Early life and education Chan was born in
San Francisco He also stated he didn't understand the love of God well until he became a father himself. As a high-school and then junior-college student, Chan was active in Christian youth groups, which helped develop his faith in Christ and his interest in ministry.
Christianity Today, reporting in 2009, has Chan characterizing this as a period where his personal life was not lived consistently with his religious ideals, stating "Those were the worst years of my life... a sinful, hypocritical time." within two months, the church had grown to have 100 attending. The church continued to see increases in attendance, and by the year 2000, it had received approval from local officials for building expansion to double its capacity, in support of a 1,600-member congregation. As of January 2008, Cornerstone was one of the largest churches in
Ventura County, California. After a three-month leave from Cornerstone, circa 2008, Chan said he felt convicted to sacrifice more for God. Chan had been giving away about 50% of his income, didn't take a salary from his church, and donated most of his book royalties, which totaled about $2,000,000, to various charities. All of it goes to organizations which rescue sex slaves in foreign countries. Chan started
Eternity Bible College in 2004 as a ministry of Cornerstone Community Church, with 100 students. In 2008, Eternity launched an abroad program in Ecuador.
Return to San Francisco In June 2011, he stated he felt called to
San Francisco. He moved to Northern California and started a
church planting network of
house churches called "We Are Church". In September 2014, Chan joined the board of elders of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship; as of August 2016, he was no longer an elder at that congregation. He served as a top-level leader in the We Are Church network until 2020.
Return to Hong Kong In 2020, Chan moved back to
Hong Kong, living and working in
Sham Shui Po, the poorest area in Hong Kong and the neighborhood where his mother used to do ministry in the 1950s.
Return to the US In January 2021, Chan announced he and his family had returned to the US after his HK visa was denied. He has stated his intent to return to Hong Kong when possible. ==Theology==