April 1980.....the Hong Kong Peak is issued by missionaries of the ABFMS.

CRISIS AT CHUK YUEN

Recently word was received from the Hong Kong Government that the premises of the Chuk Yuen Christian Center must be vacated by March 31, 1980, as the entire area will be demolished and cleared in preparation for a new housing estate. Together with the Kowloon City Swatow Baptist Church we are negotiating with Government for space in a new estate. Youth work and a chapel ministry will continue in borrowed premises until permanent facilities can be found. Most of the people living in the area have been assigned new housing in a nearby estate.

In June, 1979, I was named the Director of the, Center. This has entailed attending Board meetings, holding weekly staff meetings, teaching English classes, helping people with special problems. I have found Chuk Yuen a challenging, situation, working with David Ngai, the assistant director, and other leaders at the Center.

by Keith Tennis

CHRISTIAN CENTER WORK

In addition to the Kindergarten, Chapel, and Youth Program at Chuk Yuen, the American Baptist Mission operates the Moon Lok Community Center, and works along with Homantin Swatow Baptist Church and Brotherly Love Chapel in developing their Christian Center activities.

June Sutton has supervised at Moon Lok for five years. Harold Schock is now assisting at Homantin. All of the Mission staff are on call to help with a wide variety of interest groups, Bible study, sports, scouting, and English conversation.

The Christian Centers attract neighborhood families for special events such, as films, Christmas and Easter dramas, athletic tournaments, Chinese folk dancing, training in nutrition and child care.

Masses of youth wandering Hong Kong streets are a lively challenge to those churches in Christian Center work. And you see joyous proof of its value, when you meet enthusiastic young Christians like Janie and Stella, who first came to know Christ through a typing class at Chuk Yuen!

by Ruth Noren

NEWS FLASH!!

We have just received notice that the Social Welfare Dept. of the Hong Kong Government has recommended granting us space in a new Housing Estate, Shun On, for operating a youth and children's center. The building, located across the road behind the United Christian Hospital, will be available for use in about one year.

REV. AND MRS. JOSEPH YIU AND FAMILY

Joseph has written to say how much he and Carolyn, miss the Baptist "family" in Hong Kong. But the three children (Ann, Timothy and Dorothy) like American life very much.

During this past year, Rev. and Mrs. Joseph Yiu completed their term of work at the Kowloon City Swatow Baptist Church, and returned to San Francisco. Joseph performed a good ministry in bringing the Church along in its development and grasp of its opportunities for service. It was hard to see him leave, and we hope that he and others like him may be able in the future to give direction and assistance to the churches in Hong Kong.

Loren Noren is temporarily doing some of Joseph's work. In December he baptized 77 people in that church, and through the last half of 1979 conducted. numerous weddings. According to Chinese thinking, 1979 was an auspicious year for marriage

In Kowloon City Church. the wedding of Fong Shun Yan to Lily Chung. Mr. Fong is pastor of Brotherly Love Swatow Baptist Chapel. His wife, Lily, is a nurse at the Kowloon Hospital, but also is an enthusiastic helper in the chapel program.

TRENDS IN 1979

One important event in Hong Kong during 1979 was the opening of the new Mass Transit Railway system. Its construction was completed within the budget and ahead of schedule. The system runs from Kwun Tong to Kowloon Tong, beneath Nathan Road to Tsim Sha Tsui and under the harbor to the Central District of Hong Kong island. Eventually, a line will also be built to the industrial town of Tsuen Wan.

The MTR has been completed none too soon. Traffic has become extremely congested and the price of gasoline has risen to US$1.70 per gallon. People are making good use of the MTR and, quite fortunately, several of the Swatow Baptist Churches are located near stations of the system.

Land values and rents continued to escalate during the year until finally Government began to take action toward the end of the year. A rent control bill has been passed aimed primarily at the more greedy landlords.

