My Final Pastoral Letter to CPC
'This saying is trustworthy anddeserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to savesinners, of whom I am the foremost' 1 Tim 1:15.
When I first came to CPC, I was giventwo main pieces of advice. Firstly, 'nothing changes in CPC' and 'thateverything worth doing had been done already'. Secondly that CPC was a place inwhich candidates and ministers get broken. Praise God that in my 6 yearsserving all of you, I've found neither to be true.
I fondly remember that by God's gracethat many of our young people over the past 6 years have grown in their faithor have been saved into the faith - evidenced by baptism and confirmed to thecongregation - this is not just in the English but in the whole church. Ipraise God for that. Xin Yu and I have been blessed to have been able to openup our hearts and lives to all of you and seen God's truth take root in yourlives. Many of you will become pillars of CPC for the next generation. Thereare many meaningful things God has yet for CPC to do, He is God of our future,not just our past.
I am also mindful that I came to CPC ina moment of burn out and cynicism. Yet it was many of the brothers and sistersin the church who lovingly restored my love for the church, for ministry andopened my heart to a church family again. To all of you who have hosted us,encouraged us, shared meals with us, laughed with us and loved us, I cannotthank you enough. You are God's blessing for us in these 6 years. I see yourlove for my family and I am grateful beyond words. I will miss the blessing ofknowing that I get see you all and laugh with you every Sunday.
I leave you with my hopes for CPC.Firstly, don't forget Jesus our Lord; history may be loud and the future mayterrify but our Lord Jesus is true and faithful. Secondly, I hope that I'veleft CPC better than when I joined you all and that you all share in the hopethat the best of CPC is yet to come. Our history is only a foundation, we stillneed to do the building. Finally don't be afraid to have ideals. I've foundthat the best ministries in CPC throughout its 130 years have not come fromband aid solutions and pragmatic strategies, but ideals and convictions. FromRev John Young Wai who pioneered this ministry to each brother and sister whocontributed; CPC is a place of ideals and dreams. From people who came to thiscountry far from home, seeking to provide for their relatives, God has plantedan enduring tree in which generations of believers now find their spiritualfamily each week. Please don't lower your expectation of God, for He has greatplans for us all.
Thank you all for putting up with me andloving my family. I have many more words to say but I now will take a seat inwhich I will be a fan of CPC and look forward to hearing the stories of God'swork in your church.
Lastly, to the friends who will know what I mean whenI say this; it was fun proving some people wrong, wasn't it?
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我給教會的最後一封牧聲
「『基督耶穌降世，為要拯救罪人』這話是可信的，是值得完全接納的。在罪人中我是個罪魁。」——提摩太前書1:15
當我初次來到教會服事時，曾有人給我兩個主要的忠告。第一個是：「教會一向都是這樣，不會有甚麼改變」，以及「所有值得做的事情，早已經有人做過了」。第二個忠告則是，教會是一個會令候選傳道人和牧者受到挫折、甚至被破碎的地方。感謝神，在我服事大家的六年間，我發現這兩種說法都並非事實。
我滿懷感恩地記得，靠著神的恩典，過去六年間，我們當中有許多年輕人在信仰上不斷成長，或得以認識並接受基督信仰。他們的成長和信仰都透過洗禮及向會眾公開確認信仰而得到見證。這不單發生在英文堂，也發生在整個教會當中。為此，我讚美神。
我和善瑜很蒙福，能夠向大家敞開我們的心懷和生活，並親眼看見神的真理在你們的生命中扎根。你們當中有許多人，將會成為教會下一代的中流砥柱。神在教會仍有許多有意義的工作要成就，因為祂是掌管我們未來的神，而不只是我們過去的神。
我也深深記得，當初來到教會時，我正處於身心耗盡、對事奉感到憤世嫉俗的階段。然而，正是教會中許多弟兄姊妹，以愛心重新燃起我對教會和事奉的熱愛，也再次打開我的心，讓我重新擁抱教會這個屬靈的家。
對於所有曾接待我們、鼓勵我們、與我們一起用餐、一起歡笑，以及愛護我們的人，我實在無法用言語表達我的感謝。在這六年間，你們都是神賜給我們的祝福。我看見你們對我家庭的愛，心中充滿無法言喻的感恩。我將會非常懷念每個星期日能夠見到大家，並與大家一起歡笑的美好時光。
在離開之前，我想與大家分享我對教會的幾個期盼。
首先，不要忘記我們的主耶穌。歷史或許充滿喧鬧，未來或許令人畏懼，但我們的主耶穌是真實可信靠的。
其次，我盼望自己離開時，教會能比我初來時有所進步；也盼望大家都懷著同一個盼望，相信教會最美好的日子仍在前頭。我們的歷史只是根基，建造的工程仍有待我們繼續完成。
最後，不要害怕懷抱理想。在教會一百三十年的歷史中，我發現最美好的事奉成果，並非來自權宜的補救方法或務實的策略，而是源於理想和堅定的信念。從開創這項事工的周容威牧師，到每一位曾經為教會付出的弟兄姊妹，教會一直都是一個充滿理想和夢想的地方。
當年，有人遠離家鄉來到這個國家，為的是供養遠方的親人；然而，神卻在這裡栽種了一棵歷久常青的樹，使一代又一代的信徒，每星期都能在這裡找到屬於自己的屬靈家庭。請不要降低你們對神的期望，因為祂為我們每一個人都預備了美好的計劃。
感謝大家一直以來對我的包容，以及對我家庭的愛護。我還有很多話想說，但現在，我要退下來，成為教會的支持者，並期待日後聽見神在你們教會中所成就的各樣美好故事。
最後，對於那些明白我這句話意思的朋友，我想說：證明某些人當初的看法是錯的，其實也挺有趣的，不是嗎？
