Rev Andrew Choy
On the 35th anniversary of North Side, God led me to join this spiritual family at the beginning of the year for which I am deeply grateful. Since taking on the role of senior pastor, I have felt that it was God who led me here. Although I previously shared that God challenged me at the beginning of 2022 through the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) to respond to his call with faith, when I look back on my ministry journey, I can see that God has indeed been guiding and preparing me from the very beginning.
In 2008, while I was still living and ministering in Perth, I had the opportunity, on behalf of the Australian Chinese Alliance Churches Committee (ACACC), to lead some brothers and sisters from different Chinese Alliance churches in Australia on a short-term mission trip to Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China. During that visit, I got to know some members of North Side and felt the church’s passion for missions. In 2009, through an invitation from ACACC colleagues, I had the chance to visit some Chinese Alliance churches in Sydney. During that visit, I had the privilege of preaching at North Side, delivering three sermons in one day for the first time in my ministry. It allowed me to witness the flourishing ministry of North Side. Later, being elected to the National Board from 2009 to 2014, I learned about the challenging times that North Side had gone through. Then in 2015, God led the pastors of North Side to invite me twice to speak at MES. Looking back, I realize that those experiences and provisions deepened my understanding of the church and strengthened my sense of belonging to this spiritual family.
In the early days of my coming on board at North Side, I was cautious and a little anxious. After all, I had never served as a senior pastor before, and I didn’t dare take the responsibilities of this position lightly. I could only approach it with a combination of courage and carefulness. On one hand, I relied on God to make bold decisions and provide guidance; on the other hand, I patiently observed the interactions within different congregations and ministries and earnestly understood the needs of brothers and sisters. Additionally, I was concerned about how my wife and daughters would adapt to the new environment. However, I am truly thankful because my wife embraced the decision to “return” to the C&MA (as we had considered the Perth’s C&MA church our home) and has been able to involve herself in the church life here. My daughters have also engaged in fellowship in the university group and the youth fellowship.
Lastly, although we do not know what challenges the future holds, we firmly believe that the Lord will lead and prepare us. We only need to look up to him and consistently affirm our precious identity in Christ. Let us encourage each other with a verse from 1 John: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).