The price of gold went up drastically. One can hardly believe that not too long ago gold was pegged at US$35.00 per ounce in the U.S.A. It rose to over US$800.00 per tael this year in Hong Kong.

During the year a further announcement was made about the possible new airport at Chu Lap Kok island.

About the same time a report appeared in the newspaper that China was interested in a joint airport located just across the b order on Chinese territory. No decision has been made yet. This means that we will need to repair the buildings of our youth camp as it is now assured of another summer or two of operation.

Relations with China continued to be good and Chairman Hua Guofen visit to Britain strengthened the feeling of confidence in the future of Hong Kong. New air and shipping services have begun, double tracking of the railway between Canton and Hong Kong is planned and a major new highway has been mooted. Hong Kong firms are being encouraged to participate in China’s, "four modernizations."

The first visit of a specific group of Hong Kong Christian pastors and religious leaders took place recently. They were received officially and had frank exchanges with many Christian leaders. The Three-Self Movement continues its work and reported upon the many "small group" meetings all over the country, baptisms that have taken place, and the general situation of religion in the nation.

Contacts with people in the Teo Chin (Swatow) area have increased. Chinese from the USA, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia have visited the area for the first time in 30 years. A large Baptist Church in Canton was opened for worship in the Fall with. Christians of all backgrounds attending, with services shared among different Ministers. Between 600 and 1,000 people attend regularly.

by Loren E. Noren

Mr. & Mrs. David CHIH Heng Chow

Pastor, Principal, community leader, Christian Center Director, Mr. David CHIH Heng Chow is all this and. much, more to the people in Tsuen Wan.

University graduates who were once his students in the Moon Lok Kindergarten call him "Principal". Hundreds of the young people who live around the Kindergarten thank him for setting their feet upon the road to a good education.

His contact with the Church began when he was 6 years old.. His grandmother (one of the 3 Christians in her village in China) took him to live with her in the church. She taught him about God. At the age of 16 he attended special meetings where Dr. John Sung preached, and dedicated his life to full-time service.

Mr. Cbih began his teaching career in Swatow, China, at the Trinity Baptist Primary School. In 1951 he left for Hong Kong, enrolled as a parttime student it the Hong Kong College and. graduated, in 1958. He continued to study parttime at Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary and was granted a B. D. in 1963. At that time he became Pastor of the Mongkok Swatow Baptist Church.

In 1964 he accepted the position of Principal of the Moon Lok Kindergarten. Mr. Chih has worked hard to make this Kindergarten one of the best in the Tsuen Wan area. It began with about 100 students and has grown to 400 students in two sessions.

In 1965 he became the Pastor of the Tsuen Wan Swatow Baptist Chapel, ably supported by his wife who plays the piano for the church meetings and special functions of the Kindergarten.

In June 1979, the Kowloon City Swatow Baptist Church invited him to undertake a fulltime pastoral ministry and he will be ordained there on April 6, 1980. He is missed by the Kindergarten students and families around the Christian Center, but be believes this is God's will for his life now and a further fulfillment of God's call given to him so many years ago in China.

by June Sutton

HACKETTS IN HONG KONG AND MACAU

Hong Kong Baptist College presented Diplomas to the largest number of graduates in its history at the Convocation on November 17, 1979. And the Department of Sociology and Social Work led all the rest in total graduated. Our college, is training many more in these fields than any other institution of university level in Hong Kong. So we feel that we are contributing a large number of qualified workers in the rapidly growing field of Social Welfare, and so to the betterment of social conditions in Hong Kong.

Marion and I make two weekend trips to Macau each month to work with Sino-Burmese refugees who now live in Macau, perhaps as many as 20,000 of them. During the past year we feel we have reached a fine group of young people, some of whom have become Christian since they arrived in Macau, and we feel there is scope for a lot more work. The group is now developing its own leadership, but we are still praying for a theologically trained person to act as pastorevangelist. Finding such a person will be difficult, for we need a tri-lingual person, i.e. able to speak Cantonese, Burmese and English.

by Bill Hackett

Kityang Nurses' Association held their New Year worship at Herbie & Naucy Siau's villa...

