"At this stage, you may not be able to sense any difference"

"At this stage, you may not be able to sense any difference in the church you attend today, as the departure of the former HGI churches took place only a few months ago; however you will witness a huge difference in the future. And the future is so crucial for us because we journey
to one destination which is to be part of the Bride of Christ"



Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am writing this letter to you in response to several inquiries I have received from
Hope of God International (HGI) church members worldwide regarding the status of
the ex-HGI churches. Though the leaders of former HGI churches – now renamed as
Hope International Ministries (HIM), have clearly stated their separation from HGI
leadership via their website, they have probably not communicated much to you of
what has been going on. As they also will not have explained to you in detail about
the procedures that HIM leaders used in their decision to separate from HGI, I will
therefore take this opportunity to narrate some facts for your thorough understanding
and perusal.

From the beginning of Rubina’s serious allegations and consequent scandal that broke
in late October 2008, a series of interactions took place between Pastor Simon and
myself. Later on, following disagreement over how to deal with controversial issues at
that time, meetings were held in late December, 2008, between Pastor Simon, the
Advisor and other leaders in Bangkok. After this Bangkok meeting, when issues
remained in disagreement, the Advisor asked Pastor Simon and the RMCs to meet and
discuss the unresolved issues, which led to another meeting that was scheduled for
early January, 2009 between the RMCs, the Advisor, myself and other leaders in
Bangkok.

However, instead of following the biblical approach to disagreement resolution, as
reiterated by the Advisor, in accord with Acts 15, in which the Bible and its principles
are upheld as the referee and if no agreement can be reached, there are further talks
until the leading of the Lord is clear and a consensus reached, the RMCs chose to act
otherwise. The ex HGI leaders sent a letter to the Advisor on the 24th December 2008
indicating their unilateral decision on the disputed matters. This letter came in spite of
the fact that the Advisor had invited both Pastor Simon and the RMCs to come and
discuss the unresolved matters in person in January. Anyway, regardless of their
decision, the Advisor still invited them for a meeting in mid January.

When this discussion took place on the unresolved issues, they insisted on upholding
their own previously agreed to, so called, “HGI Constitution,” or code of ethics as
their ground rules. These discussions thus rested on different platforms, resulting in
no unanimity. Even so, the Advisor asked them to come back for further discussion so
that everyone concerned could contemplate more on what a biblically-principled
solution should be, so that we could remain in unity and peace and proceed on.

The ex HGI leaders did not propose any further talks, but chose to write letters to each
of the leaders in Bangkok. They wrote a letter to myself, removing me from my
responsibility as the President of HGI. A similar letter was sent to Pastor Somthob,
suspending his responsibility until the arbitrarily set up investigation committee
finished its investigation of scandals on financial matters. A letter was written to the
Advisor, indicating their arbitrary removal from his apostolic leadership. They did not
agree with the Advisor’s biblical standpoint on various matters. Even though they
could not find any biblically-principled fault in him, they used excuses to disqualify
the Advisor as their spiritual covering. Their decision was made in spite of a reminder
message from the Advisor that a spiritual bond can be compared to that of a natural
family in relationship. Though children may want to deny their natural parents, reality
speaks otherwise. The relationship cannot be cancelled as they wish. Their parents are
still their parents regardless of the parents’ presence or absence from the children.

All HGI leaders are well aware that Hope of God Movement came into existence due
to the call of God on the ministry of the apostle. Hope of God movement therefore
believes in the spiritual covering of the apostle, and that as long as he still avails
himself to the movement, we should be willing to remain under his covering, and
meanwhile be willing to submit to him. The ex HGI RMCs refuse to do so, however,
and have arbitrarily declared their autonomy from the Advisor’s spiritual covering.

