God was Awesome in Heal Our Land!

From the initial project proposal to the time of delivery, the project was an incredible experience. Pastor Fung shared with the CCMA board about the need for the Bay Area Chinese Churches to begin a healing process in order to work together and win over the lost to Christ, using Jimmy Owen "Heal Our Land" worship concert as a platform. In the beginning, we were overwhelmed by the enormity of the project, thinking that CCMA was "out of its league" and probably would not be able to pull it together with our shortage of resources. Big mistake. We had left God out. Needless to say, God did it all. It was incredible.

We had problems up to the day of the event...did not know who will come...did not know if there will be a mass choir...not sure if the choir/worship leaders/instrumentalists can pull together with just two rehearsals...the computer used for the overhead projection of lyrics for congregational worship was missing...the amount of time from setup to presentation was less than three hours (totally insufficient from our previous experience with concerts)...there was no stage manager...but guess what...all these things were taken cared of by God.

Through the staffs of CCMA (especially Pastor Fung), God was able to pull together a group of individuals from the Bay Area Chinese Church. There was a sense of common realization that a revival between churches was in order, thus many pastors agreed to participate and promote the event. We saw pastors, brothers and sisters from various denominations (Baptist, Evangelical free, Presbyterian, just to name a few) stand together worshiping, sharing and praying. The sight was awesome and it practically moved me to tears, realizing how awesome our God in Heaven is, and this is what he wants...unity in spirit..."so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 15:6)

Thanks to Jimmy Owens (writer of Heal Our Land) for his very thought out progression of the event and his music, Rev. Fung for contacting and coordinating all the pastors, Alice Chiu for her Cantonese lyrics, Annissa Tse and Susanna Wong for their translations that brought the event in its entirety to the Cantonese community, Rev. Joshua Law for his availability to direct the choir and pull the event together musically, various brothers and sisters offering to cover for the financial expenditures, San Francisco Christian Center's generous offer to let us use their main sanctuary essentially free-of-charge, and especially the many prayer intercessors(non-Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ!!!) coming from afar to the actual event just to pray.

This is only the beginning. Keep praying for the healing process and that this movement will continue. "It only takes a spark to get the fire going..." Praise God.
Schulhoff Tam CCMA Chairman

It was an unforgettable experience to see so many Chinese Christians from different churches coming together to worship the Lord and to pray together for our community. I am so blessed to be a part of what God is doing in our midst.
Rev. Amos Lee, Chinese Independent Baptist Church

The "Heal Our Land" prayer and praise service has indeed started a new era of cooperation among Chinese churches in the Bay Area. I enjoyed especially serving with other pastors in the Bay Area. "Heal Our Land" reminds us that we should not limit our scope to our own church. This spiritual battle should be engaged throughout the entire city. It has confirmed unmistakably that spiritual victory is possible only through our total dependence on God by means of our concert of prayer. As a result of "Heal Our Land" our church is going to start the "Lighthouses of Prayer" ministry.
Rev. Larry Wong, Sunset Chinese Baptist Church

"Heal Our Land" is a gathering of confession and praise. It is unique and first of its kind among Chinese churches in the Bay Area. Pastors from different churches took part in narrations and prayer, and the whole event was closely conducted with full participation from both the congregation and those on stage. We experienced the intimacy of Body life and felt the presence of God together before His mercy seat. But most important of all, the Holy Spirit was among us. Many said to one another after the event, "Praise the Lord for such a wonderful gathering." There were also many who were literally moved to tear, experiencing the renewal in the Spirit, including myself. I hope that we will have more of this kind of gathering among Chinese churches, and continue to promote the Lighthouse of Prayer movement.
Rev. Wilber Chiu, San Francisco Sunset Chinese church of the Nazarene

First heard of "Heal Our Land" through a video presentation at an AD2000 celebration conference. The video was very moving and inspiring. As I was watching, I wished that such event could take place in the Bay Area. I started talking to those who were involved. I wanted to find out if the singing group on the video could tour the Bay Area. If so, I wanted to know the cost. This went on and on but I didn't get anywhere.

When Pastor Lawrence Fung phoned me about being part of the "Heal Our Land" production. I didn't even hesitate. I altered some of my October schedule so that I could take part. God answereed my prayer and provided more than I first intended. I only wanted something like that (in the video) to bless the Bay Area. When Lawrence told me that this was going to be a totally Cantonese event, I just felt an overwhelming sense of awe.

On October 9th, God blessed the Cantonese speaking churches. Some say there were 500 and some say 600 at the San Francisco Christian Center. Regardless of the right count, God was there for sure. The band, the worship team and the choir were together. "Heal Our Land" fitted no genre. It was not a performance. It was not a preaching crusade. It was not a concert. It was everything mentioned above.

Two hours went by quickly. What left behind was memory of God's presence. We experienced the meaning of unity. We could sense the power of God's presence. We are one in Christ. God will Heal Our Land for His glory.
Rev. Victor Chan, East Bay Alliance Church

"Heal Our Land" allowed me to truly experience the power of God and the unity of believers. Even though we did not have much time to rehearse, we all did our best to participate in the program. As a result, the Holy Spirit took over and blessed the event, so that we had a smooth program to glorify God.

Christians from different denominations came together with one heart to sing praises and pray to God. Brothers and sisters of San Francisco Christian Center moved their on-going program to another church in order to allow us to use their sanctuary. Moreover, there were a group of multi-ethnic Christians coming from afar only to pray for us. All these made me feel like we were in heaven, in which there are no denominations and ethnicity, standing togethere with one heart in praising the same Lord and the same God. This event is a very good beginning. I hope that we will continue to support and encourage one another to finish this race on earth, to serve together in the Bay Area, and to uplift the Holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Vicky Chia, San Francisco Evangelical Free Church

Thank God for allowing me to take part in "Heal Our Land". I was greatly blessed. The main focus of this event was praying for the nation and our community, particularly praying for our unreached neighbors regardless of their race and background. God is wonderful. He allowed me to have a taste of unity in the Lord. This was a Chinese prayer event held at a non-Chinese church. What is more touching was that they were willing to change their regular program to another church in order to allow us to use their facilities simply because it provided a bigger capacity for this event. Moreover, a group of Christians of different ethnic background traveled from afar to come to intercede for us behind the scene. It demonstrated His presence among us.
Ruth Wang, San Francisco Alliance Church

It was my privilege in being asked to be a part of the "Heal Our Land" prayer worship. I was not aware of the dynamics of this event until I was actually in the prayer/worship. I have always been a skeptic concerning our Chinese churches joining hands in prayer. Obviously this time it proves to be different.

I have done "Heal Our Land" in English before but it was in a musical event of a small church and not a join event like this one. God had put together so many people there for a purpose and He did it without much of our help. Looking at the small choir at the rehearsal, I had doubt that Chinese churches will be enthusiastic enough to fill the hall. Particularly when there are suddenly so many "music" organizations and music concerts and worships being organized this year.

I believe the great success of this event is in God's hands and its being very much needed. The young singers showed unity, devotion and faith in God as I worked with them. The scripted narrations clearly helped the participants to focus on God and our American spiritual condition. The text was truly representation of our desperate situation in America being so far away from God.

I strongly suggest that this event be organized in San Jose and delivered in Mandarin. I prayed that one day this "prayer meeting" could be held in a stadium where tens of thousands of our Chinese Christian could be a part. I sincerely ask all Chinese pastors to give up the "separatist attitudes" and join together in such an event and encourage all church members to participate.
Rev. Joshua Law

CCMA is in preparation for two recording projects in the Year 2000

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