Author: Jicheng Fu

Around 3:00 p.m. on February 7, 2008, Building 300 was caught on fire. Thankfully there was no one in the building when the fire began.

Currently, the Church with major damage has already been demolished. In addition to this, at this point of time NO ONE is allowed to access any part of the building until further notice. Please continue to put this in your prayers.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK THIS WEBSITE AND YOUR EMAILS FOR ANY NEW UPDATED INFORMATION.

IN ORDER TO STAY FULLY UPDATED SIGN UP FOR ECIUMC’S EMAIL NOTIFICATION SYSTEM. JUST EMAIL eciumc [@] sbcglobal.net

---

News from newsok.com on 2008-02-07, “Edmond church catches fire”, http://newsok.com/article/3202013

 

---

News from newsok.com on 2008-02-08, “Edmond church wing burns, but faith survives”, http://newsok.com/article/3202220/1202449448

Financial Newsletter – February 2004 Issue 2

Sharing and Encouragement “Money Offering”
by Rev. Puong-Ong Lau (Translated by FuXia Wang)

Someone said: ?Being drowned and being thirsted to death is two different ways of death, however, water is the common reason which caused them to death. One died of too much water and the other died of insufficient water. The same with the situation of money? To be honest, money can do a man good and bad as well. Making good use of it can motivate you to be mature; on the contrary, it can become a roadblock to your life. What is your attitude towards the money? How do you use it? This is what the Lord is very concerned about. When Jesus was on the earth, he taught 38 parables, 16 of them are about money. What he is concerned about is the relationship between our life and money instead of the money itself.

From the teaching of the Bible, all that we need comes from God. Our ability to earn money comes form God. Therefore, we should offer the tithing with a thankful and reverent heart for God. ?Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds, and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Mane, so that you may learn to revere the Lord you God always.? (Deuteronomy 14:22-23) Also, God has promised in the book of Malachi: ?Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,? says the Lord Almighty, ?and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.? (Malachi 3:10) Offering a tenth of all our earnings was started from Abraham. After that, God has told Moses to make tithing a law. In the New Testament, Jesus reaffirms the importance of tithing (Matthew 23:23). There is no doubt that tithing is a support to the ministry of the church; however, the true purpose of tithing helps us learn to revere the Lord our God. God has promised to give the wisdom to those who reveres God and bless them. Let us encourage one another to fulfill tithing all together.

Besides tithing, the Bible also teaches the believers to make offering in many other things, such as thanksgiving offering for birthday, a marriage, a new born baby; also to make offering for the church building, offering for the people suffering the disaster, etc. These are all our responses out of being carried by the Holy Spirit, our abilities and faith. At present, our church is in the urgent need of the offering for the church building. The church is calling everyone to try our best from today to make an offering for the church building in addition to the tithing: to offering your prayers and money for the church building. In the past, God has used our church to fulfill his mission. Today, God has given us the same mission and he asked our church to expand his kingdom to bring more people to his kingdom. Therefore, we need to build our own Chinese church to glorify his name. We thank God and Wesley Foundation and our mother church for their consistent support in providing the meeting place for us. With the development of the ministry of the church, the meeting place is not meeting our need. The coworkers have the same vision that we need to build the church building for the name of our Lord. This is a great challenge, we need the involvement and commitment of everybody. ??but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal?? (Matthew 6:20) What God has done through the church is beyond the influence over this generation till towards the eternity. Therefore, what you offer for the church building is to store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, which has eternal value. I definitely believe that with your offering to church building, your heart will be drawn closer to God, your relationship with God will get better, your concern for the church will be more. For our Lord Jesus said : ? for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.? (Matthew 6:21)

Financial Newsletter – February 2004 Issue 2

Why Have a Building Fund?
by Dana Zerger

I want to share with you about our Building Fund.  So many times we come to church and expect the place where we meet, the songs, the sermon, just everything to be ready for us with no effort on our part.  But, for those who work hard to prepare for us, we know that the time is close when we need a place to meet that is our own.  Recognizing this means it is now time for all of us at ECIUMC to prepare!

You know, when the Israelites were in the desert God gave them a plan for the Tabernacle, but they prepared by bringing in the things they had, such as gold and other things, so they would be ready to make the Tabernacle when the time came.  David also arranged for goods to be gathered when he prepared to build the first Temple for God in Jerusalem.  So, we need to get ready!  Ask God to show you how you can help.  Some are already asking and doing what God shows them, for instance; one lady is giving haircuts and donating the proceeds, the profit from the Chartering CD’s went to the Building Fund, etc.

