with our children but I’m looking forward to what our kids will share and teach us about their reflections on scripture.

Here are a few thoughts so far related to this passage…

“God has breathed life into all scripture…” A reminder that God has inspired ALL of scripture. There isn’t one sentence that doesn’t have value, whether we fully understand it or not. Every measurement, name listed in a genealogy, geographical mention….each has it’s purpose to reveal to us who our God is & how he loves us. 

“It’s useful for teaching us what’s true…” We live in a time where our modern world tends to present truth as “relative” or “my truth” …… This passage reminds us that the source of truth is God himself and it’s in His word that we can really understand what truth is, not just our own version or preference of it. God’s desire is for us to seek truth, which is based in seeking Him. Only then, can we teach that which is of real value. 

 In using this scripture for the entire ministry year, we have encouraged the kids to each color a poster based on this passage or create their own poster of this scripture. This artwork is then shared with others during our weekly Zoom Calls. It’s been great to see the creativity of each child who has submitted so far and each one has been unique. Our prayer is that this project would help deepen our appreciation for scripture & point each of us to God. 

One of the surprises of COVID has been the opportunity to look at time in a different way. As we each continue to work through the changing restrictions, my prayer is that we would continue to make time for scripture, the reflection of scripture, the transformation of scripture in each of hearts, especially as we begin this Advent season.

提摩太後書3:16-17（新譯本）

「16全部聖經都是神所默示的，在教訓、責備、矯正和公義的訓練各方面，都是有益的， 17為要使屬　神的人裝備好，可以完成各樣的善工。」

我們的兒童事工已經開始了第二年的網上基督少年軍(Online Awana)，以上的經文是我們 2021 年 9 月至 2022 年 6 月的主題經文。我們非常重視孩子們的聖經教導，同時我也很期待他們的分享，讓我認識他們對經文的反思。

以下是與這段經文相關的一些思想……

「全部聖經都是神所默示的」提醒我們整本聖經都是上帝所默示的。無論我們是否完全明白所有章節，每一句話都是寶貴的。聖經裡面記錄的每一個度量衡，家譜中列出的名字，地方的名稱……每一個都有其目的，是向我們揭示我們的上帝是誰以及祂如何愛我們。

「在教訓、責備、矯正和公義的訓練各方面，都是有益的」我們生活在一個現代世界，是傾向將真理呈現為「相對的」或「我的真理」的時代……。這節經文提醒我們，真理的源頭是上帝自己，是祂的話語我們才真正明白什麼是真理，不是我們自己的版本或偏好。神的心意是要我們尋求真理，而真理的基礎就是尋求祂。只有這樣，我們才能夠教導真正價值的東西。

在整個事工年我們會研讀這節經文，我們鼓勵孩子們根據這節經文為海報塗上顏色，或者製作他們自己有關這節經文的海報。然後將作品在我們每週的網上聚會(Zoom Calls) 中與其他人分享。很高興看到他們提交的作品，看到他們的創作力，每一個作品都是獨一無二的。我們祈禱這個項目將有助於加深我們對經文的認識，並帶領我們每個人指向上帝。

COVID其中的一個驚訝，使我們以不同的方式看待時間。當我們每個人不停地努力克服不斷變化的限制措施時，我祈禱我們會繼續分配時間閱續聖經，思想經文，讓經文轉化到我們的內心，特別是將臨期的開始，迎接這個普天同慶的大日子。