We Have Walked along a Section of the Road: The Learning of Mission
Two years ago, HKBTS has extended its development in mission in its theological education. Up to this day, the faculty and students have walked along a section of the road in this direction . . .
The Development in the Direction of Mission
October 16-25
The Inspiration from Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization
President Cho was invited to join the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism in South Africa. The Congress not only helped Dr. Cho renew his personal call to mission but this meeting with other evangelicals strengthened his commitment to lead our team of teachers to make mission central to theological education and lead HKBTS students to join the mission ministry to spread the kingdom of God.
February 20
Launching the “Faith, Hope, and Love Project”
In the “Diamond Jubilee Worship Service,” Dr. Cho projected the way forward for the Seminary’s future direction as he launched the “Faith, Hope, and Love Project.” A key point of the project is to promote the Baptist’s pioneering spirit with a focus on evangelism and mission. Dr. Cho challenged the Seminary to become a vibrant disciple community ready to take up the Christian mission.
August
Re-launching the Mission Dynamics Center
The purpose of re-launching the Center is to nurture talents in mission, to engage in the study of mission ministry and resource provision, and to establish greater partnership relationship with churches, missionary societies and mission organizations. Rev. Pak Loh assumed the office of Director of the Center in August while two of our teachers, Dr. Eric Kwong and Dr. Alexander Mak, joined the Center to promote the Seminary’s mission ministry.
In 2013January
Offering the Doctor of Theology Program
Another key point of the Faith, Hope, and Love Project is to develop the Graduate Studies Program by offering the Doctor of Theology Program. This has a three-fold purpose: 1. to respond to churches, the society and the world, and to assume the Seminary’s responsibility; 2. to prepare a new generation of teaching talents; 3. to put mission into practice.
Over three years’ preparation, the Th.D. Program has been launched in the spring in the academic year of 2012-13. By taking good advantage of the Seminary’s excellent faculty and learning resources, we envisage training up workers who will devote themselves to shepherding, mission, and a host of other evangelical ministries. In this way, the Seminary can further participate in the mission ministry of God’s Kingdom.
Gaining an Overview of Contemporary Mission
Besides classroom learning, we hope that our students can gain an overview of contemporary mission through lectures, special mission messages in morning chapels, noon-time sharing meetings, all kinds of exchanges and times set aside for prayer.
1. Lectures
March 27-29, 2012Baptist Mission Week : We invited Dr. Brian Stanley to give a number of talks on “Reflection and Hope in Baptist Mission.” The morning lectures were held at Sai O campus with the theme “Turning Points in Understanding the Great Commission.” The evening lectures were held at Immanuel Baptist Church with the theme “God’s Mission and Ours.” The sharing and insights of Dr. Stanley have broadened the horizon of our teachers and students and have given us an opportunity to reflect together and exchange ideas on Baptist mission.
In 2012
- President Cho delivered a sermon on “The Integral Mission: The Gospel for the Poor.” (August)
- President Cho delivered a sermon in the Joint Programs Graduation Ceremony on “Jesus Christ’s Gospel: An Integral Mission” (November)
- Mr. Anthony Chiu, Director of Hong Kong Fair Trade Power presented a message entitled, “A Re-examination of Integral Mission: Fair Trade.” (November)
- Dr. Chan Nim-chung, Chief Executive of Cedar Fund, spoke on the subject, “Integral Mission.” (November)
- Rev. Samuel Chiang, Executive Director of International Orality Network, introduced us to the subject, “To Tell the World through Orality.” (December)
- In the morning chapel of the Opening Convocation in spring, President Cho spoke on “Poverty and Wealth.” (January)
- Three of our Biblical Studies teachers, Dr. Wong Fook Kong, Dr. Tony Sher and Dr. Clement Shum, shared their views in the three subsequent morning chapels on the topic, “Good News for the Poor? Biblical Teachings on Caring for the Poor.” (January and February)
3. Exchange and Prayers
Thank God for exchanges President Cho and our faculty have had with the missionaries and mission societies. Students through various chapel services have met with missionaries from Hong Kong and from overseas. Our students have learnt about the situations of the mission fields and their needs. They can also pray for the missionaries and for the unreached peoples in those ethnic communities.
In 2010- Dr. Ben Brown and his staff coworkers of the Go with God Global came to the Seminary on a visit for exchange. (November)
- Dr. Billie Hank, President of International Evangelism Association, came to the Seminary on a visit for exchange. (May)
- Our teachers and students went to visit a church of Korean Christians in Hong Kong. (October)
- Thirteen missionaries supported by Hong Kong Baptist Church visited the Seminary and met the faculty and students in the morning chapel. Dr. Jerry Moye and Rev. Pak Loh prayed specifically for them on the occasion. (November)
- Local missionaries to Africa came to HKBTS on a visit for exchange. (November)
- Watoto “Stars of Hope” Children’s Choir from Uganda visited the Seminary: The choir is made up of children who have lost one or both parents due to the AIDS epidemic or war. In the morning chapel, through music, dance and members’ stories, the choir shared the Watoto vision and ministry with our teachers and students who later divided into small groups together with the choir members to care and pray for their needs. (February)
- Missionary Rev. Make Heung-lan and Rev. Lee Kwong-ping of the China Evangelistic Mission Ltd. came to the Seminary on a visit for exchange. (February & March)
- The missionary, Tom McCormac, from Enoch Society for Care of the Aging visited the Seminary. (March)
- 90 people from the Mainland organized by the Institute in Basic Life Principles (Hong Kong) Limited paid a visit for exchange to the Seminary. (March)
- Rev. Chris Barnden, Director of Ministries of Global Interaction in Australia, came to visit the Seminary. (October)
- Rev. Terry Smith, Director of Partnerships and Initiatives, Canadian Baptist Ministries came to visit the Seminary. (October)
- President Cho had an opportunity of an exchange with around 100 people from the Institute in Basic Life Principles (Hong Kong) Limited which works in the Mainland. (October)
4. Noon-Time Sharing Meetings
In an effort to promote and strengthen the campus ethos for learning more about mission, the Evangelism Department of the Student Union has offered several different noon-time sharing meetings.
