The 2007 Snelly Epistle

Put your seatbelts on and be prepared for a whistle stop tour through
what has been a lively and adventurous year.

2007 started off at the Vine centre dancing to DJ Andy Hunter and
strains of 'To Love, To Life' Paul, Sam and Olly were in England, but
Matt and Meg enjoyed their first Christmas and New Year as Mr and Mrs
here in Hong Kong with us.

We did not have to wait long for our first holiday. Our Sydney 
friends,  Brendan and Amy Fallon had asked us a question: 'Do you know
anybody who would like to use our flat while we are on holiday?' Given
the flat is in Kirribili and overlooks Sydney Harbour, it took us a 
nano-second to suggest suitable flat-sitters and we spend two
wonderful weeks there, including Chinese New Year.

Some firsts included an opera at Sydney Opera House and Sandra's
first-ever professional cricket match at SCG, in which England 
actually beat the Aussies! Brendan and Amy, having spent the first
night of their holiday in our home in HK came back and we were able to
spend the last two nights together, including a wonderful fireworks
display for the QE2 and Queen Mary's arrival in Sydney. 

Closer to home was a weekend with the Vine Band is Shanghai and
Beijing in March. Our Shanghai event was pulled by the Govt. at the
11th hour, but a hastily arranged evening in a private housing estate
attracted almost 300 people. 

At this time Paul took the significant step of starting his own
company, Tarascon Capital, with a partner. For a moment, it appeared
that Paul, Sam and Olly might need to move to Singapore, but the
licensing eventually came through and they were off, but in Hong Kong! 
The company has made a great start, although Paul is still likely to
be working without a salary for a while yet.

Our only visit to London this year was fleeting. John became Chairman
of Alpha HK and we both attended the International week in HTB, 
Knightsbridge. It allowed very little free time, as we had to rush
back to HK to conduct a wedding, but Sandra was able to spend a couple
of precious days with her father, Eric. and we did catch up with
John's sisters. The next International Week is 2009, but we do hope 
for the opportunity to spend a little more time in the UK in 2008.

Shortly after we got back, we took a small enthusiastic team to the
Philippines for a crusade in Bohol. It was an amazing time and every
life was radically changed

We sneaked a few days in Macau over a Public Holiday week. Although
Macau is less than an hour away from HK by ferry, we had not visited
for over 3 years and were amazed to see the significant changes there. 

But the end of June for us is always Hillsong Conference and we duly
made our annual trip. It was the best yet and we came back refreshed
and inspired, helped by a week of R&R including some cold and wet days 
in Post Stephens.

Ironically, during the summer holiday season here , we went nowhere
and spent the time preparing for the Vine in the 2007/2008 year. This
resulted in the Vine vision update, which you can see online 
(www.thevine.org.hk) and a real sense that God was leading us in the
areas of grace, mercy and justice. The church has experienced 
significant growth and especially in the area of our asylum seeker
ministry. To accommodate the growth a fourth Sunday service was added
and Sandra also began a ladies' service every other week, on Friday
mornings.

Our wonderful church family, the Vine Christian Fellowship,  has been
a real encouragement to us both, as we have faced the challenges of
accelerating growth. Matt and Meg have done a great job with the youth 
group, Flight 852 - and it is great to have them working alongside us
as part of our staff of 17 and leadership team.

There was still a surprise  in store for us. Oasis Hongkong began
flying to Vancouver this year, and we were offered seats as part of a 
blessing to HK pastors. We did not need to think about it and
contacted our old friends Steve and Karen Mitchinson and ended up
staying in their wonderful home in Abbotsford for a week. A highlight
was catching up with our goddaughter Verity in Langley. Vancouver was 
cold and damp, but we had a good break.

We were of course back in Hong Kong for Oliver's 2nd birthday. It has
been wonderful to see him grow and watch Paul & Sam become such good
parents.

But October is everybody's birthday in our family (well almost!) and 
so the whole family went together to Bali in Indonesia for a family
celebration for Olly, Paul, Matt and Sandra's birthdays. It was a
wonderful time and a habit we would like to encourage.

John finally completed his master's programme from Christian 
Leadership University and was formally licensed as an ordained
minister during the year. He has started writing a book that he plans
to complete in 2008.

We have both (esp. John) wasted too much time on Facebook! If you are 
not on board yet, go to www.facebook.com  and waste some time too!
Seriously, we have renewed some neat relationships- it is a great way 
of keeping connected. BTW, Our family email is snelly316@gmail.com.

Our major event for December 2007 has been, without doubt, 
recording our second Live CD.

Called 'Ashes to Beauty' the proceeds will benefit orphans in China.
Care for Children (www.careforchildren.com.cn)  have a vision to place
1 million orphans into local families. If you are looking for
something to support this Christmas, I can think of nothing more
worthwhile. Over 20,000 pounds was raised at our live recording.

Christmas and New Year will be at home in Hong Kong, but 2008 - the 
year the Olympics comes to our nation, promises to be another
knuckleduster

We trust we have not left you dizzy, but at least we have now caught
up. Have a blessed Christmas!

JOHN & SANDRA SNELGROVE & family