International Christian Assembly

International Christian Assembly (ICA) is a multicultural Pentecostal church in Hong Kong under the Asia Pacific Region of the Assemblies of God denomination. ICA is located on 483 King’s Road in North Point on the Hong Kong Island in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. ICA has also facilities in Chai Wan, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay. The Church’s Senior Pastor is Reverend Dr Edmound Teo, assisted by Executive Pastor Calvin Lee and Associate Pastor John Thompson, leads forty church staff and approximately 3,000 members (in the English congregation and six other language congregations).

ICA’s productions include the Anthem album of praise, Blossom, Harvest, Because of Love (Christmas evangelistic musical), two Chinese albums, and the soon to be released album Anthem 2. The ICA publications include: Renaissance Church: A Church Reborn by Rev Dr Edmound Teo and the quarterly Renaissance Spirit Magazine with contributions from ICA members and designed by its editorial team.

HISTORY International Christian Assembly was founded in 1973 by Reverend Otis Keener who was a missionary affiliated with the Assemblies of God Division of Foreign Missions in the USA. The leaders of the mission board gave him permission to move to Hong Kong and pioneer ICA which was the first of its kind. There are now many International Christian Assemblies in other major cities worldwide.

Since the church’s founding thirty four years ago, nine senior pastors and three interim pastors have served and led ICA to become what it is today. Associated pastors are appointed to minister in specific areas of the church. Many travelling guest speakers, local missionaries, temporary Hong Kong residents and church members have also 'built ICA up in the faith' through their teaching and preaching.

From its first meetings in the former Furama Hotel (now the AIG Tower) in Central, Hong Kong followed by those in a number of locations which included the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre, ICA is now permanently situated in North Point having purchased and converted an old theater building in 1996 which is adequate to house the 1,000-member congregation and meeting rooms. Apart from the Main Church building, ICA’s building facilities also include ministry centers in North Point, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Chai Wan.

ICA’s ministry has expanded to many language groups in Hong Kong and, apart from the English family worship congregation, services are held in Tagalog, Thai, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Indian (in English) and Cantonese. In fall 2009, ICA will start a Putonghua service, a School of Missions and a School of Music.

ICA also partners with the Ecclesia Bible College (an Assemblies of God seminary accredited by the Asia Pacific Theological Association) to offer quality theological courses to equip lay people for professional pastoral ministry. Currently, there are four extension Bible Schools which are in English (which offers up to MDiv), Indonesian (Dip Th), Sri Lankan (Cert) and Cantonese (MCM).

MINISTRIES ICA runs many different ministries in addition to weekend services and events. The main ministries of ICA include:

Children (Age 0-12) The Children’s Ministry serves children from birth to twelve year-olds. It is divided into five age groups for Sunday school:

KingsBabz (0-2) KingsTodz (2-3) Kiddiz (4-5) Kidiz (6-10) Connected to Christ (11-14) In early 2009, the Children’s Ministry organized the Storming the Gates conference which was attended by over 20 local churches in Hong Kong. The outreach Kingsquest event, a three-day journey to find Jesus, will be held during the upcoming Easter holidays after the four-day training workshops provided to equip those who serve in children’s ministry in the local churches in Hong Kong. Shining Starts (Special Needs) In fall 2008, the Special Needs ministry was launched to provide Sunday school to children with special needs.

Youth (Age 13 – 19) The River meets on Saturdays where youth can get together to develop their relationship with God and friends through fun and games, dynamic and engaging times of worship, preaching of the Word and cell group time. ICA aims to see the youths strengthened in the Lord, passionate about worshipping God and moved to make a difference in the world they live in. In summer 2008, the ICA Youth published the Anthem album and book called Nameless Faceless.

College Group (Age 18+) The College Group ministry was launched in January 2009 for college students attending the local universities, high school graduates currently taking a gap year and any college student in Hong Kong who is keen to grow closer to God in a small fellowship group with their peers.

Salt Ministry (Age 19-29) The Salt Ministry, under the Home Group Ministry, specifically reaches out to the generation of younger people in ICA and Hong Kong who are presently completing their tertiary education or just beginning their work in the marketplace. These twenty-something year-olds are committed to the call to make an impact in wherever God has placed them by being the Salt and Light of the world, earth agents who influence campuses and workplaces by setting Biblical moral standards, inspire others by living a fulfilling relationship with God and impact lives and situations through faith and prayer.

YAH Ministry (Working Singles Age 29 - 45) The YAH Ministry equips working singles to lead a Christ-centered life through studying God’s Word and fellowship with one another with similar backgrounds to take part in sharing God’s love in the joys and pains, challenges and pressures of the life journey.

Home Group The Home Groups are small ‘family’ gatherings where members meet regularly to build and encourage one another. Together they apply the Word of God and experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which result in love for one another and the unsaved. Home groups combine evangelism, care and leadership development into their ministry. Home groups are for Christians and non-Christians, young and old, single or married. There are home groups with special programs for children, too.

Home Groups exist to exalt and expand God’s kingdom in Hong Kong by edifying, equipping, empowering and encouraging all believers to evangelize their ‘oikos’ (everyone ministered to & everyone to minister). In Home Groups, the following is achieved: care for the Christians, evangelize the lost and leadership multiplication.

