It is rather common for me as a Pastor to have people respond to and comment on a particular sermon. I am always gratified to receive such comments --- whether the comment is favorable or unfavorable --- for it means that the person has heard and interacted with the message.

However, it is rare that anyone will respond to and comment on one of my intercessory prayers. This past Sunday (April 18) not only did several people favorably comment on the prayer, but they all focused on the exact same language. This tells me that the Holy Spirit worked through that language to touch, convict, and challenge some of His children. This is what I said in my prayer: “We pray for the poor in HK. For the homeless, the hungry, the addicted, the sex trafficked, the prisoners. Give us eyes to see beyond our pleasant sanctuaries in which we live and work in HK. Take hold of us and shake us out of our apathy. Open our hearts to the desperately poor who live all around us, yet whom we do not see. Forgive our selfish blindness to HK’s invisible poor.”

As the worst of the pandemic will hopefully be behind us in the near future, it would be productive for all of Christ’s churches in Hong Kong, including ECC, to do an “after action assessment.” That is, every church should review prayerfully and then assess how it reached out to the poor and those hurting in our community. Did it optimally deploy its assets? If not, how can it improve? Did it at all times comport itself in a Christ-honoring way? If not, why not? Churches must always seek to learn from their mistakes, because the next pandemic or catastrophe may be right around the corner! May our Lord give every church wisdom as how to better serve the Lord Jesus Christ among Hong Kong’s invisible poor.

Soli Deo Gloria