Missions

From the earliest expression of God’s intent to redeem fallen man, He has appointed a “Seed” that would accomplish the task (Gen. 3:15). That “Seed of the woman” fulfilled in Jesus Christ, was destined to become the “Seed of Abraham” through whom all the nations of the Earth are intended to be blessed (Gal. 3:29; Gen. 12:3). When the Lord says to Israel, just delivered from Egypt, “All the earth is Mine,” He links it to a mission: “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:5,6). There is no question as to their call being from bondage and into mission. So it is, from the beginning of the Bible story of redemption, the redeemed are assigned to world evangelization.
The mission endeavor that we have embarked in shows that we, at St Paul’s Church, take at heart Christ’s command to go and make disciples of all nations, as we read in Matt. 28:19,20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

God has touched and transformed many lives through the evangelization done at St Mark’s Church, the mission trips to the islands in the Indian Ocean (Rodrigues, Reunion, Seychelles, Madagascar), the cell-church programme of multiplication, and most recently the mission trip to Sabah. Jesus said that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come (Matt. 24:14) and we are to be His witnesses: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:14,15). This does not mean we must enter public ministry to “preach” the gospel. The Greek word used here for “preacher” means “one who heralds, proclaims, or publishes.” Clearly, every believer is assigned a personal “pulpit” – in the home, the community, at the office, or in school – from which to show and tell others the Good News.In Rom. 1:14, Paul declares, “I am a debtor,” pointedly noting his sense of obligation. Why? He answers in Eph. 2: Man is dead, needing life (v. 1); man is walking a course of destruction, needing deliverance (v. 12); man is hopeless, needing God (v. 13); man is separated from God, needing Christ (v. 14). Jesus concludes the evidence of man’s need: he is lost, needing to be found (Luke 19:10).The answer is here: someone must be sent to preach so that people hear and believe. There is no other way.

Here’s a video which speaks more that words to describe this special ministry at Tranquebar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMnATGgMNsM&feature=player_embedded

Tranquebar Good news club

3rd Sabah Mission Team to Mauritius

From 18th September to 1st October 2002

“Intense moments in the spiritual life of our parish”

A delegation of 16 persons from the Anglican Diocese of Sabah, Malaysia, was in Mauritius from 18th September to 1st October. Led by Archdeacon Albert Vun, the team was constituted of members from St. Patrick’s Church in Tawau and Faith Christian Centre in Kuala Lumpur. It consisted of 5 pastors and 11 young persons, the majority of them being in their early twenties. This was the 3rd visit of a Sabah Team in Mauritius within a span of 4 years.
Since 3 years now, the parish of St. Paul’s Church, Plaine Verte, has adopted the system of cell church as it is practiced in St. Patrick’s Church, Tawau. The number of our cell groups has increased from 8 in 1999 to 21 presently. The quantity of people attending cell meetings is around 300.

A program of intense activities was prepared for this occasion. It comprised of training sessions for the leaders and interns of cell groups, a special session for the youth, teachings on spiritual gifts, cell church, intercession as well as a meeting with the clergy and church wardens of the Anglican Diocese of Mauritius. The culminating point of this visit was an evangelistic rallye on Saturday 28th September.
Archdeacon Albert Vun explained the importance for a church to have a vision that comes from God and to build the cell church around this vision. It is also important for the senior pastor to be supported by a committed team of men and women who will sustain him in the life of the church. We all need to pray for our senior pastor. Albert Vun mentioned that if we say that we are not satisfied with our senior pastor, this is because we have not prayed enough for him!

Three consecutive evenings were earmarked for the teaching sessions on spiritual gifts and attracted a congregation of around 200 every time. Archdeacon Albert Vun talked on the gift of tongues and Ps. Chong Lay expanded on the eight other spiritual gifts, among which are the gift of prophecy, the gift of distinguishing between spirits and the gifts of healing. After each teaching, the Sabah/KL Team prayed for all those who wanted to receive these gifts.
Ps. FloraChong shared on the importance of the prayer of intercession at church level – intercede not only for those who are sick but also for all the leaders of the church and for the country.
The meeting with the clergy and churchwardens was held at Thabor, Beau Bassin. Archdeacon Albert Vun shared how the parish of St. Patrick, Tawau, has developed, through the cell church structure, to become the biggest Christian church in their region. He emphasized a lot on the importance of the commitment of a Christian and asked the following question: “When Lord Jesus will come back, will we present to Him the amount of money which we have saved in our bank account or the number of souls which we have brought to salvation for the Kingdom of God?”