Adult Education ICA aims to teach and train every believer in the precepts of God in order that they may fulfill the purposes of God, walk in the presence of God and work with the people of God. The objectives of Adult Education are to develop within its people an understanding of, commitment to and ability to practice Christian teachings. Courses offered include: Foundation in Christian Doctrine, Foundation in Christian Living, Spiritual Parenting, Alpha, Study Through the Bible, Parenting Courses, Systematic Bible Study (SBS), Marriage Courses…etc.

Care & Share Ministry ICA is “the church that cares” and “shares.” The Care & Share Ministry takes the members of ICA beyond the four walls of the church to reach out to the poor and the needy in Hong Kong. Through organizing outreaches or activities to elderly homes, hospitals, [...] rehabilitation centers, prisons, handicap centers, orphanages…etc, it tries to meet physical needs as well as spiritual needs. In addition, the collection and redistribution of food, used clothing and toys are organized on a regular basis.

In response to the current financial tsunami, Operation: Joseph was launched in January 2009 where the entire ICA congregation was challenged to give their money and time with an outreach event on 18 January 2009 which involved over 150 volunteers from the congregation who served in distribution of over 800 bags of food to the elderly and needy people in the nearby community and visits to the elderly homes.

Healing & Counseling Ministry The Healing and Counseling Ministry helps believers to receive healing and wholeness to the whole person – the body, soul and spirit, and in their relationships with people. Ministries include Care Counseling Center and Healing Rooms.

Worship Ministry The Creative Arts Ministry aspires to be a growing, supportive and effective ministry in ICA with a commitment to building and sustaining ministries in praise and worship, music team: worship band & singers, musical production, dance, script writing, audio and visual. Translation service is also provided in Cantonese and Putonghua during the English family worship. The ICAHK.TV, the first of its kind, is launched in March 2009 to enable live broadcast viewing of the family worship service from everywhere around the world.

Men’s Ministry The Men’s Ministry exists to build men in Christ-centered relationship, integrity and spiritual maturity and to release men into effective evangelism through the weekly Men’s Breakfast Fellowship, Prayer House and bi-monthly Dinner Fellowship.

Missions & Outreach ICA is committed to the Great Commission as presented in Matthew 28:19-20. Since 1993, the church has made trips to countries around Asia to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

ICA financially supports many Christians working to spread faith in God, as well as some organizations like those working in Christian media. There was one ICA family who lived in Mongolia for two years to witness to the living God there. Each year there are several “mission Sundays” where a project is explained and the congregation invited to contribute financially.

ICA adopts a holistic mission involvement which includes the following emphasis:

Ministry to the Lost Ministry to the Church in Need Ministry to the Persecuted Church Ministry to the Bible Schools Ministry to the Poor Ministry to the Jews

Newcomers & Follow-Up Ministry The Newcomers Follow-Up (NCFU) Ministry is about reaching out to visitors of ICA. It warmly welcomes and acknowledges each newcomer during the service and extends the invitation to join and be a part of ICA’s homegroup fellowship that meets weekly in various locations.

The NCFU team comprises (team members and) NCFU coordinators, who make welcoming and following up on newcomers a priority. They make personal contact with newcomers at the newcomer's room after the service and assist newcomers in getting to know more about ICA. This is to ensure that each newcomer is able to settle down quickly in ICA and be a part of the church family.

This ministry holds monthly breakfast and bi-weekly lunch with newcomers to share the mission and vision of the church. We also encourage the newcomers to attend our home group meetings where they will have the opportunity to be ministered to and to minister through God's Word in a small group setting. Home group fellowship also serves, as an avenue to know other church members and the various ministries of ICA they would want to be a part of.

Prayer Ministry Prayer together with others is faith stirring. The weekly ALL Church Prayer Meeting and Acts 29 Prayer Meeting are where believers can specially draw aside with others to worship God and call on Him for the needs of the church and the world. As believers walk in God’s purpose and will for ICA, a new chapter of Acts will be written.

After each Sunday service there are people ready to pray at the front (the “altar”) for those who want to respond to the message or who have special needs for themselves or someone else.

Hospitality Ministry As an expression of thanks to God, the Usher & Hospitality Ministry provides preparation and assistance for the worship service. As members are often the first point of contact with the congregation, service with a smile is paramount. Members of congregation are welcomed at the entrance with the distribution of church bulletin and flyers to them and people with disabilities are helped to their seats. During the service, distribution of newcomers’ packages, the taking of offering and attendance to any disturbances are handled by members of the Hospitality Ministry which include the monthly preparation of the Holy Communion. After service, the hospitality desk is manned to help with any congregational need.

Women’s Ministry Women's Ministry is the coming together of women in unity of spirit to fellowship and pursue the cause of Jesus Christ. Women are placed in a pivotal part of their homes, workplace and the marketplace. Through the years, ICA Women's Ministry has been bearing much fruit including 12 Powerhouses which provide women with opportunities to minister and serve, and more importantly, to gather and pray regularly for different needs and purposes.

The Ladies' Oasis Of Love International Nite—a dinner function organized to reach out to the marketplace women as well as women who are strategically positioned in the society. Since its inauguration in January 2005, the response was so overwhelming, there was a clamor for it to be held on a monthly basis. This brought about collaboration among the powerhouses as more prayer warriors were needed on and behind the scene. To date, 11 International Nites have been organized, through the concerted efforts of all the Powerhouse leaders and members who have always been on-call to gather and labor in prayer for GOD's purposes to be fulfilled in every organized event in the Ministry. And indeed, the LORD has been faithful in blessing the Women's Ministry, strengthening the unity among the women of ICA in spirit and purpose.