China’s 2020 Vision Plan

The International Churches of Christ have been submitting their visions to God for what he can do among us by the year 2020. This very well could be our best decade ever. The ICOC churches in the Far East share their vision in this article. Click on the 2020 Vision link in the left NEWS column of DisciplesToday.org to see more 2020 Vision plans from around the world. Here are the plans and vision for the Far East churches.

CHINA SECTOR GEOGRAPHIC REGION
Name of Geographic Region Chairman: Steve Chin, Lead Evangelist & China Council Chairman, (2006-2011)
Church: Hong Kong Church of Christ
Phone: 852-9404-7069
Email: steve@hkcoc.org

Additional Contact for the Region: Turner Sinn
Title: Elder for the Hong Kong Church of Christ
Phone: 852-9033-3401
Email: turnersinn@hkcoc.org

I.) CHINA SECTOR GEOGRAPHIC REGIONAL PROFILE

Overall Geographic Regional Profile:

General Geographic Description of the Region (may include Countries, Provinces, States, Border Cities, etc.):

The Greater China Region includes churches in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Total Geographic Population: 1.3 billion
Total Number of Churches: 24
Total Membership of Churches: 3314

Mission Field(s) that Are Supported by the Geographic Region:

Underground Churches in China and Macau

Primary Languages Spoken in the China Geographic Region:

Taiwan and Mainland China: Mandarin Chinese

Hong Kong: Cantonese (dialect)

Macau: Cantonese and Portuguese

Unique qualities of the Geographic Region:

Diverse political background: range of democracy to communism; Hong Kong and Macau are two

Hong Kong and Macau1st world; Taiwan 2nd world; Mainland China 3rd world

Religious diversity:

Taiwan: 93% Buddhist and Taoism

Mainland China: Buddhist, Confucianism & Atheism

Macau: 85% Buddhist

Hong Kong: Catholicism, Protestantism & the majority being followers of Buddhism and Taoism

China Sector Geographic Regional Profile by Major Cities and Churches
*Denotes population count of only urban areas

Major Cities Population (over 500,000)

Shanghai *98, 620,000

Beijing *76, 070,000

Guangzhou *11,850,000

Chengdu *10, 820,000

Wuhan 9,100,000

Taipei, Taiwan 7,400,000

Hong Kong 7,041,000

Nanjing 6,400,000

Shenzhen 5,000,000

Tianjin *5,000,000

Harbin *4,642,000

Chongqing *4,000,000

Hangzhou *3,900,000

Xi’an *3,226,000

Qingdao *2,584,000

Changsha *2,020,000

Dalian 1,657,500

Xiamen 1,370,000

Kunming 1,055,000

* There are around 110 China cities with population over 500,000.

Name of Churches Membership of Churches

Hong Kong 1,843

Taipei 443

China South 1 187

China West 1 103

China North East 1 78

Hsinchu, Taiwan 72

China South 2 69

China North 1 61

China East 1 55

China West 2 46

Newly Appointed Elders for the HK Church of Christ: Turner & Elizabeth Sinn, Anthony & Eveline So, Dan & Elexa Liu with Steve Chin (in foreground).

CHINA SECTOR GEOGRAPHIC REGIONAL VISION & MISSION FOCUS

Our China Sector Mission Vision is for our churches to be a ‘City on a Hill’ In Matthew 5:14, the Bible calls each of His disciples to live such godly lives that we impact those around us in their hour of spiritual need. We envision that each of our Greater China Churches becomes that spiritual ‘city of light’ for the lost who are looking for a way out of the darkness and spiritual apathy.

Our core conviction and goal for each disciple is to emulate lives that are ‘set apart’ from the world as we put into practice the spiritual concepts of ‘Kodash (set apart for Him) & Koinonia (deep fellowship & community with one another)’

By 2020:

Regional Co-Operation – The Vision for uniting member and other churches, in addition to assisting in greater cooperation and participation

*Asian Leadership Conferences every other year

*Leadership conferences & Teaching Workshops for the whole China Region: Hong Kong, China, Taiwan & Macau

*2012 a China Sector Jubilee celebrating HK 25th Anniversary

Church Plantings – The Vision for church plantings during the next decade.

*Establish 10 ‘Sending Churches’ in Mainland China; each over 100 in membership

*Each ‘Sending Church’ having the goal of sending at least 3 mission teams in their geographic area

*Start establishing mobile village evangelism centers; (80% of population in China resides in the

countryside)

*10 more large provinces in China over 500,000 having a church planting

*Additional mission plantings of ‘China Mission Adventure’

*Taiwan Church to plant 3 satellite churches with population over 1 million.

Membership / Growth – The Vision for church growth in your specific Region.

*Church attendance reaching 5,000 in HK; HKCOC membership reaching 2500

*Establish geographic community halls for our disciples to meet & host evangelistic events

*Children of first generation staff become full-time staff in HK & Taiwan

*That 5 out of 10 Hong Kong people will have heard of our Church and give praise to our God

*China Campus baptisms reach 1,000!

Missions – The Vision for providing financial and spiritual support for churches in our fellowship needing assistance.