The evangelistic rallye that took place on 28th September at St. Paul’s Church drew a crowd of 700 persons. Ps. Chong Lay, in his preaching, explained how, very often, when someone is facing problems or is suffering from a serious illness, one will look for many gods.
Yet, there is only one true God who is the Answer to all our problems, i.e., Jesus Christ who is seated at the right of God the Father. He exhorted the attendance to turn towards Jesus, to repent from their sins and to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Fifty-two persons accepted Christ on this evening. Praise God!
Many people also came forward to receive prayers. Several persons were healed and some were delivered from evil spirits. A lady who suffered from an illness was healed completely after being set free. Next morning, she returned to the church bringing all sorts of witchcraft objects which she had at her place and asked the pastors to destroy all these. Glory be to God for all the signs and wonders that accompanied the preaching of the Word.
On Sunday 29th September, the members of the mission team visited other parishes, including St. Thomas – Beau Bassin, St. James Cathedral, St. Barnabas – Pamplemousses, St. Mark – Poudre d’Or and St. Michael and All Angels – St. Pierre.

Evangelism & Outreach

We, at St Paul’s Church, Plaine Verte have been and are continuously involved in evangelization and outreaches.

Brother Wong Lee from Singapore visited us around beginning of June 2002.

Two harvest nights was held as follows:-

  • Sunday 02 June 2002 : For Chinese speaking people
  • Sunday 08 June 2002 : For English speaking people

brother-wong

Evangelism in Rodrigues

Rodrigues is the 10th district of Mauritius. Lying 650 km off the east coast of Mauritius, it is somehow isolated. Rodrigues has a population of 40,000 of which 95% are Roman Catholics. The only Anglican Church is St Barnabas in Port Mathurin, with a roll of about 100 parishioners, where Roman Catholics and Pentecostals come to worship God together.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Canon James Wong of the Chapel of the Resurrection in Singapore, after his visit at St Paul’s Church, Plaine Verte, in May 1990, went on to Rodrigues to minister. God worked through him there and more than 20 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ and were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Mr and Mrs Maxime Wong then attended the International Congress of Evangelism in Singapore in September 1990, and upon their return home, two home cell-groups were constituted, one in Port Mathurin and the other in Camp du Roi.

Because St Barnabas Church has no parish priest, the shepherding care was mostly done by the lay people, especially Maxime Wong, David Elysee and the two home cell-group leaders. In view of the spiritual need of the new born-again Christians, the home cell-groups prayed  to seek God’s will and the two church wardens finally decided to invite St Paul’s Church, Plaine Verte, to send a mission team to Rodrigues to launch  the “Decade of Evangelism”. We thus had an invitation which was also in many ways a challenge for us to respond to.

EVANGELISM BEGINS WITH PRAYERS
In recent years, when SOMA (Australia) headed by Revd. John Windburn and Canon James Wong, ministered in St Paul’s Church, Plaine Verte, we were called not to keep the renewal between the four walls of the church, but to go to other parishes and share God’s blessings. In 1990, we had already sent teams to St Barnabas, Pamplemousses, and St Paul’s, Vacoas. When the invitation to go to Rodrigues came, the church  sought God’s will.

The Lord spoke to David Li, pastor at that time, according to Eph 4:12, “Why is it that He gives us these special abilities to do certain things better? It is for God’s people to be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity”. And to Pastor Paul Cheng  in Isa. 41:17, “when the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their tongues are parched for thirst, then I will answer when they cry to me. I, Israel’s God, will not ever forsake them. I will open up rivers for them on high plateaus! I will give them fountains of water in the valleys! In the deserts will be pools of water and rivers fed by springs shall flow across the dry, parched ground.” So, with God’s green light, the Chief Pastor, Roger Chung, decided to organize a mission trip from  Friday 5th to Sunday 8th July 1991.

GOD PROVIDED FOR ALL
During the limited time of six weeks, things began to move. Members at St Paul’s Church individually heard God’s calling, obeyed and prayed for God’s provision for leave from work, funds for air tickets and pocket money. Most of these individuals didn’t form part of any  previous mission teams, but asked God to use them as useful instruments for God’s glory.

The priest in charge, Roger Chung, requested  the Bishop to send him as a fore-runner one week before the mission. Three pastors together with four cell-group leaders and eleven brothers and sisters in Christ formed the Rodrigues Mission Team 1991. (RMT)

Mission à Rodrigues – Février 2003

RODRIGUES: TERRE D’EVANGELISATION

A l’occasion de la fête du printemps, les pasteurs Roger, Steeves et Eric se sont rendus à Rodrigues, dans le cadre d’une mission d’évangélisation. C’était pour Roger Chung Po Chuen sa première visite à Rodrigues en tant qu’Archidiacre.

