Choicest of Your Gifts
It would be hard for anyone to miss the excitement of the Continue the Legacy stewardship campaign touching almost everything we are doing at First Chinese! Many have fasted for the first time in their lives. Others have discovered the power that prayer has in listening to God’s plan for us. In one 24-Hour period, members and friends gathered to pray for the many prayer requests collected from the home visits. Look at how our church has come together as the result of our focus on stewardship!
As this newsletter is being published, exciting plans for the All-Church Banquet are well underway. I know that this will be a great time to have everyone in our entire church family come for dinner. Great food is being featured. A Men’s Choir is rehearsing for this very special occasion. There is also the Children’s Party for all kids at the Sunset Ministry site. We anticipate that wonderful fellowship will be had by everyone.
An important part of the banquet program is the time to consider your
contribution to the Continue the Legacy campaign. I have asked you to pray about your gift that can be paid out in the next three years (1999-2001). Our gifts together will make it possible for First Chinese to continue ministry in Chinatown by retrofiting for seismic improvement required by the city, complying with the federal Americans for Disability Act, and renovating the second and third floors for better classrooms. These construction plans are very modest and necessary for us to do. Although the goal of $1,350,000 sounds huge, we believe that God is continuing to call us into ministry in Chinatown, Sunset, and beyond.
While we are making our decisions on the campaign, there is also the 1999 Canvas. You have received my letter and materials that describe the “Building on The Foundation to Continue the Legacy” canvas. November 22 is Pledge Sunday for you to return your pledges for the 1999 budget. For our church to build on the legacy of effective missions, we need to continue to sustain the programs we have today. For the next three years we will be challenged to give more sacrificially than perhaps we have been used to. But I do hope that you will join me sensing the joy of giving to the work of God.
In Ezekiel 20:40-41, we see that once God restores Israel as God’s people, he will require of them their “choicest of gifts.” First Chinese is certainly one of God’s faithful people. We can’t do any less than to give our best to Christ and the ministry of this mission-committed church.
Rev. Don Ng