The New Life Fellowship Church, founded in 1984 by American missionaries and under the leadership of the United Pentecostal Church International , is hidden in Cheung Fat building, Kennedy Town. The church functions as a center of worship as well as a community for Filipinos, most of whom are domestic helpers from the Philippines. Every Sunday, Filipinos from different districts all over Hong Kong gather here to study the faith and worship the god.
Starting the Sunday with choir performance in Central as a routine, they go back to the church at around 12pm. Squeezing at the tiny dark staircase, the Filipinos share the homemade food together at the 30-minute lunchtime amidst chatting. Kids growing up in the church， do not attend the lunch gathering, as youth department is holding the birthday anniversary celebration inside the church office.
The service begins at 1:30pm regularly and the crowd return to the church at around 1:20pm. “The service is our very essential and prominent part of our lives in Hong Kong. The service teaches us how to escape from the sin and lust”, according to Joy, who is teaching the Bible in basic level class and also outreach to sing and distribute flyers in Central every Sunday morning. Here in the church, the attendees meet their friends and they pray, sing and confess along with tears and joy. And as pastor Nilo Ocho Plaza said, the church is not only a church, but a surrogate home in Hong Kong.
1. The church is separated into 5 parts so the teaching for different levels can be conducted at the same time. It can accommodate over 250 people in total. A part of them have lessons during the lunchtime and others wait quietly for the beginning of the formal service.
2. Sitting at the corner of the dank staircase platform, the Filipinos enjoy the homemade traditional Philippine food together. The discussion content covers their working circumstances over the past week, their family issue and together with appreciation towards god.
3. Dressing in yellow suit together, Unit 4 gathered to celebrate the birthday of sister Catalina. All the attendees from the church are divided into 10 unit according to there Bible learning level.
4. Ruth (right) holds the birthday celebration for the kids and it’s turn for Gina (left) and Kat (middle) to cut the cakes. The cakes are in traditional sweet flavor and they are homemade by the officer of the youth department.
5. Jloyd (right), Maureen (middle) and Samantha (left) are all born in Hong Kong. They shared the anecdotes that take place in school and laugh out when struggling to speak some Cantonese words. Born in Hong Kong and receiving an education here, the kids
6. The food served for the children’s birthday celebration has relatively higher quality. The broccoli and spring rolls are still homemade by other elderly sisters. Wrapping the plate in a plastic bag, the officers are able to collect and recycle the plates after simply throwing away the plastic bags.
7. The disciples laugh happily before the start of service. The teaching is conducted in both Filipino and the lesson ends right before the start of the service.
8. Most of the attendees are devout and concentrated when having a lesson. While the middle-aged lady in the center stares at other places and looks insouciance which makes her different.
9. But the lady prayed faithfully with her left hand touching the heart when the service starts officially.
10. The service formally begins and the disciples all raise their hands up to feel the god.
11. “Hallelujah! Jesus!”Sister Pauline, the woman in the pink suit, leads the prayer and the sisters all kneel down and burst into tears with emotions.
12. Sheena, a devout disciple, still pray and confess after other sisters all sit down to their seats after prayer.
13. A young lady wipes her tears with tissues gently after the praying and singing. The tissues are distributed to each row before the service. As Joy said, “The service requires the worship from the bottom of the heart. It’s easy to generate emotions when we great empathy with praying. “
14. Pauline stands in the front and upraises her hand in prayer along with all the disciples in the church. The church has few male disciples and they are all allocated in a specific area around the corner.
15. They sing a hymn at the end, waving their hands for rhythm and inspiration.
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