A Little History, A Little Reminiscing
Rev. Hans M Wilhelm and
Rev. Clarence Pi
In 1992, Rev. Clarence Pi and Rev. Hans M Wilhelm in the United States joined their hands and hearts to establish the “Chinese International Missions”, in short form as CIM. Actively they promoted overseas Chinese churches to participate in world missions ministry!
The next few years would take them to places across continents in Central and South America and Africa, opening up one mission field after another!
It was at that time, I became one of the directors for CIM, witnessing on how God used this emerging Chinese mission to build a brand new and far-reaching missions ministry. Despite that, no one thought that in November 1998, Rev. Clarence Pi would pass away suddenly from a heart attack while working in a South African missions’ field.
The CIM Board of Directors, after much prayer and waiting, unanimously decided to continue on in the work that initially called Rev. Pi and Rev. Wilhelm to promote the missions to the Chinese churches. During that period, I was the only Canadian member on the board, and I was still pastoring full-time at a church in Vancouver. Rev. Pi’s passing was a profound warning to me, revealing that there were not many days left for me to serve God, as I was older in age than Rev. Pi. I had to count the remaining years awarded to me to use them well in His service.
When I was ministering in Vancouver, I often had two questions that stuck in my mind: Overseas Chinese churches have talked about overseas missions for many years, through annual missions conferences, missions Sundays, and even with the formation of a missions association in Hong Kong. But why have there been so few missionaries sent out? The Chinese churches, in addition to that, mostly preached the gospel to the Chinese people when it came to the work of evangelism. Why did the Chinese churches seem indifferent to the rest of the world, which made 80% of the world’s population? Do they not also share in the same image of God and have been bought by the blood of Christ?
Rev. Pi's passing pushed me to think more seriously about these two questions. I also shared my thoughts and feelings with the deacons of the church and told them that I felt that God put a new burden in my heart. I invited them to partner with me in prayer so that I would clearly know what was God's will!
As a result, it was six months later that I handed in my resignation letter to the church. Leaving the flock that loved me, who with their support and blessings, I was able begin preparing for a Chinese missions organization based in Canada. The focus of the ministry was to motivate all Chinese churches to take part in oversea missions and making a way towards cross-cultural missions!
The Board of CIM in the United States very much identifies with our plan and orientation and affirmed that this was indeed the wish of Rev. Pi when he founded CIM. The board of directors were willing to financially support part of our expenses in the first three years of our establishment, which brought us great encouragement and help.
In February 2004, we were officially registered in Canada as Chinese International Missions (Canada). We were formed as a sister mission organization with CIM in the United States, and together we worked hand in hand with one heart to promote world missions ministry!
The focus of the Canadian CIM's ministry is based on the premise that "Everyone participate in missions." So we stress our efforts on hosting short-term missions for lay believers. Of course, we understand the limitations and weaknesses of this pattern of mission. For this reason, we pay great emphasis on the importance of the training the "short-term mission team", and in the coordination with missionaries as well as the local churches. The short-term mission team must act as an enriching support and not be an added burden to them!
We also have another focus which falls squarely on the shoulders of "cross-cultural missions." Since 2003, we have sent our first short-term missions team to Ghana, Africa we engaged in local African people only. In the early stages, we were in contact with young people through vocational schools run by missionaries. The later stages saw us partnering a great deal of the time with local African churches. Through our growing relationship, we expanded our travels further inland to remote areas and shared the gospel as well as personal testimonies with local unbelievers!
In 2018, the Lord led us to start a new outreach ministry to the Roma people. Similarly, through a developing partnership with the Roma church, we were given the privilege in assisting in their gospel work!
It’s been 18 years since CIM Canada was first established which has been playing a role solely as a partner in helping cross-cultural missionaries and other ethnic churches. Although we are still a miniature missions agency, we have given passage for hundreds of brothers and sisters to go to the missions field, and to personally experience the needs and effects of cross-cultural missions. We are also witnessing to a person who participated in CIM short term missions, and has now become a full-time missionary in Africa.
Our wish is still to have more children of God respond to the calling of missions and to hear them say, Lord, here I am, please send me!
In keeping with our mandate for cross-cultural ministries, our board of directors have decided to add the name "CIM Ministries" to be our trade name. Our official name continues to be Chinese International Missions Canada, but we are now also known as CIM Ministries. We believe that with this name, under the guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ, it will open more doors for us to share the good news in a cross-cultural context.
Rev. Philip Leung
Advisor
Chinese International Missions (Canada) / CIM Ministries
August Financials
1. General Fund - for general and administrative purposes, such as staff salaries
2. Designated Fund - for specific ministries in different field locations as designated (cannot be transferred between funds)
*All financial figures are in Canadian dollars and rounded to the nearest dollar
Pray With Us:
Pray for a safe journey back to Ghana for our international worker, Janice Wong on September 28 as her home assignment comes to a close.
Pray for the drafting and amendments of our grant agreements with our oversea partners to comply with the Canada Revenue Agency.
It has been a tough few month for our global CIM family. Please pray for the families who have lost loved ones and those who are dealing with health issues.
Pray for CIM USA and Christine Pi as she has announced her retirement as Executive Director. CIM USA is currently recruiting for an Executive Director successor, as well as a Director of Ministry.