2022.04.09/10
From the Pastor’s Desk:Pastor Francis Chan
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
I still remember that in 2018 when I was about to graduate from Regent College, I could not find a ministry position in Canada. My feeling of loss, frustration, and fear at that time were beyond words. Being a mischievous child of God, I threw my complaint at my Father in heaven: “If You have truly called me to serve full-time in your church, why have you not opened a ministry position for me?” Of course I knew in my heart that God’s calling to me was real. It was just that He never said I had to serve Him in Canada. It is my will, not necessarily His will, to stay in Canada to serve.
Why did I not want to return to Hong Kong? Because I could not accept the “new” Hong Kong. The Hong Kong I had known, had cherished, and had been proud of was a society where the rule of law, administrative justice, basic human rights and freedom were cherished and protected. Everyone is equal before the law, and for those who were enforcing and administering the law, their enforcement and administration were fair, just, and transparent. Hong Kong had never been a place where mere words could form the basis of criminal prosecution. No one would be prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned for speaking out his mind. Hong Kong in 2018, compared to Hong Kong after the passing of the National Security Law on June 30, 2020, would have been like heaven. Yet even in 2018, free speech and civic society were being suppressed with relentless intensity. The Hong Kong Government ignoring public opinion, going against common sense, and constantly changing its policies to advance its political agenda had become “the new normal” in Hong Kong. Moreover, our family has lived in Canada for 6 years, and we have generally adapted to it. “God, I have given up everything I have in Hong Kong to serve You with all my heart, can I just choose where to serve You?”
After many struggles, when I was willing to give up my will and seek God’s will, a miracle happened. RCAC had a vacancy in its pastoral team. By God’s grace, I got the opportunity to serve in my mother church. I became a pastor of the Cantonese Ministry to take care of our youth and young families. Thanks be to God that although my ministry has been busy and sometimes trying, I do see lots and lots of grace and blessings.
In 2019, the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement broke out in in Hong Kong. The contradictions and conflicts between Hongkongers and its government reached a critical point. What happened after 2019 has become a history written by the tears and blood of Hongkongers. Out of sympathy for Hongkongers (especially those social activists), many liberal democratic countries in the west have set up truly generous immigration programs. Canada is one of them and has set up the Hong Kong Pathway to facilitate Hongkongers to study and work in Canada. Starting from 2021, we have seen a large number of Hongkongers coming to Vancouver. Among them were Christians and faith seekers who came to our RCAC family. When I see their reluctance and grief to leave behind their families and friends in Hong Kong, their struggles and adaptation to their new life here in Canada, and their anxiety about the uncertainty of their future, I can totally resonate with them. “God, is it not shepherding and caring for the wounded Hong Kong newcomers your call to me here and now?”
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Francis Chan