Who We Are

Who We Are
Statement of Faith
History
Meet the Staff

Who We Are

The Twin City Chinese Christian Church is a non-denominational, independent church. All are welcome to worship God and fellowship with us in Christ.

FAITH

The church holds firmly to the fundamentals of the faith. We believe in the inerrancy of the Word of God; the triune God, eternally existing in three persons; the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; the total depravity of man; and salvation by faith in the finished work of Christ.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this church is to worship God according to the teaching of His Word; to promote the preaching of the Gospel; to administer the ordinances of the New Testament, such as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; to minister to the spiritual needs of all people regardless of race, color, or creed; and to speed the evangelization of the world by leading men, women and children to a living faith in Jesus Christ.

VISION

To build up three interdependent congregations as one church to become the center of discipleship and outreach to the Chinese in the Twin Cities.

Statement of Faith

Our Statement of Faith

1. We believe in the one and only living and true God, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe who is revealed to us in the Scriptures as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. We believe the Bible¹ is the Word of God, inerrant in its original documents, and the only infallible authority for faith and practice.
3. We believe all humans have sinned and are separated from God by sin, fallen from innocence to sin’s curse through the sin of Adam, and that no human can be made right with God by good works.
4. We believe God grants salvation by grace through faith only in Jesus Christ, who, being both fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died, and rose again, and thereby saves from sin all who repent and trust in Him alone.
5. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells every Christians, sanctifying them for obedience to God, and gifting them to serve God and accomplish His purposes in the world.
6. We believe the Church is the body of Christ, glorifying God through worship, ministry of the Word, and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper, and sharing God’s love through service and evangelism.
7. We believe Christ ascended to heaven, His return is imminent, and He will bodily raise the dead to judgment. He will reign with His people on earth, who are glorified to live eternally with Him in heaven, and He will righteously condemn the unbelieving to eternal punishment in hell.

¹The 66 Books of the Old and New Testament.

History

T4C History

We are very thankful for God’s faithfulness to T4C and the faithfulness of those who have gone before us.

A Brief History and Major Milestones

In 1949, Mrs. Torjesen, a returned missionary from China, invited a few Chinese students at the University of Minnesota to start a bible study group. Three years later, Mr. and Mrs. Victor Christianson, another missionary couple who returned from China, came to lead the growing fellowship, bringing the gospel and spiritual growth to many Chinese students in Minnesota. In 1958, Chinese Christian Fellowship (CCF) was officially established and registered with the State. Joseph Wong, a seminary student and a member of CCF, became its part-time minister in 1966. He went on to become the first full-time pastor of CCF in 1970.

During the next 20 years, with God’s blessing and under Pastor Wong’s leadership, CCF grew into to become the largest Chinese church in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Like many Christian groups of similar size, CCF did not originally have a permanent meeting place of its own at the beginning. In 1958, CCF bought a small house near the campus for bible study groups and prayer meetings. On Sundays it used the facilities of other local churches to hold worship services.

1975 was a special year in the history of our church. In that year, God made it possible for CCF to purchase an elementary school building in Lauderdale to make it a home of its own. It is strategically located between the two campuses of U of M, which allows the church to continue to expand the student ministries. It had a large gym, which was successfully transformed into the main sanctuary. It also had many classrooms to meet the need of the growing Sunday School program. Despite the high rate of turnover of the student-oriented congregation, the church grew steadily.

Monthly English services began in 1989, signaling a shift in the church’s population as more families were growing in the church. A Cantonese congregation began forming, starting monthly services in 1991. English services became weekly in 1995 and Cantonese in 1996.

In 2004 T4C planted its first church to reach a growing population of Chinese in the suburban Twin Cities – Twin City Chinese Christian Church Woodbury. It became independent in 2009.

Our second church plant, West Metro Chinese Church, is now meeting in Plymouth.Today, TCCCC is still the largest Chinese Christian church in Twin Cities, with Sunday worship services conducted in 3 languages (Mandarin, Cantonese and English) and a combined attendance of over 500. Because of this position we believe God is calling us to serve the Chinese of the Twin Cities and its churches by becoming the center of discipleship and outreach to the Chinese in the Twin Cities. By the Lord’s hand we have outgrown our old school building and, after nearly 10 years of searching, have purchased a warehouse in Roseville which will serve as our next home. This new facility will help us continue that vision.

God has been most gracious: In the past half century, He has nurtured and guided the growth of the small bible study group into a church of diverse ministries, but we know He has greater plans. We pray that God will sent send His workers and to join in the harvest. May He continue to use this body of Christ to be a witness for the true living God we serve!

