Issue 38, May 2005
|
Edited by Pat Toh & Chew
Juliane |
MISSIONS
THE HEART
BEAT OF GOD
“Look
to Me and be saved
All
you ends of the earth!
For
I am God and there is no other.
I
have sworn by myself;
The
word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness and they shall not return
That
to Me every knee shall bow,..” Isaiah 45:22-23
“For
‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
How
then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And
how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And
how shall they hear without a preacher?
And
how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Romans 10:13-15
For
the last 18 years CBC has been involved in missions to the majority of
Chinese
new villages in Malaysia and later, to
the Orang
Asli. As the number of local churches is more involved in the local
mission,
CBC began to look outwards to other countries to spread the message of
Jesus
Christ. It was in the 90’s that CBC went to China and India to conduct
seminars and conferences. Later the
work of migrant workers was added to the mission portfolio.
Today
marks the coming of age for CBC to engage more aggressively in the work
of
Missions. This is the first combined CBC mission weekend where
the whole
church will hear first hand reports and happenings of each of the work
carried
out by the missionaries in New York, India, China and also local
missions.
We also welcome other mission agencies to participate so that our
members can
be informed and challenged by how God’s will is done in various
countries. Why
must we be challenged about mission and why must I be interested in Mission? I will answer
from the
bible. You must be involved because:
1.
It is the Great Commission – Matthew
28:18-20
Jesus
left us on this planet work to do a work for Him. Otherwise He would
take us
home the moment we believe and trust in Him! As we become more like
Christ we
will be able to accomplish more of what He will do if He was here
physically.
We are His ambassadors and according to the verse we are empowered to
complete
the unfinished task of world evangelization. We are trained locally to
reach
globally! We are to be Glocal Christians!
2.
It is the Great Commandment – Matthew 22:
37-40
We
are to love God with all our being and also love our fellow mankind.
True love
would mean that we are willing to share the good news with the person
we love
at one point in time. Please note that we are commanded to love others!
It is
not if I want to or if the circumstances are right or if
the
person is loveable. We are commanded to love the people we meet
daily,
unless you are a hermit!
3.
It is the Great Compassion – Matthew 9:
35-38.
Jesus
saw the crowd and said they were like sheep without a shepherd. There
was no
one to care for them and sheep need shepherds all over the world. If
Jesus
cares then His concern must be mine as well. We cannot do less than
what is
required of us.
4.
It is the Great Concern of God – John 20:21-22.
Mission starts from the
heart of
God. He is the sending God for He first sent Jesus into the world to
save
perishing souls. So just as God sent Jesus, Jesus now sends us to the
task of
proclaiming the good news to perishing souls! In simple terms Mission is the will
of our
heavenly Father. When you do mission you are carrying out the will of
God
either as a tent-maker or as a professional. Just think of this: you
are doing
God’s will on earth. This is very motivating!
5.
It is the Great Community of lost souls – 2 Peter 3:9
In
our July 28th prayer focus we read that the world has a
population
of 6.35 billion. Out of this number 2.48 billion people are considered
unreached or least evangelized. This community of lost souls will
remain lost
if the Gospel is kept within the four walls of churches. There are many
unreached groups even in Malaysia. The Malays,
who make up
about 60% of the Malaysian population are mainly unreached! On top of
that
there are the migrant workers who number about 2 million (unofficial
figure are
as high as 3 million.) God is gracious to bring these migrant workers
to our
shores for them to hear the word of God. How shall they hear unless
someone is
willing to go to them? We must see these people as part of our
community. CBC
is strategically placed to impact these people for Jesus Christ.
6.
Finally we have a Great Challenge – PRAY - PARTNER - PERGI
We
can all pray for our missionaries and also other mission agencies.
Prayer is
the most powerful weapon that our heavenly Father has left in our hands
and
hearts. The task is enormous but the empowerment from God is equally
available
to those who obey. All of us can be involved in so many ways.
To
partner means we support the missionaries and bless them. This is
mostly in
the
form of monetary giving. You can channel them through CBC and earmark
to the
mission you are giving.
Finally
you can go to the mission field. Today the world is a global village
and there
is no place on earth you cannot reach in the shortest possible time.
The
information and communication technologies have shorten our traveling
time so
much that today we can do short term missions efficiently and
effectively.
There is also a place for long term missions but for most of us CBC
would
encourage you to attempt the short term mission first. In India we run a
school; in China a farm project;
locally,
we have the Myanmar work and the
bible
software project; in Raub we run an Orang Asli school, and many more
bible
training projects. I believe all of us can play some part if we have a
heart
for Missions!!
May
God find you faithful in all the work you are doing for Him,
Serving
together in Christ,
Richard
Toh
……………………………………………………………
Our
CBC
Missionaries
Our Editor
finds out how each is
doing in their mission field.
……………………………………………………………
INDIA
An
Email
Interview with Jessie Kumar
CBC’s
missionary since 1998
How did your
ministry start?
I had a
dream of the Ganges River (in North
India) after I
returned
from a
short team
mission trip to the Middle
East, I saw a
vision of Indian children begging during an Evangelistic Meeting whilst
I was
studying at Tung Ling
Bible School, Singapore in 1992.
In December 1992, I went on a short mission trip to South
India and that
birthed the call within me to launch
out long term into India. By
God’s
divine initiative, the Lord provided Kumar into my life; he was also
studying
at Tung Ling Bible School then.
