Fremont Chinese Branch Sabbath School formally became the Fremont Seventh-day Adventist Chinese Company on July 8. More than 200 friends and members participated in the celebration at the Mission Valley church.

“It’s a day I know you have long been looking forward to, and we rejoice with you that this day has finally occurred,” said James E. Pedersen, president of the Northern California Conference. “It is an absolute delight to serve as your conference president and to worship and work with people from so many different backgrounds, so many different ethnicities.”

Part of the celebration included a slideshow of past events. Congregation members were visibly moved as they watched pictures of adults singing their favorite hymns, children in the snow during spiritual retreats, young adults at a Fourth of July barbecue, after-school teachers teaching a ribbon dance for Chinese New Year, and many baptisms.

Also during the celebration, Way Chow was baptized by Nathaniel Yen, former president of Chinese Union Mission. When Chow rose from the water, the audience clapped to welcome him to the church family.

Since its inception in 1993, the group has had a unique ministry to reach Chinese in the Fremont vicinity. The Sabbath school group did not have a formal officer or Chinese minister until January 2005 when Samuel Hsiao assumed spiritual leadership of the group. Before 2005, Nathaniel Yen and Daniel Lee flew up monthly from Southern California to minister to the Chinese group.

Several youth expressed their positive experiences with the Fremont Chinese family. “First I went because my parents went. Later, I made my decision to keep going. And even if my parents didn’t come, I would still come,” said 16-year-old Gar-wei Lee, one this year’s vacation Bible school co-leaders.

The Fremont Chinese company is now looking to its bright future. According to Philip Law, one of the company’s lay leaders, “The next step is a concerted effort to reach out, spiritually develop our group, and continue to focus on the objective of uplifting Christ.”