Reaching Non-English Speaking Chinese

As a bred and born inner-westie (yes the meaning of that has changed as people have gone. .er. . more west) there are some cultural terms you get used to. One that people in Burwood are hearing more often is nickname ‘Burwoo’ (no ‘d’!) — because there are just so many Asians around, and not just Australian Born Chinese like yours truly, but people from mainland China. With our eyes we see overseas Chinese walking up and down Burwood Road, with our ears we hear the chatter of Mandarin and with our taste buds – well, there’s plenty of great Chinese food to be had

As Gracepoint continues to wrestle with how to be a church in the community, of the community and serving the community, it makes sense that learning to reach non-English speaking Chinese is an important group that we need to consider and struggle towards.

After having a crash course in using the Australian Bureau of Statistics site (HT to Andrew Hong), here’s what it tells us.

There are 2,643 people from Chinese backgrounds who have indicated that their proficiency in English is between “not at all” and “very well”. The table below shows the breakdown.

		Very Well	Well	Not Well	Not at All
Burwood		1,164	1,589	764	288

Out of 3,805 Chinese people in Burwood, 2,641 are not fluent in English. . that’s 70%!!!!

Where can we find these people?

This is really insightful is showing where these people might be found — now, how are we to reach them?

The Next Challenge For Our GracePoint Community

Over the last year we’ve constantly been reminding ourselves of our vision as a church: to bring the saving and transforming power of Jesus to ourselves, our church community, our city and our world in partnership with others. From looking at the work of the Holy Spirit in empowering us for Jesus’ ministry and mission, to what it means to build a church on the saving and transforming power of Jesus in 1 Corinthians, to looking at what it means to be a ‘missional’ church over our Easter retreat, the mission of Jesus has been our dominant focus. We’re a missionary people, saved by Jesus, gathered around Jesus, and sent by Jesus into our communities to be his redeeming presence and to proclaim his redeeming work.

The challenge for us lies in taking this vision the next step. We’re not just missionaries to our immediate communities e.g. your workplace, your family, your social networks, your university, your neighborhood. We need to be missionaries where we gather to meet each Sunday as well. Where the people of God gather their presence should be both seen and felt. Jesus himself reminds us that we’re a community of salt and a community that is to radiate light (Matt.5:13-16) i.e. where God’s people are present, their presence is known and felt by those around them. If I were to ask anyone on Burwood road or Rawson avenue where the McDonald’s was, they would be able to tell me and help me get there. If I were to ask them where GracePoint was, they would probably be perplexed at the question. The problem with most churches today is that they are invisible, absent and irrelevant in their communities. Instead of being light on a hill that cannot be hidden, we function instead like a light that comes on for 3 hours once a week in the community, and is off the rest of the week.

In John 1:4-5, we’re reminded that the world we live in is in darkness, which is the reason why Jesus came. Jesus came as the light and the life to save those living in darkness (John 3:16-21). There are 31,000 people in Burwood who are living in darkness who need his light and life. The largest age groups in Burwood consist of young men and women between the ages of 20-34 who number 8000 people, followed by over 3,700 high school students who live in the area. This is one of many mission fields God has given us. In the year to come the possibility of new mission fields in Lidcombe and the North will open for us. But here today where God has placed us, only 2-3 out of every 100 people you see on the street in Burwood are saved, and the remaining are lost to Jesus and living in darkness.

The next stage of our ministry and mission here at GracePoint Burwood is to begin working at being the redeeming presence of Jesus in our local community. The gospel doesn’t just save, it should also lead and bring transformation to culture and society around us. We should seek to see the kingdom life and values of Jesus permeate and impact and meet the needs of our local community. In fact, until we have presence in our local community, we have little opportunities to proclaim Jesus and his saving work. People need to see and experience the love and compassion of Jesus, as much as they need to hear of the saving work of Jesus.

Over the coming months, we need to give more prayer, thought and time in being the redeeming presence of Jesus in our local community where we gather each week. From bringing the gospel to bear on ourselves, we now need to move the next stage in our vision by looking and moving out.

