September 1969.....the Hong Kong Peak is issued by missionaries of the ABFMS.

Youth and the Church

Swatow Baptist young people face tremendous problems as they live in this overcrowded British colony on the edge of Communist China. Their parents, many of whom have grown up in an agricultural community in the mainland, find it almost impossible to understand the tensions that surround their teenagers. Leaders in our churches are also puzzled to know how to make the Christian gospel relevant to their needs.

In the latter part of 1968 the Joint Committee of Swatow Baptist Churches requested Miss June Sutton and the Rev. C. T. Lee, minister of the Kowloon City Church, to talk with pastors and youth leaders in order to find ways of assisting the churches with their youth work. In January seven persons with experience in youth work were appointed to a Youth Committee. Prayerfully they formulated the aims of the committee which are,

1. To plan activities that will help the young people grow in their experience of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. To provide opportunities for fellowship among Swatow Baptist youth.

3. To plan retreats and seminars that will provide training for youth leaders and young people so that they will be better able to serve Christ in their youth groups.

4. To assist youth groups with program planning and materials.                  

The highlights of the first year's activities have been a Youth Officers Training Retreat held in April, and a Youth Work Seminar conducted in August. For this three day seminar, over 70 young people gathered at the camp on Chu Lap Kok. The theme was "The Place of Young People in Today's World." Bible study, lectures, and discussion helped the young people to think about their place in the church and the community. Workshop sessions trained them for their responsibilities in their youth groups.

This was the first time that Swatow Baptist young people had joined together for this type of program. Some comments were: "It was wonderful to meet friends from other churches"; "It was great to come away to a quiet place and have time to think about what Christ wants us to be and do in today's world"; "I have learned so much! I hope I can use this knowledge to serve Christ"; "I hope we can have more meetings like this because I feel the need to meet other young Christians and share with them." An autumn retreat is planned for the end of October.

June Sutton and David Wong have now completed materials for the coming year, which emphasize greater participation by members of the groups. These materials are relevant to the needs of young people in Hong Kong, as they seek to live for Christ amid the problems and pressures of a materialistic society. The young people are learning to witness for their Lord in a world which desperately needs His love.

Greater Recognition of Seminary Course

There have been exciting developments in the relationships between the Chung Chi Theological Seminary, the College itself, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (of which Chung Chi College is one of the three colleges). The Seminary is now the Theology Division of Chung Chi College, and is part of the Faculty of Arts of the College and the University.

This means that matriculated students (matriculation is dependent upon passing an examination set by the Chinese University) will attend four years for a degree awarded by the Chinese University. This will be a B. A. degree with a major in theology. Then they will spend a further two years in which more emphasis will be placed upon practical subjects. The Theology Division is also able to admit non-matriculated students. This year there are eight first year students, six of them being matriculated; this is the largest intake' of students in the history of the Seminary.

It should be added that as part of the new relationship, the Theology Division is still controlled by a council of church representatives, and is fully dependent upon the churches for financial support. What has been changed is the academic status of the Seminary. It is challenging that theological education is now incorporated into the structure of the University, while still retaining the relationship with the churches.

John Espy Returns for Research

John and Ruth Espy completed their first term of missionary service in May 1967. John had taught industrial chemistry and served as bursar at Chung Chi College, and Ruth had worked in the college library. They requested an extended furlough so that John could join the doctoral program of the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He hopes to complete the program in June 1970, and that he and Ruth may return to Chung Chi in August of that year.

As a thesis topic John has selected, "The Strategies of Chinese Industrial Enterprises in Hong Kong." He has attempted to identify and evaluate the various factors affecting Hong Kong's outstanding performance in exporting manufactured goods to advanced countries. On September 6, John arrived in Hong Kong to begin his field research; this is expected to take about three months. Ruth and the boys, Lincoln and John Mark, remained at home in Newton Centre, Mass.

After one week here John commented, "It's really great to be back in Hong Kong! For this type of research, Hong Kong is the most exciting place in the world. The Chinese here are demonstrating an amazing ability to utilize their limited resources to raise living standards and to build a solid base for continued economic growth. Other developing countries ought to take a good look at what is going on!"

The Summer at the Student Christian Centre

The Student Centre has been a busy place this summer. Under the direction of Kathie Reed, eleven Stanford University students, and two other American volunteers have conducted a six weeks intensive course in spoken English. Each one taught one or more classes of approximately seven university-age young people. A total of two hundred and fifty students participated in this program. At the same time one hundred students were engaged in learning Mandarin.

The most exciting aspect of the Centre's summer program was the international student exchange seminars. Twenty-two students travelled to either Japan or the Philippines; another group of ten students played host to a group of American young people who came here. The purpose of these seminars is to expand the horizons of the students. They help the Hong Kong students to realize that to understand themselves, they must identify with the place in which they live. This is peculiarly needed here, where many do not think of Hong Kong as a "home land", and therefore have little loyalty to it, or concern for it. At the end of the seminars, attempts at evaluation suggest that they were successful.

