Happy Birthday Watermark: Our Compass Gathering

I've been thinking about our fourth year.

And so what I do about this, I wanted to start off with,

if you know me, my family's from Montana.

I was born in Texas.

My dad is a sixth-generation German farmer,

did not want to be on a ranch in Montana,

so he joined the military.

And so I was born in Texas.

We traveled everywhere.

And when you live on a military base,

you hear of a lot of urban legends and stories

are told amongst the military people.

And I remember growing up and just hearing

all these fancy, amazing stories

about fighter pilots and jet pilots

and all these other things that are going on.

But one stuck into my head.

It's the one that's kind of imprinted in my mind.

And my dad told me this.

I don't know if it's true,

but I'm just going to go by it and say it's true.

It might be an urban legend he can tell me later on.

And the story goes like this.

There was a corporal.

So in the business world, corporal is,

I don't know what you'd even call them.

They're probably an intern at McQuarrie

or someplace like that.

So there, an intern comes in, a corporal,

and he's in charge of the motor pool,

which is where you have all the trucks

and the Jeeps and the tanks on the military base.

And so he's sitting at his desk.

And then one day, the base commander calls up.

The base commander would be like,

you're head, head, head.

So he's the top of your company.

I don't know.

He's beyond a managing director,

whatever you want to.

So he's probably a three-star general.

And he's trying to figure out,

he needs a car for the day.

And so he calls up the motor pool.

He doesn't announce who he is.

He just says, hey, I'm calling to see

what kind of cars we have in the motor pool.

And the corporal, not knowing who's talking,

said, well, you know, we have a couple Jeeps.

We have a couple tanks that are being repaired.

We have a couple big trucks.

And we have this really nice limo

for a big, fat general.

And the general's listening on his phone, right?

And he's like, son, do you know who this is?

And he's like, no, no, no, no, sir.

And he goes, this is General, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

that big, fat general.

How dare you say something like that?

And there's this quiet.

And all of a sudden the private goes,

sir, do you know who this is?

And the general goes, no.

Goodbye, fatty.

I tell that story because I love it.

And I remembered it since I've been like 10 years old.

But I think it's a story that speaks to us today.

The story, I think, is, it talks about,

you know, sometimes we just forget who we talk to.

Sometimes we forget who we're talking to.

Sometimes we forget who we are.

Sometimes we forget our position and our job

and what we're supposed to do.

Sometimes we forget who we report to.

And the story I just told shares a great example of that,

and I hope it's true.

But the scripture talks about it over and over again.

In the passage that we talked about about four weeks ago,

we put it in the bulletin again today.

And it's because I think it talks to us

as a church at four years old.

And this is going to be a very interesting sermon time.

So what we're going to do is,

I hate meetings.

I hate AGMs.

I just, I'm always,

because it's just always these situations

where you're calling people up,

come here to this meeting,

and we need a quorum,

and we need all these things.

And it just never works out in churches

and businesses and everywhere.

And so what we decided to do,

and this is, I think, is our third one,

our second one,

we decided not to have AGM,

but we started to have a service.

And so what we're going to do is,

we're going to share.

So you're in our AGM right now,

but hopefully it'll be funner than a board meeting.

And we're going to share about

what God's been doing in the church's life.

We're going to share where we've been,

where we are now,

and where we're hoping to go.

And so this is basically Watermark's AGM.

So you got that.

Then afterwards, we're going to take a picture,

and there's food for people.

And if you haven't ordered your ticket yet,

we have some extra tickets.

Come see Christina and I.

We're going to have this great celebration.

But right now, we're looking at,

you got it.

Where are we going,

and what we're doing.

And the passage says this.

As Peter is talking to the church,

he reminds them of who they are.

He reminds them of who they're working with.

And the thing that always sticks out to me

in verse nine is he reminds them

that they are a priest.

He reminds them that everybody in the church

is a priest.

Now in the Jewish culture,

there were only a couple of priests,

and those priest jobs were really important.

