Event #15: Hong Kong welcomes founders to 50th celebration

As we gathered together on the night of April 11th, it was evident that God’s joy had fallen upon us. There was a buzz in the air as friends and family from churches and organizations around Hong Kong joined us for our opening night celebration. We worshipped Jesus loudly and proudly; we enjoyed videos and pictures that rang in the Jubilee celebration; and we welcomed Loren & Darlene, as well as Darlene’s mom, “Mama Dar” to Hong Kong. A traditional Chinese music performance reminded us of why we do what we do - to see all people, of all cultures, using their gifts and styles to glorify God, that one day every tribe, tongue, people and nation would bow before Him. So natural of our founder, Loren used this theme very nicely to share with us the history of YWAM International and the importance of Missions in today’s age.

Loren’s message was challenging and yet so encouraging. He told his stories in a way that reminded us that Jesus was longing to do more good works in us and through us. The stories of the miraculous events currently taking place in Nigeria have been and continue to be a conversation hot-pot. God answered our prayer -- “That this opening celebration would be a blessing to the people.” With the success of this night, plus Loren & Darlene’s openness to conversations afterward, and the selling of Mama Dar’s new book The Worldwide Wanderings of a YWAM Widow, we were able to take joy in knowing that our faithfulness to God’s word did, in fact, bring about those blessings.

With just enough time to throw back a bit of coffee, we were worshipping the living God again the next morning at our base in Hong Kong’s oldest village, Shui Tau Tsuen. It was a powerful session of worship which led perfectly into Darlene’s message about operating in God’s joy and the “I Won’t Quit” spirit. For us at YWAM Hong Kong, this message melded perfectly with all of the different things God speaks to us as a YWAM family and about our future as an operational base. Darlene pushed us to seek God’s joy, to be in right relationship with the Lord and each other, and to simply obey Jesus even when we face challenges and obstacles. She also shared with us about David Cunningham’s new “Global Virtual Studio,” and got us all excited about God’s new movement in global media.

After a time of fellowship and a good lunch, we joined back together to reflect on the history of YWAM Hong Kong. There were many amazing testimonies from long-time YWAMers in Hong Kong: our directors Nancy Vallese & Joe Rystrom, Jimmy Stewart (founder of Sports Services International & Face to Face Ministries), Tim & Rosa Obendorf (International Cyclists to Asia), Dawn Gauslin (one of the pioneers of the Far East Evangelism Teams [FEET]), Gail Maidment (of Small World Christian Kindergarten) and Hans Van Beek (who worked with the Vietnamese refugees and is now pioneering great works in Vietnam). Each of them shared exciting stories of the past and of how YWAM Hong Kong got its start. There was a time to honor Gary Stephens, the pioneer of YWAM Hong Kong, who first came to the colony with a School of Evangelism from Kona. We also heard reports from the leaders of the different programs we run at the base. Speaking for our newer staff, we were encouraged that God will use us for great things in Hong Kong too!

After awesome Indian food for supper, Loren shared with us the exciting things that YWAM is doing globally right NOW. He addressed the different areas that might scare us: kidnappings, sicknesses, even death, BUT he showed us how God has never taken His guiding, loving hands away from His children in YWAM.

The weather observatory had reported that all three scheduled days of our celebrations would be drowned in thunderstorms, but our prior times of intercession and Spiritual Warfare were proven to be of good use when Jesus stunned us with a miracle: Our base was basking in sunlight and warm weather, but had a ring of storm clouds around it! We could see them, but they didn’t touch us until midnight of the second day, when a nice rainfall cooled things down for our final day, making it a beautiful morning! Praise God for His wonderful faithfulness!

God continued to move powerfully in our worship in our last gathering together, especially through one of our base favorites “Give Us Your Courage.” It was so fitting that we sang this song together after hearing Darlene give her message “Who Is Jesus?” as well as a time of honoring our base directors Nancy & Joe for all of their years of faithful service. We followed this by reading aloud and signing the Jubilee Covenant, and then took communion together.

As we looked to the next 50 years and the Flame going Forward, we joined together in our ministries and were commissioned with the laying on of hands, and Loren & Darlene’s powerful, Spirit-led prayers. We as YWAM Hong Kong believe that our time has united us as a team, as a family, and as a mission. And we truly believe that this Jubilee Celebration marks the beginning of something new! The Flame Goes Forward, and so do we, as we work toward reaching every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!



Reporter: Jonah Sinclair; Various photographers.