Folk Religion Studied

A new book entitled "Folk Religion in an Urban Setting; a Study of Hakka Villagers in Transition," will soon be available. John Reed has played a major role in the compilation of this volume, working with Dr. Morris I. Berkowitz of the Chung Chi College faculty (1967-1969), and the Rev. Frederick P. Brandauer, director of the Christian Study Center on Chinese Religion and Culture. It is a sociological study of the religious practices of those Hakka villagers who were uprooted and resettled because of the construction of the Plover Cove reservoir. The study is unique in that it discusses current Chinese religious practices. Those interested in Chinese religion and culture will undoubtedly want to read it. It may be obtained from the Christian Study Center, Tao Fung Shan, Shatin, Hong Kong, for U.S. $4 00.

John Reed informs us that the study is to continue in an urban resettlement area, looking into the social implications of housing. We can look forward to a companion volume some time late in 1970.

Ling Ling Say Say - - which, broadly interpreted, means Miscellaneous

- - - - On October 17, 1969, Helen Wigginton will complete the first of the two years she will be serving in Hong Kong. She has accepted double responsibilities at Hong Kong Baptist College for that second year. She is now the Administrative Assistant to both President Lam Chi Fung, and to Dr. Maurice J. Anderson who serves as Vice-President and Dean of Studies. Helen also gives some time to the American Baptist Mission office, helping Hugh Smith acknowledge the receipt of specific gifts. She also plans arrangements to show American Baptist Mission work to the many tour groups which plan to stop in Hong Kong in relation to the meetings of the Baptist World Alliance in Tokyo in 1970. As for living arrangements, Helen has taken the apartment which Sharon Parks used during her year in Hong Kong. Mail, however, should go to the mission office; the address is on the last page of the PEAK.

- - - - Two of the mission staff members will be teaching extra-mural courses in the Chinese University, of which Chung Chi College is a port, this fall. Bill Hackett will teach a course in the Social Anthropology of Southeast Asia; John Read will be teaching a course on Research Methods in the Social Sciences.

- - - - Mr. David Chih who has served as director of the Tsun Wan Center since its beginning, has gone to Vietnam for a year as pastor of a Chinese church there. Mr. Chan Hap-Sang, a graduate from the theological course in Chung Chi College in 1969, has taken over the leadership of the work in Tsun Wan.

- - - - The Sunday School lesson books produced by the South East Asia Chinese Sunday School Curriculum Editorial Board, are published and distributed by the Chinese Christian Literature Council. The Council, however, has never taken any major responsibility for the work. The basic preparation of the materials will be completed by the end of 1970, and because of this the Editorial Board made a formal request of the C.C.L.C., asking them to continue selling the bocks already printed, and to undertake to make revisions from time to time. The C.C. L.C. has accepted the challenge; the curriculum project will become theirs! And the editors - -especially Mildred Proctor - -heave an enormous sigh of relief.

- - - - Another important advance has been made in the field of Christian literature for children. The C.C.L.C. has produced a series of books called the Happy Childhood Bible Lessons, for use in primary schools. The books are gay and colorful. These may be used by both government and church-related schools.

- - - - The conference on Christian Education and Lay Training, held in Australia in April, is bearing fruit in Hong Kong. A group of those most concerned about lay training in the various church groups related to the Hong Kong Christian Council will meet on October 15, to consider just what lay training is, what is being done in Hong Kong, and what steps might be taken to strengthen the Christian witness.

Chu Lap Kok Camp

Mr. David Wong, the camp secretary, reports a sizable increase in activity at the camp this summer, compared to last summer. Early in the season an experimental program for roof-top school children was carried out successfully. Almost one hundred and fifty children who attend roof-top schools related to the Swatow Baptist churches, were treated to a week of camping, aimed at relating their school work with the outdoors. One activity that was enjoyed by all was a game known as "hunting". Using a compass and a set of directions, the children hunted for hidden prizes. The students were taught how to use the compass as well as the theory of how it worked, and at the same time learned many things about the world in which they live. Such activities are almost impossible in the high-density urban areas of Hong Kong.

Missionaries....
Mr. and Mrs. John Espy
Dr. and Mrs. William D. Hackett (Marion)
Rev. and Mrs. Frank Knight (Joyce)
Rev. and Mrs. Loren E. Noren (Ruth)
Rev. and Mrs. John Olley (Elaine)
Miss Mildred Proctor
Mr. and Mrs. John Reed (Kathleen)
Rev. and Mrs. Harold Schock (Estelle)
Rev. and Mrs. Hugh W. Smith (Ann)
Miss June M. Sutton
Mrs. Helen Wigginton