But in the church,

what Peter is reminding us

is that everybody in the church is a priest.

The priest job was to bring broken people to God.

The priest job was to be this element of reconciliation.

The priest made the temple happen.

Anything that happened in the temple,

it was because the priest were serving,

they were doing, they were bringing.

And the priest job was to bring the broken people,

to bring the people who needed God

into the temple

and to help this reconciliation take place.

And when Peter's writing in 1 Peter 2,

what you realize is that the people forgot.

The people forgot.

And the Bible's full of this.

The Bible talks a lot about

sometimes we forget when it's prosperous

and things are great

and it can't even be better.

And then sometimes we,

as God's people, priests,

we forget when it's difficult

and when it's really hard.

But what he says here

is that the people forgot.

And as I look back on these four years

and if I think about the next 20 years,

and this is going to be short, guys,

but I think about the next 20 years,

there's some things that keep sticking into my mind

is that what I hope this church will look like.

And there's some things in my mind

that's sticking with what I hope this church

won't look like.

And I wonder, and my prayer is,

and I hope that we don't become like the priest

that Peter's writing to in 1 Peter.

I hope that 30 years from now

when people come into Watermark

that we're not a group of passive people.

I mean, sometimes we can become passive, right?

And that's why Peter's writing this message to him.

Sometimes we can come into the temple

and we can expect to have our needs met

instead of meeting other people's needs.

Sometimes we can come into the temple

and we can not want to be equipped.

We cannot want to be served.

We can just want to veg and sit down

because our life is so hard and so crazy

and we can come in and we can forget

that God has called us all to be priests.

I mean, he has called us all to help broken people

and to be a part of healing broken city, Hong Kong.

I wonder, and I hope,

that we don't become like the people in 1 Peter

because Peter wrote this story to this church

that's 30 years old.

And I hope in 25 years,

we're not struggling with the same things

that they were struggling with.

I hope that we're not so busy

that we become separated from where we live.

In Peter's day, the people were so busy

with their schedules and their life

and everything they were doing.

They were just so busy

that they didn't think about their neighbors

or the people around them.

And they stopped reaching out to new people.

They stopped reaching out to new people

because they were so busy.

It's amazing to me, sometimes in a church,

we can travel 20 minutes or 30 minutes

to get to a church or a watermark,

but we can't walk 10 feet out of our door

to talk to our neighbors.

And I hope that we're not like that.

I pray that we don't become like the people

in Peter's day.

I hope that we don't stop changing lives

and communities and relationships.

I hope that we keep reaching out and loving people.

I hope that we stay focused on the one teacher, Jesus,

and not whoever's teaching up here 20 years from now.

We don't want to become a mega church

that's focused on one personality,

but we want to become a church

that continually focuses on Christ and what he's done.

You know, when we first started praying about this church,

we wrote out some things.

We said we want to be a church

that knows what it was like before we became Christians.

We want to be a church that never forgets

what it was like when we walked in darkness,

when we were alone, when we felt guilt,

when we felt shame,

when we felt terrible,

and no one would ever talk to us.

We wanted to remember what that was like.

We wanted to be a church

that was for the unchurched people.

We wanted to be a church

that was for de-churched people,

people who gave up on church.

We wanted to be a church

that was also for church people,

but the focus was always never

to bring people from other churches.

The focus was always to reach people

who weren't in church on Sunday

and to love them and bring them to the gospel.

When we started praying about this,

after six months,

one of our members came up and he said,

you know, this church, it's,

I said, what?

He goes, well, this is how I would define it.

I would say Watermark is the home of sinners

in the gospel.

Watermark is the home of sinners in the gospel

and I pray that 25 years from now,

we would continually be that group of people

who were changed by God's word.

We prayed that we would be a church community

where everybody knew your name

and everybody knew your story

or parts of your story.

That people could pray for you

and they could be a part of you.

How are we doing?

Are we doing good with that?

Because that's what we prayed for.