Trois réunions étaient prévues, à savoir le samedi 1er février à St. Barnabas, Port Mathurin, à l’occasion de la fête du printemps et de la commémoration de la libération de l’esclavage ; le dimanche 2 février à La Ferme et le lundi 3 février à St. Barnabas.

Mission-a-Rodrigues

Le Pasteur Roger a été le responsable de la prédication de la parole pour les deux premières réunions, tandis que le Pasteur Eric a partagé la parole pour la dernière réunion à St. Barnabas. Le Pasteur Steeves était pour l’occasion, responsable du « Praise and Worship ».

Nous avons rencontré à Rodrigues, un peuple assoiffé de la Parole de Dieu et avide de connaître davantage ce Dieu vivant et plein d’amour. Il y avait plus de soixante-dix personnes à chaque réunion et près de cinquante personnes ont accepté Jésus Christ comme Seigneur et Sauveur ce lundi 3 février. Gloire soit rendu à Dieu ! Beaucoup de personnes sont également venues pour recevoir la prière pour leur guérison ou pour demander à Jésus de prendre charge de leurs fardeaux.

L’implantation d’une église à La Ferme est bien avancée et la congrégation de la Ferme se rencontre actuellement dans une salle de la Credit Union. L’église aura besoin d’une aide financière pour la construction du bâtiment.

Mission-à-Rodrigues

La paroisse de St. Barnabas a exprimé le désir d’introduire le système de « cell church » à Rodrigues. La paroisse de St. Paul, Plaine Verte s’est engagée à aider nos frères et sœurs de Rodrigues dans cette voie et il est prévu que des équipes de Plaine Verte iront régulièrement à Rodrigues à cet effet.
Nous voudrions ici remercier le Rev. Bryan Adeline pour son accueil et pour l’organisation de notre visite. Nous remercions également toutes les familles qui nous ont accueillis ave la gentillesse proverbiale de Rodrigues.

Que le nom du Seigneur Jésus soit élevé au-dessus de tout nom !

Ps. Eric Mafat

Go and make Disciples of  all NATIONS . . 

In August 2001, a team of twelve members from the parish of St Paul, Plaine Verte visited the diocese of Sabah.
The team was led by Rev. Roger Chung Po Chuen and consisted of 2 groups: a Chinese speaking team of seven brothers and sisters and an English speaking group of five. The visit has been most fruitful and enriching. We can
safely say that we have not only been blessed by our brothers and sisters of Sabah, but we have also been a blessing to them.
We were pleasantly surprised by the very warm welcome which we received at the airport in Kota Kinabalu. The whole team which visited Mauritius in 1999 was there to make us feel at home and to look after us during our stay. Rev. Chak, his wife Catherine, our brothers Alfred, Andrew, Tan, our sisters Doreen, Lee, Chau, etc. We have really been pampered and well fed both physically and spiritually!
All Saints Cathedral, which falls under the responsibility of Rev. Chak, is located right in the centre of Kota Kinabalu. The church holds services both for the Chinese speaking and English speaking congregations. In fact, one of the striking features of Sabah is the predominance of Chinese language (Hakka or mandarin) not only among the elderly population, but also among the younger generation.
The Mauritian night was held in the Hall of Glory at All Saints Cathedral on Thursday 2nd August. Our brother, Jean Atchong, made a video presentation of Mauritius and of St. Paul’s parish. The message was delivered by Rev. Roger Chung.
In Kota Kinabalu, we had the opportunity to meet the Rt. Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung and his wife who treated us with a particularly wonderful lunch. Archibishop Yong spoke to us of his wish to develop a closer partnership between our two dioceses.

Alfred Yong invited us to his parish, the Good Samaritan, where we met the cell leaders and interns. We shared with them on the growth in our parish since the visit of the Sabah team and they were particularly interested to learn how we have grown from 8 cells to 18 cells in a year’s time. We also had the opportunity to fellowship and minister with them.
The flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau took forty five minutes and as soon as we landed, we knew that God had a lot of blessings in store for us. Hallelujah ! St Patrick’s church falls under the responsibility of Archdeacon Albert Vun. It is the largest Christian church in Tawau with a congregation of over 3 500. The services are in English, in Chinese and in Malay. In fact, the Malay congregation, we are told, is the fastest growing one.

