The road to ordination was a long one for Rev Sum Chim Ho, whose varied work included teaching primary school in her native Hong Kong, studying languages in Japan and training in music therapy, theological studies, university work and parish ministry in Sydney.
“It so happened that God opened the door [to ordination] now, she says. “In 2021, when I graduated from college, I wanted to serve as a chaplain in elder care, but that door didn’t open. Yet I saw the door wide open to international student ministry with EUFOCUS [at the University of Sydney], which was something I had never thought of before. The ministry was so fruitful by God’s grace that I simply stopped considering ordination.”
While in college, Ms. Ho was a student pastor at Sylvania and stayed on as a part-time pastoral worker after graduation, developing strong relationships during COVID. Her rector here, the Reverend Mark Charleston, brought up the idea of ordination again, but she was hesitant. Maybe she wouldn’t be the kind of assistant priest the parish would want?
However, she recalls, when Mr. Charleston announced his new job to the congregation, “everyone was very excited and happy, and someone even came to me in tears! They were so happy that I could stay and have a significant position in the church…my minister and faithful members of the church family have been very supportive along with me on this journey.”
Miss Ho grew up in a Christian family in Hong Kong. They went to church every Sunday, but, she says, the church was one where members didn’t regularly open their Bibles during the week. She put the pieces together in her late teens after she and two other young people were chosen to lead a summer Bible camp in the US under Rev. John Peterson, an American missionary based in Hong Kong.
“We experienced worship, we read the word of God every day and we saw how God’s people love each other – you see how committed they are,” she recalls.
“John Peterson was the one who trained me… He was always very encouraging; he helped me understand more about Christianity and what it looks like for Jesus to be in our daily lives.”
Miss Ho then spent several years working in Hong Kong as a teacher before going to Japan to learn the language (in addition to her command of Cantonese, English and Mandarin). During this period when she had “more time with Jesus,” she had a growing conviction to give the rest of her life to him to use as he saw fit.
But what would that look like? People had talked about Bible college and ministry during her 18 months in Japan, but the previous desire to train in music therapy also returned. So in 2012 she traveled to Sydney to study music therapy for two years, attending a Chinese service at St John’s, Paramatta, where she eventually worked after university.
“I wasn’t planning to stay – but now I’m in year 12!” she says. “It wasn’t my plan at all, but it all makes sense now that we look back.”
Miss Ho now has training in many areas, experience working with people of all ages and a busy and varied ministry of home visiting, SRE, student work, music ministry, evangelism and – soon – easy English lessons.
So it’s no surprise that in addition to her parents (who flew in from Hong Kong to witness her ordination), Miss Ho had supporters and friends at the cathedral from Sylvania, Parramatta and the EU, among others.
“This is not just my ordination; they’re all a part of it and we’ve all worked together on this journey – it’s so encouraging,” she says. “I’ve had over 30 people come from Sylvania to support me, and a dozen of them are over 80! And when I went back to the church the next day, they had also prepared an ordination cake for me and since my parents were here too…my parents were in the picture to [help] cut the cake.
“I just want to keep doing God’s good work,” she adds. “Our God is the God of all nations. As I am a minister from a different culture, I want to encourage people how to be united in Jesus, in the word of God. Regardless [of] what culture you are from, what language you speak, we must share this love, share this gospel with other people.