NEW HEAD OF KINDERGARTEN

Miss YUNG Sut Ming is the new Principal of the Moon Lok Kindergarten. She has introduced more creative activities while maintaining sufficient emphasis on learning of the 3 R's to satisfy parents. She has built excellent relationships with the teachers. All are being encouraged to attend at least one training course a year for which the Kindergarten pays the fees.

We want to develop closer relationships with the student’s parents. An open day was held on December 21st and about 100 parents visited the Kindergarten. I was able to talk with some of these who spoke either Swatow or English. We hope to begin visitation of the homes of children with obvious problems in the new year. There needs to be a closer link between the Church and the Kindergarten in this work.

by June Sutton

MISSIONARY MEMORIAL

John Luebeck and numerous friends have contributed US$4,000 in memory of his mother Kay Luebeck, a former South China Missionary. $2,000 has been designated for general relief and aid to Swatow refugees; and $2,000 for leadership training for Swatow Baptist Church members. John is a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

John's father is buried in South China, where he was a missionary along with Kay.

FAMILY LIFE EXHIBITION

Kwun Tong Community Health Project (under United Christian Medical Services) selected a small park, near the bus terminal, for a neighborhood experience in learning about families. People of all ages enjoyed demonstrations and practical step-by-step methods to enrich life in the home.

A noisy Lion Dance officially opened a two- day Exhibition designed to promote improved family life. Health education is an ongoing effort in Kwun Tong, carried out in planned sharing sessions for family members, as well as by qualified nurses who daily visit in needy homes. Churches cooperate with this effort.

Most Hong Kong families, whether rich or poor, have to cope with frustrations from crowded living, with air pollution, and with noise from traffic and airplanes. In addition, some families worry about garbage collection, rodents and insects, drug and alcohol abuse, weakening of family ties, and frightening moral standards. (Not only Hong Kong's problems, yet few places in the world try to crowd over five million people into 400 square miles.)

The Community Health Project deals with other aspects of family health such as Family Planning, Family Communication, behavior problems, care of teeth and eyes, selection and preparation of foods, and safety standards in the home.

by Ruth Noren

LINGNAN INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Many businessmen and government officials in Hong, Kong are just beginning to realize the importance of professional managers and to understand their need for courses in management. The continuing rapid growth of Hong Kong’s economy, which is in part related to prospects for trade with and investment in the People’s Republic of China, creates growing opportunities for outside involvements on my part.

Giving lectures and teaching courses for business firms, professional associations and departments of the Hong Kong Government…these activities contributed much to my understanding of the problems there people face in everyday work. I feel certain that these activities have also contributed to our Institute’s growing reputation as a reputable graduate school of business administration.

BRAILLING AND HOIVIE VISITATION

Perhaps most demanding on my concentration is the Braille work I have continued to do. I have finished most of a book on psychology for the blind university students. At our weekly gatherings, now held in Ruth Espy's home, we exchange material we have brailled and proof-read each other's work.

Every mouth Harold and I go to Macau twice, alternating with the Hacketts. We spend only 24 hours there, but find it very rewarding as we make new and old contacts, and courses have evening worship services for the Burmese--speaking Chinese there. In Hong Kong my program is not cut out to include home visitation, but in Macau this is the most important part of our ministry.

by Estelle Schock

A delegation of Chinese Christian Church leaders from China went to the U.S.A. Rev. K.H. Diag preached in Riverside Church on September 9, 1979, and visited the China desk at the New York office of the N.C.C. and talked with Franklin Woo. One of the delegates was Rev. Chen Tse -Ming who was originally from Swatow.

EDUCATION FOR THE BLIND

Braillists in my group are doing books on History, English, Psychology, Economics, and Social Work.

