Quarterly Newsletter. Feb Let Us Start Rebuilding! Neh. 2:18. Chinese Bible Church of San Diego. More inside this issue

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1 Quarterly Newsletter Feb 2018 Chinese Bible Church of San Diego Let Us Start Rebuilding! Neh. 2:18 Thirty years ago, there was a population of around 60,000-70,000 Chinese people in San Diego, with less than a thousand of them attending a Chinese church. Currently, there are over 100,000 Chinese people, of which 3,500 attend a Chinese church (about half of which attend CBCSD). That is a small percentage (~3.5%), but it is an improvement from thirty years ago. How do we continue to pass on this wonderful gospel that God has entrusted to us? Over two thousand years ago, God had planned for his church to carry out this great commission. The church is you and I. Yesterday I heard about the school shooting in Florida. I couldn t help but ask- Why? What if there had been a Christian by his side to care for him, to love him, to share the gospel with him? Perhaps the gospel then could have changed this eighteen year-old murderer, and kept him from walking this dangerous road and hurting the lives of so many. CBC s building project is basically to set up a better infrastructure. This infrastructure would be a more ideal and spacious place that we could open up to the community. The church would be able to better educate and train coworkers so that the gospel could be preached to people in San Diego, El Cajon, Tijuana, Yuma, Taiwan, Peru, Brazil, Nepal, etc. In addition, the church could reach out to people who are hurting in difficult situations and bring them before the Lord to become children of God and have eternal life! Over the past three years, CBC compiled an Environmental Impact Report for the county as part of the application process. Right now, the report has been completed and submitted. Neighbors have had the chance to express concerns regarding the report, and we are having each concern addressed (mostly by our lawyer, engineer, and special analysts). In about a month s time, this should all be complete. Many brothers and sisters have been supporting this entire process with much prayer. The next steps will involve two public county meetings. Nehemiah, as a wine bearer, became involved with the rebuilding of Jerusalem s city wall. The city wall is a basic infrastructure. For our new building, there is the aspect of worship, training, and planning center. There is also the aspect of reaching out to the Chinese community, creating a community center and being a testimonial lampstand. It will be located in the 4S community, but on the map, it is in the heart of San Diego, with the mission of bringing the rest of the 90,000+ Chinese people to God. Let us start rebuilding! (Neh. 2:18) Chiamu Chang, Council Chair More inside this issue NEW BEGINNINGS: p.2 MISSIONS: p.5 MINISTRY UPDATES: p.2-3 UPCOMING EVENTS: p.5 NEXT-GEN: p.4

2 NEW BEGINNINGS Praise the Lord! There were a total of nine brothers and sisters from Main Campus Mandarin congregation who got baptized in December. On Dec. 17, three sisters from 4S Campus were baptized. The Cantonese congregation had baptism service on Dec. 17 with five brothers and sisters being baptized. MINISTRY UPDATES NOV To show gratitude toward Pastor Matt Thompson and his family and to say farewell, Temecula Valley Campus had a fellowship lunch for their family on Nov. 5. Lord's Grace had a great time packing 252 boxes at the Operation Christmas Child Packing Party on Nov. 5. Over 70 brothers and sisters from CBCSD joined forces with Camp Pendleton Marines and Calvary Chapel San Juan Capistrano in November, packed over 270,000 meal packets for One Meal Kids Around the World for the refugees reside in Bibi Refugee Camp in Uganda. Thanksgiving is a time to join together to reflect on the many blessings from God, and give thanks to God for his abundant love! The Cantonese congregation shared meals together, sang praises and shared our testimonies of God's faithfulness! Praise God for a wonderful evening! Central Campus Operation Christmas Child has collected 121 gift-filled shoe boxes, thanks to the love from brothers and sisters. May these boxes bring God s love and Good News to the hearts of many children. On Nov. 11, Lord's Grace enjoyed fellowship, sharing of testimonies, and a turkey costume game during the annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Around Thanksgiving time, Main and 4S Campus fellowships and small groups held their own dinners, inviting seeker friends to recount the Lord s grace. Page 2

