By Serena Cheung / Assistant Minister, St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney
By God’s grace, I serve as an assistant minister at St Andrew’s Cathedral in the heart of Sydney. I primarily minister to members who speak Chinese, and my main responsibilities include translating English sermons into Chinese, and providing discipleship and training through Bible study, and Christianity Explored and Just for Starters courses. In addition, I coordinate the Thursday Bible and English classes with a multicultural team that serves students from Egypt, Korea, China, France, Japan, Iraq, Taiwan, Pakistan, Spain, Mongolia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and several other countries.
My church serves Mandarin speakers from diverse locations such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Although they share a common language, their cultural differences highlight our blind spots, motivating us to investigate together what matters to God.
We are committed to serving the Chinese community within a vibrant multicultural environment by providing strong Bible teaching and including those with limited English. A young Chinese tourist once wandered into our church and received a heartfelt welcome from our community. He became part of our Chinese Bible study and English classes, which allowed him to express himself in his native language. At the same time, he was able to connect with individuals from various backgrounds. After committing his life to Christ and getting baptised, he now serves joyfully in our music team and participates in an English Bible study group.
We also welcomed a Chinese lady who was, initially, hesitant about joining our church, because of her limited English. However, after she was greeted in her own language and she received a copy of the translated sermon, she felt a profound sense of belonging. She appreciated both the engaging preaching and supportive materials we provided her, and these empowered her to join both our English class and the Chinese Bible study group. Today, she is excitedly learning to lead a group and inspiring others along the way.
I am thankful for my training at Moore College. It has provided me with a solid foundation in biblical knowledge, and has fostered my ability to think theologically about various issues. Most importantly, it has showed me the importance of character, and it has nurtured my heart to love God and others, inspiring me to serve him for his glory.
Serena Cheung graduated from Moore College in 2018.
Prayer
- Ask God to empower and to provide more opportunities for Serena and her team to welcome people from all over the world into Christ’s kingdom.
- Ask God to help the Chinese ministry at the Cathedral to grow and mature.
- Ask God to give Serena wisdom as she thinks through the ongoing training programs for next year.