Meet the Staff

Meet Our Staff

Minister Fred Li

Pastor Fred Li

Mandarin Pastor

I was born in 1963 in Shandong Province, China. I went to Jilin University in Changchun, China in 1980 for undergraduate study and continued graduate study in 1984. I remembered that I bought and enjoyed reading a simplified New Testament Bible around 1986, but only as a story book to study English. My wife and I got married in 1987. I came to the US in 1992 to pursue my PhD at University of Minnesota. My wife Jean and my daughter Grace joined me in May 1993. We moved to Michigan for my first job in 1996, and then moved back to Minnesota for my second job in 2001. During 2001 Sept church evangelism retreat, I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior on Sept 8, a few hours after my wife Jean made the same confession. I served at T4C and fellowship until Dec 2005, when I moved to Arizona for my third job at Intel. Then I served as Greater Phoenix Chinese Christian Church fellowship chair and church deacon, and Bible Study Fellowship STL（Substitute Teaching Leader）. Praise the Lord! After about one and half years of pondering, prayers, waiting, and confirming, the Lord led me and my wife to a decision for me to start my full-time seminary training at Phoenix Seminary in January 2017. I finished my Master of Divinity study in May 2020 and immediately joined T4C in June 2020.

Rev. Stephen Mma

Emerutus Mandarin Pastor

I was born and raised in Taiwan. I learned about the salvation of Jesus Christ since I was in the grade school and I received Jesus Christ as my personal savior at age of 15. But I was not very serious about the relationship with the Lord until the junior year in college. During the last year of my college life, I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ and wanted to serve Jesus full time.After finished my citizen’s duty to my home country, I went on to teach biology in a junior high school in northern Taiwan. In 1974, I came to the United States to pursue my graduate degrees in California and Iowa, however, I realized that the degrees did not satisfy me afterward. I was wondering around to find out what is the purpose of my life during those years, not knowing that God has everything planned for me.When I was still a graduate student, I met my wife, Paochen, a wonderful girl and we got married in 1981 and then God blessed us with two precious daughters, Stephanie and Phyllis. I have tried different jobs during those first couple years after I finished graduate school, finally, God led me to a two-year training program and prepared me to work in the eye clinic as a technician. In 1993, I figured that God did not forget my rededication and counted me as worthy to be a fulltime minister in the ministry, so God began to let me know that it was about time to put down my job and serve Him. By the Fall of 1993, I started my seminary training at Bethel Seminary, and finished it with a Master of Divinity degree in 1997.After I graduated from seminary, I began to serve in the Twin City Chinese Christian Church as a full time interim minister, the church I have been a member for more than 23 years. In February 2001, I was ordained by T4C as a full time Pastor to serve Him and His church till now.

Pastor Mike Gin

English Pastor

Pastor Mike Gin was born and raised in Chicago (and remains an avid Chicago sports fan). He received Christ as his personal savior after hearing a Sunday school story about Muscle Mike. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, receiving BS degrees in Chemistry and Ecology, and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, receiving a MS in Environmental Engineering. After working for 4 years at an environmental engineering consulting firm in the Washington DC metro area, the Lord called him to the ministry. He received his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2001 and has served as English Pastor of the Twin City Chinese Christian Church since then. He was ordained in 2003. He is happily married to Jeanne and tries to keep up with three active sons, Ethan (1999), Owen (2002) and Austin (2004). He has interests in canoeing/fishing, ice hockey, biking, Taylor guitars and eating.

Jody Tellers

Director of Children’s Ministry

Jody was raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ as her personal savior at a young age. She attended a Christian school and learned to serve God in church by helping in Sunday school during her junior and high school years. Jody attended Bob Jones University to pursue a cosmetology license in a Christian setting. In 1989, she was married to Mike and soon after the newlyweds visited T4C at the invitation of a college friend, Gaylord Tsuei. The Tellers settled into the community at T4C serving as Sunday school teachers and getting involved with small groups in the English ministry. Mike and Jody have raised and homeschooled their three children, Jacob, Emily and Jason. Upon beginning the homeschool journey with her family in 2003, Jody began a study plan of her own slowly working towards a degree in education. The opportunity to serve part time as Children’s Ministry Director beginning in May 2015 is a culmination of Jody’s passion to teach and to bring God’s word to children. As Children’s Ministry Director Jody coordinates the children’s Sunday school class teachers and curriculum, Boys and Girls Club during Friday night fellowship, and summer Vacation Bible School.

Pastor Tim Haas

Youth Pastor

Tim grew up as a pastor’s kid, living in small towns in North Dakota as the oldest of five siblings. He accepted Christ as his savior at an early age and then felt called to vocational ministry while in high school. He pursued his bachelor’s degree in History from the University of North Dakota, spent a year volunteering in an impoverished region of the Appalachian Mountains, and then moved to the Twin Cities to marry his wife Jess and earn his Master’s of Divinity degree at Bethel Seminary. While Tim has always loved reading the Bible, Bethel helped Tim pursue his interest in reading it in its original languages of Greek and Hebrew. Tim and Jess enjoy being active outdoors through running and biking, and they also enjoy fostering kittens to help them find a good home. Tim also enjoys playing video games, reading, playing Settlers of Catan, playing racquetball and Frisbee golf, and spending time with family and friends whenever possible. He is passionate about helping youth explore their faith and is honored to be on staff at T4C.