3 MINISTRY UPDATES (con t) DEC Main and 4S Campus had a joint Christmas Eve worship service where the adult and children s choir sang songs to give praise and thanks for the Savior s birth. The brothers and sisters at Temecula Valley Campus gathered together to share the Lord's grace and love through a couple of fellowship feasts for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They also celebrated the friendship and support from all the brothers and sisters. Aside from the monthly Carmel Valley Gospel outreach events, there was a special joint evangelistic event among three of the small groups. Over 50 visiting scholars attended. Ten accepted Christ and five became baptized. JAN On Jan. 4, Temecula Valley Campus Thursday bilingual prayer group entered into its third year of praying together. They praise and thank the Lord for His faithfulness in sustaining the group and keeping them accountable. Thank God for the first outreach event of the year coordinated by local missions on Jan. 20 that focused on young people s prospects of the future. Nearly a hundred brothers and sisters, and newcomers attended this seminar. George Chu spoke at the seminar and also shared his own testimony. Pray that the newcomers would join the career fellowship and receive the Gospel. Thanks to the Lord, Temecula Valley Campus started a Chinese fellowship called Shower of Blessing. The English Small Group Fellowship at Temecula Valley Campus is continuing to meet and had their first meeting of the new year on Jan. 19. Page 3

4 NEXT-GEN MINISTRY More than a hundred kids and parents joined a special Magic Night for Christmas Celebration at AWANA on Dec. 15. The Central Campus youth and parents had a wonderful time of fellowship and bonding during their Thanksgiving celebration on Nov. 17. Kids from the children s Christmas musical served as messengers of love by singing at a Senior Home on Dec. 9. There was a joint Christmas café for Living Water and Exuberance (Central Campus) on Dec. 22. Everyone had a great time of fellowship. Good job to the planning team!! Click here to watch the video (good job to Production ministry for the video). The Main/4S Campus had a youth winter retreat at Pine Valley from Dec Finally, the Exuberance CONNECT t-shirt/ sweatshirt is here! Let s CONNECT to God and others (John 15:5). Good job to the Creative Ministry!!! On Dec. 8, Main/4S Campus had a High School Coffee House while the Jr. High had a Christmas party. Main, 4S, and Central youths joined together for a great Revival Night on Jan. 12. What a great way to kick off the new 2018 year. Page 4

5 MISSIONS UPDATES 2017 Short-term mission at the Tainan Drug Rehab Center. 79 people attended a five-day course, and 34 people were baptized on Dec. 19. The picture shown is of Pastor William Fu, along with team members, praying for the inmates. The 3rd Christmas Celebration in Tijuana attracted more than 120 local residents to come and learn the Real Meaning of Christmas - A Savior is born to us!! Praise the Lord for the safe and fruitful Christmas celebration. UPCOMING EVENTS 2/22-25: Central English s Winter Retreat Practicing the Presence of God. After 9 years of Practicing the Presence of God, this year, for the first time, the group will have an extended retreat from Thursday through Sunday. 3/2-4; 3/9-11: Cantonese Kairos Class 3/11: VBS Coworkers Sign-up begins 3/17: Joint Main, Central, and 4S campus coworkers retreat to help coworkers to develop a closer relationship with God and others 3/18: Annual Lord s Grace Bible Quiz on 2 Corinthians 4/14: Main/4S Campus youth s Julian Trip 4/30: Open registration for VBS (6/25-29), Friday Summer Program, Christmas Musical and AWANA Comments or Feedback? If you have any comments or feedback, please either Pastor Albert Lam (pastoralam@gmail.com) or Andrew Poon (andrewgloria@gmail.com). Translators Sue Lam, Venus Leung, Ellen Shih Editors/Publishers Corina Sun, Venus Leung, Ellen Shih CHINESE BIBLE CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO World Trade Dr, Ste 2, San Diego, CA