We prayed that we would be this church family

where, and this is amazing to me

because it's something I've been praying for forever,

we wanted to be a church

where even if friends knew

that somebody else was thinking

about spiritual things

and even if they weren't spiritual,

they would say, hey, go check out Watermark

because they're an interesting church.

I've heard good things about them.

And it's amazing to me

how many people are in church today

because somebody brought them

and the people who brought them

weren't churchgoers

or they weren't in the family of God

and some of them aren't even in here today

and that's the type of church

we want to be about.

We want to be a church

that integrates all the generations together, right?

We've talked about that

and sometimes that gets messy.

I mean, sometimes it gets messy

when you have kids around

and they're screaming and crazy.

I actually love it.

I mean, I think it's just what

the family of God's supposed to be like.

The family of God's supposed to be messy

and people are messy.

But that's the type of church we wanted to be

and what we realized is

if your kids,

listen to me really carefully,

even if you don't have kids,

you are raising the kids in this church.

If the kids never see you worship,

if they never see you sing,

if they never see you tithe,

if they never see you come to God's word,

they never see you open it,

if they just come and they get separated

and they go off to other places,

if they never are integrated

into the church family,

their faith will never become their own.

I mean, statistically,

the numbers are out of control.

And so we think that sometimes

the best thing to do

is get this great youth program

and that might help bring some people

into a church,

but that's not going to help them

walk a lifetime with the Lord.

What's going to help them

walk a lifetime with the Lord

is for us doing it together.

And so they see older people

and brothers and sisters

and I'm so thankful

for the singles in this group

because my kids are ministered

so much by you guys and ladies

because you love them,

you encourage them,

and you show them what it means

to be a Christian

even as you're older.

We want it to be a church

that was theologically sound.

We want it to always talk

about the gospel.

We want it to be a place

where you could ask questions.

We want it a place

where even if you didn't agree

with what was said,

you could feel free

to ask the question

and you could feel heard

and then you could walk away

going,

wow, that's an interesting church

because even though

I agreed very differently,

they love me,

they care for me,

they still pursue me

in their community groups

and I want to bring my friends there.

We want this vision

to drive everything that we do.

We want to be a church

that understands

that we're not in Hong Kong

to use Hong Kong.

We're not in Hong Kong

for the short period of time

just to use it

and then get our money

or our position

and then go back

to our hometown

but we believe

that God has placed you here

because he wants you

to serve the city.

He wants you to change the city.

He wants you to impact the city.

He wants you to use your gifts

and your talents

and your time

and we want to be a church

that does that

and thinks about that.

How are we doing?

My prayer,

I think that we're doing pretty good

but we could do better

in some areas

and so what we're going to do

is we're going to share

some of these things

of what God has been

allowing us to do

but again,

it's not the staff doing it,

it's you doing it

and if you don't engage,

if you don't pray,

if you don't do all these things,

then Watermark won't exist.

We want to be a church community

where everyone serves

and use their gifts and talents

and the focus point

is changing lives

and so I've asked Danielle

to come up.

Danielle, where are you?

Okay.

And as I think about

what God has called us to do,

it's my privilege

as a pastor

just to see God

changing people's lives

and so Danielle

has agreed to come up here

and she's going to share

a little of her story.

I promise not to be

as hard on her

as I am with my wife

sometimes up here

by asking funny questions

or things like that.

So Danielle,

as I think of

God changing people's lives,

I know that there's

many stories out here

but I really want people

just to kind of hear

a part of your story

so maybe just share

who you are

and how you,

just share who you are.

Hi everyone.

My name is Danielle

and I'm currently working

for Watermark Church

as a graphic designer

and my husband

is a non-believer

which is why

he's not here today

but he supports

my choice of faith

because he has witnessed

the change in me

over the last two years

after I've become baptized

and my seven-year-old daughter,

she comes to church

with me every Sunday

so she's on this journey

together with me

and I got baptized

two years ago

just outside.

In our great kiddie pool

that we have out there.

Yes,

and then I have

started coming ever since.