Kumar was God’s provision for me to fulfill my destiny and call into
the nation
of India. We
share the same
heart and burden for India and were
married in 1995. We knew that our time in Singapore was just
a
preparation period before moving into India. In
1997,
the Lord began to prompt our hearts to go to India……
It was in 1998 that we left
for India from Singapore. Prior
to
that, we visited Malaysia and
received the blessings of Community Baptist Church’s
Leadership. Our Ministry in India is
called
HARVEST APOSTOLIC MINISTRIES and it is basically a church planting
movement. We
started from nothing in the year 1998 and to-date we have 36 churches
in five
languages of India. 100
full time staff work for us and the Lord has blessed us with a great
team of
workers who rally around the vision and give their best! We also
have two
educational schools in Bihar, one
of which is through the financial partnership of CBC.
How
many
years has it been since you started?
7 years
....since July 1998!
As a Malaysian
living in India, what are the
challenges you
face?
During
the initial years…
a) having to adjust to a new
life,
battling with fear and loneliness all by myself.
b) not being able to
communicate in
the local language and to express myself freely.
c) attending a Tamil church
week after
week for 5 years!
d) being different and
trying to blend
in
e) cooking Indian food for
Indians!
f) preaching and teaching
with a
translator.
g) being left out during
conversations.
In one
way, it
wasn’t so bad, as I used to be in the office with Kumar
literally every
day from morning to evening, before Jeanette was born. Those were
the
years of laying the foundation for our ministry and I am glad that I
had the
privilege of being part of it. Now, with Jeanette to take
care
of, I couldn’t do as much as I want. But, I must say
that the
mission team from CBC which came for to Chennai in 1999, 2000 and 2001,
to
conduct the Cell Conference, was a great blessing to me
personally.
I felt supported and
encouraged by every
visit of the CBC members. It was very special to me. I remember a
moment
(in the year 2000), when the CBC Team came and prayed for Kumar and me
to have
a child. The Lord answered those prayers and JEANETTE was born in the
following
year! Praise God!
Jessie,
Jeanette and Ps Kumar
The only
challenge I face now is to learn the language.
I’ve adjusted so well by the grace of God that I now feel lost whenever
I visit
Malaysia. After a
few days
away, I would miss India and
can’t
wait to come home.
What
was
the greatest factor that made you stick on in this ministry?
My
relationship with Jesus. His constant encouragement
and
presence gives me strength, assurance and boldness to continue this
journey
with faith…
Can
you
share 2 or 3 testimonies from people you have touched that will ever
remain
precious to you?
a) I
remember praying for a lady in Andhra Pradesh for a
baby…. and she conceived within a few months. …
b) I remember teaching in a Bible School in
Chennai
and prophesying over one student that he has a full time call and God
wants to
use him. After some years he joined the ministry. Much later he became
one of
our staff in Harvest and I was pleasantly reminded of the prophecy I
spoke over
him many years ago.
c) I remember once in a
Miracle
Evening meeting, I was ministering to lady and I felt prompted by the
Holy
Spirit to tell the lady that God will give her a baby. I spoke out by
faith
what I received from the Lord. I found out after the meeting that the
lady had
already seen a doctor earlier that same day and he has confirmed her
pregnancy.
How
do you
see the near future (like 5 years on) for your ministry?
We are
very excited about the future. We have a
compelling vision to plant 250 churches by the year 2010 and 1000
churches by
2020. By 2010, we hope to have 5000 believers in South
Chennai alone
with a chain network of 30 Harvest
Christian Assembly churches.
To-date
we have 5
churches in Chennai with a total of 500 believers. Indeed it is a
big
vision! But, we believe it is possible because, firstly,
we
believe this vision is from God; secondly, we have a great
team of
workers, whom we have built in these formative years, and
thirdly, because we have great partners in our mission work, like
CBC and
other ministry partners.
Last
words
from you.......
Jesus
picked me up from the miry clay and with the
process
of time He made something beautiful out of my life. Indeed the
best place
to be is in the hands of a mighty God, doing His perfect will. We
value
your partnership in the Gospel greatly and we fondly remember CBC in
our
prayers. Do pray for us and continue to strengthen our hands for
this
awesome work!
…………………………………………………………..
CHINA
David
Chee
CBC’s
missionary
since 1989
MISSION TO CHINA!
December
1983, I read Hudson Taylor’s testimony. I remember feeling God’s touch
and
call. It was then I realized, one day, I shall enter the ‘battlefield’.
Each
time I hear about China, testimonies of
Chinese
house churches, and whenever I pray for China, my eyes would
be filled with tears.
By
mid 1989, I joined Gospel to the Poor to plant churches amongst the
Chinese
villages in Perak. I was involved in this ministry until 1994. It has
been more
than 10 years I have prayed for China, and I believed
the period represented a time of
preparation by the Lord. On receiving a love gift for RM2,000, I knew
God opened
the door for me to enter China as a
confirmation of His
calling to missions.
Through
an American pastor, I received two contacts in China. I went, by
faith, and started my teaching
ministry in two churches there. In my second year, a Taiwan pastor gave me
another
contact in HB province. This connection opened a very wide doorway to
15
provinces, with thousands of house churches. From that time until now
(2005),
ten more pastors have joined me in this ministry. To-date, I am in this
ministry for ten-and-a half years.
The
real challenges I face in the vast country of China are:-
a)
fear,
loneliness, disappointments and dangers
b)
having
wisdom to build relationships with the Body of Christ
c)
ministering
in love (and not money) with the anointing from the Lord
d)
mentoring
the Chinese Christians so that they can be built up and do the ministry
properly
e)
discerning
the Lord’s will (and not following my own) and drawing from Him
strength to
fulfill His plans
The
greatest factor that enabled me to stick on to this ministry is the
revival
fire God gave me. He used the lives of pastors in China to encourage
me, to
make me more dedicated to Him, and through this, God granted me
‘fruits’ for my
labour over the past ten years.
There
are a few testimonies I wish to share of people who impacted me.
