Aug 28-29, 2021
From the Pastor’s Desk: Pastor Francis Chan

The topic I shared last time was, “Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel!”. At that time, I shared the progress of our Youth Evangelism Exploration Training Course that had just started for about 2 months. Today, all 10 students in the course have passed our 2 graduation exams. Now, they are working hard to fulfill another graduation requirement, which is to share the gospel with no less than 10 people. When all students have completed the required number of sharing, they will graduate. All is grace and I am thankful.

Since its establishment in January last year, our Cantonese-speaking Young Couples Fellowship, SOS (Song of Songs) Fellowship, has continued to grow in numbers. So far, our fellowship has more than 20 couples and more than 30 children. We have two regular meetings a month from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturdays. On the second Saturday, we study the Bible in one large group, and on the fourth Saturday, we share and pray in small groups. Although we could only meet online in the past 17 months, we are thankful that our attendance rate has remained above 70%. For young parents having to take care of young children, this is a very good attendance rate indeed. Last Sunday, we went to the Centennial Beach Park in Delta. A total of 40 people from 14 families attended. All is grace and I am thankful.

In my sermon in AYAYA Online 2 weeks ago on August 14, I asked: “Why does God allow us to suffer?” My answer, “Oftentimes, the greatest learning and growth opportunity in life happens   when we suffer. Suffering can help us understand our weaknesses, see our limitations, hear God’s voice more readily, and follow God’s path more willingly.” Just one week after my sermon, my right foot suffered from plantar fasciitis. On the first night of my illness, my foot felt as though it was being burnt on the stove, and I couldn’t sleep at all. Incredibly, my heart was at peace. I was thankful, and I even felt a satisfying feeling that I was being loved. I didn’t only pray for God to increase my pain, but also to extend the time of my pain. You may be wondering, am I a masochist? Of course not. But God knows what a very forgetful person I am.

In fact, I had suffered from plantar fasciitis more than a decade ago in Hong Kong. For several weeks, I went to see a Chinese bone-setting doctor. When the doctor turned and twisted my foot, the pain I experienced was almost unbearable. The cause of my illness? Simple: I was obese, and my feet had been under tremendous pressure from my bodyweight for a long time. For an obese person like me, the onset of plantar fasciitis is only a matter of time and frequency. Therefore, this relapse is a wakeup call from my loving God, who loves me and my family very much. How can I not respond and be thankful? By God’s grace in the not too remote future, I do look forward to meeting a new Pastor Francis, who will be 10 kg lighter than the current Pastor Francis. Please remember me if you will.