Today is the day!  After 3 years of fundraising, another 2 years of planning and getting permits, today we have launched forth on the construction of our long-awaited new church centre behind Advent Church in the grounds of St. John’s University ~ YES!

Our chaplain and rector, Rev. Lennon Chang is finally seeing his (and our) vision being fulfilled, praise God. He has worked and prayed so hard for this, and we have joined in!  And why? Because as our church has grown and as we do more and more church outreach into the local community, and as the university also opens up more and more, so we realize that Advent Church is no way big enough for all that’s going on and all that we would like to do… there’s only the church building itself and 2 small rooms at the back.  So in the new centre will be a large hall, many smaller rooms, kitchen and all sorts of new facilities for everyone to use and for us to welcome the local community in more and more ~ YES!

Today’s Groundbreaking Ceremony and Service was wonderful – the sun shone, the sky was blue, perfect beautiful weather!

VIPs galore (all except the Chair of the Trustees and our SJU President, both unfortunately ill with flu), including Bishop Lai, SJU trustees, SJU Vice-President Wang, the Mayor of Tamsui, SJU Alumni, the architect and construction firm, plus lots of church members, university faculty and staff, students and local community….

We had a walkabout around the construction site singing hymns, then prayers, Bible readings, speeches from the Mayor and representatives of the SJU trustees, SJU alumni and the bank, then the groundbreaking ceremony – all wearing helmets, white gloves and holding red and gold spades ~ and followed by Bishop Lai’s prayers and blessing, then photos and interviews with the press, and finally lunch!

Praise the Lord the project is finally underway!  We start with a 3-day non-stop power cut just after Chinese New Year the week after next (to remove the electricity substation currently located on the construction site) …. and work is expected to be finished in the autumn.

So watch this space, and please keep us all in your prayers!