Okay,

well can you tell

a little bit about

your story

about how the Lord

has been moving

in your life

and in your marriage

and just the things

that you've been learning,

I mean as comfortable

as you feel

during this time.

Yeah,

a couple of years ago

I was going through

a phase whereby

nothing seems to matter

or mean to me,

like nothing seems

to mean anything to me

and I was feeling

empty and lonely

no matter what,

even though I have

all the things

that I need

and I was depressed

so,

and because of that

I started picking

on my marriage,

my life,

and my partner.

I resented many things

that I have been through

in Hong Kong

and I really,

really blamed him

for everything

and we separated

for a while

and I started coming

to Watermark Church.

So what God

has taught me

was,

he actually showed me

a miracle,

a miracle for me

because during that time

I was so 100% sure

that I'm not going

to give my marriage

a second chance

but he changed my heart

and he healed my heart

and I started to learn

how to love my husband again

and we got back together

and we are now having

a really healthy marriage.

You have a very

interesting story

of,

can you just share

maybe how you came

to be about

at Watermark

and what the church

has been doing

in your life

since that happened?

So I was going

through a phase

like where I was

so upset

and I was talking

to a friend

when I went back

to Singapore.

I'm from Singapore

and she's from here

and she asked me

if I'm doing alright

and I usually

would tell people

say I'm fine

but on that evening

I was with Scarlett

I was feeling really down.

I told her

no I'm not fine at all.

Something is really

wrong in me

and I don't know

how to fix it

and I think she said

you should go to

this church with me

and check it out

and I said okay

and we did

so it was

Watermark Church

and I came

without any expectations

and without

like thinking

whether it's really

the solution

to my problems

and yeah

so she kind of

indirectly

helped

sort out

my messy life

I'm grateful for that

and of course

I know it's

through God

that you know

he brought her

to my life

on that night

and asked me

to come here.

and you told me

that she's not

a church goer

and she no longer

goes to church

here right

so my question is

why did you keep coming?

I don't make fun

of Singaporeans

so you're okay

with that

because there's

too many rules there.

That was a good one

I didn't prepare

for that.

Okay

why do I keep coming?

Why do you keep coming?

Because

yeah

Okay

firstly

I've been to churches

in Singapore

but they are like

maybe not the ones

that I really feel

comfortable with

so that puts me off

and then when I was here

and I was down

and I came here

I don't feel intimidated

I like the music

and I like the atmosphere

and I like your sermons

yeah

You don't have to say that

because you work for me

No

yeah

so that's why

and also

after I started joining

a community group

I have a sense

of belonging

and I just realized

that I can't stop

coming anymore

yeah

What would you tell

somebody who

was experiencing

the same things

that you were experiencing

in that sense?

Well

this I have to read

from the script

for those of you

or even a friend

or a family member

you see that

if they are experiencing

something similar to me

I just want to say

as cliche as it sounds

we are not alone

and that God

is always

around

as forms of church

as forms of

a church mate

a neighbor

or even a friend

who is sitting right beside you

who brought you here

like

I think

God wants us

to be here

and there's a room

you just don't know

or maybe you know

and you don't know

where to start

so

coming here

I think

is a good place

to start

Can I pray for you?

Yeah

And then we'll let

the next guys come up

Father we thank you

for my sister

and I pray for her family

and pray for her husband

who is still on this journey

thank you that he

is happy to have

Danielle and his daughter

come to church

and the community

and stay in it

and I pray for

just his eyes

that you would open

his eyes

to your son Christ

pray that you

just encourage her

and just thank you

for how you

you've healed her marriage

in many many ways

but we know

that the journey

isn't completed

and so we pray

that you would continue

to go before her

and give her wisdom

give her peace

and to encourage her

and just give her

the words

that would point

those around her

to your son

so Father

we just thank you

and we love you

and we pray these things

in your son Jesus name

Amen

Thanks

Good morning

Are we on?

