By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
From August 8 to 13, I attended the 20th anniversary celebration of the Fountain of Love and Life in Toronto, Canada. The theme was “The Dream of Heaven” and the activities included a thanksgiving Mass, sharing sessions, a dinner, an open day at the evangelisation centre, and a three-day pilgrimage experience.
During the sharing session, a short video of late Father Gianni Giampietro of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, was played in which he said that if a dream is pursued by one person, it is merely a dream but if millions of people pursue the same dream, then it is not just a dream, but a reality.
What is heaven for me? It is “Emmanuel”—“God is with us,” meaning that the moment God is present with humanity is the manifestation of heaven. It is through the coming of Jesus Christ that heaven is realised. We, who believe in Jesus and follow him, clearly know that heaven is already present among us.
However, there are still many in this world who do not know Jesus, do not believe in him, and are unaware or have yet to experience the manifestation of heaven. Therefore, Jesus chooses us and calls us to follow him, to be with him always, and sends us to proclaim [Mark 3:13-14]. Evangelisation and bearing witness are concrete actions for us to realise the dream of heaven.
The call of God is indeed marvelous! Twenty years ago, a young couple was called to leave everything behind and start media evangelisation work in Toronto, leading to the establishment of the Fountain of Love and Life. We also thank God for calling different brothers and sisters to join the team in various capacities—full-time, part-time, or as volunteers.
Although they have faced many challenges and difficulties in their 20-year journey of evangelisation, God has been with them, allowing their evangelistic efforts to continually renew and grow. They were willing to “put out into deep water,” responding to God’s invitation without fear and becoming fishers of men [Luke 5:4-10].
Over the past 20 years, their endeavours have evolved from media evangelisation to community building, praise and worship, sharing testimonies, and conducting courses, all using a relational evangelisation model to provide opportunities for Chinese communities worldwide to engage with faith and come to know the Lord Jesus, realising this dream of heaven.
I was fortunate to participate in the 20th-anniversary celebration of the Fountain of Love and Life, and I was truly moved. There was so much gratitude, emotion, admiration, and surprise as I saw many collaborators and supporters coming from various places, including Hong Kong, Vancouver, the United States, Australia, etc. I was amazed that 150 people also joined the pilgrimage to Montreal, Quebec, in addition to participating in the thanksgiving Mass, sharing sessions, and dinner.
Furthermore, when I visited their evangelisation centre, I truly felt that God had worked miracles among them. They managed to purchase a two-story building of 25,000 square feet through fundraising, which has become their permanent location. Additionally, some young people joined their team after migrating to Canada, working together to realise the dream of heaven.
All of this is the blessing, arrangement, and miraculous work of God in their lives. In them, I see this image: “…they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs” [Mark 16:20].