1)
There
is a sister from AnHui, sent out by a
church in
1993 when she was in the last two months of her pregnancy. By the time
she gave
birth, she had already led 60,000 villagers to Christ! She is a model
of a
great lady evangelist who ministers with signs and wonders accompanying
her.
There are many lady evangelists in China, like this
sister, fulfilling the Great Commission
as recorded in Mark 16:15-20.
2)
In Hunan, there is an
old lady,
aged 78 years today. She always walks from one village to another,
sometimes
very long journeys that takes more than nine hours. She has no
education but
has a simple faith. Wherever she goes, she heals the sick through her
prayers.
She has planted more than 30 house churches, which has thousands of
members.
Even though she is poor, she always gives away her monthly allowance of
RMB 70
to RMB100 that she receives from her child. She is like the poor widow
in
Jesus’ days who gave away her two mites. Her home is dilapidated (in
Malay, we
say her house is “sengit”) and she has no means to rebuild it. At
prayer
meetings held in her home, I heard her pray that God would somehow
straighten
the pillars of her home. Guess what, the home is still standing today!
Praise
the Lord!
How
do I see my ministry in five years’ time? I really believe the Churches
in China will begin to
send out
thousands of workers overseas to co-work with Asian churches for
mission. I am
excited because God has included me in His plan.
Mission to China, and China to Missions!
David, Mei Chue, Esther
and Yasmine
USA
An Email Interview with Ron
Choong…..
CBC’s
missionary since 1990
How did your ministry start?
I was embarrassed in London when someone asked me to explain
who Jesus
was and I could not do it coherently under cross examination by a
fellow
student. I then determined to find out why and this led me to conclude
that my
faith was a sham. I needed to make a decision on what it means to
believe in
Jesus. This led me to turn my ambition and worldview over to the Lord
and I
realized that the best way to learn is to force myself to teach - thus
was born
an unlikely missionary-evangelist who became an apologist.
How many years has it been since you started?
15 years.
Are there times you felt like giving up?
Many, including several times this year when many expectations were
not
fulfilled or when I misjudged my capacity to misprioritize.
What was the greatest factor that made you stick on in this ministry?
The Gospel is true - NO other reason would be sufficient.
Can you share 2 or 3 testimonies from people you have touched that
will ever
remain precious to you?
a) A mathematician from China at the Courant Institute for
Mathematical
Sciences at New York University who turned to the Lord in 1991 after my
clumsy
effort to discuss Einsteinium relativity theories and the paucity of
evidence
against the existence of a creator God. He serves at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan.
b) An
Ukrainian
evolutionary biologist who heckled me for 5 years each time he came to
my
apartment in Queens and finally came to the Lord in
1995 in my
living room at 1 a.m. He is now a professor and
research
scientist at Mount
Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.
c) A
Syrian
engineer from Damascus and Beirut in Lebanon who came to Jesus 6 years after
I
befriended him (1996). His suspicion of New Yorkers and Christians
because of
our privileging of all things Israel made it hard to trust any
Christian
witness. When I explained that Hagar was also promised blessing from
God and
Muhammad would have turned to Christ if his grandfather did not have to
defend
himself against the African Christian King of Yemen in the
War of the Elephants, he realized that every Muslim desire the very
promise
that Jesus offered - assurance of salvation.
How do you see the near future (like 5 years on) for your ministry?
I have no wish to personalize the ministry. In His grace, the Lord
permitted me to set the vision and I have invited many wonderful
believers to
stretch my own imagination and be bold for and in the Lord. The
associates at ACT
seek to form an international network of primary investigators to serve
as a
resource for the global church in apologetics with special reference to
science
and world religions. On a broader scale, we seek to address the 5
cultural
spheres or 'camps' of human engagement, Commerce, Academia, Media,
Politics and
Sports (CAMPS).
Ron,
in SS2,
Petaling Jaya, recently
Last
words from
you.......
CBC will always
be for me
where my fragile faith was nurtured and encouraged, even if I was
intentionally
evasive of church participation (except for the choir). Advice to
others: Trust
God's leading. He will not lead you away from joy.
Editor’s
note:
The
Rev.
Mr. Ron Choong is Principal Instructor of The Academy for Christian
Thought
(ACT) – an educational and research ministry to develop the
Christian Mind
for a responsible proclamation of the transforming power of Jesus
Christ. Ron
is married to Lingmei, a fashion designer, and they live in New York City, USA. To read more
about Ron’s
ministry, go to his website at www.actministry.org
……………………………………………………………
Visit
to Pondicherry
Tsunami stricken areas
After a tiring week
in Calcutta, Bihar and Calcutta, we were glad to be back for the last
leg of our Indian
Mission. This year, we have included the Tsunami stricken area because
of our
partnership with Harvest Apostolic Ministries, who first reached out to
the
families of the victims when the disaster struck.
The very mention
of Pondicherry brought
thoughts of a book I read sometime
ago. This is the colonial India
famous for its British past but has a French flovour to it. We had to
get up
very early as the journey would take more than 3½ hours each way.
Packed into
Harvest’s new Toyota 4x4, we
ventured south of
Chennai.
The first scenes
of the tsunami devastation were
empty, flatten beaches, interspersed with a few solitary trees that
survived,
and an occasional brick building. We also saw the temporary camps built
by the
United Nations, and various church denominations with foreign funds.
Unfortunately, these were abandoned! The reason was these tents, made
of
waterproof materials, make poor habitation due to the intense heat.
What’s
really needed are just attap huts! Think of the millions of rupees
spent which
could have been translated to food and essentials for the refugees.
We visited two
churches that
day. These were the ones our partners felt worthy of our help. 30
children
would be fostered and educated in Chennai. Practising what we learnt
from Focus
on the Family, we gave hugs to the children. Overwhelmed by our
actions, some
wanted more hugs, which we gladly gave!
