Around 1976, Pastor Y.K. Chang –
who founded MBCLA – started communicating with some of
the brothers and sisters in the San Fernando Valley area
about his ‘five churches’ vision. This was a vision that
was bestowed by God, and involved planting 5 additional
churches. At that time, he had already planted one
church in the West Side, and the northern region of the
San Fernando Valley was his second target. After one
Sunday service, in reply to God’s calling, he gathered
together those brothers and sisters who had pledged to
work in the planting of this new church. To formalize
their dedication to this calling, they all acted on
their commitment by signing their names in a book.
Without wasting any time, the brothers and sisters took
their first step in the planting of a church in the San
Fernando Valley area. At that time, a brother named
David Wang, who had a hamburger store at the
intersection of Venture and Hayvenhurst, heard about the
news of God’s ministry in the Chinese community in the
valley. Burdened by the need, he promptly volunteered
his own store as a gathering place for the newly formed
fellowship. Those who made pledges to help in the
formation of the new church started periodic weekday
fellowship. Every time they came together, either Pastor
Peter Chung or Dr. Cherry Chang, along with a few other
elder brothers and sisters, would make a point to
journey into the valley and join them in their
fellowship. The brothers and sisters were greatly
encouraged by the active participation of the elders
from MBCLA, and their numbers grew. God’s grace was
clearly manifested among them. Gradually, a few leaders
emerged. With the blessing of the Lord, a few remained
in their post until the official formation of the
church. Among them are deacon Paul Young, brother
Gean-Tai Shen, sister Yvette Yeo Hong, brother Peter
Yao, brother Arnold Sun, brother Raymond Yueh, and
brother John Hsiao. Brother Raymond Yueh was the only
newcomer at the time, but it was opportune, for God
wanted to bring the fellowship to a new location. God’s
preparation was always just in time.
In March, 1976, through the invitation of a visiting
Christian friend from Japan, brother Raymond Yueh walked
into the MBCSFV. He was a seeker at the time, but
through the convicting power of the Word, he turned his
heart to God. One Sunday afternoon during lunch, sister
Ester Wang brought him a cup of hot tea. Through this
single act of loving care, he opened his heart and
accepted Jesus Christ. After accepting Christ, brother
Yueh started to participate in the weekday fellowship.
The difficulties of meeting in the hamburger store
became apparent around September of 1976. As the summer
reached its peak, with many people congregated in the
crowded and steamy hamburger store, the heat became
increasingly difficult to tolerate. Brother Yueh,
although he was new in the faith, longed to participate
in the ministry and opened his house as a place to
worship. This helped to jump-start the family
participation in the ministry. From that point onward,
for a period of two and half years, the bimonthly
meeting was held in brother Yueh’s house. Under the
leading of Pastor Peter Chung, there were teaching,
prayers as well as learning to serve one another. Once
the fellowship started entered into the family, the
family members of the co-laborers also started to serve.
The Establishment of MBCSFV as a Branchh |
Meeting at brother Yueh’s house lasted through the end
of 1978. By that time, the size of the congregation had
grown to over twenty. MBCLA’s plan of planting a new
church in the San Fernando Valley had reached its final
stage. The congregation at MBCLA passed the vote of
bringing Pastor Paul Chang on board as the assistant
pastor, shepherding the flock in the San Fernando
Valley.
In March 18, 1979, the branch church at San Fernando
Valley was officially established. The new branch was
located at 17424 Sherman Way in Van Nuys. That was a
two-story building, with the first floor as the main
sanctuary, capable of holding over 100 people along with
a kitchen and dining hall. The second story contained
classrooms for Sunday school. That building belonged to
the Southern Baptist Convention. They gladly gave us the
privilege of using their building free of charge, for
they rejoiced in seeing the propagation of God’s church.
At that time, another church was already using the
building on Sunday mornings. Therefore, in the early
days of this branch church, the Sunday worship took
place at three o’clock in the afternoon. Afterward,
there was tea time allowing fellowship among
congregation members. This situation lasted 6 months,
and by God’s grace, the other church that was using the
building on Sunday mornings was able to set up their own
place of worship and moved away. Our service was moved
to Sunday morning on October 7 of 1979.
|
Harvesting and Wedding Bells |
God worked through this branch to harvest the first
crops in September 9, 1979 through a baptism that was
held at MBCLA. In December 16th of the same year,
another 5 members were received into God’s kingdom.
Among those who were baptized in those early days, Danny
Woo, Jean Sun, and sister Liu are still faithfully
serving before God.
Marriage of the brothers and sisters before God is
always a joyful event. Brother Liu and sister Chen was
the first couple married in the branch church. In the
spring of 1980, brother Chi and sister Liu were also
planning their wedding. Because their wedding guests
were too numerous for the small congregation hall, they
searched for a larger place of gathering. They came
across First Baptist Church of Van Nuys (the predecessor
to the Shepherd of the Hill) located at 14800 Sherman
Way. They learned the Van Nuys church had a vacant
chapel and was willing to rent it to our church. At that
time, our church received a notice from the Southern
Baptist Convention informing us of their intention to
sell the property to another church. Although we were
given the first right to purchase the property, it was
not within our ability to do so at that time. In God’s
foresight, He had already made arrangements for another
site for this church some ten years later. The third
couple married in this church was Steven and Sandy Yang.
Their union is still being remembered with a great deal
of fondness today. They were the first couple to meet in
this church, and they fell in love through their serving
together. Through God’s blessings, they became husband
and wife.
Growing through the Storm
|
Although the branch church was steadily growing through
peace, there were inevitable growing pains. This branch
church moved into the Van Nuys First Baptist Church’s
chapel on June 1st of 1980. All the necessary facilities
and equipment, as well as their childcare facilities
were made available to us for a token $50 per month
offering. God provided us with an even better place of
worship than before.
The branch church was into its second year when the
church council was formed, with brother Arnold Sun as
the first chairman. It seemed all areas of ministry were
progressing under the grace of our Lord. However, Satan
used the weakness of the flesh to attack this church
with incredible intensity, so much so that the church
was split in two. Those members who were left behind
were deeply wounded and remorseful and asked God for His
forgiveness. It made all of us walk even closer to God
than ever before, relying on God for strength. In
hindsight, we have to admit that our youthfulness and
immaturity cost us dearly! But the grace of God was
enough to cover all of our mistakes.
God used the rainbow to signify His everlasting covenant
with His children, and He must strengthen the branches
He planted. Satan’s scheme was defeated, for the two
churches after the split were both stabilized through
God’s shielding. Although the size of the congregation
was temporarily cut in half, some time later, some
departed congregation members returned to the church. In
1981, God sent His faithful servant Dr. Samuel Tang and
Pastor David Liao to us to conduct service training.
Pastor Liao in particular, preached to us twice a month
from 1981 to 1982. He not only gave us the Word of God
through the pulpit, but he also taught the councilors
how to govern this church in accordance with biblical
principles. Under the guidance of Pastor Liao, brother
Arnold Sun drafted the church’s covenant and bylaws.
Thus, MBCSFV had laid its foundation. |
