A House of Refuge and Mei Ho Dream Centre
In August 2007 we sensed God directing us to embed the ‘Ashes to Beauty’ theme into the Vision of the church by giving us three defining words ‘Justice, Mercy, and Grace’. In particular we have been looking for a home for our refugees where we can develop a caring community and prepare them for a new life.
Since then we have been given some amazing opportunities to begin to live this out in the life of the church. Through a series of ‘coincidences’ where God brought together people in one of our PLUS groups with both a heart and gifts to serve Him we have already started using a small flat in Sha Tin to house disadvantaged people. We are also about to take on the lease of a village house in Mui Wo which will hold up to ten people under the watchful care of a married couple who will act as house parents.
We are also in discussion with another Christian organization about the possibility of taking on a small complex of buildings that used to be used as a Bible College. We have the opportunity of developing this as a training centre for the refugees as well as for accommodation.
In November 2007 the HKSAR Government announced a scheme to revitalize a number of vacant historic buildings in Hong Kong by offering them for use to charities and NGO’s to restore them and use them to establish social enterprises. One particular building, Mei Ho House in Shek Kip Mei, seemed to resonate with us and with the vision which God has given us. This building was originally used to house squatters who were made homeless by the tragic Shek Kip Mei fire of 1953. These were mainly immigrants who had fled to safety from China during the Cultural Revolution. Our own vision to provide accommodation for international refugees fleeing for their lives from oppression is undoubtedly the 21st century equivalent.
We believe that we have a mandate not only to restore this building as a cultural landmark so that the people of Hong Kong can see and remember their own journey to a new life and prosperity but also to restore it’s original purpose – to provide shelter and a home to those in desperate need. Our aim is not just for accommodation but the establishment of community, understanding and cooperation that crosses national and racial boundaries. We see this as not just a place for refugees but a place for the local community, for anyone who needs help and shelter, anyone who is feeling displaced. We see it as a place of hope and beauty – Mei Ho means ‘beautiful flower’ - a real ashes to beauty testimony. We have called our submission ‘Mei Ho Dream Centre’ as a way of capturing our desire to bring Isaiah 61 blessings into peoples lives and into this community. “The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on us…..to bestow a crown of beauty instead of ashes…to rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated”. We believe that what God enables us to do in the physical he will also bring about in the spiritual.
