[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_video src=”https://vimeo.com/448594384/66ca092c24″ _builder_version=”4.5.6″ _module_preset=”default”][/et_pb_video][et_pb_text admin_label=”Letter from PD” _builder_version=”4.5.6″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]

Greetings to our W family!

May the peace of our Lord keep your hearts strong in His grace. It is hard to imagine that it has been almost six months since our facility closed due to the pandemic. I miss all of you very much. And I thank God for your patience and our co-workers’ perseverance during this extraordinary time. Today I bring you the first of a two-part updates on what has been happening and what you can expect this fall.

As our leaders review our current ministry, we have much to be thankful for. I think about the tremendous dedication and sacrifices in our media and worship ministry, where co-workers have devoted upwardly 16-20 hours to make the weekly worship videos possible, each worship video production has been truly a labor of love for Jesus; I think about our equipping ministry where even in the pandemic, more people are being trained up, with over 70 co-workers having been equipped in areas such as Alpha, stewardship, marketplace ministry, and Bible study methods across the congregations over this summer so far. We can all be so thankful for what the Lord is doing in our church.  But we also recognize there are still significant needs to be addressed. You may have heard much about this “new normal” that is not going away any time soon and how it has brought so many changes to our lives, and ministry is no exception.

For example, let’s think about how worship has changed as we moved online. In many ways, watching worship on Youtube is so different from our worship in the past. Many of us are watching by ourselves, some at different hours, some may be struggling to get out of bed or pjs for worship, some are multitasking, such as eating or cooking at the same time; many just passively watching without active participation, and when what’s on Youtube is over, worship is done.

And if this has been hard for adults, it has been even harder for our children and youth. Young families are struggling to keep their kids engaged, and kids having a hard time with online program. And many parents struggling with their teenagers cooped up at home. Many youth ministries seeing youth dropout at an alarming rate.

But even in this time of trial, I believe Christ has a vibrant vision for His church. Even while physically separated, the church can be resilient and thrive. In fact, a primary theme in church history is how the church grew in the darkest hour. Can you imagine with me how by grace we can overcome isolation to stay engaged even in online worship, singing our hearts out, praying fervently with the body, because of a firm belief that nothing can separate us from the love God in Christ? That we too, can be like the church in Acts 8:4, scattered but still going about testifying for Jesus to bless our city.  And can you envision how families wrestling with our brokenness and patience in interacting with our next generation, learning about grace and further dependence on God, to make the most of this opportunity to grow together and making disciples at home?

So even as our leaders observe how different churches reopened and closed again, schools struggle with the challenge of reopening and running both in-person and online learning at the same time, we felt the urgency to best focus our energy on reshaping our ministry to face the challenge of the new normal, instead of trying to ride the uncertain ups and downs of physical reopening in the pandemic. As we have come to accept that reopening may not be viable in the near term for us, our pastors and elders prayerfully reached the conclusion to concentrate on redesigning our current ministry to better equip our people to face the reality of the new normal

This led us to fundamentally rethink what we have been doing and prepare to make significant changes to ministry schedules, formats, and directions to better follow our vision and serve our people. Our thinking is guided by three objectives:

• We will adapt ministry direction to focus on equipping all our people to live effective Christian lives, to help restore the home as the primary place for disciple-making.
• We will build up small group connection and accountability as we decentralize and empower groups to worship together and connect more deeply.
• We will prioritize the needs of our children and youth ministry.

These objectives are intended to address needs that we have always faced but even more exposed by the pandemic: passivity, disconnect, and the struggle for the soul of our next generation. As we have received the Transforming Generations vision, we must be courageous to make changes in this new normal and not passively waiting for things to get back to the old normal.

In Luke 5:36-38 Jesus taught the parable about the wine and wineskin.
He explains that “no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins… but new wine must be put into fresh wineskin.” What Jesus was talking about is that fresh change will requires a whole new mindset and commitment, else change will not succeed.

In the 27 years that I have been privileged to serve at W, I am so thankful to the Lord that W has always a church that is unafraid to grow and to change, to learn and adapt to embrace God’s best for the future.

I believe the Lord is leading us to make bold changes in this hour. To courageously leverage this critical time for His glory. Every crisis presents God’s people with an opportunity to stretch and grow. Please pray for us for the Lord’s leading as we prepare to make some changes. Next week I will share with you more details, and we need prayers. Peace to you, my brothers and sisters, our God is with us.

Your brother in Christ,

David Hsu
Senior Pastor
West Houston Chinese Church

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]