Our leaflet drop two weeks ago is only one of many things we’ll need to pursue in helping us gain a presence in the local community. The goal there was to let the local community know that there’s a community of Christians meeting here in Burwood, and for us to pray for the homes on those streets we leafleted. Over the next few months as a GracePoint community we’ll need to revisit those 5000 homes. What Niroosha and Yohan are doing in organizing sleeping bags for the homeless this winter is bringing the kingdom values of Jesus to our community. What James and team are doing in trying to start a HSC lounge is being Christians serving our local community, which can open the doors for Jesus to be proclaimed to students in the community. What Simon and Josh are doing with Burst Out and in helping Mandarin speakers in the local community is bringing the presence of Jesus to our local community. This coming September, the upcoming Burwood Festival would be a tremendous way for us to make a mark on the local community. And this coming summer, a holiday kids club could also be a way to serve families in the local community and bring the gospel to hundreds of children.

Our goal ultimately is not that we might get people into our church, but that the saving work of Jesus might be known. Let me encourage you to pray as a GracePoint community that the Lord might give each one of us the strength, conviction and personal resolve to take his mission the next stage, as we seek to bring the saving and transforming power of Jesus to ourselves, our church community, our city and our world.

Eugene Hor – lead English Pastor/elder
www.thereformission.net

Taking the first step in our community

At this year’s church camp we were challenged by God’s Word to not merely be people who support mission or people who send missionaries.  God’s Word calls us all to be missionaries, and to live missionally.  We’re called to be ‘missionary’ in every aspect of our Christian lives – to see the Gospel of Jesus being brought to any and all who need to hear and submit to His Lordship.

In our suburb here in Burwood there are roughly 10,888 residences around us.  If we took the average family size to be 2 – 3, it would mean we have around 30,000 people in our local community. The census indicates that there are up to 31,000 people living in Burwood.  It wouldn’t be unrealistic to assume that most have not heard about Jesus, and most have not receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

As a church community, Gracepoint Burwood has to be more than just a church that ‘does evangelism’, but a church that sees itself as part of the Burwood community, serving the Burwood community, and making Jesus known in the Burwood community.  We want to be the redeeming presence of Jesus in the community as we bring the saving words and work of Jesus to the community.  As Jesus came bringing light to a world covered in the darkness of sin, my hope is that our community at Gracepoint will do likewise.  The gospel mustn’t be confined to our Sunday meetings, or in our small groups, or even in our homes. We want people to know that Gracepoint is a community where lives are changed, where grace and forgiveness reigns, where relationships are marked by truth and love, where compassion and service exists, where Jesus and his saving words and work is known.  We want to be a light for the gospel that cannot be hidden in our community here in Burwood so that others might see and be drawn to that light.  You and I are called to be light in this community, serving them and bringing Jesus to them.

Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Two weeks ago, some of our small group leaders met up for dinner and an evening of prayer where Pastor Euge shared on what we need to be doing.  The first step of what we’re planning to do is a major leaflet drop to every resident in the Burwood community (all 12,000 homes) – we want to let them know that a community of Christians exist and are meeting in Burwood.  We want to introduce them to our church community. This’ll be a great opportunity for us to share in this vision together to begin reaching our community, and get a first hand look at what our community is like as we drop leaflets in their letter boxes.  It’ll also be an opportunity for us to prayer walk those streets and those homes we’ll be leafleting, praying for God’s grace and mercy, and for salvation to come to those homes street by street.  We want to win Burwood for Jesus, street by street praying for each home, and this is only a first step.

For us to do this requires your prayers as a church community, and your partnership in helping make this first step a reality.  It’s time for us to all play our part as a missional community.  We’re looking to do this over two Saturdays (7th and 14th July), which will take a hour or so of your time (if we can finish it in one, that’ll be fine too!), which will also give us time to pray for our community and commit people in Burwood into God’s sovereign and loving hands, asking that he might open doors for the gospel for us. Amy is also organizing members from the Cantonese congregation to come with us as well – so it will also be a great opportunity for us to work in partnership with them as they try to reach the 7000 Chinese speakers in the local area. We want to win Burwood for Jesus, street by street praying for each home, and this is our first step.

