The Alpha Course Hong Kong will hold a thanksgiving celebration that will focus on inviting churches to participate in holding Alpha courses.

At the Regal Airport Hotel in Hong Kong, a thousand participants from 100 churches will convene on Jan. 2, 2006 for a dinner that will not only celebrate the accomplishments of 2005, but focus on 2006.

For the new year, Alpha Hong Kong plans to raise funds and support for Alpha Invitations, a promotional campaign with the three-fold purpose - to raise public awareness of Alpha courses, to support churches in attracting participants to take Alpha courses, and to strengthen Alpha courses through training.

In 2005, the Invitation "successfully" brought close to 10,000 people to an introductory meal that resulted in the start of 118 autumn courses, Hannah Miller, the national director of Alpha Course Hong Kong said in a letter.

She added, "This cannot happen without your participation, prayer and the grace of our loving Father."

Therefore after consulting with the Chinese and English Alpha advisors, they felt compelled to hold the thanksgiving celebration to gather support from church pastors, administrators, small group leaders and volunteers, whom they have asked to give testimonies on the celebration night.

The keynote speaker is Rev. Raymond Lee, senior pastor of Faith Community Church, a Hong Kong Alpha advisor, and Chairman of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines.

The vision of Alpha in Hong Kong is to see the evangelization of the city and the "transformation of society." Their goals is to give every person in Hong - regardless of age, background, or status - an opportunity to attend an Alpha course.

Ways in which they believe they can achieve this vision is by increasing the possible locations around Hong Kong where participants can take an Alpha course, to marketing in the secular media, and surrounding the city with Alpha logos and signs asking people to "explore the meaning of life" on billboards, buses, trams, roadside railings, and churches.

The Alpha Course is a 15-session exploration into the Christian faith that tackles key questions at the heart of Christianity in a "non-threatening manner." It is designed for those who want more information on Christianity, for new Christians, for non-Christians, and for those who want to brush up on their faith.

There are over 30,174 courses running worldwide. To find a course visit alphacourse.org