Following on

from what Tobin

has been saying

I'm going to talk

a little bit about

community groups

but connected

to what Tobin

was saying

in 1887

a guy called

Ansel Bourne

who is the guy

that Jason Bourne

from the Bourne

was named after

he was a Christian

preacher

who one day

set off to visit

his sister

he was in Rhode Island

it was only a couple

of miles away

but then mysteriously

he ended up

withdrawing all

of his savings

moving to Pennsylvania

and opened up

a store

under the name

of Alfred J. Brown

for two months

he was there

when after two months

he suddenly

woke up one morning

thinking

where on earth

am I?

when the people

around him

told him

oh we think

you are called

Albert J. Brown

he was totally

confused

because

Mr. Bourne

had had a case

of amnesia

for two months

he'd forgotten

who he was

and what he was

meant to be doing

and he ended up

living a completely

different life

from what he was

meant to be doing

he went back

after two months

and lived completely

normally

as Ansel Bourne

for the rest

of his life

now

why do I tell

that story

you may be wondering

basically

as Christians

we often have

an amnesia problem

at Watermark

we know

that actually

we often forget

who we are

and what we're here for

why actually

God has brought us

into Hong Kong

and at Watermark

we have community groups

which is one of the places

where

we are to remind

each other

of who we are

and what we're here for

we are to remind

each other

that as Christians

we're to be

God's word junkies

we're to have

the gospel

shaping every part

of our life

increasingly

day by day

we're to be people

who are

who don't forget

that actually

we are family members

we're here to love

and serve

and care for each other

and encourage each other

not just attend

Sunday meetings

we're also

to remember

that we

are God's ambassadors

called to share

the gospel

to people

who don't know it

to the world around

who needs to hear

the amazing good news

that is why

we started

community groups

at Watermark

to have people around us

who can help us

to remember

who we are

so we don't

fall into

the same case

as Ansel Bourne

now I have

I have a couple of

wonderful people

with me

Colin and Kristen

who are part of

one of the 14

community groups

that we have

across Hong Kong Island

and Kowloon

and in Lantau Island

and I've just

invited them

to share a little bit

about what

community group

has been like

for them

over this last year

so maybe

if you'd just like

to introduce yourself

first

and then

that wasn't

in the question

I'm just throwing

them off with her

so I'm Kristen

my husband Colin

we've been in

Hong Kong

for five years

Colin is from

Hong Kong originally

but I'm not

and we've been in

Watermark for about

three years

great

thank you

so could you tell me

what community group

are you part of

we are the

Bel Air group

okay

and tell me

what is it like

being part of the

Bel Air community group

our group is very new

we just started this year

in February

and we meet every other

Saturday

and our group

is mainly composed

of families

and couples

and there's very good

bonding around the adults

as well as the children

and during our discussion

time

the kids

the older one

will take care of

the younger one

in a separate area

which is very important

for us

because it takes away

the chaos

from our discussion

and our group

people are very open

in sharing what God

is doing in their lives

which is really great

great

and so how have you

seen God working

and growing

both your community group

and even in your own lives

this past year

I think just to give

a bit of background

of where we were at

spiritually

so I was from Hong Kong

but then we met in London

we were in London

for quite a long time

so

and we moved back

only five years ago

and the first two years

was really tough

because we found

in London

there's a much better

work-life balance

and work is really

demanding

and it's really stressful

for me

and it's affecting my health

and also our marriage

and then we found

Watermark

and we joined Tobin's group

which was great

to be like

spoon-fed for a year

just go there

enjoy the friendship

and

and being

taken care of

yeah

that was

that was

really

we're thankful

for that kind of

recovery

and refreshment time

until

until one day

this particular

church member

church staff

Chris Thornton

strongly encouraged us

to let's

start a group

together with two other couples

Simon Sherman

Dwight and Margo

gentle encouragement

gently

and

and consistently

at different occasion

over a period

of three months

and

yes

with a gender behind

let's come out

for lunch

yeah

yeah

and

so I would say

God

help us to grow

through

co-leading a group

because when we are

CG members