The Hong Kong Society for the Blind has opened a new Vocational Training School for forty blind young people. With modern tools and equipment, it offers instruction in carpentry, joinery, automobile body repair, metal work, industrial sewing, telephony, braille-stenograpby, and dictaphone-typing.

by Ruth Espy

SWATOW WOMEN

The Swatow Baptist Women's Association presented US$200 of the annual Thanksgiving offering to Sunnyside Children's Home. Thirteen of the women rode in a Junk Bay Medical Relief Council bus to deliver the gift of cash and toys, and to visit with some of the youngsters Mrs. Shirley Lau is chairlady of SBWA. Photo includes doctor and nursing staff, Swatow women, and advisors to the Association, Estelle Schock, Catherine Ho, and Ruth Noren.

SUNNYSIDE CHILDREN'S HOME
(Junk Bay Medical Relief Council)

Recently, I had the opportunity to work for a 3 mouth term at Sunnyside, a retarded children's hostel located near junk Bay and affiliated with Haven of Hope Hospital. The hostel houses 50 children divided into 3 wards ranging from moderate to severely retarded. The atmosphere at Sunnyside was quite unique to me. Daily in the morning the staff open with devotions. On Wednesdays there is a prayer staff meeting. On Sundays all the children are brought together and there is a short singing time while the staff are able to have their own service.

A relatively new program is home visitation. Some of the staff go to visit the families and the home situation. When the time is right the idea of Christ is discussed with the families and they are invited to attend church services. Truly at Sunnyside a Christian atmosphere prevails and it is one of the facilities that is a real witness in proclaiming Christ's love.

by Linda Michielsen

S. E. Asia Council

In August, 1979, I attended the meetings of the Southeast Asia Swatow Baptist Council on Evangelism in Bangkok, Thailand. There was a small delegation from Hong Kong churches. Mr. Gi Geng Di was elected Chairman and has already visited churches in Malaysia and Hong Kong. He has called a meeting of the Council in Hong Kong, April 19-22, 1980, to carry forward some of the plans.

by Loren E. Noren

WU OI CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP

Music is a very valuable part of our treatment and training in the Sha Lo T u n g Treatment Center.

Informally or in devotional sessions it is a happy time.

Wu Oi now has a staff of 7 which includes 2 young ladies to handle the general office work and the finances. We also hired our first seminary trained staff member to be Chaplain. This will upgrade our training and teaching aspects, and hopefully will increase our success rate.

It takes about one month for a man to qualify for our Sha Lo Tung village treatment program, and often they have to wait a month or more for space. The schedule expects each man to stay in the village for 6 months where he undergoes detoxification (3 days), getting his strength back (about a week), then easy house and farm chores, Bible study, group therapy sessions, counseling, prayer and Christian fellowship. Those who complete 6 months can then move into our town center in Fung Wong Sun Chuen where they live with other graduates, have study sessions, Christian fellowship, and after about a month secure a job. The men relate to 5 different churches.

We entered 1979 with 10 men in our village treatment center. We took in 65 during the first year. 20 51, stayed from 1 to 5 months and 14 (18.7%) completed the course of 6 months. The lives from which they have come stand in stark contrast to their lives now as followers of Christ.

A Television production team came to the Treatment Center in the New Territories to make a five-minute film. It is scheduled to be shown on one Sunday evening in 1980.

by Harold Schock

WORLEYS IN HONG KONG

Special staff m e m b e r s for six months during the year were Rev. & Mrs. Richard Worley and their daughter Sarah. These Thailand missionaries came to Hong Kong for six months intensive study of the Teo Chiu (Swatow) dialect. They worked hard at the language with an experienced teacher at the New Asia Language Institute. They also related extremely well to many of the Swatow Baptist Churches and contributed to the life of the Mission and the work in many ways. Their presence was much appreciated and we wish them every blessing in their continuing work in Bangkok.