We were brought
to see Ps Ambrose’s flattened
church. Later, we saw how he creatively transformed the roof of his
home to a
church. We were encouraged to learn that the Sunday after the tragedy,
seven
souls were saved in this ‘new’ church. I cannot help but think of what
a
wonderful God we have. He made something beautiful out of brokenness
and
death.
Through this
trip, God has changed my heart. Am I my
brother’s keeper? When you see the poverty in which so many live in,
and
compare to what we enjoy in Malaysia, you cannot
help but have your heart wrenched by God. Let us
ponder what Jesus said: What does it profit a man if he gains the whole
world
but loses his own soul?!!! Blessings from the Lord are meant to be
poured out
to others to be blessed. We are to be Seas of Galilee. If we keep all
the
blessings to ourselves (forever upgrading ourselves without a thought
for our
neighnours) we are like Dead Seas, where nothing
flows out.
May I challenge you to GO TO INDIA!
By
Pat Toh
Wife
of Senior Pastor Richard Toh.
……………………………………………………………
My
First Mission Trip to India
March 11-18, 2005
I thank God for the
opportunity to visit India. Though this nation was very much in my
prayers, I
had never considered going there because of some reservations I had at
the back
of my mind. Then Senior Pastor approached me about this one
Sunday morning,
and after giving much thought to it, I decided to join the team. I must
also
thank God for the smooth renewal of my passport in spite of my
forgetting to
bring my original Identity Card on the day I went to collect my
passport.
During the planning meetings prior to the trip, I became very convinced
about
going because it was a vivid reminder of my first mission trip to China
about
four years ago. The excitement came when the final planning of the trip
was
laid out.
Bihar
We
visited two schools of the Harvest Mission School; one at
Ranipatra and the
other, at Purnea City, which is
attached to CBC.
On March 14, we organized the
Sports
Day for the children and the school staff. Though the children did not
fully
understand the rules of certain games, it was rewarding to see their
eagerness
to participate in almost every event and to see the fun they were
having. On
the whole, it was a success; and the highlight of the last event was
the
participation of parents in playing musical chairs.
Shortly
after our lunch in the school, we visited a village that was a good two
hours’
journey away. As usual, we had a
short time of
worship followed by a message from Senior Pastor. At
the beginning of the service, there was not much of a crowd, but
gradually,
many more children came and sat on the ground. We sang some children
songs with
actions. We ministered to some mothers and babies. The general health
of the
children is not good as the children had big stomachs, a sign of
malnutrition.
Many of the young children went about bare-topped. Indeed medical
supplies and
clothing are much needed in these villages.
Sports Day line up with
CBC team at
the back row.
The
road was dusty and bumpy in Bihar.
One of the jeeps broke down three times after our victorious visit to
the
village. Pastor Kumar, who was in the other jeep with Senior Pastor and
his
wife Pat, made a detour and rescued us from the dilemma when the jeep
finally
broke down. I had earlier sent an SMS message to Pastor Reynold and
Sister
Alexa asking for prayer when the jeep broke down the second time. Truly
the
Lord heard our prayers. Hallelujah!
I
personally feel it would be wonderful if there was a parsonage there so
as to
minimise the amount of time travelling on the road. Every night, no
matter how
late it was when we got back to the hotel, I had to wash my hair
because of the
dirt. You should also see how black the tissue was after cleaning my
nose – no
exaggeration!
We
did not manage to teach the children in the school in Purnea but
managed to do
a short presentation in the other school. We sang some worship songs
with the
visual aids prepared by Sister Suzie Lo. The whole session was wrapped
up using
a beautiful bracelet, which was to depict the colours of the Wordless
Message
of the Gospel. The children were thrilled with the handmade bracelets
and we
even made some for the teachers.
Kolkata
As
we walked along the streets of the oldest city of India, we saw the
poverty of
the
street people. Women with little infants in their arms were begging for
money
everywhere. The streets were dirty and people were selling all sorts of
things
along the road, including recycled stuff.
One of my unforgettable moments in Kolkata was
when I
awoke in the middle of the night while travelling on the night train to
Bihar.
I could not go back to sleep after I got up to go to the toilet. As I
reflected
on the things I saw in Kolkata, my heart began to cry out to God for
the people
in India. In the midst of my tears I saw a picture but I could not
understand
it. At first I thought it was my own imagination. I opened and
closed my eyes
and again it was the same picture. I asked the Lord what it was all
about but
did not fully understand the meaning till now. The verse Gal. 2:10 -
“All they
asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing
I was
eager to do”, kept ringing in my heart. In the past, after coming back
from the
mission trip to China, I was constantly reminded to remember the poor
and the
needy, whether in the Sunday sermons, seminars or conferences I
attended.
Possibly this is an area of ministry the Lord wants me to serve in.
On
our return trip to Kolkata, the Lord arranged for us to meet a certain
man at
the hotel lobby. He comes from a family of five brothers, and that day,
we met
three of them. They were very friendly and kind even though it was the
first
time we were meeting. We were taken to a mall where we visited their
shoe shop
and we all bought shoes at 25% discount. We were also taken to a
leather shop
where we were similarly given special treatment. Later, we were
chauffeur-driven to the airport. On the way, we were shown the shrimp
factory
owned by their father. We saw how tiger prawns were selected, packed
and stored
in cold rooms before being exported to countries like Japan and USA. What an
educational
tour we received. We discovered that the hotel we stayed at is owned by
this
family. What favour God showed us that day.