I think

like what Tobin said

we were really

the passive participant

we go there

enjoy the friendship

enjoy the food

you know

learn about God's word

share it

and

bye bye

and then

wait for the next one

and

and when

when we co-leading

a CG

I think God

gradually

changed our minds

to become more

proactive

and also

become more

kingdom focused

when we pray

for our members

when we pray

for the visitors

when we

start to concern

more about

what's going on

in the church

yeah

so we actually

read the bulletins

more now

yeah

sorry

I think

I need to look

yes

and also

we

we start

stepping a bit more

you can see

I'm not doing that

very well

we're trying to step

outside our comfort zone

to meet newcomers

and try to make them

feel welcome

but

naturally

I'm the more

introvert kind

in our relationship

and I am

naturally not

a very friendly person

but

Chris is great

Chris is not

Chris is complete

opposite

he's friendly

and really welcoming

people

and outspoken

yeah

that's great

and

yeah

and

right

so

and also

when we

started the group

we were a bit worried

and

very concerned

initially

whether

are we ready

to start a group

and

we're planning

to have babies

can we really commit

how long can we commit

and

whether people will come

if they come

are they nice people

are they easy to get along

so a lot of these kind of worries

and really self-centered question

and

but I think God just

provided everything

he provided people

provided

really good bonding

among the groups

regardless of our

background

our personality

and beliefs

that we

we all come together

quite well

and

and

so

I think what we learn from

is that

it's not

what we do

or

our ability

that makes the group

to grow

but it's really

God's causes

the group

to grow

especially when we

see God's work

in our lives

where we come together

pray together

we find that

our

our faith

individually

and as a group

become stronger

as we really can see

God works in our lives

through our

ups and downs

of our members

that's great

thank you

and Kristen

why do you

why do you think

being part of a

community group

has been important

for your

spiritual journey

if there's someone

out here as well

who maybe

was wondering

about being part

of a community group

what would you say

so I think

if we are not

part of a CG

then

we probably

wouldn't be

meeting people

meeting other

believers

on a regular

basis

with the

intentional purpose

of

sharing our lives

praying together

and studying

the word

and I think

if we don't

do that

it's very easy

for us

to just

get comfortable

in our own ways

which is really

the worldly ways

and we will have

no accountability

to other

believers

but because

we are part

of a CG

we are regularly

reminded about

how the others

are living their lives

and so we are

regularly challenged

and encouraged

by that

so I think

that helps us

to walk

we've got

more closely

and then

secondly

when we study

the sermon series

you know

when we discuss it

and when we think

through the message

together

it really helps

to make the message

stick longer

and hopefully

that translates

to our daily life

and the third thing

is I think

the prayer support

provided by the CG

is really important

for example

in the early

part of our pregnancy

before we found

out it's viable

I think

I could have

easily fallen

I mean

get overwhelmed

by worries

because I'm

naturally a worrier

but thanks

to all the prayers

from our CG

and also many friends

in this church

we managed

to stay quite calm

which was a surprise

so up until

you know

week nine

which is considered

quite late

to hear the heartbeat

so when we found

out it was viable

everyone who had

been praying

is super encouraged

not just us

so it's just

a great thing

to be praying

for something together

and I think

in the recent months

our CG

has been quite amazed

by how quickly

God answered

some of our prayers

and when that happened

everyone is encouraged

not just the prayer

requester

but even in cases

where God

hasn't answered

or God

answered

in a different way

I think that

God's peace

and encouragement

will still hold

the prayer

requester together

that's great

thank you

thank you

so

our aim

for this

for this coming year

is that

we've already heard

that we want to be

a church

which has

church planting

in our DNA

and multiplying

community groups

is like church planting

in miniature

and so we want to be able

to multiply

community groups

across Hong Kong Island

and in Kowloon

we would love to start groups

in Park Island

this year

we'd love to start a group

down in

Aplei Chow

Aberdeen

Wong Chuk Hang

direction

we'd love to start a group

another group

in Kowloon side

and also

we're hoping

for those who

