Beginning on July 1 and lasting through July 4, the Edmonton Chinese Christian Church (ECCC) is holding a joint summer camp for all of its 3 congregations: Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Already, 420 people have registered.

“The theme of this camp is ‘Overcome Cultural Challenges,” says the Rev. Johnny Wong, senior pastor of ECCC. He added that Canada is a country going through many cultural changes and it is important to address them to the church.

For example, yesterday, the bill to legalize gay marriages only needs to pass through the Senate before officially becoming a law and Rev. Wong said hopefully the word of God can teach Christians how to live on earth with heavenly values. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the camp will focus on culture as a whole and not just the issue of homosexuality.

When asked what he wish to acheive from this camp, Rev. Wong answered, “This is a big event. So first, I hope the members can receive a challenging message and learn about the theme: how we as Christians can live in this secular world.” He also shared how Chinese-Canadians are mostly immigrants from Hong Kong and Taiwan so families might face problems arising from generation gaps and cultural differences.

In total, there are four main talks for each Chinese and English congregation – both Mandarin and Cantonese will be used for the Chinese congregation. In addition, guest speakers include renown figures of the Canada church such as Dr. Thomas Leung and Dr. Dominic Tse from Vancouver and Toronto respectively. Rev. Wong, who has just returned from Sunset Baptist Church in Oklahoma, is the event advisor and he will preach both opening and closing messages.