Chennai
The
most important part of our visit to Chennai was visiting the
tsunami-stricken
areas – Pondicherry, Cuddalore and
Pudupattinam. The unity of the Spirit flooded our souls as we
ministered to the
women who had lost their loved ones. Tears rolled down their cheeks as
we
prayed for them. I wondered if they understood what we prayed in
English. The
children were wonderful – bright shining eyes looking at us; the girls
were
beautiful and the boys handsome! Senior Pastor
gave big, big hugs to all the
children in one of those places. Through the partnership of CBC and the
Harvest
Apostolic Ministries, a home for the 30 children will be set up in
Chennai
where they can receive a good education, including good Christian
upbringing.
God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Ps 147:3)
Pastor
Richard
giving big, big hugs to the children
This
trip to India has enabled me
to pray and
intercede for this nation more effectively, after seeing the needs of
the
people there. Do join me in praying for this nation.
By Hor Kit On
Shepherd of Lighthouse SG in SS 2
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Reflections on the India Mission Trip 2005
When I woke up in
Kolkata it
was raining and still dark. I looked out of the window over a
rubbish-strewn
rooftop to see dirty dilapidated Kolkata with many different kinds of
birds
flying around. The birds looked black, with pigeons and the inevitable
crows
making up the majority. Higher in the sky several eagles circled. In
the centre
of my field of view was one single white pigeon, which stood out
starkly in the
gloom. I kept this image with me as we travelled to Bihar
and back,
as I felt it was significant.
Back in Kolkata
again, during
team devotion, I saw a picture related to what I had seen earlier. I
saw a dark
background with grey, uniform, stylised bird shapes in it, looking a
bit like
wallpaper. In the centre was a very bright white dove with light
shining from
the inside. The light got brighter as the bird grew bigger.
What does it mean?
This is
what I felt the Lord was showing me. India
has 33 million gods. The different kinds of birds
reminded me of the different types and ‘importance’of the various gods,
but in
the picture all of these became the same size and insignificant. The
white dove
represents the Holy Spirit and His light and power can penetrate any
darkness.
I saw this as an affirmation that India will come to know Jesus; that
the light
of the Gospel will dispel the darkness, and that one day, in India,
every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
King over the
Flood
The day after we
returned
from India we sang this song at church:
Still
Hide me now,
under Your
wing
Cover me, with Your mighty hand
When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father, You are King over the flood
I will be still, know You are God
Find rest my soul, in Christ alone
Know His power, in quietness and trust.
Cuddalore, South India
On Sunday morning, Dec 26, 2004, Pastor
Ambrose and his congregation were praying before the start of the
service in a
small stone church, located in a fishing village some distance from the
sea. At
8.30am
the ocean rose, bringing in the tsunami, and as it went out, it left
behind
great havoc. The stone church was totally destroyed and three children
died as
the tsunami receded. The people in Cuddalore do not know this song but
they
know the reality of trusting God as King over the flood.
The following
Sunday, they
met at the pastor’s house some kilometres away. We heard how seven
people were
saved at that service. Less than three months later, a shed-like church
was
built on the flat roof of the
pastor’s house.
Although it
was then an empty shell, it has become a
place to worship,
pray, and
encourage and uphold each other. Harvest ministries had brought them
some congo drums
and other items to be used in the church. The original church will
eventually
be rebuilt to reach out to the fishing village. We can be inspired and
encouraged by the members of this little church to find rest in Jesus
when we
face the storms of life.
Presenting equipment for Pastor Ambrose’s church
The Ganges
I have an
unexpected souvenir
from my trip to pray and anoint the Ganges River.
Whenever I open my bible to Ezekiel 47, I find I
have several squashed insects. This is because it was dark when we
reached the
river and I was trying to read and then pray from Ezekiel 47 by
torchlight. The
light attracted so many insects that I had to turn off the torchlight
and close
my bible, and in the process, inadvertently trapped my ‘souvenirs’! It
was a
privilege to add to the prayers of other Christians who have prayed
that this
mighty river will be associated with healing and with the light of
Christ
instead of death and idolatry.
By Norah Hession
member of Shalom 4
Shepherd Group
♥ ♥
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I LOVE INDIA!
The thought of an Indian mission trip was
prompted by its
timing in relation to my calendar of activities. India is cleaner and
more
accommodating than I expected. My earlier impression had come from
reading
books that were written at least a decade ago, which spoke of scenery
as well
as of the people in India in an outdated way. Nevertheless, nothing in
India
shocked me; there were no nightmares either. Any fear or apprehension
felt was
out of ignorance and from outdated information, albeit with the best of
intentions.
India’s poverty level
in the
rural areas is like what Malaysia was in the
1960s and ’70s.
What we saw in India, especially in
Kolkata, is
nothing new were we to notice the poor in our own backyards. These
days, every
Monday night, we get to see disabled beggars in our SS 2 pasar malam
near CBC. I noticed that their number has increased.
As
for the toilets, it is like going to the rural areas in Malaysia. We were in the
rural
parts of India, so I was not
alarmed. I
accepted it as part of a rural scene.
The
highlights of the trip are many. The fact that I was there to see,
hear, feel,
smell and get a taste of India first hand, was a joy. On top of that,
we had
the company of a very transparent pastor, with not a layer of mask on
him, to
add to the fun! The warm hospitality of the church people made a deep
impression. We had the privilege of being served a candlelight dinner
of
glorious cuisine under strings of light bulbs and a star-studded sky.
It was
awesome. Such is the warm hospitality that greeted us. Any slight
inconvenience
and difficulty were easy to endure in such settings. The Indian
children, with
or without shoes on, were simply cute and lovable. What impressed me
deeply is
that in love, one’s status and wealth are immaterial. The rural scene
was one
of great hospitality, simplicity, contentment and love. In fact, the
rural
scene provided a lot of love for us through the people we met. I was
very
humbled and touched.