English is maybe not

the language

they're most comfortable in

we want to be starting

and we're planning

to start a group

for Mandarin speakers

to be able to study

God's word

which David

later you'll see

will be

helping to head up

and also

a Cantonese

speaking group

as well

so these are some

of the things

we really want to pray for

if you are not

in a community group

come and see me afterwards

if you live in any

of the areas

I've just mentioned

or are interested

come and see me afterwards

because God actually

wants to do amazing

things this year

like he's been doing

in Colin and Kristen's life

so let me just pray

for them

and then

I'm going to transition

on for Alfie

to talk about

the university

ministry

let me just pray

Father thank you

so much

for what you've been doing

in Colin and Kristen's life

in that community group

and I know in so many

other community groups

across Watermark

Lord thank you

that you are a living God

who wants to change

our lives

he wants to help us

to remember

who we are

and who we are called

to be in this city

Lord please help us

as a church

to be that kind of people

who are everything

that you've called us to be

in your name

Amen

over to Alfie

good morning

ah here we go

alright good morning

my name is Alfie

and I help direct

the university ministries

here at Watermark

and it's been quite

an exciting time

it's been a lot of transition

over the past 18 months

in fact 18 months ago

I did not know

any of these people

that I brought up

and it's really exciting

that we're able to come

and hear from each of them

a bit about what God

has been doing

in their lives

and in the university ministry

these 18 months of transition

have been very stressful

for me

I don't like change

I want everything

to stay exactly the same

and go according to plan

but you know

as people have come

and people have gone

God has been so faithful

to bring different people along

you know

he's brought me

and he's brought Henrika

to come and join

the ministry team

and David

who we'll hear from later

but he's also brought up

this amazing team

of student leaders

there are about a dozen

different students

who together

are you know

reaching out

and loving the campus

in just an amazing way

it's you know

come talk to me later

I'll tell you

it's mind boggling

just how God brought

each one of these people

in their journey of faith

and you know

to a position

where they're leading

and you know

help doing little

small groups

on the campus

one of these students

is Irima

who is really

one of my favorite

no you're all my favorites

but her journey of faith

consistently like

you know

daily monthly

you know

as I hear about

what God has been doing

in her life

and her family

is super encouraging

for myself

and so I've asked

to share a little bit

about how ICF

the International Christian Fellowship

at HKU

how the university ministry

and how Watermark

as a church

has been encouraging her

and her journey

hello

I'm Edie

so I think

ICF

it's really important

for each one of us

and why I say that

it's simply because

in HKU

where you find

a lot of students

really like to boast

and pretend

and it's hard

to find a community

where you can

really share

your struggles

and really share

like really be humble

and really have

a serving heart

and I think

ICF actually

really encourage

every single one of us

to really be vulnerable

and really share

our struggles

in the community

and ask for prayers

and fellowships

and apart from

ICF

actually

I think ICF

it's a really

prayer center community

and actually

when we go there

every time

we'll pray for each other

and not only

on the Wednesday meeting

apart from Wednesday

we actually

pray for each other

throughout the week

and keep each other

accountable

and that's really

encouraging for me

because

for a student

I feel like

I'm not working

like walking

on this journey

on my own

but really

I have a huge

community

supporting me

and really inspiring

me each time

and I think

apart from this

what ICF

ICF actually

encouraged me

to live out

gospel center life

why I say that

it's because

every time

when we go to ICF

we're actually

challenged

by Alfie or Henrica

to really

start our mission

in the campus

and that mission

is not to get

straight A's

or to get

really good grades

but rather

it's to really

seeking all the souls

and really spread

gospel to the

students around me

and that actually

inspired me

to love

and care

about the people

around me

and actually

I think that

helped me

to really

get to know

more about

God's word

and actually

inspired me

to really

reflect on

all those words

and apart

from ICF

I think

Watermark

encouraged me

a lot as well

and the reason

why I say

that it's

I really appreciate

