May 2015
Dear brothers and sisters, 2014 was a fruitful and challenging year for Presence and for me personally. Presence experienced God’s faithfulness, guidance and grace; His growth of our ministry in both quality and quantity; and expansion into areas outside of LA. On the other hand, as Presence grows in all these areas, we also feel challenged and pressured by a lack of funding.
Expanding the horizon
In order to better serve Northern California, Presence has extended its ministries into the Bay Area. This year, we plan to hold workshops in churches about parenting, self-growth, marriage, seasons of life for men and women, and mental health. Our “Presence Possibilities” ministry will also be offering professional assessments and consultations about learning styles for elementary school students and about careers and majors for those entering college or seeking a change in their career paths.
Last November, Presence-Hong Kong began its ministries in China. I traveled to China and held “Presence Self-Growth” workshops for about thirty pastors. I was able to speak at several workshops about parenting and cultural differences between generations. While I was in Hong Kong, I spoke at workshops about dating, marriage, depression and personality disorders, and I had a chance to minister to a group of Master’s degree students from China. These workshops were very well received by the attendees. During this trip, I realized that the culture and values of youth in China have changed dramatically in recent years, similar to what is happening in the United States. This presents additional challenges for us at Presence, as it is our mission to minister to and mold the next generation. Therefore, in the next two years, in order to cultivate “A Generation for the Cultural Mission,” Presence will undertake the task of researching and developing materials and training about understanding the culture and values, parenting, and leadership development of the younger generation. Our goal is to provide help and support to parents and churches in order to build up the next generation for His Kingdom.
However, our work has been hindered due to the financial crunch at Presence. We are still short of help in areas like audio-visual and graphic design, and many times we have to struggle to meet the payroll. As partners in this timely and meaningful mission, we sincerely ask you to pray for us and consider helping us financially on a regular basis.
Expanding our ministry team
Building a healthy team of coworkers to serve together has always been an important part of Presence. We place a lot of importance on our weekly prayer meeting when we pray, study God’s Word, and support each other. We continue to strive to be God-honoring as we serve with integrity, humility, respect for and appreciation of others.As Presence grows and expands its ministries, we have added coworkers and volunteers to our team in LA, Hong Kong, and the Bay Area. I am so thankful for this excellent and faithful team that God has put together for us. In addition, in order to accommodate our growing team and ministry in LA, God has recently provided us with an office that is over three thousand square feet in size. It is located at 17181 Gale Ave, Unit C, City of Industry, CA 91745 (near the Azusa exit of the 60 Freeway). This will also enable us to hold more activities and training, and ultimately serve more people.
Personal milestones
I praise God for seeing me through six years of graduate school. I finally received my PhD in Clinical Psychology in the fall of 2014. Moreover, November 26, 2014 was my silver anniversary with my husband, Benny. To celebrate, we returned to Northern Europe where we met and served together as short-term missionaries from Hong Kong 27 years ago, and we visited many old friends from the team. This was my first long vacation since I started serving at Presence, and my heart is filled with thanksgiving. I also want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your support of Presence and me throughout these years.
May God richly bless you and your family!
Yours sincerely,
Agnes Ip
Founder and President
Presence Quotient
BTh, PhD, LMF