By: Helen Man In August 2021, the United States completely withdrew from Afghanistan, ending the 20-year-old war. President Biden claimed that the withdrawal from Afghanistan would not look the same as the withdrawal from Vietnam; no one would be dragged off the roof of the US embassy; no Americans nor Americans’ friends would be left behind. The President also cited that the US has trained and equipped nearly 300,000 troops in Afghanistan, which is more than enough to deal with the Taliban; and this is a glorious withdrawal. However, what happened after the US military left was that the Afghan government had no intention to defend the country and
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The Wisdom of “Making Free Choices”-Reflection from Japanese Culture
By Chion Under the vaccination freedom culture, many countries experienced different waves of protests. When I thought of the story of typhoon forecast, there was a dilemma of making choices. For example, the local government only provided the weather forecast, warnings on the waters/mudding, as well as the regions where people must to withdraw. However, the information or the instruction with this nature is not as straightforward as the ones from the Hongkong government where they give a clear direction about whether the students or workers should go to school or work. Under this circumstance, I called a friend, asking for help. She said “whether you choose to
Read moreToronto STM October News & Prayer Request
Pray for the Fall courses from September to December, “Video & Teleconferencing Group Follow-Up & Growth II”, “Distinguish Heretics II” and the courses “The Image of God and Believers Evangelism” and “The 4th Video & Teleconferencing” of the new semester from January to April. Pray for the new semester and for the Lord to let the students have the hearts to pursue and learn eagerly Pray for the wisdom to build up the spiritual growth of new believers and strengthen their faith. Let the growing new believers/relatives smoothly engage with church life. Please pray for the short-term mission vision sharing and graduation ceremony. Thank the Lord for
Read moreHow Can I Help You?
Pastor Samantha Wong 2 Kings 4:1-7 in the Bible records a story of the prophet Elisha helping the poor widow. The prophet Elisha had a servant, after he passed away, only his wife and two sons remained. Due to his great debts that he could not repay, he faced that his sons would be taken away as slaves. The wife could not allow that, and she begged Elisha hoping for a turnaround. When Elisha faced the helpless widow, he asked, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” The widow said, “Nothing except a small jar of olive oil.” “Nothing?” It could
Read moreFollow Me (Continued)
Jesus said to him, “Follow Me” (John 21:19) Growing in Grace, Learning in Serving Thank God for giving me and my wife a new heart in knowing Him, serving Him. After baptizing in 1994, we started participating in the choir, and as we grow in faith, through God’s mercy and protection, and with the encouragement and support of pastors and co-workers, I have become core co-worker of the Mandarin fellowship. We served in the church as one body with other brothers and sisters of different culture and background. In 1996 I was nominated and elected as church deacon in evangelism. Serving a church of 400 in three different
Read moreFollow Me
Pastor Chen Biao, Director of IIIM Ministries Theological Education Resource Center USA, East Asia Region Jesus said to him, “Follow Me” (John 21:19) Spiritual Blind I was born in an educated family in China, and like many others of the same generation, I was raised in difficult and tumultuous times. I had never heard of the bible or Christianity before university, and not to mention the “god” of the superstitious western society. In my childhood memory, I probably questioned why people call Sunday a “Day of Worship”, and got an answer instead questioning me whether I watched the Soviet movie. In a nutshell people believe that Sunday worship
Read moreThe Practicality of Missions in the Pandemic: Our Testimonies
Rev. Kenneth Kin Hang Lo Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Internet has become the most important way for us to contact the outside world. Someone once joked: “We can go out without our wallets, or stay at home, but we can’t survive without the Wi-Fi or mobile phones!” This is because all the data and messages are on our phones. Of course, they also have the Internet connection to the outside world. All of a sudden the way of the church has changed: worship, fellowship, prayer meetings, and all other gatherings became online meetings. Everyone can bring the church into their own home without leaving home,
Read moreSelf-transcendence of life
Alice Cheng Bookstores are overstocked with books for successful living. Commercial advertisements also bombard us with how to attain beauty, self-confidence, health, and wealth. Self-actualization and self-transcendence are what we long for. WHO AM I? “I” am a very unified and organized living being. “I” have self-awareness and willpower, physical body, feelings, emotion, and reasoning. My motivation for growth comes from different levels of needs: physical needs, sense of security, sense of self-esteem, sense of belonging, sense of accomplishment, and sense of morality, etc. “I” have a thirst for wisdom, affection, intention, and truth, kindness, and beauty. However, my heart often wanders in transcendence and relativity. This includes:
Read moreToronto STM Septemper News & Prayer Request
Pray for evangelism training and evangelism in the Short-term Mission Centre Prayer of thanksgiving for the successful completion of the 8th Jesus Loves Chinatown. -Pray that believers and churches can actively follow up and pray -Thank the Lord for giving our co-workers a wonderful collaboration -The total number of participants is about 125. Glory to GOD in the Highest. Pray for the Autumn Course: “Video Phone Group Follow-up and Cultivation II” and “Discerning Heresy & Cults II” from September to December. -Pray for the students to participate in the cultivation work during the summer vacation, so that they will become good trainers, can wisely establish spiritual growth in
Read moreRace to Space? Race to Heaven?
Timothy Tin While the world is gripping with the shrouding shadows cast by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, three wealthy individuals from around the world willingly risked their lives and fought to be the first person to become a ‘space traveler’ and open up the world of space travel. On July 11, 2021 at 9 am, Richard Branson, an English business magnate, rode his own business empire’s spacecraft and reached a peak altitude of 53.3 miles. It reached the atmosphere and experienced four minutes of weightlessness; after one hour of flight the spacecraft — Unity 22 — safely landed in New Mexico. Branson founded the Virgin Galactic
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