“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Eph. 4:11-13

We are told in Ephesians 4 that Christ gave gifts to His followers in the form of servants for the equipping and building up of the Body of Christ. These gifts – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers – have various roles and functions and are instrumental in helping believers become mature in their faith.

Next week, Pastor Tim Wong will close out his tenure as the Cantonese pastor at our Redmond campus, where he has been since 2007. Prior to coming to ECC, Pastor Tim served for many years in a lay capacity in the churches he attended, including ECC-Tacoma. Sensing God's call into full-time ministry, Pastor Tim concluded his 25-year career as an engineer and enrolled in seminary. He was ordained at ECC in 2010.

Becoming a pastor means more than just giving up success in the secular world, and it means more than just preaching on Sunday mornings. Most of their work is behind the scenes, spending many hours laboring over God's word in order to deliver messages that nourish the congregation. In addition to attending meetings and visiting fellowship groups, much time is spent on counseling, comforting, and encouraging members, among other functions. Pastor Tim also took on the task of learning Mandarin so he could also minister to Mandarin speakers.

We appreciate that the Lord gifted ECC with Pastor Tim's faithful service all these years. We also are grateful for his wife, Linda, for her partnership with Pastor Tim in ministry and for his family for their support. We wish all of them all the best as he moves on to a new chapter in life and we trust the Lord will continue to bless many through them.