Soccer, Workplace, and Ministry - Che Chun-Man

DipCS 2005, MDiv 2008, Pastor of The Mission Covenant Church of Hong Kong (MCCHK) Charis Church, former Chairman of CGST Student Association, current Chairman of CGST Alumni Association

Interviewed by :   Chan Hing-Ling (Alumni Relations, MCS 2011)

Written by:             Tong Fung-Ping (MCS 2013)

We walk many different paths in our lives. We turn many pages in our lives.

Our Lord allows us to have various experiences in these pages so that we will understand ourselves and know our calling.

Being a high school student in 1989, Chun-Man accepted Christ as his saviour in a study room of a church, growing up there since then. Having spent much time in soccer fields, the young Chun-Man was deeply influenced by its customs, enabling him to get along with others from all walks of life. The days he spent lingering in the soccer fields made Chun-Man a proactive and a people person. Soccer field is an important scene in Chun-Man’s life. God nurtured him via this scene, getting him ready for a journey of serving others.

Chun-Man heard God’s calling in 1991. While still in high school, he did not think about it seriously, nor did he respond. He had always yearned to become a social worker. Upon graduation from college, he immediately joined the workforce to become an outreach social worker for eight years. He entered another life scene － local community has become his workplace. God had been placing him among people, from soccer fields to workplace. He wanted Chun-Man to learn to care and serve in real life.

Chun-Man loved his work very much. He was very dedicated, and had lots of opportunities to develop his potential. However, God’s calling had not disappeared. Chun-Man was sent by his church to plant a new church in Tseung Kwan O in 1993, starting everything from scratch. He learned to work and serve together with brothers and sisters in Christ. Ten years went by, Chun-Man was still an outreach social worker, but God used a special way to guide him into full time ministry, bringing him to the third scene of his life: church ministry.

In 2003, rumours were told that Chun-Man wanted to change his job, but this was not the case. As soon as these rumours spread out, both his mother church and the Tseung Kwan O church wanted him to return there to serve, pushing Chun-Man to respond to the calling he had once received from God. It was a lesson of submission. He remembered that right after he had resigned, he returned to his seat and found himself weeping. He knew that he still want to be a social worker. He would miss his ties with young people, and his colleagues. At that moment, he looked up and saw the words on his desktop calendar, reminding him that if he gave up his desire for God’s sake, God would bless his future path. Without doubt, such was an instant comfort and encouragement God gave Chun-Man. He wiped his tears and stepped into, with faith, another new page which God had prepared for him.

Chun-Man started to serve in his church in 2003. One year later, upon hearing God’s calling more clearly and having received confirmation from his pastor, brothers and sisters at church, Chun-Man enrolled at CGST the following year. His belief in training in Bible exposition as well as in Hebrew and Greek blends well with his love for Bible study, which made him opt for CGST.  Therefore, after finishing the diploma program, Chun-Man moved on to pursue the Master of Divinity study as a mature student. He graduated in 2008 and became pastor of his mother church, MCCHK Charis Church.

If returning to his mother church to serve, Chun-Man would worry about adding financial burden to her. However, it was the deacons’ intention that the church would do as much as possible to hire divinity students coming from their own church. They felt that if the church recommended a church member to pursue divinity studies, it would only be right to recognise and support him. Despite the tight financial constraints, the church decided to hire him as an additional pastor. Chun-Man was deeply moved and was thankful to God.

MCCHK Charis Church is a small church, but there were many matters for Chun-Man to learn. He sees the importance of collaborating together as a team with senior pastor, co-workers, deacons and church members. Having grown up by getting along with people from all walks of life, Chun-Man realized that it takes time to build up relationships, seeing others’ strengths rather than focusing on their mistakes and weaknesses. He appreciates that communication is the key to establish good interpersonal relationships. Communication is not only about sharing one’s thoughts and feelings, but is also based on the matters in question. The more we share our feelings, the easier it would be to become self-focused. On the other hand, one should not just look solely at the matter itself, otherwise relationships will become cold and rigid. Chun-Man has a pointer to help, that is often eating out with individual, chatting about life, interests and current affairs, allowing people to relax and hence cultivating the relationships.

Looking back, from the soccer fields to the workplace; from the workplace to his ministry field, Chun-man deeply feels that God has always been nurturing him to co-work with others, letting him to act as a light among people, leading them to the way towards abundant life.