“ZHONG QIU JIE” in Kenya
To me the Chinese celebration of the Mooncake Festival was just an occasion to eat a lot of mooncakes, with no other great significance. Well, I was wrong. The Mainland Chinese people consider it a very important occasion, especially in Mainland China, and the Chinese people in our Kenya Fellowship insisted on a big do. Just coming back from a much-needed rest in Malaysia and Singapore, I knew I was in for another big stressful programme that I could not escape from.
An initial gathering of about 50 grew to an evangelistic outreach programme for 200! 500 invitations cards were printed and every member was to distribute them within three weeks. There were crazy rounds of meetings to finalise activities for the evening of October 6. The game plan was to do something very festive. So, some members were to sing, while some got ready a dance that is popular in China called the “16-Step Dance”; and six teenagers including my son Jeremy practised a street dance almost every weekend leading up to the great occasion.
Even John Lim came up with a 10-minute ‘movie’ on “The Story of the Kenya Chinese Gospel Fellowship” from inception till now. There was a Karaoke and Poem Reading Competition lined up for that evening. Our Sunday school kids prepared games to play with the visitors. Of course, there will also be an evangelistic message before it all ends. We also made copies of CDs of evangelistic messages together with the Gospel of John booklets to be given out to every visitor. From the day that we decided on this programme, the members met every Friday to fast and pray for this occasion.
One week before the Mooncake Festival, I had a dream. I dreamt that I was going to give a sermon. In the dream, I remembered that I prepared well for it because there were sheets of sermon notes which I placed on the pulpit. Just as I was about to speak, a gust of wind came and blew away all my papers! There went my sermon too. I woke up and knew something was about to go wrong. The Lord was warning me that all our preparations would come to naught. I shared my dream on Sunday and the whole fellowship prayed for faith.
True enough, the Chinese Embassy decided to have a reception for their new ambassador on the same evening we were holding our Mooncake Festival Celebration! More than 50% of the people who intended to come to our celebrations were also invited to the one held by the Embassy. We had no choice but to change the date to one day after. But our invitations were already out and many of us actually stood at malls to distribute them, so there was no way we could inform everybody.
Well, that was not all. At the last minute, John had to go to Antwerp for a whole week although his ‘movie’ was not completed. In addition, the member who was supposed to present the ‘movie’, suddenly had to go on a business trip to Tanzania and might not be back in time. Moreover, the teenagers could not finalise their dance because they did not have enough moves (whatever that means). Also, a few key programme contributors left for China on emergencies. On top of that, the 200 CDs we made were faulty and had to be re-done. Well, everything that could possibly go wrong must have gone wrong already. Ahhh…ahhhh…!!! Whoever invented the mooncake festival should be shot!!!
The great day came, and nothing seemed to work. Even one hour before we were about to begin, there was chaos. We were still packing CDs; the teenagers were still doing last-minute adjustments; the food was not ready; the decorations kept falling off… I’m sure I was not the only one praying like mad that evening.
By 7p.m., people started streaming in… the seats were filled. The food got there in the nick of time and the programme started with hardly a hitch! Even the guy who was presenting the movie came back from Tanzania. He drove non-stop for hours to rush back. The games went well and the message of God’s love was delivered. I had to give a speech in Chinese, and sang and danced my “16-Step Dance.” There was enough food and the feedback was that our fellowship was like a close happy family. Some even said our party was better than the one held by the Chinese Embassy! They were amazed that so few of us (only about 20 KCGF members were around at that time) could invite close to 200 guests. Unlike a lot of such programmes, more than 80% of the people who came had never heard the good news before.
God came through for us as He promised. He did what He says He will do. He used so few of us and allowed us to face innumerable obstacles in order to show His grace, His might and His power. All we needed to do was depend on Him. Praise be to His name.
John and Jennifer with June, Jeremy and Joel, at Ngong Hills
OTHER GREAT TESTIMONIES AND GOOD NEWS from the Kenya Chinese Gospel Fellowship (KCGF)
Brother Liu and his family (wife and daughter) came to know the Lord two months ago when I brought a visiting missions team to his house. But since then he received news that his father in China had stomach cancer. The church prayed for him and on a second check-up it was found that the cancer cells had disappeared! Just when he was about to celebrate, he received news that his mother had gone into a coma. There was a blood clot in her brain. Brother Liu was very upset. He wanted to give up his faith. He wondered how this could be happening to him; but he trusted God. The Chinese church continued to rally around him. He prepared to go back to China. His home was far away, and he had to travel three days. The hospital discharged his mother, as there was nothing else they could do; his family was asked to make funeral arrangements. The day brother Liu arrived home, his mother opened her eyes for the first time in two weeks! She could recognise him. In another two days, she was able to speak. By the end of the week, her tubes were removed and she could eat on her own. Everyone around them was amazed. Liu shared the gospel with his family and friends. He shared how the fellowship in Kenya prayed for his father’s cancer and his mother’s coma. Liu’s father and mother received the Lord! This is the way we envisaged touching the Mainland Chinese lives through overseas Christians.
Sister Kang Mei had to leave Kenya in a hurry as she received news that her 88-year-old mother had been hospitalised and was very ill. Kang Mei prayed that she would be able to see her mother one last time. She was able to see her mum and in a few days she was gone. Her mother, who was a Roman Catholic, had time to confess her sins in Jesus’ name before she passed away and was very comforted to know that her only daughter is now a Christian.
Pastor Iris Chau and her husband Matthew Wong are now our new pastors. We have fasted and prayed for the past two years for a shepherd and God gave us two! They will officially take over the Kenya Chinese Gospel Fellowship as of December 1, 2006. They are from the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) Wing Kwong Tong, Hong Kong, part of the worldwide IPHC group of churches. This is a several-thousand-strong cell church in HK. The intention is for us to register as a church and not a fellowship as soon as possible and to have our own premises one day.
Uganda Chinese Gospel Fellowship (UCGF) was established this month by one of our founding members. The first fellowship meeting last week saw 14 Chinese people come together. Three persons received the Lord. KCGF (Kenya Chinese Gospel Fellowship) continues to give support by sending Chinese Bibles and other materials. Our Kenya Chinese Gospel Fellowship can no longer claim to be the only Chinese Christian group in East Africa!
Outreach Sunday every 3rd Sunday of the Month is now a reality. With a full-time minister, we are now able to have regular outreach programmes for the Chinese in Kenya. Every 3rd Sunday of the month, we gather together members who will give good testimonies, present songs and even play games to welcome newcomers.
Youth Programme. For the first time we had a youth gathering for eight youths, aged 14 to 21. We hope to attract many more Chinese young people who live and study in Kenya. Pray for me, I am the one leading it.
An Unforgettable Christmas Programme. We are so excited and have been practising carols because we plan to go carolling at a major mall and at several Chinese restaurants on Christmas Eve. This is definitely the first time Kenya will hear carols sung publicly in the Chinese language!
LET ALL OF GOD’S PEOPLE PRAISE HIM… wherever we are!
By Jennifer Lim
for the Lim Family in Kenya — Wishing everybody a Blessed Christmas