Early in the morning Mary Ong came by our hotel to take us to Quarry Bay School. She works at two schools and this is one of them. 
 
We met with Andy Thompson at Quarry Bay School . This is a private school for grades one through six. Andy is one of the administrative leaders, a coordinator. He had contacted LifeNets this past June about working together on a project to help people that would involve children. They are focusing now on working to help refugees who have found themselves in Hong Kong....and there are many of them who have been "dumped" here.   
 
Andy wrote earlier as that QBS was keen to support their students to develop a sense of empathy and to learn that taking action to help, support and empower others as an important part of life. He wanted to develop this idea into a more sustainable and authentic relationship with a few charity groups and LifeNets was recommended by colleagues and friends. He was interested if we would be interested in developing an ongoing relationship with QBS.

He was looking for more than just fund raising where possible. Over the course of this potential relationship they would like to model to their students the variety of ways that they can support different members of our community from fund raising, collecting resources, raising awareness through guest speakers and students promoting a message, building links through inviting people to school events like concerts, environmental work and visiting people in our community to support initiatives.

We had a very interesting talk in which a possible relationship involving young adults or older teenagers coming from places such as the United States or Australia could work together with QBS on a project to provide relief for the current refugee problem, for example . I told him about what our Youth Corps is doing in Guatemala, Brazil, Ukraine. Perhaps something similar could be done in Hong Kong. Hong Kong would certainly be a fascinating destination for young people.

Mary then toured us around QBS which has about 700 students. It is a private school. Very well organized and managed. It's on top of a high point in the city.  

Following our stop at QBS we went to the Landmark Center in Hong Kong to speak with another consulting firm about UCG registration as a church/charity.We have learned a lot about Hong Kong law and now have a clearer view on how to take this further.

Back to hotel. Earl and I had lunch at the hotel and I spent the afternoon doing work and communication in my room.

Mary Ong came by with Paul Sternberg for dinner and we ended up at the same place we were at for lunch . On the second floor of the hotel there is a fascinating view of Hong Kong life on the streets. 

We are planning to hold the Feast of Tabernacles here in 2015 and Paul and Mary talked about the venues sought so far. This small church is interesting in that we have a "Peter, Paul and Mary" in it.

It dawned on us as we were talking about the very location we were in..our hotel the City Garden Hotel. Mary, who is able to make lots of things happen, called to the hotel management and found a person who was just leaving for home, but could tell us about the possibility of this 4 star hotel for a Feast venue. The location is great. You can use various transportation means to get anywhere...the metro, bus or taxi.  

The person helping us was Jennifer and she kindly explained a few options and some of the important features we need such as the meeting room. She took us over to where the possible meeting room would be . It was spacious, cheery with big windows to the outside on the second floor. Looked like a great possibility and to me, just seemed "right" from the start. We are going to explore this further as we would like to get his information into the Feast brochure which has a February deadline for information about the coming year's Festival locations.

Next topic.

We had been hearing about Chinese Sabbath-keepers for a long time. There are more than million of them in China and Taiwan. One of the groups is called "ThIs connect and dialog with them. 

As we are finishing our meal, Earl points out a lit up sign about a block way "The Jesus Church." Is this the same one?  

It was getting to be past nine o'clock and we didn't think anyone would be there, but Mary and Paul said they would stop by the building on their way home. This is Wednesday night and there was a Bible Study that was just ending at 9 pm . Paul and Mary texted me with the following information and took some of the photos included in this blog post.

Paul wrote:

Yes This church is a Sabbath keeper and they have 1200 members. 

Mary wrote: 

Chinese preachers as they preferred to be called. In the pictures (in this blog), the man on.the second from right is the preacher Huang. Most preachers are Chinese speakers and there are English interpretation during services. They don't keep Christmas but keep the Passover and foot washing. 50,000 in Taiwan and yes more than a million in China.Bible study on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. They are not aware of other holy days.

Back to me:

I wish that we would have had another day here in Hong Kong to explore this further, but no doubt Earl Roemer will on his next visit .
 
I had been given their statement of beliefs earlier this week by Bill Lussenheide who lives in Southern California.  

Here is some of what Bill Lussenheide sent me: 
The True Jesus Church is a Christian Church that originated in 1917,  The TJC is currently one of the largest Christian groups in China and Taiwan.
 
The TJC emerged independently alongside other indigenous Christian groups of that period such as the Little Flock, the Jesus Family and The Christian Tabernacle Established in 1917, the church’s early adherents in Hebei and Shandong were influenced by practices of the Apostolic Faith Mission in China, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, especially faith healing, baptism of the Holy Spirit, foot washing, and  Sabbath keeping. Early leaders of the TJC included Lin-Shen Chang (b.1863-?), Paul Wei (Wei Enbo, d.1919), and Barnabas Chang (1882-c.1960).By 1949, the membership grew to around 120,000 in seven hundred churches  and today there are officially 1.5 million members. In mainland China most of the True Jesus Church congregations usually meet on Saturdays as separate sabbatarian sub-congregations.  

 Many of the congregations are independent Chinese house churches.Outside China member churches of the TJC look to the central synod of the TJC in California.In 1967 TJC church leaders from outside mainland China met for the first World Delegates Conference in Taiwan, and an international headquarters was established in Taichung, Taiwan, where a seminary was opened .  

Statement of Faith 
 
Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh, died on the cross for the redemption of sinners, resurrected on the third day, and ascended to heaven. He is the only Savior of mankind, the Creator of the heavens and earth, and the only true God.

The Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God, the only scriptural truth, and the standard for Christian living.

The True Jesus Church, established by our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit during the time of the 'latter rain', is the restored true church of the apostolic time.

 Water baptism is the sacrament for the remission of sins for regeneration. The baptism must take place in natural living water, such as the river, sea, or spring. The Baptist, who already has had received baptism of water and the Holy Spirit, conducts the baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the person receiving the baptism must be completely immersed in water with head bowed and face downward.Receiving the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, is the guarantee of our inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.The sacrament of footwashing enables one to have a part with the Lord Jesus. It also serves as a constant reminder that one should have love, holiness, humility, forgiveness, and service . Every person who has received water baptism must have his/her feet washed in the name of Jesus Christ. Mutual footwashing may be practiced whenever is appropriate.

The Holy Communion is the sacrament to commemorate the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It enables us to partake of the flesh and blood of our Lord and to be in communion with Him so that we can have eternal life and be raised on the last day. This sacrament shall be held as of

The Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week (Saturday), is a holy day, blessed and sanctified by God. It is to be observed under the Lord's grace for the commemoration of God's creation and salvation, and with the hope of eternal rest in the life to come.

Salvation is given by the grace of God through faith. Believers must rely on the Holy Spirit to pursue holiness, to honor God, and to love humanity.The Lord's Second Coming will take place on the last day when He descends from heaven to judge the world: the righteous will receive eternal life, while the wicked will be eternally condemned . 


FINALLY, I have posted on my LifeNets site the story of Chinese Sabbath-keepers from the old Good News magazine in an article by Dr. Herman L. Hoeh. Interesting thoughts. You can see it by clicking here or at 

http://lifenets.org/china/sabbathkeepers.htm