Farewell photo with some of our hosts of St Patrick’s Church, Tawau
We have been particularly impressed by the professional organization of the church, the younger age group of its congregation as well as by the commitment of its people. St. Patrick has more than 40 full time employees including lay pastors and workers. It has its own library, its own canteen and a very large Hall, the Hall for All Nations, which can accommodate more than 2 000 people.
The Cell Church system is very well structured and established in Tawau. There are zone pastors, zone supervisors, cell leaders, cell interns. Each cell has to report each week on cell attendance, new members etc. There is no Sunday School as such. All young people are expected to form part of a cell group. Training and equipping of cell members and cell leaders are done on a regular basis all through the year with the ultimate objective that every member should be a disciple and should be able to obey the Great Commission of our Lord to make disciples of all nations.
St. Patrick’s Church has developed a number of ministries to cater for the needs of the people. One of the striking ministries is the Ice Box ministry. There is quite a large number of illegal Phillipino immigrants in Tawau. They live in very poor conditions along the coast in very shabby shelters and barely eat a meal per day. Most of them are muslims. Christians are not allowed to openly share the gospel with them or even to carry a Bible.

The Ice Box ministry consists of visiting and networking with the Phillipino immigrants and inviting them to come to Church. At times, the ministry team can move inside their house and pray for them.

Another characteristic of St Patrick’s Church is its vision to plant churches in areas outside Tawau. The concept is to set up churches in areas where there is a growth of population and a development of housing. This is done through the “Touch Ministry”.
We also had the opportunity to visit one of the outreach churches, St. Mathew’s Church, which is found in the fishing village of Semporna, about one and a half hour’s drive from Tawau. The congregation is mainly Malay with some Chinese. Ps. Eric preached  in English during the Malay service and Ps. Paul shared the gospel for the Chinese Service. About twelve people responded to the altar call and gave their lives to Christ at the Malay service. We also had the opportunity to pray and minister to the people. St Patrick’s Church has just opened an outreach Church in Kuala Lumpur to cater for the spiritual needs of the young people from Sabah who moved to KL for university studies.
Rev. Albert Vun will be coming to Mauritius with a team of over 20 members in September 2002 to encourage and help us to move further forward in our spiritual walk with Jesus Christ.

Ps. Eric Mafat

MEEK: Madagascar Evangelization Exchange Koinonia

Evangelization in Madagascar

The mission trip in Madagascar in 1997 was a very intense and enriching experience during which we were able to see God’s greatness and power. During our stay, we felt His presence and protection over us.
We set off this mission on the 21 July 1997. On that day, we got up at 3:00 a.m. and prepared ourselves to join the SAFIFI group at St. Laurent’s Cathedral. Since we were the first to arrive at the meeting point, we stayed in the car because it was biting cold and we began to pray and asked God to guide us during the whole trip. The journey really started at 5:00 a.m. while the city was still asleep. It was wonderful being in the minibus since the Malagasy people were very joyful and loved singing and laughing.

We first stopped in the thermal city of Antsirabe, located at 170 km from Tana, and more people from that town joined our group. We were then on the road again. At about 6:00 p.m., as it was getting dark, we started to worry because we had reached an area where the road was really bad. It is believed that rogues would often seize the opportunity to attack travellers since they had to slow down due to bad road infrastructure. We immediately began to pray even more fervently for the rest of the journey.
At about 10:00 p.m, we reached Ihosy which was about 500 km away from Tana. Even though we fasted during the day, that night we only had a thin slice of cake and a glass of water since shops close early in the countryside. The next day we started off again at 6:00 a.m. That day, it was like a dream; we encountered magnificent landscapes and arid mountains that look like the canyons in ‘western’ movies.
It was not until 5:00 p.m. that we reached Tulear which is about 900 km from Tana. During our stay, we saw God moving mightily in our midst. Many people came to see us for medical help, for physical healing as well as to receive spiritual healing.
Our day began with a Eucharistic service at 6:00 am followed by another at 8:00 a.m. While some members of the MEEK team went from door to door, some helped to distribute medicine at the pharmacy. In the mean time, we seized the opportunity to share the gospel to those who were waiting for their turn to see the doctor.

