Mission and Vision

Mission and Vision
Do not let your mission confine or hinder your vision;
Rather,
Let your vision open up, define and refine your mission.

Mission
Jesus says, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."  [Mark 10:45(NRSV)]
The apostle Paul says, “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.  And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.”  [2 Corinthians 5:14-15(NRSV)]
The mission of Jesus Christ was to save souls by giving Himself up on the cross.  The apostle Paul’s mission was to live for Christ.  What is your mission?

Vision
The apostle Paul says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  [Romans 6:23(NRSV)]
Mission comes from vision.  Jesus saw the need of this world of sinners to be forgiven and be reconciled to God, thus He took up the redemptive mission.  The apostle Paul saw the greatness of God’s love and the effectiveness of God’s salvation so he willingly decided to serve God all through his life and to preach the good news of salvation to the Gentile world.  What is your vision?

Mission & Vision of SPCC
When our mother school was founded in 1915, it was a girls’ school, named as St. Paul’s Girls’ College.  It was not common or popular for girls to receive higher education in those days.  Our forefathers saw the need of girls to be educated just as that of boys, and this became their vision.  In response to God’s love and their vision, they took up the mission of running a girls’ school, aiming to educate girls in the Christian spirit of love, faith and hope.
After WWII, in 1945, St. Paul’s Boys’ College moved in briefly and the school became co-educational ---- the first co-educational college in Hong Kong.  Both boys and girls were accepted to the school.  In 1950, when St. Paul’s Boys’ moved to Bonham Road, the school was renamed as St. Paul’s Co-educational College, now aiming to provide education for both boys and girls, in just the same Christian spirit of love, faith and hope.
It is obvious to us now that if the school authority in 1950 had stuck to their original mission, which aimed to teach girls only, then St. Paul’s Co-educational College would never have existed.  Their original mission was not wrong.  In fact it was one of the noblest missions in those days.  Yet they saw the benefits to the students if they would modify their original mission, and they were willing to let their vision refine their mission.  It was such vision-guided spirit which had made our mother school a pioneer in many things, including being the first school in Hong Kong to require students to wear school uniform.  Salute to you, dear Mother School.

Dear Alumni
Life without mission is empty; yet mission without continuous vision is lost.
So, do not let your mission confine or hinder your vision; rather, let your vision open up, define and refine your mission.
Too many people would allow their position in society, which undoubtedly comes with a mission of some kind, to decide their way of seeing things.  When they see injustice, unrighteousness, poverty…, they have a special sense of mission to “see” these things differently from others.  They would let their seat or office take control of their mindset, in my words, mission over vision.  This is very sad indeed.
I was extremely glad to hear that the SPCC 1973 Alumni Association, to which I proudly belong, had started a Hope School Project in our mother country, China.  Alumni saw the needs of children in Mother Country and they let their vision open up a mission for themselves.  To run a school is never an easy task.  To run a school in China…?  To run a Christian school in China…?  Salute to you, SPCC 1973 AA.

Final Words
The words “mission” and “vision” have spiritual meanings in the Christian context.
The apostle Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  [Romans 1:16(NRSV)]
The Bible records, “During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."  When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.  [Acts 16:9-10(NRSV)]
For any Christian, or any Christian school, the ultimate mission in this life and existence is to proclaim the good news of salvation to all people.  This is the noblest of all missions ---- to save the eternal souls of people!  The apostle Paul even sacrificed his own earthly life in order to accomplish this mission.  He was certainly one of the greatest missionaries in the first century.  Now many churches, schools and hospitals are named after Paul all over the world.  I feel privileged to call myself a St. Paul’s student.  Do you feel more or less the same?  Do you share Paul’s mission?
To all Christians, true vision comes from God.  Worldly visions are often misleading and produce fruitless missions, and those missions do not have lasting values.  Only true vision brings fruitful mission.  How do you view your current missions in life?  Do you have a vision from God?  Or do you let your earthly missions confine or hinder your vision, so that you no longer see the value of “faith, hope and love”?
May be some of you alumni do not consider yourself a Christian, even though you are quite comfortable with the title “St. Paul’s Student”.  Nevertheless the seed of Christianity is already deep in your heart.  Think of the old school days.  Can you count the number of times you honestly said “Amen” when you were led in prayers?  Or can you recall some of those hymns which touched your heart and refreshed your soul when you sang them during morning assemblies?  Come, let the seed grow.  Yes, it will soon light up your soul, light up your life.  One day the apostle Paul will feel privileged to call you his mission partner and former student!
Pui-keung Au.
(1973 Alumnus)