An online service was held to mourn the death of Rev. Fred Hsu, founder of the Harvest International Center (HIV) in North America, with 5,000 Chinese Christians worldwide in attendance.
A pastor from East China, who had attended the service which took place on November 11, said she was grateful for Hsu’s influential life, as this online event inspired Chinese believers to have the "heart of father". The life of Hus, who died on Nov 1 as one of the senior pastors of the Chinese Charismatic Movement, indicated Jesus' teaching of a kernel of wheat.
Before his death, Hsu highlighted that the church should return to being a home and for believers to be like family members once again. The female pastor stated that she was moved by his letter about the essence of the church released on October 24. He once wrote, ”I discover that the church is an ‘orphanage’, in which the pastor is the president and Christians are orphans, as the church only has ‘pastors’, not ‘parents’”. “The right thing to do in my life is to proclaim that I’m no longer a senior pastor,” he added. "As parents and not the CEOs of the church, lifelong workers, pastors can enjoy the growth and maturation of the 'children'”.
She shared, "Since I was called by God, I have read countless articles, but I was deeply moved and shocked only by Hsu’s letter home in the hospital. I looked forward to seeing his later words, but he passed away on November 1 due to the infection of COVID-19 when preaching in Sudan a month ago. Though we have never met, his last words brought the power of life, and we should imitate his heart of a father."
Rev. Fred Hsu and his wife Molica founded the Harvest International Center (HIC) in April 1998, 29 years after they went to the USA from Taiwan to study in 1969, one year after which they were baptized.
HIC has created a memorial website for Hsu, announcing his funeral ceremony on November 12 in New York and his memorial meeting held the next day in person and virtually.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
