The Wing Kwong College in Hong Kong marked a milestone event recently with a Jubilee Celebration: the 50th anniversary of the opening of the school in 1973. The whole event was anchored by the phrase “Shine with Grace. Stride in Glory,” and they most certainly did. Utilizing talented singers, handbell choir members, rhythmic dancers, speakers, and filmmakers, the Jubilee Celebration was a beautiful expression of the attitude of excellence and thankfulness the students, teachers, and administrators of the Wing Kwong College exemplify daily.
Presiding Bishop A.D. Beacham, Jr. with pastors and administrators of the Wing Kwong College at the Jubilee Celebration
Presiding Bishop A.D. Beacham, Jr. was honored to address the congregation at the celebration, saying in part: “Education is about the convergence of three things: knowledge, people, wisdom. Knowledge is information, the content of the classes taken. Knowledge without wisdom ends up being lost information, or worse, information that is used inappropriately. You need the teachers, the administrators, the people who shape the values of the students. That’s why it is a part of the DNA of this school that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.”
Presiding Bishop A.D. Beacham, Jr. with Administrators and Congregants at the Wing Kwong College Jubilee Celebration Thanksgiving Service
The Wing Kwong College is not a “college” as we define it in the United States of America. In Hong Kong, the “college” is equivalent to our high school, except that the students attend for six years instead of four. The Wing Kwong College has a history of academic excellence, as well as an emphasis on the arts and sporting events.
Before the Wing Kwong College came to be, Rev. H. Princeton Cates traveled to Hong Kong from the United States on a cruise ship in 1964. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, he dreamed of a multi-story building engraved with the words “Behold What God Hath Wrought” in gold. This dream was the beginning of the Wing Kwong College. Dr. Joe E. Campbell took up this dream as well, and as he preached in the U.S.A., to churches in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and the surrounding areas, people started sewing financial seeds into the building of the school. Bishop Beacham shared: “Dr. Campbell was an educated man. Probably the first PH minister that I know of to receive an earned doctorate… He and others were committed to what God could do through education to impact not only Hong Kong but the world.”
By 1973, the school was in session, and the actual building was, and still is, said to be one of the most beautiful in the area, as well as one of the largest.
Wing Kwong College
The IPHC has a long, impressive history of missionaries to this exciting region. The IPHC missionaries who served the Wing Kwong college: Mr. John and Norma Jean Burnette from 1973-1974, Sherrill and Velvalee Orvin from 1973-1978, Miss Eleanor Deane Cates from 1974-1975, Miss Dora McNeill from 1975-1978, Miss Carolyn Foster from 1973-2000, and Mr. Garner Dillard from 1994-1999. Other missionaries who served in this region are as follows: Lucy Jones, Homer Owings, Miss E. May Law, Miss Pittman, Miss Fritsch, Miss Milligan, Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Hager, Anna M. Deane, Mr. and Mrs. R.J. Sample, Bishop J.H. King, Anna Deane Cole, Jane Schermerhorn, W.H. and Orine Turner, Mr. and Mrs. T.H. Rousseau, Laura Mae Hylton, A.L. Jackson, Julia Payne, Rev. and Mrs. G.C. Legge, Miss Ethel Strickland, Mavis L. Oakley, Rev. and Mrs. C.H. Herndon, Evelyn and Sybil Rousseau, Leona Causey, Harry Glass, Lou Ann Lewis, Kenneth Locke, Fannie Lowe, Rev. and Mrs. M.T. Maxwell, Harold Maxwell, Holmes Turner, Leta Dantzler, Mr. and Mrs. C.N. Bostic, O.N. Todd, John Parker, and Ray Brewster.
Rev. Donavan Ng, Permanent Honorary Supervisor, shared this about his involvement with the Wing Kwong College: “I am genuinely committed to education. However, if we fail to establish a culture that everyone within the church agrees with, one that the youth can follow and emulate, it is meaningless.”
Bishop Beacham encouraged the students, administrators, and congregants in attendance: “The light that you have been singing about is shining all over the globe at this very hour. You have brought great honor to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
To see the video of the Jubilee Celebration, please visit:
https://www.youtube.com/live/y7PTIRMoQWU?si=KtCKG9d6pCdlvOW-
Minute Marker 8:51 – The Wing Kwong College Handbell Choir
Minute Marker 15:23 – Informative Video on Wing Kwong College
Minute Marker 43:08 – Presiding Bishop A.D. Beacham’s Address
