Seventh-day Adventists in Hong Kong earlier this month celebrated 100 years of Adventist work among Chinese people, with two days of events that recalled past accomplishments, and highlighted future challenges. “One hundred years of community service” was a central theme of the celebrations; Adventist leaders vowed to enter the new century with renewed emphasis on the church being a visible, positive presence in society through education, health care, and humanitarian assistance.

Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, visited Hong Kong to participate in the celebrations, which began with a ceremony at Hong Kong Adventist College and Sam Yuk Middle School Nov. 15.

On Saturday, or Sabbath, morning more than 1,000 people filled the main auditorium of Hong Kong Polytechnic University for a three-hour festival of music, drama and presentations. 

“It is important to remember the past,” Paulsen told those gathered for the event. “It is important to honor the men and women who have brought us to this moment. But the future is where we are going to live.” 

Down through the ages God’s people have seen themselves as pilgrims, as people on a journey, said Paulsen. “They are conscious that this is not their permanent home—God is preparing something else.” Paulsen acknowledged that the life of a pilgrim can be difficult, but urged believers never to lose faith in the future. “Do not let anyone deprive you of the certainty that you are a child of God, destined for the kingdom.”

During the Sabbath morning celebration young people performed a drama highlighting pivotal moments in the early Adventist work in the region. Chinese Adventists trace the beginning of missionary outreach among Chinese people to Abram La Rue, who arrived in Hong Kong in 1888. La Rue, an American, was in his mid-sixties when he began his work. He was a shepherd and woodcutter with no formal training as a pastor—a fact that, along with his age, led the General Conference to reject his request to serve as a missionary to China. Undeterred, La Rue found his own way to Hong Kong where his work paved the way for J. N. Anderson, the church’s first official missionary to China, who arrived in 1902.

Gerald Christiansen, an 88-year-old former missionary to China, was among a small group of honored missionaries at a Sabbath afternoon program at Tai Po Sam Yuk Secondary School. Christiansen, who first traveled to China in 1939, called the growth of the church among Chinese people a “great accomplishment of the Lord.”

“You, the young generation, God is calling you today to take up the torch into the new century,” Christiansen told the hundreds of young people in the audience.

Pastor James Wu, president of the Chinese Union Mission, agreed that the centennial celebration was a time for looking to the future of the church’s work among Chinese communities around the world. “We hope through this centennial celebration our young people, our new generation of ministers, will catch the spirit of our pioneers who were so dedicated, so sacrificing,” he said. “We hope this spirit will be on fire in our new generation.”

The administrative headquarters of the church in Hong Kong is known as the Chinese Union Mission. Although it primarily oversees church operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, its mission is not confined to one geographical region, but extends to Chinese people wherever they live around the world.

There are some 13,000 Adventists in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, and the Adventist Church in these countries operates four hospitals and medical clinics, along with 12 kindergartens, schools, and colleges. The approximately 300,000 Adventist believers in the People’s Republic of China operate under the umbrella of the state-approved Three-Self Movement.