There are several things we need to do:
1.  Pray for our Leaders; That they would have God’s wisdom in planning.
2.  Pray for favor in obtaining land or a building for our Church.
3.  Pray that God will show you how to help, and then do it!
4.  Give your time and money to see that it happens.
5.  Encourage friends to be a part of the Church and the building project.
6.  Thank the Lord! He gives us the power and ability to get wealth and He will show us how and when to build or buy.

God bless you.

Financial Newsletter 財務通訊 – February 2004 Issue 2

為什麼要有建堂基金?
by Dana Zerger (王福霞 譯)

我想在此和大家分享有關建堂基金的事工。多少次當我們上教會聚會的時候，我們期待無論是場地，詩歌，證道或其他事項都已準備就緒，我們毋需費神，只要輕鬆落座參與其中便是。然而對那些努力為我們準備的弟兄姐妹而言，有一個屬於我們教會自己的場地已經是迫在眉睫的事。因此，現在就是我們每一位ECIUMC成員起來行動的時候了﹗

您是否知道，當年以色列人尚在曠野流浪的時候，神就讓他們建造會幕。於是以色列人便將他們所有的財物，比如金銀全部奉上。這樣一旦時候已到，他們就可以如神所吩咐地那樣順利搭建會幕。大衛王也是如此。他也是先下令將所有的建築材料全部聚集，然後才在耶路撒冷為耶和華神建造第一所聖殿。我們也當如此行﹗讓我們先預備我們自己並求問神我們如何可以參與這項事工。事實上，我們中的一些弟兄姐妹已經在這樣做了。比如說，一位姐妹利用剪發的特長來為建堂籌款﹔又比如現在正在發行的教會立憲光碟所得的款項全部歸于建堂基金名下，等等。

親愛的弟兄姐妹們，以下是幾件我們都可以，也需要去做的事﹕
1. 為教會的領袖來禱告，使他們有神所賜的聰明智慧來籌劃建堂。
2. 向神禱告，求神保守我們可以為教會找到合宜的地皮或是建築物。
3. 向神禱告，求神告訴我們如何可以參與這項事工，並付諸行動﹗
4. 和神同工﹗奉獻我們的時間和金錢，並看神如何在其中作奇妙的事。
5. 邀請並鼓勵我們的朋友們成為教會和建堂事工的一分子。
6. 時常感謝神﹗是他賜給我們權柄和能力來為建堂籌款。他也要指教我們當在何時何地並如何來建堂。

願神賜福你們。

The Chinese Fellowship in Edmond will charter as a United Methodist Church on October 19, 2003 at 4 p.m., says Craig Stinson, superintendent of the Oklahoma City North District.

The chartering service will be in the Christian Life Center of First United Methodist Church at 305 E. Hurd in Edmond, where the Chinese Fellowship has been meeting for several years.

Charles Nordean, pastor of Edmond-First, says the close working arrangement between Edmond-First and the Chinese Fellowship has been mutually enriching. “We are pleased to be their partners in ministry,” Rev. Nordean said.

Edmond-First is leasing space to the new congregation.

Rev. Puong Lau-appointed to the campus ministry at the University of Central Oklahoma nine years ago-is the founding pastor.

The new church will be named Edmond Chinese International United Methodist Church. As the name suggests, in addition to reaching out to Chinese in the area, the church attracts many people from other Asian backgrounds, says Rev. Lau.

Attendance now averages over 100.

David Severe, Oklahoma Conference Director of Congregational Development, says Congregational Development has been pleased to provide funding over the years to assist the developing congregation. “We will continue to give them support as they emerge as a fully constituted church,” Dr. Severe said.

Severe says there are several chartered Chinese United Methodist churches on the east and west coast, but he believes the new church in Edmond is the only one in the south central United States.

Our old web site, www.umcm.org, was started late year 2000 and we have about 1600+ visitors visited our old web site.

As we chartered on October 19, 2003, we changed our name from United Methodist Chinese Ministry (UMCM) to Edmond Chinese International United Methodist Church (ECIUMC). We are retiring our old web site.

Please change your bookmarks/Favorites to our new web site, www.eciumc.org. Our old web site, www.umcm.org, and old e-mail addresses will be cut off on May 6, 2004.

We would like to give special thanks to our UMCM Webmaster, Wei-Chung, for his support of our web site. Thank you Wei-Chung!

We hope our new web site will serve you better!

God Bless You and Your Family!