In 1972 the late Rev Otis and Irene Keener were visiting the International Correspondence Institute (ICI) office in Brussels which was newly started by District of Foreign Missions (DFM). He ministered that Sunday to the US missionaries at their Sunday evening prayer meeting which was conducted in English.

It was on this trip that he also visited Hong Kong and received the call to pioneer an International Church to reach the English-speaking foreigners of this city: “Standing one night on the Peak, the Holy Spirit pressed my heart about coming to Hong Kong and starting an English-speaking church. That was late summer in 1972. I had just preached a series of meetings in Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFG) for Dr Cho Yonggi and came to Hong Kong for a conference. We had been ministering many times in Hong Kong since 1962 and prayed for God to send someone to reach the business community.”

In autumn 1972, the Holy Spirit confirmed the burden in Irene’s heart and DFM in the US sent the Keeners to Hong Kong to pioneer the English-speaking congregation in spring 1973.

The first services were held at New Life Temple. Then the Lord performed a series of miracles which opened up the Furama Hotel as a regular meeting place on Sundays. This led to the church to initially being called the Furama Fellowship – An international English-speaking service. From its beginning in 1973, the church was sponsored by the American Assemblies of God Division of Foreign Missions (DFM) and led by Assemblies of God (AG) missionary pastors who were funded by the American Assemblies of God General Council.

Amazingly in May 1975, the Keeners left Hong Kong to pastor Brussels Christian Center. The Sunday evening prayer meetings in Brussels eventually evolve to become Brussels Christian Center in 1976. Bill Lovick was the first “pastor” and they met in a villa on Avenue Solvay. Today, the Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM) has over forty international churches in Europe (http://globalicn.com).