It has been a disheartening experience for me to see what has happened to the
building up of our former HGI churches, into which the Advisor and outstanding
leaders at Hope of Bangkok have poured their lives. It cannot be denied that Hope of
God movement came into existence from a vision given to a person who was obedient
to His call and served the Lord with His anointing as an apostle. The unilateral
decision by the RMCs has caused disunity in Hope family. As God promises his
blessings through unity, I think the ex HGI leaders have done a disservice to their
members because they have eroded some essential principles of the Kingdom of God,
which are submission to authority and unity.

As you may have seen on the website of Hope International Ministries (HIM), the ex
HGI RMCs and Ps Simon have started a new movement that has nothing to do with
HGI. They have appointed leaders themselves with neither the consent nor blessing of
their spiritual covering. This situation, alone, would be similar to that of a care leader
resigning from the covering of his/her unit leader owing to a disagreement with the
unit leader, and then re-appointing himself/herself to be the new unit leader, or else
choosing another care leader to that position before setting up their own new
fellowship. But, wouldn’t such actions possibly amount to “rebellion?” Just imagine if
HGI’s ex-leaders some time afterward let their care leaders do likewise. Then as
leaders in oversight, they would be unable to implement biblical spiritual authority
with a good conscience and their teachings on divine authority would furthermore be
futile.

I want to stress my standpoint in serving the Lord, which is that I firmly believe in the
principle of spiritual authority, the delegation of spiritual authority, divine
appointment and spiritual covering. I joined Hope movement due to the teaching and
the leading of apostolic ministry. I think that being submissive to apostolic ministry is
essential in order to receive anointing and blessing from the Lord, and I have pledged
myself to do so.

I want to remind you of the fact that when two lines depart from the same point, the
gap between those two lines may not be noticeable at the beginning, but the further
the lines go, the gap between them becomes wider and wider. At this stage, you may
not be able to sense any difference in the church you attend today, as the departure of
the former HGI churches took place only a few months ago; however you will witness
a huge difference in the future. And the future is so crucial for us because we journey
to one destination which is to be part of the Bride of Christ, which is a church that
grows unto the maturity of Christ, abiding by all the precepts of the Lord. Since HGI
and HIM disagree on theological matters and practices, if there is no turnaround in the
position of HIM, we cannot pretentiously say that our churches are the same and that
our destiny will merge eventually.


I have grave concerns for your spiritual lives because I truly believe that the Church
of Jesus Christ needs to strictly uphold the principle of divine order and authority
because without this core principle and its practices, the Church will be no different to
other institutions in this fallen world and our effort to build His Kingdom will be in
vain.

Even though I am sad to accept their decision, I will not be disheartened. I want you
to be clear that if you want to join the church that belongs to Hope of God family,
under the spiritual covering of the founder, you need to come out to join the HGI
churches that I and HGI believers all over the world will start in the near future. I
therefore remain the leader of HGI, which includes Hope of Bangkok Church and
Hope churches in 70 provinces (out of 76 provinces) in Thailand and a few churches
outside of Thailand. We will not be discouraged by the adversity of the past, but will
continue on to serve the Lord with the mission to “Build strong biblical people, to
build strong biblical churches in Bangkok, Thailand and the rest of the world.”

I am not perfect and I am fully aware that I need the amazing grace of God to help me
to be a better person in Christ. However, I will not be bogged down by the devil with
discouragement and sorrow for the past but will continue on afresh in Him. My
aspiration to be transformed into the likeness of Christ never ceases. My pledge to
teach the Word of God, to live up to it and to serve Him grows even more in spite of
the disastrous events that we have encountered. I therefore want to reassure you of my
commitment to God and to you all to carry on the responsibility God has called me to,
to lead the churches in Hope family unto the maturity of Christ.

If anyone of you want to discuss or enquire about further insights, please feel free to
contact me by email at hgio@wehopefamily.net. If you want me to come to see you in
person, please also let me know. I will try to plan my overseas itinerary to visit you
whenever I can. You are also welcome to meet with me when you plan to visit
Thailand.


Your brother in Christ,



PN