This year I had the privilege of taking part in interviews and documentation for EFCCA’s 30th anniversary. At first, the aim was simply to preserve memories of these thirty years. Yet after several interviews, listening to elders, pastors, co-workers, brothers and sisters recall the past, many of their words also settled deeply in my heart.

Thirty years have left different stories in every life: the hardships of the early days, storms along the way, and personal weakness and turning points. Some memories still bring tears. Looking back across the years, we can now see God at work in things we did not understand at the time. As I listened, I realised I was recording not only the history of a church, but also marks of grace left by individual lives.

EFCCA was first built up gradually by several senior believers who are now in their seventies and eighties: Elder Stephen Yeh and his wife Xiubi, Minister Susan Lin and Elder Stan Lin, Minister Nancy Yeh and Brother Liu Qingxiang. Later, a younger group of co-workers and families—including Elder Jim Chen, Sister Ruonan, Elder Fujuan, Brother Qingxiang, Elder Zheng Chun and Elder Ren Qinmiao—continued the ministry. In the third decade, older and newer co-workers carried the work together, and EFCCA has reached today through one stage after another of “walking together.”

When the pioneers spoke about those early years, what moved me most was how ordinary it all sounded. Many things that were actually very difficult are now summed up simply as, “We did it together.” When there were difficulties, they prayed together; when there were needs, someone stepped in. It was genuine unity and a shared commitment to what had been entrusted to them.

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” — 1 Corinthians 4:2

Placed within thirty years, the word “faithful” carries a different weight. Faithfulness is not always found in dramatic moments; more often it appears in ordinary days that few people notice. Thirty years have been built one ordinary day at a time.

Among the interviews, the story of Sister Sini and her son especially stayed with me.

Sini came to EFCCA in her twenties, when the church was celebrating its fifth anniversary. She said what moved her most was seeing several young families: husbands and wives loving each other, raising their children together and serving together. She thought, “This is the kind of happiness I long for.”

Those young families probably never imagined they were becoming examples to anyone. They simply lived faithfully, loved one another and served. Yet those ordinary days were seen by a young woman and drew her closer to faith.

Later, Sini was baptised at EFCCA and started a family. Her son and daughter grew up in the church from infancy and through Sunday school. More than twenty years later, her son is studying at university in Christchurch, involved in a campus fellowship, and last year joined a short-term mission trip to Taiwan. During the interview he shared that he had seriously wondered whether one day he might respond to God’s call to become a pastor. Even his mother heard this for the first time that day.

At EFCCA’s fifth anniversary, a young woman saw faith through the lives of others; at the thirtieth anniversary, her child has begun to ask how he will respond to God.

“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” — Psalm 145:4

“This generation” and “that generation” once seemed distant words. Now they are vividly before our eyes.

My main ministry at EFCCA is teaching the middle group in children’s Sunday school, and I greatly enjoy learning with the children. Many are now third-generation members of EFCCA. Joshua, Elder Ren Qinmiao’s grandson, is one of them. He can be lively, but he knows the Bible well and often has his own insights. Sometimes I simply invite him to explain a passage to the other children. In those moments I am deeply moved.

Twenty years ago his grandparents served here; today he sits in a Sunday school classroom and speaks naturally about God’s Word. “Uniting Generations” is no longer only a 30th-anniversary theme. Without realising it, I too have stepped into this journey of walking together.

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” — 1 Corinthians 3:6

Looking back over EFCCA’s thirty years, this verse feels especially true. What we can do is plant and water, and faithfully live out what we believe in everyday life. When a person truly encounters God is ultimately not in human hands.

I have been at EFCCA for only four years. Through these interviews I have been able to look back on years I did not personally experience; through serving in Sunday school, I also stand in the present and watch a new generation gradually grow in faith.

Thirty years are enough for black hair to turn grey and for children to become young adults. They are also enough for a seed sown long ago to quietly take root in another life. In an unsettled world, it is a great grace from God that New Zealand has this small patch of soil where generation after generation can grow through God’s Word, prayer and the love of brothers and sisters.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8

Over thirty years, some opened the way and others continued it; some planted and others watered. We do not know when or in whose life a seed will sprout. Only God makes it grow.

May all thanksgiving and all glory belong to Him.

Yolanda Zhang

22 August 2026