Overcoming Past Challenges

Overcoming Past Challenges

“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”

This has been called the unanswered prayer of Jesus. Christian unity has been illusive; yet it is of such importance that Jesus affirms that it is the basis for the world to believe He was sent by God. Today, the Christian church is not in unity and the secular world has not believed that God sent Jesus. When church leaders harbor personal ambitions and members unwilling to forgive each other, we lose our credibility before a watching world. Bitterness, disunity and church splits may result. One can clearly see that Satan’s main agenda is to prevent unity from happening.

Leadership Challenges

Arcadia church has seen the most thrilling answer to our prayers as detailed in Glenn Yee’s article on how we got our church building. Yet among FECA churches, Arcadia church is known to have experienced the most internal turmoil. Church leadership is among the most difficult of leaderships. Secular corporations are evaluated based on productivity and performance; church work is much harder to measure. The fact is that the majority of people involved in the church are volunteers, and the sometimes misguided understanding of how to love one another can create pain and misunderstanding.

In our 20 year history, Arcadia church as had 27 staff changes in almost all areas of ministry (from secretary, ministry directors, congregation pastors to Senior Pastor). For a church our size, this has resulted in instability, disruption of ministry, and caused a number of significant crises that threatened God’s work. When a church staff leaves, emotions often give rise to questions, doubts, and soul-searching. A number of times, these caused anguish and division within the church. Having been here since the beginning, there were instances when I thought we would not be able to continue. Yet only by God’s grace did our church not splinter or die.

In God’s mercy, the church has experienced much peace in the last few years. A friend who knew our history asked me at the end of 2016 if Arcadia was a good place for ministry. I told her then it was the best time. Today, I am even more enthusiastic and optimistic. God has been graciously calling the right people for the right ministry, all moving in the same direction, united within the congregations, as well as together as ONE church.

Space Challenges

A new challenge looms. Though our current location is beautiful and strategic in the city of Monrovia, space to grow continues to be a challenge for us. Our youth ministry is growing and God is bringing more college and young adults to our church. How to create more space for the next generation is a good problem to have. Please pray with us that the whole church will be united in investing towards our next generation.

I believe with all my heart that if Jesus prayed this prayer, fulfillment is possible. The world desperately needs to know that Jesus is our Savior and Lord. This can only be accomplished if we are one, just and Jesus and God are one.

克服過去的挑戰

“我不但為這些人祈求，也為那些因他們的話信我的人祈求。使他們都合而為一，正如你父在我裡面，我在你裡面，使他們也在我們裡面，叫世人可以信你差了我來。”

約17:21耶穌的禱告被稱為耶穌所作未蒙回應的禱告。 基督徒的合一是不易達成但却是非常重要的，以至於耶穌肯定這是讓世人相信他是神差派來世上的依據。 今天，基督教會尚未合一，世人尚未相信神差派了耶穌來世上。 當教會領袖們懷有個人野心，成員們不願彼此原諒時，我們就會在注視著我們的世人面前失去信譽，可能會導致苦毒、不團結和教會分裂。顯而易見，撒旦千方百計的阻止我們合一。

領導的挑戰

正如余烱桐弟兄的文章中所詳述我們購堂的經過，亞凱迪亞教會是神對我們的祈禱所做出最激勵人心的回應。 然而，在联會的所有分會中，亞凱迪亞教會經歷了最多內部的動盪。在所有領導之中，教會領導是最困難的一種。俗世的公司是根據業績和工作表现進行評估； 教會工作则很難衡量。 事實是，大多數參與教會服事的都是義工，有時對於如何彼此相愛的理解有錯誤以至造成痛苦和誤解。

在這20 年中亞凱迪亞教會有過27 次的教牧同工變動，幾乎包括了所有事工領域（秘書、事工主任、堂會牧師、主任牧師）。 對於我們這樣規模的教會來說，這導致了教會不穩定、事工間斷，並引發了許多威脅上帝工作的重大危機。 每當有教牧同工離開時，會眾的情緒往往會引發疑問、懷疑和省思，往往在教會內部造成了痛苦和分裂，甚至有時我也以為我們可能無法繼續下去。 然而，唯有靠著上帝的恩典，我們的教會才沒有分裂或衰敗。

靠著神的憐憫，近幾年教會經歷了平靜安檼。 一位了解我們歷史的朋友在 2016 年底問我FEC亞凱迪亞是不是一個適合服事的工場。 我告訴她那是最好的時機。 今天，我更加熱情和樂觀。神一直恩慈地呼召合適的人來此服事，眾人都邁向同一個方向，會眾同心團結，全教會合一。

空間的挑戰

新的挑戰迫在眉睫。 雖然我們目前在蒙羅維亞市的位置很好且具有戰略意義，但增長空間仍然是我們面臨的挑戰。 我們的青年事工正在發展，神正在為我們的教會帶來更多的大學生和年輕人。 如何為下一代創造更多空間是一個很好的問題。 請與我們一起祈禱，讓全教會團結一致投資在我們的下一代。

我全心相信，如果耶穌做了這個禱告，它就可以實現。 唯有我們合一如同耶穌和父神原為一那樣，世人才知道耶穌是我們的救主和主。