CAMP EXPERIENCES

One highlight recently was the writing, producing and training of leaders to use the Children's Summer Camp Curriculum, entitled "A Little Light". Over 200 children attended the camp that used this course. Several leaders mentioned changes in behavior in some children, including speech and attitudes, which were emphasized Bible studies, creative activities, and learning games. One parent said, "My boy is different, happened to him at the camp. It is a joy to have him home again."

by June Sutton

HOMANTIN SWATOW BAPTIST INTERMEDIATE YOUTH GROUP

Sabrina is a volunteer worker. She and I work as a team in training small group Bible study leaders, who are now able to take more responsibility within the youth group. Miss Sandra Lee is Christian Education Director and Women's Worker in the Homantin Swatow Baptist Church. She also helps with this intermediate youth group of 40 persons. At a retreat for Committee members, it was a personal joy to hear the young people openly share their experiences of personal problems and Christian growth.

by June Sutton

MISSION CONFERENCE

The annual American Baptist Mission Conference was held the last Weekend of January at a quiet retreat center on Hong Kong Island. The first afternoon we discussed "A Vision of Future Direction for Mission in Hong Kong".

Two sessions had been alloted to "Management for Missionaries" by Dr. John Espy who teaches business administration at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. In the first session John set out basic management principles for "getting the job due effectively". In the second session he led a discussion on the factors which motivate people to perform at their highest level of potential.

Bible study preceded a time for sharing some of our problems (seeking support from each other) and some of our joys (seeking to rejoice together).

Only twelve in number, we were able to eat at one round table (Chinese style). Kimberly and Amy, the only two children in the "Mission family", especially enjoyed the time together. Living above noisy traffic on Argyle Street, Amy remarked that the retreat center was "so quiet I couldn't sleep!"

by Linda Tennis

HERE IN HONG KONG.....

Cecil Cozder Jr. is living at the Chinese U. while finishing an MBA,John Espy's sermon was well-received at a recent family service held in Chung Chi's lovely chapel ... during a six-week visit to Hong Kong, Debbie Noren and two friends involved themselves in English teaching, Bible classes, and work with Vietnamese :refugees ... June Sutton was presented with a huge birthday cake by her Bible students to express "new beginnings in the Christian life"... Kathie Koons is in Hong Kong doing volunteer work as a nurse in a Vietnamese refugee camp...Daniel & Nancy Chow of Chung Chi Department of Theology will lead a family life seminar for young married couples in Swatow Churches ... both Hacketts and Schocks returned from Burma praising Burmese Christians for "They are committed to Christian witness in a way that brings joy to those of us who have worked with them over the Years". Paul Clasper taught twenty hours in one week at Burma Institute of Theology ... Horton Preslev will speak at Mission fellowship Easter Sunrise Service ... Norens rejoiced in having whole family in Hong Kong over Christmas...Janet Clasper's watercolors were exhibited in a private, showing at a Hong Kong hotel and in a group exhibit at the Hong Kong Arts Center............ Tennises loved having Grandmother here over Christmas...

TRAINING IN CHURCH MUSIC

A Music Training Workshop was an effort to familiarize youth in Swatow Baptist Churches with music many countries. Dr. Bob Mitchell, American Baptist Seminary of West, demonstrated the use of Asian hymns and a "resurrection" chant from Africa. Walter Cheng translated Mitchell's suggestions for enriching Christian worship.

Dr. Horton Presley, professor at Hong Kong Baptist College, encouraged the use of instrumental music in worship, by presenting an inspirational medley of favorite hymns for Lenten season, on the marimba.

by Ruth Noren

Missionaries....
Dr. and Mrs. John Espy (Ruth)
Dr. and Mrs. William D. Hackett (Marion)
Dr. and Mrs. Loren E. Noren (Ruth)
Rev. and Mrs. Harold Schock (Estelle)
Miss June M. Sutton
Rev. and Mrs. Keith Tennis (Linda)