The power of building up connection
Established in 2002, the Cantonese Congregation Table Tennis Club is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The club ceased its activity at the peak of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 and resumed in September 2020 with the full support of Pastor Huin. When restarted, there were two key changes: First, the club returned to the management of the Cantonese Congregation after a period of being supervised by Chinese Senior Association; Secondly, we opened another night and are now operating on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Pastor Huin fully supported the idea of resuming the club and has been fully involved in the activity of the club by regularly participating at the Thursday-night activity and giving suggestions to the club since.
When the club activity first resumed in September 2020 in WMH, there were only 4 tables, and it opened only one night per week on Tuesdays. After the club was relocated from WMH to the newly renovated CMC Hall, table numbers increased from 4 to 6 with an average of 20 people per night. With the power of word-of mouth, more and more people are joining us as they consider this space to be a very friendly atmosphere which they could hardly find in other similar venues. This atmosphere was achieved by being nice to anyone you meet and making sure that no discrimination would be tolerated, regardless of how skilful you are in playing table tennis. It has been a culture we have purposely encouraged and cultivated.
Besides regular table tennis, we also organise other activities for members such as bushwalking and dinners, with a view to building up connection. Paster Huin regularly joins our activity on Thursday night and chats with members when they are having a break. With his encouragement, some members have displayed interest in the Gospel and have also visited our Sunday services. We’ve found that the Table Tennis Club is a wonderful place to share the Gospel with members who do not know God yet.
The Table Tennis Club currently has an entrance fee of $2. As a result, the club has contributed up to $3600 to the church during the period of September 25, 2020, to 20 February 2022.
Looking forward, we will continue what we have been doing and we hope that more people will join us, providing us with more opportunities to share God’s love and also a love for table tennis. Hopefully, our table tennis ministry can continue to serve as an effective channel for passing the words, teachings and love of Jesus.
Jim Lee