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February 2012 Dear mission partners, This winter we had uncharacteristically warm days throughout December and most of January, but finally the first snowfall came during the first weekend of February. As I was driving from the COCM centre in Milton Keynes to preach for the Leeds Chinese Christian Church’s Sunday service, I saw children and adults alike play ing in the snow in early hours, their faces beamed with unspeakable joy brought by the fresh white snow transforming their familiar surroundings into a winter wonderland. The journey of 3 hours drive on this partic ular day turned out to be quite smooth. When I arrived in the church parking lot, I wasn’t sure how many peo ple would show up to attend the Sunday service, because it was rare to have snow like this in England and people were not used to such difficult driving condition. But I was pleasantly surprised to meet many brothers and sisters; some came early to shovel the snow in the parking lot. Leeds Chinese Christian Church has a long history of partnership with COCM. In the earlier days, COCM sent workers to Yorkshire to help the local Chinese settling there. Slowly Chinese churches began to form in differ ent locations. Now Leeds Chinese Christian Church has its own church building with 3 pastors to care for its congregation. It has maintained a close relationship with COCM and has continuously and steadfastly support ed COCM over the years. Rev Johnny Chan has been our long time council member, and together with his wife Kim they have been helping to support and mentor many of our missionaries. The work of ministering to the local Chinese immigrants many COCM missionaries had helped to begin many years ago is now coming to full circle. What a joy to see that Leeds Chinese Christian Church has become a beacon in North England. Chinese New Year came early this year in January. I had the privilege to visit Scotland and join in the Chinese New Year celebration of Scotland Chinese Restaurant Gospel ministries. There were brothers and sisters from Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, Fife, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. Chinese Christian churches in these locations have been sharing the gospel among Chinese immigrants new and old, and I was happy to meet many of the church leaders in Scotland area. They have been long time supporters of COCM and we have been actively partnering with one another in the gospel ministries in Scotland. I thank God for their hard work and labor of love. The last Sunday in January I went to celebrate Chinese New Year with brothers and sisters in Bristol Chinese Christian Church. It was a festive occasion to see over 170 people crowding the worship place. In the congre gation there were many new immigrants whom the Bristol CCC actively reached out. Bristol CCC is another long time mission partner with COCM. Many of our workers had been assigned to Bristol to support the church in the past, and now we are encouraged to see the steady growth of the church. In addition to supporting our workers in student ministries, starting this year Bristol CCC will partner with us to support our new missionary trainee Josh Shek. Josh graduated from Bristol University and has been involved in the youth ministry in Bristol CCC as well as the 2 nd generation ministry at COCM. During the summer PHAT camp last year, Josh responded to God’s call to serve full time in COCM’s 2 nd generation ministry. I am excited to see Josh rise up to serve his own generation of young people. On February 1718, our 2 nd generation ministry team will hold a gathering for youth leaders from different churches in the UK. We hope that this gathering will provide a platform to connect many Chinese church youth leaders so they can offer mutual support to one another, and together they can pray as well as strategize for an expanded and stronger teamwork to carry out the 2 nd generation ministry in the UK. Serving together in Christ, Rev. Henry Lu General Director
