Dreaming Big for God’s Glory

January 9, 2019 |Orchard Alliance

Back to All Articles
Share this Article
When four English-speaking Asian American families founded Community Christian Alliance Church (CCAC) in the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge, California 42 years ago, they believed that God was calling them to minister specifically to Asian immigrants.
divider

The church started out holding one service in English, but Pastor Erick Loh says it was not long before the members added a Mandarin service and a Cantonese service. To this day, CCAC retains its unique identity as a tri-congregational church, preaching and worshipping in three languages.

Around eight or nine years ago, the church began to raise funds for a new building. CCAC was experiencing significant growth. Even though the church was holding two English services every Sunday, people were still having to park in the street. Finally, in early 2018, CCAC had an opportunity to purchase a property that Pastor Loh describes as “really strategic for ministry.” Thanks to a loan from Orchard Alliance, the members were able to move forward with securing that building.

The new building is larger than the current property and can provide seating for 500, more than triple the capacity of CCAC’s old building. It also has enough parking space for all three congregations. The new building is only 15 minutes away from the present one, so moving will not uproot the current church members. And, the new property is closer to the freeway, giving members better access to unreached Chinese neighborhoods and thus opening a new mission field to the church body.

The multi-cultural nature of CCAC allows the members to minister to Asian immigrants in distinctive ways. Pastor Loh says, “One thing that everybody is looking for, in one degree or another, is community.” But this can be challenging to find. In families of Chinese heritage, it’s common for the parents primarily to speak the home language and some English, while the children mainly speak English and some of the home language. Because CCAC offers English, Mandarin, and Cantonese worship services, the church can serve both parents and children in the language with which they are most comfortable.

Not only does the church have a unique ministry to Asian immigrants, but the English-speaking congregation has also become more multiethnic over the years. Community Christian’s heart is truly to reach all people for Christ while serving those of an Asian heritage in a special way. Pastor Loh asks,

“Pray that we would see this new building as an opportunity for Christ to be glorified and that we would dream big for the sake of His glory.”

Related Articles