Pastor Simon Wong

Becoming a church in the community, serving the community

Here in our local community at Burwood we have just over 31,400 people. Walking down the street you’ll realize that Burwood is a diverse community. Only 11,600 people speak English only, with remaining population bi-lingual. What you’ll also find is that in Burwood alone there are 3,100 Mandarin speaking and 2,600 Cantonese speakers who make up the largest single ethnic group in our local community. The latest ABS census also reveals that as a local community over 8000 people have no religious affiliation. An additional 2,000 people profess to be Buddhist, 1600 people are Hindus, with 500 people who are Muslims, and the remaining 10,300 calling themselves Roman Catholics. Those who profess to be Protestant Christians number 7,800. I had a good laugh when I saw that the number of people calling themselves Presbyterians in Burwood numbered 1,081 (I have never seen them at church on Sunday apart from the few in the local community who rock up at Easter or Christmas, or when they want to be buried).

The reality is that on any given Sunday 3.7% of the population attends church weekly (excluding Roman Catholics), which means that around 1,161 people in our local community are at church on any given Sunday (and that’s being optimistic). Looking around at all the local churches in the Burwood area I’d be surprised if the number of people attending exceeded 1,000 people on any given Sunday. I haven’t included our GracePoint congregations in the statistics given that we come from all across Sydney to meet here at Burwood. If we did we would make up half the number of Christians meeting in Burwood. If you look at the statistics you discover that there are more people who profess to be Christians than there are people in our local churches. What was surprising was finding out that one of the largest age groups in Burwood consist of men and women between the ages of 20-34 who number 8000 people, followed by over 3,700 high school students who live in the area. What a mission field that God has put before us here in Burwood!

Burwood is an unreached community with 13,000 men and women who have no knowledge of Jesus, and another 17,000 men and women who consider themselves religious, and have some understanding of God but remain lost to Jesus. Optimistically, only 2-3 out of every 100 people you see on the street in Burwood are saved, and the remaining are lost to Jesus and are facing an eternity in hell. I am reminded of the words of Jesus in response to the man who asked him, ‘who is my neighbor?’ (Luke 10:29-37) Jesus’ answer is both pointed and challenging. Our neighbor is anyone who needs saving. The point Jesus makes is that if you love God, you will love your neighbor (Luke 10:27). You will reach out to serve him, to do all you can to see him saved.

As a Christian community that Jesus has gathered in Burwood, we’re called not just to be a church without walls, but a church that is actively seeking the lost, looking to be light that cannot be hidden in our local community, looking to demonstrate the love and compassion of Jesus in our local community, and looking to find neighbors who need to saving. We are called to be the redeeming presence of Jesus in the way we serve the local community, and his missionaries in bringing his saving message to the local community. Our vision as a church has been to bring the saving and transforming power of Jesus and his saving work to ourselves personally, to our church community, to our city and to our world. The time has come for us to bring the gospel beyond the borders of our GracePoint community. The city is our horizon and mission field, and it begins with our local community here in Burwood. As a GracePoint church community in Burwood we need to see ourselves as ‘a church in the community, serving our community for Jesus’.

Over the next month or so, we’re moving towards taking a much more missional approach in the way we want to engage the local Burwood community. We need your prayers and partnership as we take the next step in realizing our vision for our city. We have much to share with you in terms of what we can be doing in the community, and we want to hear from you what you think we can be doing in the community. From BurstOut ministries, to a HSC study lounge, to the Burwood Festival, to a regular community newsletter, to starting a new easy English service, to a regular Kids club, these are many possibilities we want you to explore with us in serving the community and bringing Jesus to our community. It’s time for us to be a church in the community, serving our community for Jesus.