*Launch Village Mission Team to evangelize the rural villages of China

*Goal of having 200 disciples join a China Mission for at least one year (self-support)

*Yearly summer campus ministry mission exchange between HK, China & Taiwan

*China Mission Council established to facilitate unity in the direction, vision, financial & fellowship support to the churches in China

*Establish Greater China Mission School

*Special Missions contribution to support China plantings as well as local student interns. The Mainland churches have already started to have their own special missions contribution.

*Goal of having China churches become self-support after 6 year period

Campus Ministry – The Vision for beginning new and growing campus ministries within our Regions, and the dream to train up new leaders from our Campus Ministry. To appoint evangelists from the trained Campus Leaders.

*China campus graduates go to Hong Kong and Taiwan to help campus ministry

*Raising up more full-time staff from the campus students to lead future plantings in China

*Hiring & training of fresh graduates for the full-time staff to become evangelists & pastors

Married and Family Ministry – The Vision to build exemplary married and family ministries within our churches that equip our members to help transform the families in their communities as well as raise our children to be the next generation of disciples.

*Host special Kids Kingdom workshops among the China Sector churches to be unified in the spiritual direction, teaching & facilitation of this ministry; training of the KK coordinators & workers.

*Create a special community program in Taiwan to promote ‘dads spending quality time with their kids,” bringing tremendous impact and hope to create more evangelistic-type programs in the future.

Women’s Ministry – The Vision to have powerful women’s ministries within our churches. To also raise the profile of the women’s role and influence.

*Building a Mature Singles women’s ministry ‘Daughters of Sarah’ for fellowship and spiritual synergy; encouraged to participate in community volunteer services for children.

*Continued Women’s Day’s events that include Wives and Mothers workshops that are both evangelistic and for strengthening disciples’ core values

Single’s Ministry – The Vision to God bring incredible growth to our churches as we learn to attract, retain and equip the millions of single adults in our communities.

*Create outreach community volunteer programs to create a ‘fish pond’ of contacts to evangelize

HOPE Worldwide – The vision to support the international charity founded in 1991 by churches now known as the International Churches of Christ. The Core Service Programs of HOPE worldwide for cooperating churches include, the International Day of Giving, Disaster Response and Community Service through Local Chapters. Additional Service Opportunities for churches may include the HOPE Youth Corps, International Service and Support and other programs for serving the poor. Indicate your church’s strategic plan for supporting and participating in the activities of HOPE worldwide.

Core Service Programs:

Hong Kong Elderly Service – Serving the needs of elderly in Hong Kong.

Building Kindergartens in China villages
Hong Kong New Immigrants Service – Serving the needs of new immigrants from mainland China through language and academic tutorials.

*Financially responding to world-wide cities asking for emergency relief funds

Community Service through Local Chapters – The service activities of HOPE worldwide in your community are administered primarily through local chapters of HOPE worldwide. Volunteer activities for your church members and levels of funding are determined by the local church.

Describe your church’s plan for participation in community service through local Chapters:

*The HK Church volunteers have participated in fundraising, home improvement work, home visits

and health training for our annual ‘Elderly Day’ and continue to do so.

Other Programs for Serving the Poor – Some churches desire to participate in other programs for serving the poor that are not encompassed by the program categories described above.

Describe your church’s plan for any other programs for serving the poor:

*We have encouraged each sector of the HK & Taiwan churches to pursue more community projects to assist the poor & needy giving the disciples a more invested & personal role in serving to the needs near where they live. There are ongoing visitations to nursing homes, bringing food & encouragement to low-income families, helping out children & their academics & adjustment from the mainland who are newly immigrated to HK.

Elders & Leadership Development

*Elders appointed in each church over 300 members

*Continued training and selection for prospective Elder candidates and deacons for HK, China & Taiwan

*Invite elders of ICOC for Elder Training Workshops in the China Sector

III.) REGIONAL COMMUNICATION

Geographic Regional Updates – Plan to provide and exchange materials, stories, and updates within the Geographic Region and around the world.

Good News Sharing – From Regions Worldwide
Annual Progress Updates – Churches Worldwide

Geographic Regional Plan Evaluations

*China Mission Council, consist of 9 Evangelists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, will be held twice a year to evaluate the progress of the Vision

Plan for a Geographic Region Website – The Vision for each Geographic Region to have a website for the purposes of exchanging information, good news sharing, providing resources/tools for Members and other churches, communicating effective strategies and programs, digitally providing a platform for sending updates to 20/20 Vision plans, digitally providing data and information to the Evangelists and Elder Service Teams

URL for China Sector Geographic Region Website

*Same as below

Listing of Local Church Websites

Churches of the China Sector Website URL

Hong Kong Church of Christ www.hongkongcoc.org

Taiwan International Church of Christ www.icoc.org.tw

Mainland China Churches of Christ not available for security reasons

Plan for Utilizing Additional Media Outlets

*Upgrading our bilingual church website in HK to interface with Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, iPhone and iPads. Our website includes video blogs, audio sermons & spiritual resources for disciples & leaders.

*Transition our paper bulletins into a quarterly DVD magazine for our China sector & the Chinese speaking disciples around the world