On Sunday, The River of Life Christian Church celebrated its 10th anniversary of establishment. The ceremony proceeded after the “ling leung” conference that was held in the 3 previous days. A banner was raised next to right corner of the stage with the words “Abide in Love, Advance in Future.” The words attribute in honor of what God has allowed them to accomplish for the past ten years and also a mark of their dedication to extend His glory for the ten years thereafter.

The day before the anniversary, in an interview, Rev. Tong Liu, the senior pastor of River of Life Christian Church, characterized the ten years of accomplishment as the shear miracle of God. “Our church first gathered at Mission College, yet in ten years, we went from Mission College, to a school in Sunnyvale,” said Rev. Liu, “Now we have moved into this big place. Only half of it is used so far, another half is projected to open in the next few years. I would have never thought we would become this large.”

“Who would have imagined that we would be serving all around the world? We would have never thought that today we would be gathering in this new church. What God has given us, it is far beyond what we have asked for or have imagined.”

“[Rev. Loren Cunningham] came to our church once and said during his sermon, that our church name is River of Life, yet if you cannot live the lives that continuously flows, you should change your name to the Lake of Life,” said Rev. Liu. Since then, the church have established over 31 branches throughout United States and overseas, and the church itself holds 3 Sunday services and has 1,600 regular attendants each week.

“I believed that our church has to live up to its name. Like a river, it has to continuously flow out into the world. Our brothers and sisters held on to that belief for ten years and God has made the result amazing.”

Among those who were invited to speak at the anniversary were Rev. Shenzhu Chou 周神助, Senior pastor of Taipei Bread of Life Church and Dr. Dean Sherman, Dean of the College of Christian Ministries at Youth With A Mission's University of the Nations.

Taipei Bread of Life Christian Church, the largest church in Taiwan, is the parent church that the River of Life has sprouted from. Sharing the joy of the 10th anniversary, Rev. Chou commented, “In ten years of church planting and missions, I am able to witness God’s grace here today at this place. In Taipei, we started the mission by sharing visions for overseas missions, and 10 years ago we searched for a method to settle here. It was a comfort that we were able to settle without much trouble.”

Dr. Sherman and Rev. Chou both gave congratulatory remarks on stage. Dr. Sherman led the prayers for the representatives of the 31 branches of River of Life. Rev. Chou prayed for the church staff, represented by those who began their ministry at the beginning of the church.

At the start of the ceremony, Rev. Tong led the worship team on the stage to a passionate performance as he walked from on side to another while praising.

The anniversary was highlighted by the reading of Revelations 22, the scripture which mentions about the river of life; the inspiration of the church. Congratulatory remarks from the staff, fellow pastors, overseas and national branch churches, and leaders from YWAM, Partners International and more were shown on big screen video.

The ceremony ended with Rev. Tong cutting of the cake, and the church staff presenting flowers to Rev. Tong and thanking him for the 10 years that he has dedicated to build the church. Rev. Chou gave the final benediction.