I headed to Hong Kong with a ![\"12049324_10207152521638854_4478515330668186165_n\"](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/12049324_10207152521638854_4478515330668186165_n-300x169.jpg\")
different perspective than our Cape Town advance. My heart and mind was filled with expectation of being with dear friends. I knew we\u2019d be learning and experiencing fantastic things but it paled in comparison with the camaraderie and intellectual stimulation of friends\u2014if not family\u2014crazy uncle and all.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Following the relational anticipation came my passion for International churches (ICs), for which Hong Kong offers a unique and interesting landscape. As a former British colony, Christianity has been well established over the last century, as seen in its social programs, schools, seminary, medical facilities and plenty of churches. I estimate at least 20 HK ICs operating in English and typically attracting dozens of ethnicities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To share this with my coh![\"21643442798_100065e25a_k\"](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/21643442798_100065e25a_k-300x200.jpg\")
ort was an unanticipated blessing, as we visited Island ECC; it was like they got a taste of my research. Some were shocked that such diverse, foreigner-friendly, western-like churches exist in \u201ccommunist China\u201d. But with globalization, and the number of global nomads growing, these churches are flourishing and their missional impact is significant. They come in all sizes; in HK alone there is Alliance International Church at 350 attenders, ECC with about 900, Island ECC with 3500, and the International Christian Assembly (AOG) at over 10,000.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here are three insights from this term\u2019s study and travel that are applicable to my IC research:<\/p>\n
![\"Jackie](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Jackie-Pullinger-300x200.jpg\")
\u201cPentecostalism is perhaps the fastest expanding movement\u2014religious, cultural or political\u2014ever.\u201d[i]<\/a> In Global Pentecostalism: The new face of Christian social Engagement<\/u>[ii]<\/a> we learn a significant part of its growth and missional impact is tied to social engagement. We experienced that first hand as we visited St. Stephen\u2019s society and spent time with Jackie Pullinger. It\u2019s one thing to hear and read about God transforming a city though His people \u2013 it\u2019s another to experience\u00a0it for yourself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n
![\"21754399701_3b10be60f8_k\"](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/21754399701_3b10be60f8_k-200x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"21504399600_3480753006_k\"](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/21504399600_3480753006_k-300x200.jpg\")
t but I wouldn\u2019t want to live there.\u201d They are places of population density, places of great diversity, places where some of the nations\u2019 brightest and wealthiest as well as the\u00a0most marginalized people live. Cities can be factories of creativity and learning; its people are more open to change than those in\u00a0a suburban or rural setting.[iv]<\/a> Cities, like HK,\u00a0can be great incubators for missional movements. ICs and the Christian diaspora need to understand and maximize the advantages of their urban settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p>\n
After the Ad <\/p>\n Jacob Bloemberg has been lead pastor at HIF for 10 years; in that time he\u2019s changed the\u00a0paradigm of HIF. They went from a\u00a0church with an \u201coasis\u201d mindset to a missional IC paradigm. This took a large measure of humility and willfulness, a kind of humble ambition; s <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [i]<\/a> Steve Addison,\u00a0Movements That Change the World: Five Keys to Spreading the Gospel<\/em>, Revised ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2011), 44.<\/p>\n [ii]<\/a> Donald E. Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori,\u00a0Global Pentecostalism: the New Face of Christian Social Engagement<\/em>\u00a0(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), 1.<\/p>\n [iii]<\/a> Jim Collins,\u00a0Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap–and Others Don’t<\/em>\u00a0(New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2001), 22.<\/p>\n [iv]<\/a> Timothy Keller,\u00a0Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City<\/em>, 8.9.2012 ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 135-179.<\/p>\n [v]<\/a> \u201cHIF | Hanoi International Fellowship,\u201d, accessed November 20, 2015, http:\/\/www.hif.vn\/.<\/p>\n [vi]<\/a> \u201cLove Hanoi,\u201d, accessed November 20, 2015, http:\/\/www.lovehanoi.org\/.<\/p>\n![\"Love-Hanoi-logo-545\"](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Love-Hanoi-logo-545-300x189.jpg\"){kind=logo}
vance in HK I didn\u2019t return home immediately but spent a week in Hanoi doing IC field research at Hanoi International Fellowship (HIF). While there I saw all three ideas at work.[v]<\/a> I\u2019d categorize HIF as more Evangelical than Pentecostal, yet it is a church that has seen exponential growth. In the last few years they\u2019ve grown from one to three congregations with four services spread around the city; they have a vision for the city and are active in social engagement. \u201cLove Hanoi\u201d is a campaign to inspire and mobilize individual, corporate, and public initiatives for the benefit of the city.[vi]<\/a> HIF is encouraging its mostly expatriate body to show their love for Hanoi by getting involved in very practical, compassionate ways. This vision of the city has become a tangible part of the church ethos; they often put the spotlight on one of their city partners like: Hagar, Blue Dragon, Donkey Bakery, Samaritan\u2019s Purse and many more.[vii]<\/a><\/p>\n![\"ban](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/ban-\u0111\u1ea1i-di\u1ec7n3-300x208.jpg\")
uch leadership is often frowned on in church circles. Jacob was clearly convicted to spread the gospel around Hanoi but believed he\u2019d bring greater kingdom growth by using his organizational\u00a0skills and apostolic gifts to mobilize HIF into a city-focused missional movement.\u00a0\u00a0 HIF has seen the gospel extend to new public venues in communist Hanoi, by mobilizing the congregation for social engagement and showing the compassion of Jesus. The result has been a church that multiplies faster than a typical slow-moving institution and has created a positive public persona.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"IMG_0860\"](\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_0860-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Back in Texas I\u2019m pastoring a small church in a mostly blue color refinery town, on the outskirts of Houston. I often wonder how these principles apply to me. In the area of social engagement promoting exponential growth, a few weeks ago our church engaged in a church-wide garage sale for Syrian refugees. There was a tremendous amount of passion in the effort and dozens of local families identified Alliance Bible as a compassionate church. In the area of developing a vision for the city, we\u2019ve been becoming more outwardly focused; this past month we started planning and preparing for our first ALPHA class, with sufficient volunteers for five small groups to launch in January. In the area of my own leadership, I\u2019ve found that I\u2019m apostolically gifted, as seen in Eph 4:11, and discussed in The Permanent Revolution<\/u>.[viii]<\/a> I\u2019m not sure my church family sees me as humble, but they do know that I\u2019m willful, thoughtful, and strategic.<\/p>\n