The
tsunami victims were in a pathetic state and needed a lot of external
help. Now
is the time and place for God’s love to be shown and felt in the face
of much
suffering and distress. What little financial sacrifices made here in Malaysia go a long way
when it reaches
the other side of the Indian Ocean.
Surprisingly,
cuisine in India, upon request,
commonly
includes wonton soup and fried rice and noodles in Chinese style! Of
course,
there is the usual mamak restaurant menu. I was warned to be
extra
careful with the water in India;
but our whole party survived without any serious diarrhoea. But it is
always
good to play it safe by drinking only bottled water and having freshly
cooked
hot food for all meals. Throughout our stay, we indulged in India’s intricate
facet of
flavours comprising authentic Indian herbs and spices, such as roasted
chicken
seasoned with 65 spices!!!
The
school in Bihar is staffed with
dedicated
teachers who assist in the dream and hope of starting a God-fearing
community
in this isolated city of Purnea. Pastor Kumar’s
vision and
mission deserve the support of all who feel for the less privileged.
The school
project links education with living in the wisdom of God. It would be
nice if
the school had some recreational equipment like those found in
playgrounds, for
the children to enjoy before and after school hours. Instead of a hand
pump,
the school could do with an electric pump to draw out ground water for
storage
in big tanks or a reservoir. Later, a clean and proper
kitchen-cum-canteen can
be added on, perhaps. It would be a wise investment to contribute
monetarily to
these rural people who have limited economic resources. Every Ringgit
Malaysia
pledged can be sure of reaching its target group.
As for the trip to the tsunami-stricken area,
my feelings
when I met up with the children were one of compassion. The few
innocent-looking children selected for the children’s home in Chennai
deserve a
chance to better their life through proper care and education. These
tsunami
victims need our love and care to lift them up and give them hope and
dignity,
as is the style of Jesus.
All in all, it was a trip well worth
experiencing. It
helped greatly in developing a better understanding and knowledge of
the Indian
community, and our call to treat all of mankind alike. As a result, I
now have
greater respect for the rich Indian culture. It was a real eye-opener
for me
and it definitely broadened my outlook. I got to know firsthand, in
some small
part, the poverty, hardship, struggles and troubles of a people of
another
nationality, something out of my comfort zone.
I
have a sense of personal satisfaction at the end of the whole trip for
having
braved the trip in spite of all the nightmarish warnings. It has become
one of
the highlights of my life experiences. I thank and praise God for
making this
trip possible. I am
now keener
than before to go on another visit to India, not forgetting western India.
Bravo India! I love India!
By Pat Lee
Member of Shalom 4
Shepherd Group
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♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Outreach to Cebu Philippines, 2005
Distant
Shores and the Islands
will see Your light
For the last three
weeks of
outreach, my team flew out of Manila to Cebu. Our itinerary was to visit some islands and
minister
among the villagers and churches. Our leader, Anna, had a bad stomach,
due to
food poisoning. She threw up at the airport and had to be wheeled into
the
plane, but the good side was she received top service.
The day after we
got there we
set out on a boat to go to some islands for ministry. The first island
we were
at was Palompon Island. We spent one week here, doing mostly
open-air
meetings, children feeding programmes and house-to-house evangelism. We
had two
particularly memorable experiences – one was at a high
school, where over 600 students sat in the open field to listen to us.
After
which, we were swamped by the students, all wanting prayer, which was
simply
overwhelming as there were only 13 of us ministering to 600. Indeed, the
harvest is ripe but the workers are few. There was just no way
we could
talk to each one and pray for them. I left feeling elated because God
had
touched them, but at the same time, dissatisfied because many had to
leave
without being prayed for.
The other one was
when we had
an open-air meeting in a basketball court and it rained. In Sup and I
started
to worship in the rain, while Avery and Alvin played basketball. We
were just
waiting for the rain to stop and people to come. But to our surprise,
few of
those we had invited came anyway, and we decided to let them sit in the
tiny
shelter that held our props, while we performed in the rain. We did our
skits,
our dancing and preaching in the rain. You wouldn’t
believe it,
half-way through, hordes of people just started coming and they stood
in the
rain to watch
us. In the RAIN!!
It was
amazing, it’s very hard to describe how I felt but I was so blessed.
The church
that hosted us is really doing a wonderful job as shining lights in the
community, with their feeding programmes and house-to-house visits of
the
locals.
We did mostly the
same things
on Batayan Island, with the Hope Baptist
Church hosting us. By the way, many of our host
churches
were actually Baptist churches. Lastly we went back to Cebu Island
and a
team of Koreans from Younak Church (55,000 strong) joined us in ministry for
the last
three days. We did some village open-air as well as school
ministries. The
Koreans
actually performed a cultural show at the mall
and shared the
gospel there.
That’s how open Philippines is to the gospel of Christ. It was great
having the
Koreans with us. They were just phenomenal and we made some good
friends in
those three days of serving together.
People
Stories
I visited a lady,
whose
husband had left her with three young children and no way to fend for
herself.
Two of her children had died from hunger and her young son, looked so
scrawny
and had only a ragged shirt for his clothing. She herself was not well,
with
heart problems. We led her to Christ and prayed for her. She felt that
she
could not go to church because she was too poor. She was the first
local I
visited and prayed for in Cebu.
Another lady, whom
I spoke to
during our visits (around the villages, knocking on doors and inviting
people
to come to our open-air services,) came to our meeting. Subsequently, I
talked
to her and she asked me to pray for her child’s father to come home.
Another man I met
during the
house visits was a coconut wine maker (Malaysians know it as samsu
or toddy).
