VANCOUVER - A Chinese Christian social concern fellowship held their second anniversary thanksgiving event at the Vancouver Chinese Alliance Church. As the guest speaker, Rev. Carter Yu from China Graduate School of Theology encouraged the ministers to fight the good fight of truth.
On the night of Sept. 18, Christian Social Concern Fellowship reported of their past year’s work results and inaugurated the new officers. In order to better lead the local ministers and believers on how to be the light and the salt in the society, CSCF invited Rev. Wayne Lo, secretary of the VCEMF, as their full-time executive director, hoping to increase the Christian’s concern for the society.
In his inauguration speech, Lo shared that even though Canada may be a country with religious freedom and freedom of the speech, often times Christians faces limitations on their expression of faith in public squares, and other religions do not face the same kind of discrimination as do the Christians.
Addressing such concern, Lo said that one of his main objectives after taking office is to revamp the CSCF website and to make it into a platform for Christians to discuss moral philosophies and social issues; he also wishes that it can become the representative voice for the Vancouver Chinese Christians and become a representative witness of Christianity.
Furthermore, Rev. Carter Yu, president of China Theological Seminary, delivered a sermon, encouraging the fellow ministers to fight the good fight of the truth, making social concern as the churches’ source of motivation.
Through his own experience of becoming a social-concern oriented pastor, Yu pointed out that even though a believer’s personal faith is crucial, but the more important thing is to move beyond the personal faith by changing our surrounding, such as the social values and political structures. Therefore, the righteousness of God can be revealed and His kingdom can quickly come.
Furthermore, Yu noted that because evangelical Christians are often times slow to respond to social issues, which left the initiatives of social concerns in the hands of the left-wings, the churches are currently standing beneath the wall.
“We are fighting a backward battle, and Christians have no place else to hide. If we do not face the battle, it will more deeply affect the moral values of our next generation,”warned the president of CGST.
Lastly, Yu exhorted the ministers to first become renewed and transformed, encouraging the believers to actively show concern towards the society in the ministering process, so that the Christian values can permeate the society.