MEEK ladies and children of the village of Tulear

We also gathered the children together for Sunday School classes in the open. What a joy it was for us to see the children singing God’s glory and who came every day to hear God’s Word. The group was growing in numbers each day as the children brought their fellow friends from the neighbourhood.
At night, the whole team met in the church for an evangelistic meeting with the adults. We shared the Word of God and had some time of prayer. We also went in the suburbs and shared the Good News there.
The Holy Spirit really manifested himself during this mission trip and many people accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour. We must say that we also found God’s great love through the fellowship and friendship that we had shared with the people of Madagascar.

SEEK: Seychelles Evangelization Exchange Koinonia

Seychelles 1996

A great moment with the Lord Thursday 8 August 1996. And off we went for a new mission trip to Seychelles. We just finished presenting the play “Jesus, a friend forever” but we were not tired because we knew that the Lord was going to show us marvelous things in Seychelles.

The Bishop of Seychelles, Mgr. French Chang Him had asked us to share on the Holy Spirit as the people there were hungry for the Word of God and wanted to know more on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A heavy schedule was prepared for us during our one-week stay but we were not worried at all because we knew that we could do all things through Christ who strengthen us.

It was the first time for many of us to come to Seychelles and we received a very warm welcome at Mahe airport. During the journey to St. Philip, La Misere, where we were supposed to stay, we could see huge granite blocks – this is a sign that Seychelles is not of volcanic origin like Mauritius. Its origins in fact go much further back than ours. Unlike what its name suggests, La Misere is not really a slum, but can be compared to the posh parts of Floreal in Mauritius.
Our first encounter with the people of Seychelles was in the Friday afternoon of 9th August and we immediately felt the extent at which our brothers and sisters of Seychelles, who were by the way ordinary people, were hungry and thirsty for the Word of God. Pastor Roger Chung shared about renewal in the life of a Christian and the New Birth, i.e. to be born again. An altar call was made and the whole congregation, from the youngest to the eldest person, responded and they accepted Christ as their Saviour and Lord. It was a very emotional moment for us and a great joy in the Lord when we laid hands on each person to lead him to Christ. We had never seen such an enthusiasm, not even in Mauritius!
We left Mahe on Saturday morning and flew to Praslin island, the second most important island of Seychelles. Praslin is an exclusively touristic island with beaches of unimaginable beauty. One of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world, the “Vallee de Mai”, where the rare and famous sea coconut grows, lies on this island.

Pastor Paul Cheng shared on prayer at St Mark’s Church and there again, the Praslin people responded to the invitation to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. What a joy in heaven for this people redeemed by the blood of Jesus!
The young ones in our team (Winnie, Carine, Richard and David) together with Eddy and Christelle, stayed back to meet the youths of Praslin in the evening while Pastor Roger Chung, Pastor Paul Cheng, Mr and Mrs Eric Ma Fat took the plane for Mahe.

On Sunday 11th August, we went on separate ways and made sure that there was someone from our team to preach the Word in all the Anglican churches in Seychelles. In this way, Pastor Roger Chung was at Holy Saviour Church, Pastor Paul Cheng at St Luke Church, Pastor Eddy at St Mark, Christelle at St Matthew Church and Eric Ma Fat at St Paul’s Cathedral. To our surprise the service at St Paul’s Cathedral was broadcasted live on the national radio of Seychelles and the next day several locals whom we met in the shops told us at which point they were moved by the message.
What a lesson of freedom and communication, and liberalization of the media our brothers from Seychelles have taught us! On the following Sunday, extracts from the Holy Saviour Church service were broadcasted and we were glad to see our chief pastor on TV.

On Monday 12th August, while the young ones from the SEEK team were on a trip to Praslin, the rest went to St Luke Church in Bel Ombre. Pastor Paul Cheng shared on Holy Spirit renewal in the life of a Christian and since it had become a habit, the whole congregation came forward for prayer and the laying of hands on them. That day we received the confirmation that the Holy Spirit was with us. One of our brothers from Seychelles was slain in the Spirit as soon as Pastor Paul Cheng laid hands on him.

On Tuesday 13th August, we held  a workshop on “The gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy” with members of the clergy and Bishop French. It was with much simplicity and humility that the priests from Seychelles received the message. Pastor Paul Cheng shared on the same message on the next day with the lay preachers.
On Wednesday 14th August, before leaving our friends from Seychelles, we organized a Mauritian Night for them and many of us would still remember the moments of friendship and fellowship which we shared with them during our mission trip in Seychelles.
To God be the glory!

On Sunday 12th April 1998, Revd. Ian Ernest, Revd. Roger Chung and myself went to Reunion island on a mission trip for one week. The main objective of the mission was to hold Easter celebrations for the Anglican community in the island and also to set down foundations of an Anglican Church there.

