After a long journey, we have finally settled in at a new home in Colonel Light Gardens.  The Lord has been faithful to us, since a few people with Rev and Mrs. Edward Paauwe courageously made the first step to build a Bible believing and preaching church in Adelaide thirty one years ago.  The Lord moved and touched the hearts of His people both here and overseas to raise a building fund, which enabled us to buy a property, affectionately known to us as The Stone Mansion.  We had grown up to the point that we needed a bigger place of worship.   

A church of God is built with and by the people of God.  The church is the house of God, the church of the living God, and the pillar and ground of the truth, as 1 Timothy 3:15 declares.  The worshippers of God, as lively stones, are built up as a spiritual house to offer up spiritual sacrifices.  Thus, the fear of the Lord must be nurtured and cultivated in the hearts of its members by the work of His Spirit.  Also, the faithful teaching, proclaiming, and learning of the truth of God must be encouraged and practiced.  The Lord has sent us His faithful servants to teach us from His inerrant and infallible Scriptures.  There have been resident ministers, short term relief pastors and preachers, camp speakers, and various retreat speakers, who have instructed us from the word of God.  We also have had faithful preachers within our own congregation.  Exemplary and dedicated elders and deacons have been able to preach the Word.  Our Sunday School teachers have undertaken a God-honouring and glorying ministry by nurturing our children with the Scriptures.  Various committee and Bible study leaders have carried out their roles silently and faithfully.   

In the spirit of honouring God, the church choir has demonstrated what dedication is about in the worshippers’ life.  They are the early comers to church nearly every Lord’s Day.  Both young and old in the choir combine their efforts and integrate their voices with hearts and sing praises unto the Lord with oneness of mind.  Instrumentalists come along and enrich the worship music with their talents and faithful hearts.  To make our church ministry more fruitful and abundant, the IT committee has made many changes, upgrades, and improvements in audio, visual, recording, and internet ministries.  With their efforts, combined with our Mandarin interpreters, there are many Chinese listeners hearing God’s Word week after week.  People with a servant’s heart have contributed to the kitchen ministry.  They have shown hospitality and kindness through their hard work.  The Building Committee has been under lots of pressure from searching and finding a new church, to renovating and repairing this newly found church.  Not in the least, there are people coming to church for working bees and other undesignated occasions to clean and tidy up the place of worship and fellowship.  There are people welcoming the new comers and sharing the Gospel with the lost.  There are also people who visit the sick, encourage the discouraged, cook for the weak and lonely, provide transportation for those in need, invite new comers, and share the Gospel with the lost.  Thank the Lord for them.   

There are people who have given up their free and restful days for many necessary works in church: gardening, painting, repairing, keeping, cleaning, and so on.  There are faithful individuals in the church office every week for producing weekly papers, and in the treasury room to make sure that every offering is accurately counted and recorded.  We are thankful that we have sent out short-term mission teams for many years, and hope that a more active missionary work will be actualised through us.  We have many brethren in glory now.  They are our witnesses, and we thank the Lord for their faith and spiritual inheritance left for us.  There are already second and third generations of Hopefuls in our church.  We pray that this spiritual journey and legacy will be continued. 

There are people who give themselves to pray.  They pray in private and also in corporate meetings.  Ladies have their prayer and share time, and a few faithful ones come and join others in prayers.  Some have come to Wednesday evening prayer meetings week after week, including cold, damp, and windy nights.  There are prayer meetings amongst Sunday School teachers and YAF committee members and Bible study leaders.  There are small prayer meetings organised by various fellowship groups.  These people are backbone of our church ministry.  Thank the Lord for all who are serving behind scenes, without seeking for human recognition and praises. 

Most of all, all of us must thank the Lord who has enabled them and us to serve and worship Him in such various ways.  To God be the glory!  Our gracious Lord has given us a new place of worship, and today we dedicate it to Him for His glory.  His mercy surely endures forever.  It is our privilege to have Dr and Mrs Bob Jones III in our midst.  We are also privileged to ordain Dn. Colin to be an elder, and Brother Kevin to be a deacon.  We have many guests from Perth, Melbourne, and overseas.  We are also grateful that Providence BPC families are with us.  The Session (Elder Michael Lee, Elder David Yeo, Deacon Colin Gan, Deacon Wai Kin Wong, Deacon Aaron Tan, Deacon Boong Wittawat Atijatuporn, Deacon Raphael Ng, Deacon Sung Hyun Ma, and Deacon John Wong) praises God, whose name should be honoured and adored in our midst forever and ever.  With all our united hearts and minds, we dedicate this place of worship to Him, Him alone! 

As we commemorate a new chapter in our 31-year history by dedicating the new location and ministry in Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens, it is perhaps relevant and poignant to briefly consider the journey of this church building’s first congregation, the All Saints Anglican Church.  The first dedication service of this church building occurred nearly 60 years ago on the 10th October 1959, and by 1964, some remarkable attendances were recorded.  During that year, a total of 62 people were presented for Confirmation, and the church’s yearly attendance reached 18,758, an average of 360 people each week.  Both these facts demonstrate the growth and revival of the previous church at this point in its history. 

However, it is timely for us to remember the circumstances in which the opportunity to purchase this church premises was bestowed upon us, being the previous church’s ageing and declining congregation.  Let us learn from Scriptures which say “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons” (Deuteronomy 4:9), and guard against complacency, remaining ever faithful and fervent to the call of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to boldly proclaim the truth of God, and the hope of the Gospel, to our children, congregation and wider community.  May Hopefuls be ever thankful to God for His provision, and strive to continue to faithfully serve our Lord with a spirit of humility, gratitude and unity as one body over the coming decades in our new home and ministry in Colonel Light Gardens.

With our faith to guide and sustain us we can look to the future confident in the knowledge that the God who inspired our predecessors to found the church in this place will forever remain the corner stone of its future. In the words of the great hymn writer- “The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.”   As there surely have been, so there must, and will be, many more “Saints in the garden,” this time through the future ministry of Hope BP Church in Colonel Light Gardens in the 21st Century.  “Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.” Psalms 78:3-4

Pastor Ki and Dn Wai Kin Wong

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© Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
14 Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia 5041