Dear friends and family,
On July 30, the government wanted the citizens to elect a new assembly. The opposition boycotted it. As July 30 approached, the situation became tense. Many expected violence. Yet on July 29, our church and 2 sister churches stuck to our plan to bring breakfast to people living in a needy neighborhood next to one sister church. Besides offering food and juice, our teams visited the residents and presented the gospel. To our surprise, no road closure or violence happened there that morning! Many residents felt God’s love for them and heard the good news. Thank you for praying! In the afternoon of July 29, we cancelled the meeting of our youth group because of road closure and political tension. On July 30, our board decided to not cancel our Sunday service! Yet, most of our people could not come. Roads everywhere were blocked! Only 2 cars reached church. 3 persons walked. One rollerbladed. Manjohn preached on hope to 12 adults. To us, our drivers were skillful stunt men, and those who came were heroes. It took faith, courage and commitment to step out of home that day. Praise the Lord!
2 days later, we needed to go back to Toronto for a missions conference. One believer asked Manjohn how we could reach the airport 2 days after the vote. He replied, “I am not sure we could, but we pray that we could.” We reached the airport! No protest! Not one road closed! Thanks for praying! Then, our flight took off an hour late because the system at the airport was down. We missed the connecting flight to Toronto. The airline gave us an alternative. We did not sleep much that night, but we arrived at Toronto (11 hours behind schedule). We had peace even when we did not see how things would work out for us! Also, we did not need to wait in line for hours at the hot check-in hall when most passengers had to. Suddenly, a worker of the airport approached us and asked if we had special needs. Then, he treated Christina as a senior with limited walking capacity and offered her a wheelchair! As a result, they quickly checked in for us and we could wait in an air-conditioned hall! God is good to his servants.
We were asked to share our experience at the annual conference of the Canadian Chinese Alliance Churches Association. Many pastors told us they were impressed by God’s thoughtful care for his servants in need. More than 1,000 believers took part in the Joint Missions Conference of all Chinese Alliance Churches in Canada. God moved many to participate in missions. Then, in just 2 days, we found an apartment in Richmond Hill which we can move into in October! Our trip back here went smoothly. Thank you for praying!
On July 25, Manjohn shared part three of the gospel with a group of men. Leung and Sherman listened attentively. Thanks for praying! He will share with them again on August 22. Pray for them. And pray that God will protect us and use us in our last 6 weeks here.
The LORD be with you!
Manjohn and Christina
The C & M A sends us out & fully supports us. Please consider supporting her by sending a contribution to the Global Advance Fund (which pays for the allowance, travel, insurance, etc of all C&MA international workers). You could send a cheque to: The C&MA in Canada, 30 Carrier Drive, Suite 100, Toronto, ON M9W 5T7 with your designation. Alternatively, you could donate online at http://www.cmacan.org/give. To give to GAF, under Global Advance Fund, choose Donate. Thank you!