A memorial service for Rev. Fred Hsu, founder of the Harvest International Center in North America, was held in New Jersey on November 13.
Pastor Tsung-Shi Fred Hsu (1945-2021), one of the senior pastors of the Chinese Charismatic Movement, died of COVID-19 on November 1 after doing a mission trip in Sudan. Promoting "Homecoming" gatherings in the world and claiming that pastors should have the “heart of father”, he was known by believers as “Papa Hsu”.
His colleagues, pastors, church members, and family reflected on the life of Rev. Hsu who was said to impact thousands of people.
Pastor Chris, who served with Hsu for seven years said, “He never cared about titles, but I think there is one title he may have cared about, it was to be the spiritual father.”
He stated that as spiritual fathers were in short supply in the church, he was a spiritual father in so many ways. One of the ways was by sharing his life. Many people came to his house for a coffee or a dinner, he let entire families stay at his house. He cared about the ultimate matter in the end.
A woman in her forties named Eunice met Pastor Hsu when she was still a college student at around the age of 20. She wore a red coat which was her birthday present, but some of her friends argued that was the color of the devil. However, Hsu replied, “I look at it as Jesus’ blood covering over all your sins.” Since then, every time she wore a red coat, that became her favorite color and reminded her of the pastor.
Growing in a Christian family who told her to love God, she knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. The idea of God really came alive for her when she came to Hsu’s church.
She added, “He had a different perspective and life. Like he put the Lord first and saw the Lord as everything. That is something I love and honor as a daughter in this house because my life was transformed through the ministry in Harvest and through Pastor Fred and (his wife) Monica.”
An Indian pastor said, “He is a real papa the world needs, the young people need, and the next generation needs. He is a model father… His whole life was walking with the young generation.”
Pastor Gideon Chiu who founded the Church of Zion in 1982 in the U.S., "chairs the Agape Renewal Fellowship of Chinese churches in Vancouver and travels internationally in close affiliation with Watchmen for the Nations" remembered Hsu, five years younger than him, as his spiritual father. God explained to him that unless he became a true son, he could not become a true father. Recalling his mission journey along with Hsu in Sudan, Chiu described Hsu as being sent there as a "seed" to reverse the curse.
Pastor David Demian, director of Watchmen for the Nations, a ministry that organizes global “Homecoming” Gatherings for church unity and its preparation for the Presence of God, said that Fred and Monica were in every trip they did in the world. Once David asked if there was anything he needed, but he confessed that he needed just one thing – “following the Lord in the way he wanted me”.
Quoting Matthew 13: 44, Demian shared, “He sold everything in his life to buy the field with the treasure and the treasure was to find the Lord in the family that God has created.”
His family, including his wife Monica Hsu, older sister, nephew Mingway Chang, secretary of the Overseer Council of Harvest International Center, and two sons all expressed farewell speeches to Hsu.
Mingway Chang, who was led by Hsu to the Lord 23 years ago, testified that his uncle always put insights into his writing and collected the sayings of others. He wrote the brochure “Letters from Home: Let Us Come Together for the Kingdom Experiment” in 2016 to share his heart for the church. Chang encouraged the participants to share the printed copies of the letter with more people as his writing, deemed as being from heaven, was never copyrighted. His diaries also presented his communication with God.
Hsu’ wife Monica, who was nicknamed “Mama Monica” in the church, shared that before his sudden death, her conversation with Fred was mostly about God’s kingdom. All these years they were exploring how this kingdom descended on the earth as it is in heaven. As a kingdom is constituted of a king and his people, there was a culture – a culture of “family” the couple received from God. Grateful for the company of other people facing his death, Monica, who was celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage this year, said that she felt relieved and comforted by the Lord. “I felt closer to Fred and God… Only God knows what he is doing,” she added.
After the speeches, a video clip covering his preaching ministry, church life, Homecoming gatherings, and family life was played.
At the end of the service, three pastors and Mama Monica prayed for those alive to inherit his legacy of making the church a family.