Pastor Eugene Hor – lead English elder/pastor

The Challenge We Face At GracePoint

10 years ago we began GracePoint English (then Burwood@5) with a core group of 30 young people as part of the Burwood Chinese Presbyterian Church.  With our existing Cantonese congregation we’ve shared a common mission to build up God’s people to reach God’s world.  As such our vision as a church has been to bring the saving and transforming power of Jesus and his saving work not just to our personal lives, but to our church community, our suburb, our city and our world in partnership with those who share our vision.

In the last 10 years we’ve become very much part of the Burwood community which has been home for us and the base of our ministry.  Ministry for us has always focused on building a community centered on Jesus and his saving work, where our people are empowered and equipped for His ministry and mission, and where we’re always working towards seeing the planting of such churches across our city.  To facilitate this we’ve been sharing the use of the Burwood premises based on a partnership agreement with St.James Burwood Presbyterian Church (BPC) the last 10 years.

However, St.James has recently indicated to us that they would like to change the current partnership agreement with the effect that our GracePoint Burwood evening congregation will no longer be able to use the premises.  St.James has informed us that they believe it is not feasible to have two English ministries on the same site as it would be a hindrance to their future growth.  However, the Cantonese congregation as a non-English speaking congregation will be able to continue on the same site. As leaders of the English congregation this comes as a surprise to us given that we thought we had an ongoing partnership with St.James.  Consequently, there will be changes ahead of us from next year as we look for alternative premises to continue our ministry in Burwood.

Undoubtedly some in our congregation will have questions, and we’ll face a period of uncertainty.  But, as I’ve often shared with those in our congregation, our church has never been built around a building, or a denomination, or a physical location.  As a church, our community at GracePoint has always been built around Jesus and his saving work.  Our calling to serve the ministry and mission of Jesus has never been dependent on the four walls of the building we meet in.  Our identity and witness as God’s people has never been defined by the premises we use.  It has served us well the last 10 years, and for that we are thankful.  It’s now time for us to move on trusting the Lord with new ministry possibilities and opportunities in Burwood.  We’re looking for new premises in Burwood and plan to continue our ministry where we have established ourselves the last 10 years.  Even in the last month new ministry opportunities have begun opening up to us.  I am daunted by what lies ahead, but humbled at the Lord’s goodness, and excited by where the Lord might be leading us.

We must remember that the Lord continues to be in control as he leads us as a GracePoint community.  Nothing happens by chance, and the challenges we’ll face are really an opportunity for us to grow as a GracePoint community.  Rather than seeing this trial as something that will hinder us or obstruct our ministry, James tells us to consider it pure joy (James 1:2-5).  Why?  Because this is a testing of our faith that the Lord is using to mature us, to grow us to depend more on Him, to teach us to trust Him, and to turn to Him for help and wisdom to navigate a way forward. I am reminded this week of Paul who saw his every situation as an opportunity to advance the gospel, even when he was in chains (Phil.1:12-14).  Rather than seeing this situation as something that will hinder or obstruct our ministry, Paul tells us to use it as an opportunity to grow the ministry of the gospel as a GracePoint community in Burwood.  As I shared tonight in our congregation, Paul was not bound by the chains of his circumstances, we are not bound by the chains of our circumstances, because the gospel is not bound.

Click here to hear or right click to download the mp3 message I gave.

Over the next few weeks and months I’m asking you to seek the Lord’s help and wisdom with us.  Our first and greatest need at this time is for prayer – for each one of our regulars to be in prayer for our church community, our leadership, and the ministry and mission Jesus calls us to.  How we move forward depends on how the Lord answers our prayers.  We need to begin praying for each other, and the Lord’s leading as a GracePoint community.  My prayer for us at this time is that we might keep our eyes focused on Jesus alone, who loved us and died for us; who is risen and alive; who gathers us as a church; who is present and here with us by his Holy Spirit; and who continues to leads us in serving his ministry and mission in our city.  We look to Him for greater things yet to come in bringing the saving and transforming power of Jesus to our lives, our church, our suburb, our city and our world.

Pastor Eugene Hor – lead English elder/pastor