Oversea Chinese Mission

At the time, Rev. and Mrs. Torrey Shih, the Lord's servants, saw the urgent need for the gospel in New York City's Chinatown. They began holding regular meetings in an American church on Park Row in Chinatown. Later, due to the expansion of this ministry, the church was officially established under the name "Oversea Chinese Mission." The church began renting space on East Broadway for meetings. In

the beginning, our ministries include Sunday worship services in Mandarin and Cantonese, Children Sunday school, Fu-Ying fellowship, English classes, Gospel Broadcasting Center, and the Fu-Ying Monthly. OCM was the first Chinese churches to have bilingual worship services, gospel broadcasting and distribution of a Chinese Christian magazine. After 1-2 years, the membership grew steadily, and the church was running out of space. The church began seeking an ideal location to accommodate the needs. Thanks be to God for His grace and the test of faith among the church leaders, the church purchased a permanent site at 154 Hester Street, a ten-story building. This was seen as "a Miracle on Hester Street." It set a precedence for Chinese expansion into Little Italy, north of Canal Street. Though the church faced many challenges at first, by the grace of God, today many Chinese merchants, factories and residences abound in the neighborhood, a fertile ground for the church to reach out with the gospel. As the church matured, the congregation had a greater burden for missions. In addition to financial support to many missions organizations and missionaries, we were involved in church planting and employing local pastors in various countries overseas. Over the past decade, the focus had been to plant branch churches in the greater New York area. We established Boon Church in Flushing, Jireh Church and Grace Church in New Jersey, Cornerstone Church (now part of Community Church of Great Neck) in Great Neck, Long Island, and Vision Church that focuses on ministering to the English-speaking, American-born Chinese. We also set up short-term missions teams and local evangelical efforts, bringing the gospel to Chinese people in our area as well as in far away places. Praise and glory be to God for bringing people to Salvation, and for the increase and growth He had brought to OCM.