Letter To CCCOWE Family
Letter to CCCOWE Family
During my ministry trip in Europe this May, the Chinese church leaders in Europe and I discussed whether we should host the CCCOWE Europe summit next year. Through the discussion, an idea has been growing increasingly clear in my heart: "In the post-pandemic era, people are really tired of attending all kinds of postponed and new gatherings. If CCCOWE is to organize a gathering, we should not host a '+01' type of gathering, which means adding an extra workload for everyone. Instead, if CCCOWE should organize a gathering at all, it should be an 'x10' type of gathering to bless and inspire existing networks, churches, denominations, and organizations, generating friendships, trust, insights, ideas, collaboration..., etc."
Two key elements exist in transitioning from “+01” gatherings to “x10” gatherings. First, a “change in posture” is required, adjusting the angle of “+” to “x”. It means we no longer see each other as competitors but as family and friends in God's household. Second, “adjust the priority” is necessary, changing the order from “01” to “10”. It means that instead of prioritizing the development of our own ministries and platforms, we should place God's heart and His mission at the forefront!
The longer I serve, the more I realize that the key to a godly and healthy ministry is about something other than having the right methods, skills, or execution. The most important elements are the presence of God, and the friendship and trust among God’s people.
I thank God for the "Future Church @ Penang" summit held by CCCOWE this April. We invited 72 church leaders, seminary presidents, mission leaders, and workplace leaders from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. For four days and three nights, we fellowship in the Lord. With the heart of exchanging gifts, our discussion was focused on the Gospel, global missions, and discipleship. Together, we explored the challenges and opportunities the church faces in the coming future.
After the four-day gathering, I wrote in my journal: "We don’t need to worry about the future of God’s church; it is in God’s hands! But the future church must respond to the power of the Gospel, becoming a community that manifests the Gospel, bringing about a culture of grace and truth. I am thankful to God for the past four days in Penang. With pastors from Singapore, East Malaysia, West Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, we have learned to be a community that witnesses the Gospel. We learn to be sincere without pretense, open without competition, acknowledging differences, and yet choosing to embrace each other! I hope this culture of manifesting the Gospel doesn't only stay within these few days of the gathering but spreads out and allows Christians not just to think about redeeming the external culture but also to let God first redeem and renew our culture of how we treat each other internally!"
Two months after the Summit in Penang, I received a message from a young Chinese Malaysian pastor who attended the conference, "Dear Pastor Doong, I am eager to share with you that we have just conducted Malaysia's first Interdenominational Young Leaders’ Roundtable. Young leaders from over a dozen denominations and organizations in Malaysia gathered to discuss the challenges faced by the young people in Malaysian churches, to rediscover the essence of the Gospel, and to discuss the opportunities for the Gospel in the Malaysian context."
“Thank you for inspiring us and sowing the seed of unity in our hearts 🙏🏼😊. It was a deeply touching gathering (in Paneng), the first of its kind in Malaysia, where we came together not just for ministry purposes, but for sincere fellowship. While specific topics were discussed, what was more important was the process of being together, engaging in genuine dialogue, and becoming good friends.”
“In the concluding session, a pastor from East Malaysia told her fellow pastors from West Malaysia that ‘from now on, for students from East Malaysia studying in West Malaysia, or vice versa, we would no longer be preoccupied with our denominational differences. We made a covenant to take care of each other's students.’ Hearing this was truly moving."
The next day, I received another message from a young Anglican minister who initiated the Malaysia Interdenominational Young Leaders’ Roundtable, "Dear Pastor Doong, I want to express special gratitude for your efforts in launching the 'Future Church Summit.’ This has helped us realize that unity in the church is not just a dream but a reality called by God to witness. This summit also inspires our efforts to witness such unity in Christ in Malaysia. We just concluded the three-day two-night 'Malaysia Cross-Denominational Young Leaders Roundtable.' The beautiful testimonies and fellowship we experienced during it have lingered in my heart."
After reading this, tears fell from my eyes as if I could feel the joy of the heavenly Father, a joy of satisfaction in his father’s heart. Despite our differences, backgrounds, theological traditions, and unique gifts we received, we still can genuinely value and love each other when we understand our true identity and relationship with one another in Christ. We are called to witness the power of the Gospel, fulfilling our Father’s heart in genuine friendships, love, and trust! I thank God for using the "Future Church" summit to inspire young leaders to live out the essence of the Gospel in their contexts!
Over the past three months, another ministry experience that left a deep impression on me was when I was invited to speak at the Pastors’ School of the Malaysian Methodist Church, serving over 500 pastors from Chinese, English, and Tamil-speaking congregations.
In the few days we spent together, I had the opportunity to dialogue with pastors from different generations. I would like to share some of my takeaways from the gathering.
- What does the younger generation need? What the young people really long for is not positions nor more resources, but to be seen, acknowledged, and accompanied by the older generation.
- What does the older generation need? What the older generation really desire is not positions, power, and resources. They need to know that they are loved, will be treated with dignity, and won't be forgotten after retirement from their positions.
- Who should take the initiative to reach out to the other generations? The younger or the older? The principle is: that the powerful should take the initiative to reach and empower the powerless! If both generations don't make intentional efforts to move closer to each other, they could fall into a vicious cycle. Conversely, they could potentially enter a virtuous cycle! I've observed that the older leaders who sacrifice more to empower the younger generation are the ones most loved and respected by the younger generation; and the younger generation who are willing to receive blessings from the older leaders are the ones most trusted by the older leaders. In a nutshell, the powerful should not seize power but instead empower others; the powerless should not fight for power but instead, honor others!
- The church is the household of God, we are members of God’s family. The key to a healthy family is “trust and love.” The most important factor for two generations to truly serve together and empower each other is not mechanisms nor methods, but whether we “believe that the other generation loves us or not?” Therefore, we should examine ourselves: Do I truly love the older/younger generation? Do my actions effectively convey my love to them?
- While generational differences often become sources of tension. Yet let us not forget that God is the creator of all generations; our differences can also be transformed into creative and constructive forces for renewal in the power of the Gospel! Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski wrote, “If the new generations had not continuously revolted against the inherited tradition, we would still be living in caves. If revolt against inherited tradition should become universal, we would soon be back in caves.” Generational differences can be a divine blessing.
Thanks be to God, over the next two years, CCCOWE districts and regional committees around the globe will host gatherings similar to the "Future Church" summit held by CCCOWE this April.
- North American CCCOWE summit @ Toronto, Canada in October 2023 (hosted by the CCCOWE USA and CCCOWE Canada)
- Central and South American CCCOWE summit @ Buenos Aires, Argentina in April 2024 (hosted by CCCOWE Central and South America)
- "Future Church" summit for Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia Christian leaders @ Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in May 2024 (hosted by CCCOWE)
- European CCCOWE summit @ Paris, France in October 2024 (hosted by CCCOWE European Continent)
I pray that these gatherings are not just “+01” gatherings but “x10” gatherings that embody the spirit of reconciliation and unity in the Gospel, connecting us in response to God's mission!
In addition, we are excited to announce that "Chinese Churches Today” magazine will return as an annual journal. Our first issue will focus on “At the Crossroads of Global Mission" and feature articles with fresh insights from global church and mission leaders. To ensure our content is relevant to reality, we've created a short survey, which should take about 10 minutes to complete. Your input will not only help enrich our upcoming issue and as a way of saying “thank you,” we'll send you a free copy of the physical magazine (Chinese only) and share the research results via email. We deeply appreciate your help by filling in, sharing, and forwarding the survey to suitable groups and pastoral networks. Please click here to fill in the survey.
