June 2013 Dear mission partners, During the last week of May, COCM staff members, associates, volunteers, and council members got to gether in Pioneer Centre near Birmingham for our annual retreat. Our staff workers spend much of their regular time during the year in various mission fields throughout UK and Europe, and in mobilization in other parts of the world. So it is doubly precious that we can get together once a year to fellowship, catch up on what God has been doing in our lives, encourage and support one another in this journey together. For us, it has been a wonderful journey with God. But our master has not promised smooth sailing all the time, there has been rough waters, and indeed storms. It is important for us to stay true to the calling. The theme of our retreat is “Keep Your Calling Fresh”. We spent the first day remembering when we heard the calling from our Lord to follow Him into this adventurous journey in the mission. As Ling and I prepared our sharing, we recalled the time we first visited UK together and how God put the burden of reaching the Chinese in Europe into our hearts. We remembered when Jesus called his disciples to follow him, “And He said unto them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ ” How true it has been to us! This year is particularly special as we welcomed many new faces into the mission. Some of them were very young and were just beginning their faith journey. During the retreat we interviewed some of the old timers to learn about their past experiences, their struggles, their life lessons along the way, and how God has been faithful over the years. It was heartwarming for me to hear the testimony of God’s servants who walked ahead of us and gave us beautiful examples to follow. The second day we focused on the theme of “learning”. We studied a chapter from Richard Forster’s book on “The Discipline of Study”. Although this is a classic spiritual formation lesson, it has been refresh ing to be reminded again how important it is to keep our calling fresh through our continuous learning. As we move forward as a team, we can get used to the routine and sometimes complacency can get in the way. Missionaries can be tied up by the unnecessary traditions and worldly habits which hinders our growth. We must continue to learn so we can continue to be useful to the Master and ready to do His good work. The last day is dedicated to “trusting” God. Like many other mission agencies, COCM is facing financial challenges in tough economic times. While God has been opening many doors for us to preach the gos pel, as a Mission, we are also facing challenges of raising enough support for the ministry and staff. To gether, we listened to a seminar by Myles Wilson, author of “Funding the Family Business” who shared with us the biblical principles in trusting God for His provision. Ling and I came away refreshed, encouraged, and so grateful for God who called many dedicated worker into the big COCM family. It has been my prayer that God will raise an army of workers who share the same vision from God, are sent on the same mission, and unified with the same strategy to fight the good fight together so we may finish the tasks God has entrusted to us. Please pray for the COCM mission team to stay true to God’s calling. Serving together in Christ, Rev. Henry Lu General Director