I was very disturbed by the fact that in order to `be a Christian’ and
join the
church, he would be pressured to give up his livelihood. What a
stumbling
block. Don’t get me wrong, the church people are lovely people but such
a
mind-set has developed that certain jobs are sinful and prejudice sets
in to
block people from receiving a free gift of God. And everywhere in the
world,
good people set up stumbling blocks to hinder others from coming to
God. I can
almost see Satan laughing and Jesus, who paid the ultimate price for
them,
crying at this predicament.
Why am I sharing
all these?
These are what I have brought back with me - memories of people, faces,
lives
and their stories. They have moved me. They have changed me.
By Loretta Chin
CBC Subang Centre
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LETTER
FROM KENYA
Greetings
in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We
are fine here and the Lord has kept us well and busy. The last time we
were
back (in Malaysia), we shared
about our
involvement with the mainland Chinese ministry. You can imagine how
desperate
they are – even John Lim is required to preach at the Chinese church
(he does
it with an interpreter). He did quite a good job. He may have the
makings of a
preacher! Actually, we picked something from the materials Pastor
Richard gave
us and adapted our own testimony to it. It had a great impact on the
congregation… so much so, one guy said he couldn’t sleep that night and
decided
his family should have Bible study with us so that they can learn more.
Since
then we have started a cell group of about eight persons at his home.
Praise
God! Indeed, the Lord’s Word will never return to Him void. Also,
another guy
whom many people found hard to reach out to (because he is a
60-plus-year-old,
stubborn ex-military man of the communist regime) came up to John and
said he
sounded very learned (John – imagine that!) and he respected his point
of view.
Up till now, this man (though still not saved) comes to home cell and
every
church service with his wife and son!
Anyway,
we are pretty active at the Chinese church now (with a regular
membership of 25
to 30), although we are also attending the English one for the worship
and the
`bread’. The Chinese church is more for works. I teach Sunday school
there,
even teaching them praise hands (CBC’s way of worshipping God with
hands)! We are
also leading two home cells (out of four) and have tried to introduce
the 4Ws,
but we are treading very carefully because we do not want to give the
impression of taking over.
It’s
interesting that we have to re-learn how to do things as working with a
different ‘cultural’ group makes it all very different. An example is
an
outreach programme last year where almost a hundred people were
invited. The
response was good because it was a celebration of the Mooncake
Festival. But
they were quite disorganised, probably due to inexperience. The
outreach was
held at a car park that belonged to a casino (of all places!)
Held
on a cold, windy day, with the wind whizzing around, the sound system
had a
terrible echo so nobody could hear well. They dragged us to the front
to
present songs that they never told us about (and I think they did not
rehearse.) A guest’s pants caught fire because paraffin from a food
stove
spilled on him (I think his skin got scorched too because somebody had
to drive
out to buy medication.) Nobody was really interested in the programme
because
they carried on eating, talking noisily and smoking (mainland Chinese
habit.)
After eating their fill, they prepared to leave! Frantic that the whole
thing
was just going the wrong way, the Christians turned to us, hoping that
we could
save the situation. I played impromptu games to prevent people from
leaving and
finally explained the objective of the whole programme to the guests
and
invited them to visit the service on Sunday to get to know us better.
On
another occasion, we were asked to organise celebrations for Christmas.
It was
a near disaster. Nobody could sing the Christmas carols (although they
were
translated) as the tunes were too `foreign’ to them. We also had
carolling, but
they could not understand why we went from home to home singing the
same songs
and offering the same wishes. Moreover, the hosts did not provide much
refreshment so everybody was hungry and not very cheerful.
By
the time the carollers reached their final destination (our home), they
were
only interested in standing near the food table and gobbling up
whatever was
served. We gave each a candle and tried to have them light each other’s
candle,
so we could explain the meaning of Christ’s birth. It didn’t work
because it
was freezing cold out in the garden and the wind kept blowing out all
the
candles! They only began to cheer up when we played games such as
musical
chairs and when there were plenty of gifts to give out from answering
questions.
Sigh!
Wished we were back in CBC where everything is so organised. I was
frustrated
with them most of the time, but John cautioned that we should just let
them do
things their way and let them learn from their mistakes. Somehow, the
things
that worked with us do not necessarily work for them. It is an entirely
new
experience for us. Anyway, we learned to give thanks to God for all
things as
He will see to it that seeds are planted. As long as God’s people try,
the Lord
of the Harvest will make things happen for good. It was interesting to
note
that a lot of God’s people have the heart for God’s work but have no
idea how
to go about it. But then again, in the Old Testament, a few of God’s
people can
kill hundreds and thousands of the enemies as long as God was with
them. Our
weapons might be weak but our hearts need to be confident in our God.
So, no
matter how we blunder, as long as our God is with us, the spiritual
battle can
be won. Still, a lot needs to be done here.
Recently,
we started visiting those who have dropped out of church, including
mainland
Chinese people visiting or working in Nairobi. It had been
quite challenging because most of
them came here to make money, since many borrowed or used up a lot of
their
savings, left their wives and children in China to try to make
it in Kenya. (Sounds like
our
Malaysian and Singapore Chinese forefathers!) They have no other focus
and
their very bleak existence compels them to plod on with life. They live
in very
squalid conditions and make do with simple amenities. So, suggesting
that they
come to home cell or church is not something they easily accept and is
considered a waste of time unless food is provided!
I
started an English Language class at the Nairobi Chapel and this
attracted a
good response. The Chinese here have need of this service and since we
are not
charging any fees, we hope this will be a good platform for soft
evangelism.
Do
you remember there was once a Caucasian lady who came to CBC and gave a
talk
about evangelistic work in China?
She said it was difficult to reach out to the mainland Chinese unless
there’s
something they want from you, and that very often the works have to be
camouflaged behind things like computer or English classes. At this
moment when
China people are
trying to
globalise, learning English (and other skills) is a priority to them.