In 2011- “The Aftermath Situation of Japan’s March 11 Earthquake”: Missionary Fung King-ho, an alumni and a missionary to Japan came to the Seminary to speak on the topic. (March)
- Rev. Lin Tat-kit, Executive Director of Hong Kong Baptist Mission, spoke on the topic, “Local Cross-Cultural Ministry: The Gospel Ministry for Indonesians.” (April)
- Rev. Lam Chun-hung, Pastor of Swatow Baptist Church of Kowloon City, spoke on the topic, “Local Cross-Cultural Ministry: The Gospel Ministry for Thais.” (September)
- Pastor Mitsumasa Shiba of the Hong Kong Japanese Christian Fellowship spoke on the topic, “Understanding the Ministry for Japanese Expatriates in Hong Kong.” (November)
- Rev. Chan Shun-kam, Director of Mission and Mobilization (Hong Kong Region) of The China Evangelistic Mission Ltd., spoke on the topic, “How to Promote Mission Ministry in Chinese Churches.” (February)
- Dr. Chan Nim-chung, Executive Director of Cedar Fund, spoke on the topic, “The Afghanistan Experience and the Cedar Fund’s Theological Idea of Integral Mission.” (April)
- “The Sharing of Zhong Shan Ministry” (September)
- “The Sharing of China’s North West Ministry” (November)
- “Prison Ministry” presented by Dr. Tobias Brandner of the Hong Kong Christian Kun Sun Association. (February)
Experience in Exchange and Evangelism
From learning to practice, from exchange to experience, we walk forward step by step …
In 2011 June 1-8
“Hill Road Singers” Sichuan Art Exchange Visit
In 2011 June 10-12
A Cultural Exchange Visit to Yingde City, Guangdong Province
In 2011 June 15-23
A Group of Graduating Students Visited the Mongolian People’s Republic
Zhong Shan Exchange : The 23-member squad went to Zhong Shan to visit an orphanage, a center offering various classes of interest, homes of local Christians, and a Christian church. We thank God for providing the opportunity for our teachers and students to participate in these activities conducted by the local Christian church. Through serving in these activities, our students came to experience the power of God’s word.
An Art Exchange Visit to Wuhan by the “Hill Singers”: In early June, a team of 24 students and 3 teachers of the “Hill Singers” visited churches in Wuhan, Ezhou, and Chibi. They sang hymns and gave testimonies in the Ark School of English Training and The Seminary of Central and Southern China. We thank God for bestowing on these students a heart of unity as they richly experienced God’s leading.
Evangelism in Stanley Prison : During the Easter Holiday, a team of students and teachers went to Stanley Prison to conduct three evangelistic meetings. The team was allowed to preach the gospel to over a hundred male prison inmates, including over 30 foreigners. We thank the Hong Kong Christian Kun Sun Association for their liaison work that provides our students the opportunity to care for and serve this marginalized community. The team used ice-breaking games, hymn-singing, Christian testimony, the gospel message, and small groups to share their witnesses. It was during the small group session that our students answered questions raised by inmates about the Christian faith and they could pray for the inmates’ needs.
Publication
Through literary publication, the Seminary shares with churches and brothers and sisters our reflections on mission…
October 2010 – April 2013Newsletter: President Cho shared messages on mission for six issues in succession in the “President’s Word” in the Seminary’s Newsletter. These are the topics: “The Christian Mission of a Disciple Community,” “The Christian Mission of Disciples,” “Missio Dei and the Holy Spirit,” “Hospitality: Practicing the Integral Mission,” “Integral Mission—Gospel for the Poor?” and “The Poverty of the ‘Non-Poor.’” Besides, in the Faculty Sharing column Rev. Pak Loh wrote an essay on “The Characteristics of the Disciple Community of the Great Commission.”
Publishing in progress : Dr. Eric Kwong is now writing the book, The Gospel and Globalization, that discusses contemporary missional direction and strategy. This book is one of the publications on mission in the Seminary’s Church and Culture series.
January 2013Hill Road：We have published Hill Road (issue 30) following the theme ‘Mission.” In this issue, various issues on the theology of mission and the contemporary history of mission are discussed.
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Mission is one of the important directions of the Seminary’s theological education. In the days ahead, as God leads us forward, we are eager to learn more, experience more and have more life encounter about mission. We pray that we can be part of God’s mission and make disciples of all peoples of the world.