Watermark's

sermon

which are really

I think

it's really

honest

and really

open

to talk

about

all those

topics

which are

really hard

it can be

telling us

we are sinful

and we are

but it can

keep reminding us

that we are

worthy

and God

loves us

so much

as well

and that's

just really

inspiring

and really

touched my

heart each

time

and actually

encouraged me

to know more

about God's

word as well

that's how I feel

yeah

thanks Edie

one of the things

that Edie

and a dozen

other students

are doing

is leading

small groups

so you know

each week

they're getting

together

in classrooms

in dorms

in the libraries

to look at the

Bible

and see God's

word

but you know

we have this

huge struggle

and you know

especially like

in my heart

because I really

want the students

to be on the

campus

and you know

reaching and

loving those people

but I also want

them to be a part

of the church

I think sometimes

we do one extreme

or the other

so either they're

on the campus

and we don't see

them at church

or they're all

at church

and they're never

reaching out to

the campus

and this is where

I would like you guys

everyone here

as a family

of Watermark

to come in

and help us

help us

love these students

come and take them

out for lunch

love them

we have a volunteer

who bought tickets

for all the students

to join our

anniversary lunch

for free

so if you're a student

free lunch

but you know

we want them

to also come

and get to know

you

get to know

what God is doing

in your life

that you know

there is life

after you graduate

and that Jesus

is still there

and he's still

working and doing

that

we also want them

to be involved

in the church

we want them

to be serving

and so you know

if you're in a ministry

if you're doing stuff

with the kids

or the youth

and you see somebody

who's young

and wearing funny clothes

ask them to you know

come and you know

come and join us

come serve with us

because as much

as you guys

are students

and are on the campus

you're also a part

of this church family

and we love to see us

try and figure out

where that balance is

between being missionaries

on campus

and being you know

members of this church

one of the things

that God has been doing

has been bringing in

lots of different people

to allow us to reach

more people

on the campus

there are about

a million and a half

HKU students

who are from

mainland China

maybe it's about 2000

but David is

God has brought

David along

who has just graduated

from seminary in Boston

who's from mainland China

and he's going to share

a little bit about

what he's been doing

on HKU

with mainland

with Mandarin speaking students

so for people

who never met me before

and who is under

five years old

maybe you know

I am Amanda's husband

she volunteer

in the case ministry

sometimes

so you may know her

and I was born

in up north

very close to Russia

and you can see

maybe some polar bears

there

that's my neighbors

yeah

Hey Longjiang province

it's very cold place

and

we have

minus

0.3

year old

kid

on her way

here

and

even though

young as

she is

kicked me

kicked me

many times

and

I will see

what

it will be like

when she's out

and

right now

we

have

he just

said

that we have

2,000

university students

from

mainland China

and

in the Bible

we are always

reminded

love your neighbor

and

I'll be just

reminded me

you know

do you know

how many neighbors

you have

2,000

2,000

people

who are

from mainland China

they never heard

of the gospel

they never met

Jesus

and

how do

you love

your neighbor

the best way

to love them

is to tell them

Jesus

and share the gospel

with them

that's why

we

at Watermark

we started

the mental ministry

and to share

the gospel

the word

we started

from the beginning

Genesis

we are reading

chapter 1 and 2

every Thursday afternoon

and Thursday evening

at the

community center

you know where it is

high street

for six

and if you have time

and you know

anyone

who is interested

please come

and join us

and

we also

cooperate

with many other

groups

on campus

and

some other fellowship

and some people

so we can

reach out to

undergrad

and

graduate

and post grad

and many different

people

and the two weeks

I was in another

fellowship

and they just

reminded me

to say

you know

how many

neighbors do you have

I said

how many

and they said

we have

one million

Mandarin speakers

in Hong Kong

so one million

that's a large

amount of people

and they are

our neighbors

in many

2,000 years

our Lord Jesus

challenged

this lawyer

this lawyer

came to Jesus

and Jesus

said

you

should love your Lord

and love your neighbor

and who is my neighbor

one million people

and I know

many people

of you

maybe want to start

Mandarin speaking CG