In 1989, two family members from the True Jesus Church in Taiwan migrated to Christchurch, New Zealand separately. After arriving in Christchurch, they immediately commenced family services on every Sabbath Day and built the spiritual altar to serve God in accordance with the instructions in the Bible. From that on, the seed of the gospel of Jesus Christ was sown in the South Island of New Zealand. Under the power of Holy Spirit, the seed germinated and grew strongly. During the short four years of history of the church's development, the power and grace of God was really with us and could be seen everywhere.
From 1989 to 1991, development in the divine work was quiet and the number of members remained around ten. On every Sabbath Day, family services were held at the homes of members by rotation. During that period, members felt very lonely and weak in their faith. The desire to rely on God was therefore more anxious. They gathered regularly to pray that God would open the door of evangelism.
In mid 1991, the working of the Holy Spirit commenced. Many truth seekers came to attend the family services on their own accord. There were people from different religions, or other churches among the truth seekers. They asked various questions related to religion and therefore placed enormous pressure on members. Members felt deeply that more efforts should be put into praying, studying and learning the important teachings of the Bible and the basic beliefs of True Jeus Church.
Recalling the excitment and training during that period, it was really a perfect arrangement by God. Great edification was achieved in strengthening the faith, love and foundation of truth of members.
As of 1991, the International Assembly of the True Jesus Church and the Southeast Asia Evangelical Centre undertook the responsibility to look after the Christchurch Prayer House together. However, preachers could only visit the Christchurch Prayer House once every four to five months due to the lack of preachers. Although evangelists were insufficient, we thank the Lord for his special care and grace in leading the church. He had shown many miracles and signs to prove that what we had preached was correct. He had also attracted and moved truth seekers Himself so that they could accept the gospel humbly. Consequently, in the period from September 1991 until 1998, the number of new members had increased gradually to 16. Thank the Lord!
With the increment in the number of members, the homes of members could no longer accomodate all at one time to worship God. Therefore in June 1992, the church decided to rent the hall of the church decided to rent the hall of Wharenui School as a place for worship.
The location of Wharenui School was suitable and the rent was also reasonable. However, it did not belong to us and there was much inconvenience which could not be eliminated. There was also a lack of proper classrooms for religious education. With love for God, all the members desired to have our own church building and therefore decided to commence searching for a suitable property.
With a lack of church funds, all the members were made aware of the potential difficulties in purchasing a suitable property. Consequently, attention was first placed on residential properties or warehouses. However, the Christchurch City Council has various rules and constraints on town planning which made converting residential property in to a church very difficult. Therefore, while endeavouring to increase the church funds through financial offerings, members also prayed fervently for assistance and grace form our Heavenly Father, the True God.
In early 1993, God arranged a great opportunity for us. The church noticed an advertisement regarding the sale of the Wool Exchange building which was owned by the Wool Exchange Christchurch Ltd. The structure and indooe facilities of the building are ideal and suitable for use as a church building. The size of the land is 2314 squared metres. The main hall can accomodate about 200 people and there are about fifty carparks outside. Its ;ocation is also close to the city centre. The price was exceptionally low, at only about NZ$400,000. However, members were still worried as the price well exceeded the church's budget.
Thank the Lord! As a result of members' faith and live for the Lord, as well as the special blessing and grace from the Lord, God clearly led us in our frequent prayers. Under His guidance, the acquisition went smoothly and was in accordance to God's will. We formally moved into the new church building in August 1993. Today the church is not only free of debts but also has a small surplus from the acuisition. This resuld was primarily due to the love and concern of fellow members around the world who had offered financial support to us. All of these greatly exceeded our expectation and what we had prayed for. Although the present number of members is about 50, we are able to have such a perfect and spacious church building. This is all attributable to the exceptional grace from God!
The grace from God is so great. All that we dedicate to God today have come from Him.
May the grace of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus Christ be with the Christchurch Church forever. May the Christchurch members be able to advance further from henceforth, in divine work, spirituality and daily lives. May the members also rely on the Holy Spirit and work hard to achieve our mutual aim, so as to glorify the name of the Lord forever, even to the future generations. Amen!