The small Anglican community in Reunion consisted of about 15 persons, mainly Malagasy people settled in the island. It was with this community that the first Easter celebration was held (at the church of Moufia) in Saint Denis on Sunday evening.
On Tuesday evening, we were at Saint Pierre to hold another Easter celebration for the Anglican community of the south of the island. This community was also a small one, consisting actually of about 10 persons.
One of the highlights of the mission to Reunion was the meeting with the Bishop of Saint Denis, Mgr. Aubry. The object of that meeting was to seek his advice and the confirmation of his support for the establishment of an Anglican church in Reunion. The Bishop thus assured the delegation of his support to the Anglican community.

A last celebration was held on Thursday evening, again at the church of Moufia, in Saint Denis. It was unfortunately the last opportunity for us to have fellowship with the Anglican community, who always provided Revd. Ian, Revd. Roger and myself, with a warm welcome since our arrival on the island.
With the regular visits of Revd. Ian Ernest to Reunion – in fact it was his third visit – the Anglican community will be more structured in the future.
We must continue to pray for the community there so that it can grow – in number and spiritually, also for the settling of an Anglican Church in Reunion and for a priest to be able to officiate at this church on a permanent basis.
After the different evangelization missions to Rodrigues, Seychelles and Madagascar, St. Paul’s Church confirmed  its will to carry out missions with this trip to Reunion. Although this time, the team was small compared to the previous missions, everything went on smoothly, by the grace of God and Revd. Ian, Revd. Roger and myself, were greatly blessed by having this fellowship with the Anglican community settled in Reunion.

In Christ,
James Siew Tu

stmark3_new

The Church of St. Mark, Poudre d’Or was consecrated by Bishop Royston on the 27th December 1888. The church building was severely damaged by the cyclone of 1892, which passed right over the island of Mauritius. It was restored by Bishop Gregory in 1914. A vestry and a porch were added to the building.

Very little is known about the life of the parish over the last hundred years. It would seem that the hospital of Poudre d’Or used to be a garrison for British soldiers and that the chapel of St. Mark was built to serve their needs. The architecture of the hospital from the outside still looks like a garrison unto this day. Until very recently, St. Mark, Poudre d’Or was considered as a daughter church of St. Barnabas, Pamplemousses and the priest in charge of the latter was also serving St. Mark. In 1995, cyclone Hollanda severely damaged the roof of the building and it was decided temporarily to close down the church.

Prayer Meeting on 1 May 1998 at St Mark’s church before renovation

stmark6_new

An eucharist service was held at St. Mark’s Church, Poudre d’Or, on Sunday 7th June 1998 at 2 p.m. The roof had been repaired, the surrounding grounds cleared and the building itself recleaned after a long period of inactivity.The church was packed with faithful coming from the surrounding areas together with some members of St Paul’s congregation for this opening service.

” How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good news “ (Is 52: 7).

After a welcoming address by Rev Roger Chung, the service started with praise and worship songs. Steeves Pierre had the privilege of bringing God’s Word to those present. He made reference to 2 Chronicles 7:11,12 : “After King Solomon had finished the temple and the palace, and had successfully completed all his plans for them, the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to him: ” I have heard your prayers and I accept this Temple as the place where sacrifices are to be offered to me”.He compared the reopening of St. Mark’s church to what King Solomon did. The reopening of St. Mark is a dedication to bringing God’s Word to those in the north of the island. He said that God will do great things in this church, that we must be prepared to spread the Good  news, not to be afraid as to what other people may say about the noise we make, provided we are doing the noise for God.

Harold Allaghen mentioned how he had a special request in his prayers for this church to be reopened whenever he came to this region during his work rounds. Annie Sham had some encouraging words for those present. She compared her mission trip to Madagascar with what is being done at Poudre d’Or. Annie, Harold and Rev Roger then sang the praise song “Like the woman at the well” in Malagasy. Some members present gave testimony as to the greatness of God. One person witnessed how he came to know and accept God and this led to the divine healing of his spine problem of several years. A lady was also blessed with miraculous healing of her daughter from a growth in her stomach when she put her faith in God.

During the service, Rev Roger called upon several members of the congregation to say prayers for the church and the work that awaits us. At the end of the service, a light refreshment was served.

It is expected that a regular  meeting will be held at the church every Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. for praise, worship, prayers and Bible study. An Eucharist service will be held once a month. All those who attended really felt God’s presence and have faith that God will perform miracles there.