Mohn-David-1984-HongKong.pdf

7/29/2019 Mohn-David-1984-HongKong.pdf

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Thilt they might hear .

JESUS TO THE BILLIONSA Mission to Hong Kong and to the World

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, greetingsand peace to you. My name is David Mohnand I would like to share with you someinformation concerning the mission inHong Kong and, in particular, about


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The PlaceHong Kong is now a British colony on thesoutheastern tip of China, measuring somefifteen miles north and south, and thirty mileseast and west. You can see where the borderwith China Is as you sail Into the harbor.However, In less than thirteen years (June 30,1997) that will change. On that date the existingtreaty leases between Great Britain and Chinawill expire and the Republic of China will oncemore govern this area. Already the broodingpresence of the sleeping dragon is felt in thestreets of the city and in the hearts of the people.Paychecks received on Friday are spent byMonday on drink, drugs, and forgetfulness.Morale Is steadily decaying because there Is noescape for most. All that looms on the horizon isa total change of life-style within a generation.

The PeopleAlthough religious beliefs are represented byBuddhism, Taoism, ancestor worship,Mormonism, and others, the religion mostwidely practised is materialism. Except forChristians, the main focus of the peoples' lives isto get as rich as possible anyway they can.


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of other missionaries in Christian DisciplingMission: to establish a Bible College, to helpplant and establish churches, to evangelizeHong Kong and, through radio broadcasts,mainland China, and to train a staff of nativeteachers to staff the Bible College.The Bible College has been in operation since1979 with a slowly growing student body. It mustb e remembere d tha t these s tudents mus t at tendclasses at night after working between ten andmaybe fourteen hours a day. They must alsokeep up in their assignments. Some havefamilies.The radio broadcasts are currently only fifteenminutes a week due to a lack of funds andpersonnel to prepare material - and yet this littlehas produced great interest-even in Red China!Several new churches have been started andhave regular attendance of ten to thirty persons.This is actually a sizable accomplishment In soresistant a culture. The missionaries play only anadvisory role in thesechurches, insisting that theleadership come from the local membership.Beginning in 1985, jesus to the Billions will joinwith C.D.M. in the work of sharing the gospel.


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JESUS FOR THE BILLIONS

Over a b i l l i o n p e o p l e l i v e i n a c o u n t r y a littlel a r g e r than the United S t a t e s of America. At the southeast /comer of China, on the coast, is a Brit ish colony a l i t t l e ^ ^l e s s than four hundred 'square miles i n area. Hong Kong i s ^less than half the size of Rhode island, but has almost fiveand a h a l f m i l l i o n p e o p l e l i v i n g t h e r e . The a v e r a g e p e rc a p i t a income i n China i s S400. The average i n Hong Kongi s about $10,000. About f o r t y p e r c e n t o f the money goingi n t o China i s f unnel ed th rough Hong Kong.The r e l i g i o u s life i n Hong Kong c e n t e r s aroundBuddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. None o f t h e s e b e l i e f shave a c e n t r a l d l e t y , b u t i n s t e a d encourage the i n d i v i d u a lt o b e t t e r h i m s e l f and l i v e i n peace and harmony w i t h h i m s e l f ,h i s neighbors and the world around him. However, i n s p i t eof many disp lays of devot ion a t shrines and temples and i nr e l i g i o u s ceremonies, t h e dominant r e l i g i o n i s withoutquest ion materialism., Most a c t i v i t i e s by the majori ty ofthe population i n HongKong are directed toward g e tt in g r ic h e r .There a r e few moral o r e t h i c a l i n f l u e n c e s from a C h r i s t i a nh i s t o r y to i n h i b i t or guide t h i s p u r s u i t .A c r o s s t h e b o r d e r f r o m C h i n a come e v e r y y e a r a n

e s t i m a t e d two -hundre d a nd f i f t y thousand p e o p l e , s e e k i n gprosperity and a freer way of l i f e . Not everyone makes i t .some a r e d i s c o v e r e d and s e n t back# Some die i n t h e swamps.But enough make it to swell th e popul at io n i n Hong Kong. Newhighrise apartment buildings between twenty and t h i r t y stor iessprout mushroom l i k e v i r t u a l l y overnight. Mountains are t o r ndown t o fill i n ocean i n l e t s t o c r e a t e more l a n d a r e a . Thous a n d s l i v e o u t t h e i r l i v e s a s a f l o a t i n g p o p u l a t i o n i n t h eharbor. At night the neon l i g h t s make . this c i t y resemblemany i n the United States. I t i s modem and western in manyw a y s .

