Our History
Lake East Christian Church officially held Sunday services in October 1993. Before its establishment, Elder Shen and nearly ten brothers and sisters prayed and sought together for nearly a year. Since 1989, many Chinese-speaking families came this area. Due to urban development, most of them gradually settled in the east side of Lake Washington. God has given us a vision and a mission. God loves the world and wants us to establish a Chinese-speaking church in the vast east side areas of Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, Bothell, Woodinville, and Issaquah. God has also given us a heart to care for the Chinese immigrants and a great mission to preach the gospel. We look forward to witnessing the Lord’s love through the fellowship of believers, Bible study, worship, and fellowship. In this corrupted era, we hope to be like a bright light shining brightly. We are convinced that God’s love can protect us, our children, relatives, friends and other Chinese immigrants, and we can walk on a bright and holy road of life. The church’s Sunday worship service was held in the morning, so we rented the school site. At the beginning, there were only about 30 people and a few children. Three years later, there were nearly 100 people.
In June 1996, we learned that the property where the current church is would be sold for $550,000. At that time, the church had only more than $2,000 in savings. After praying and seeking together in faith, the brothers and sisters donated nearly $170,000 together; this was a seal of faith! With additional money borrowed from brothers and sisters, the property was purchased at $450,000 at the end of 1996. The renovation project was approved by the Kirkland City Government. From January to March 1997, the church spent another $100,000 to renovate the downstairs into classrooms, a cafe and a courtyard. The church held a dedication Sunday service on April 26, 1997, officially beginning God’s mission. Since then, God has provided us financially. The church paid off all loans in 2001 and has a balance. We have all experienced God’s grace and faithfulness, and the obvious work of the Holy Spirit! During this period, many pastors trained us and set up church by-laws. At the same time, many newly moved brothers and sisters found the family of God and learned to love the Lord and others together: to pursue spiritual growth; to be connected with the Head, Christ, (Eph. 4:13-16), and preach the gospel of the Lord; making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Many friends who seek the gospel believe in the Lord, were baptized, and become children of God! By 1999, the church had more than 200 members. Due to the increasing number of people in the church and the number of children, we decided to build an additional education building in 2002 to support our children and protect our family. In 2003, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the founding of the church and the completion of the education building with a thanksgiving ceremony! (See the special thanksgiving for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Lake East Christian Church at the Church Library).
In the church from 2003 to 2023, God sent Pastor Wang Xiaogu and his wife to start English Sunday worship, youth ministry and family, and counseling services (2003-2011). Pastor Stephan Chen and his wife gave training and discipleship training and special lectures (2012 –2016). After that, after the church elders and deacons prayed together, everyone felt that they needed to be trained and grow in their faith; and step up to serve! After four years, several pastors and elders were invited to do training. Although the number of church members was smaller, everyone was able to serve with one heart and faithfulness. In 2019, the church board of directors decided to recruit a pastor. Praise the Lord! After all the processes; under the guidance of God’s grace, Li Pan and his wife joined the church in 2019. In 2021, Li Pan was ordained into a Chinese pastor of the church.
God’s building up of the Lake East Christian Church over the past thirty years has demonstrated that He can make things out of nothing and be full of them. He is the God of blessings and grace. We deeply feel that “The Lord is my shepherd; I will not lack” (Psalm 1:1). He is a loving, faithful, holy, righteous, and gracious God. He is the head of the church, the source of all blessings!