But i n l e s s t h a n f o u r t e e n y e a r s t h i s way o f l i f emight easily change forever. Juj^ jO. 19j7 marks the endof the lease agreements by t r e a t y belTwe^en B r i t a i n and China.At t h a t time China may reclaim e s s e n t i a l l y a l l o f t h i s a r e awithout anyone in the world complaining. The move will beconipletely legal in the inijenaiatlonal courts of law. I f thishappens, the l a s t door into China for the gospel will closefor fore ign miss ionaries. Only those. Christians who arecit izens of Hong Kong will then be able to remain and spreadt h e gospel i n t o China^


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Tha t is th e purpose o f Chinese Chr i s t i a n Seminaryand Jesus fo r the Bi l l i ons . In 1980 a Bihle co l lege wass t a r t e d i n Hong Kong wi th two purposes . One c en t r a l purposeis to preach th e gospe l and beg in new cong rega t ions i n HongKong. The second purpose i s to prov ide more in depth t r a i n i ng -f o r th e Chr i s t i a n s in Hong Kong, e s p e c i a l l y fo r t hose wish ingto be l e ade r s i n the chu r che s t h e r e . Thi s co l l eg e miss i onis i n t ended to be s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t by 1997 . It must be . Itmust be suppor ted by the churches in Hong Kong and it musth^ive a staff o f na t i v e i n s t r u c t o r s by th en . T h is is th e on lyway t ha t the Communists might allow it to remain a f te r thet akeove r . It i s from Hong Kong t h a t th e na t ive s a re al lowedto freely cross the border in to China fo r b r i e f v i s i t s andbus iness . Over t evangel ism i s monitored and dea l t withswi f t ly . I f the gospel i s to be car r i ed in to China duringsuch v i s i t s it must be done c a r e f u l l y and qu i e t l y . The churchesplanted NOW coupled with the o ther churches and the Bibleco lleg e are the only hope fo r more than a b i l l i on to be saved.

It is niy i n t en t ion .and my hope to be able to jo inthe present s t a f f of Chinese Chris t ian Seminary in th i s work.The f i r s t t a sk upon a r r iva l wi l l be to maste r the Cantonesel^anguagfe which i s spoken there. A. two year course of studywi l l enable me to preach and converse wi th confidence of beingunders tood . Since th e popu l a t i on works l ong hours du ring th eday, most c lasses a t the Seminary v/i l l be a t night . "Days!v i l l be occupied by l e sson planning and prepar ing and pass ingout evangel i s t i c t r a c t s and mate r ia l s . It wil l be necessarya l s o i n th e n e a r fu tu re to acqu i r e some p r i n t i n g equ ipmen tfo r producing th i s mater ia l more quickly in l a rge r quant i t ie s .

The s i z e o f th e t a sk is enormous. More workers andmuch su pp ort, bo th f inanc ia l and especial ly in prayers areneeded to accomplish this task. Twice in the thirteenthcentury the Pope fa i led to answer the request of the Khan tosend scholarvs to t e ach about Chr i s t . Today, China ha rb ors th e ~l a rges t population of athe is ts of any nation on earth. Letus not f a i l again to hea r the ca l l o f the b i l l i on s cryingout in despai r . Never hearing of the grace of God and Hismercy through Christ Jesus, l i fe for them " is intolerable ,d e a t h unbearable."


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PERSONAL 5T.ITI3TTC!3I vr-is born 10/19/49 in Columbus, Ohio. ' Ifter threeyears the f;-iinily moved to Boston, Newark, ^':emphis, Jackson

vi l le and iinallj ' ' "Danicord, Florida in 1956. We moved toOocoa in 1965 af te r m,y father re t i red from the andfound v/ork a t Oa-pe K;ennedy.In Cocoa I finished high school and comraunitv college.In 1969-70 I 'vxs a student at Florida State University. "Dueto some technic-alities and insufficient self-disciDline, IFlunked out. i'Xirin.n: the final tern I became a Christian. In1974 T returned to college at the University of Central Florida (Orlanr^o), studying electronics. I gradM it--r- in 1


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v'ith the campus ministry v/hich was overseen by the Ghristi-.nc h u r c h .

In 1974 \7hen I moved bad : to CJocoa to re turn to co llege I begin -ittending the ahri.'=5tian chucb there, "duringth i t time I was involved in the teaching ministry and wasel^jcted to be a deacon. I also was responsible for reestabl ishing the benevolence fund and food supply as well asin i t ia t ing in tere st in grounds improvement/

In 1976 upon moving to Melbourne to be c lose r toPlarris Corp., I became active in the Eau Gallie congre^?:ation.There I v/as also active in the teaching ministry and otherT)rograms. I he lped promote and organise ex tens ion c l a s se sfrom CFBG as well as a Brevard Oounty Ken's PellowshiT) (God'sMOBLien Of Brevard) to which I was appointed chairman ofthe planning committee. Through this"fellowship much support*"as acqui red to enable th e founding o f a new church in PalmBay. I wis on th e educa tio n committee and helped work withnumerous youth prog rams .

In 1981 I moved to Lincoln, I l l ino is to at tend l incolnChrist ian 3eminar:v^ to -vorl: toward a Master of Divinity degreein Theolog;v' and philosophy. I became active in ths vh,Fulask i congregat ion and am presen t ly on the O.S. committeeand "îll be conduct ing a l î b li ca l I n tr oduct io n Sunday Schoolc l a s s t h i s f a l l (1983) .

In the I xst t h i r t een year s , the primari- focusministry' in my l i fe has been discipl ing, counseling anot e a c h i n g .IT^TEIIESTS HOB^Î>:SPuzz le so lv ing o f all k inds

nai l ing I- f i x i ngchesscompu te r gamesmath p u z z l e sconcep tua l an-; ô rcGp tua l "puzzles

He : .dingrxiOto,-ira:ohyIKvmna s t i c sOooJi in . s J r o s s - s t i t ch /nood le - -o in t

Mohn-David-1984-HongKong.pdf

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