For these
reasons, I took classes and eventually obtained my certification to
teach
“English as a Foreign Language” (EFL). It has come in handy. Seems like
God can
use anything we have for His kingdom, no talent goes to waste.
CBC
has thoroughly prepared us for all these challenges: what to do to
start a home
cell, how to do visitations, how to organise an outreach, run guest
nights,
conspiracy of kindness acts, lead discipleship programmes, IGC
(Inter-Generational
Cell), children’s church, praise hands, conduct classes, even
involvement in
Chinese church activities. These have been invaluable experiences that
we now
thank God for.
This
little congregation is tending to lean on us, hoping that we will lead
this and
that for them. That rings an alarm bell in us! As you know, we are
nomads. John
currently trains a worship team and new musicians and I teach songs in
both
English and Chinese, and dance too! Recently, the chairman of the
committee
resigned because he planned on going to London to do a
sponsored Pastoral Programme. It was
recommended that I take over the position. We are stalling, telling
them we
need time to think and pray about it. But it might be inevitable. Yet
we don’t
want them to depend too much on us because we are not sure how long we
can be
around.
We
really pray that somebody will have the heart for these people and come
and
pastor this congregation. Our thinking is, why go all the way to China and risk being
caught by
the government? There are plenty of Chinese people here (about 5,000)
with no
risks involved. This group is, what I would call, a captive audience,
since
they have no family or relatives here, no entertainment or
distractions. Most
of the present members are saved in Nairobi, about 200 of
them in the past five years, and not
in China. But many have
returned to
China and are
evangelising their
own families.
So
far, they only have a Reverend Lai (from Hong Kong with an
Australian passport) who founded the
church five years ago. Presently, he is located in Uganda, doing Bible
translation
work. A Malaysian church from Sibu, Sarawak, occasionally
sends pastors to minister, and
supports some members to Haggai Bible school. A Hong Kong church also
supports in terms of
evangelistic material and Bibles. Occasionally, Chinese congregations
from
around the region would send visiting pastors.
We
are expecting a team of seven this August from a Chinese Fellowship in South Africa. Amongst them
are two
pastors and a missionary. They will be here for a week. We are planning
an
evangelistic outreach programme for the unreached, a counselling
programme for
church members and a leadership training session for leaders and
potential
leaders. Do let us know if any of you are interested to come here to
serve
either short- or long-term, to encourage and support the church.
Well,
as you can see, we are kept rather busy and we have been here for only
slightly
more than six months. But you know, we have always been in a hurry to
do
things. No time to waste, not knowing when we will be transferred
again.
Continue to keep us in your prayers.
The
weather here is beautiful, a constant 16ºC to 20+ ºC. I recently
climbed Mt Kenya with 14
Chinese-church
members. I would never have done this crazy thing were it not because I
desired
to reach out to a family of five who joined the climbing group.
Needless to
say, the mainland Chinese fared better than I. I was more or less
dragged up
the mountain and could barely stand. The peak is 5,188-metres
(17,022ft) high, and
I managed to make it to the first station only, which is at 3,300
metres
(11,000ft.) The experience taught me that the team has wonderful,
caring people
and there are things they can do better than us. With this experience,
we are
encouraged to work even harder to pass the baton. One day, they will
grow to be
a strong church.
Right
now, the whole city is filled with blooming purple-flower trees called
Jacaranda, so alike the Sakura season in Japan. When the
flowers fall, the ground becomes a
purple carpet. It is a wonderful place to visit and we hope to see some
CBC
members spend their holiday here one day!
God
bless,
Jennifer
For
the Lim Family in Kenya
(The
Lims are CBC members living in Nairobi)
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
PRAYERS ON MOUNT KENYA
When one of our
Chinese church committee members
suggested that we could use the coming May Day weekend to climb Mt Kenya and hold a
prayer meeting
at the summit, it did sound like such a wonderful idea to me. John, of
course,
thought they were crazy. He explained that the reason we have a holiday
for
Labour Day is to give working people an opportunity to rest, NOT to
labour up a
mountain! Anyway, nothing could change his mind. However, I managed to
persuade
my son Jeremy (16) to go with me instead. He was also not enthusiastic
about it
as he anticipated boredom since he does not converse in Mandarin, and
everyone
who’s going speaks only Mandarin! But after much persuasion and a
little
bribery (had to buy him an MP3 player which he had coveted for a long
time), we
signed up.
I did my
obligatory preparations: walking 20
times round my garden at least twice a day, and a lot of leg exercises.
But
Jeremy scoffed at my preparations (he did Mt Kinabalu last year.) He
said my
exercises won’t be sufficient for me to make it up even Penang Hill.
But, you
know me, I am very gungho!
Much to my
disappointment, I caught a cold the day
before we were to leave (the weather in Nairobi has been
steadily dipping
in anticipation of cold months from July.) After consulting the
organiser, I
decided to still go. As I understood it, there won’t be any climbing on
the
first day. We will be dropped off by car at the first station to
acclimatise
and start to climb only on the second day. That should give me time to
recover,
so I thought.
Bright
and sunny, 15 of us from the Chinese Fellowship in Nairobi, except a
family of
five who are non-Christians, gathered to be detailed. Other than Jeremy
and
myself, the rest are all mainland Chinese, all chirping away in their Beijing accent. We
actually looked
quite comical because most of us were without suitable
mountain-climbing gear –
we were decked out in all kinds of hotch-potch clothing and equipment
(my
walking stick was part of my gardener’s broomstick).
We were all in
high spirits but this waned a little
after a 3½-hour trip from Nairobi city to a town
at the base of the mountain. We
first made our way to a shop where we were supposed to rent some
‘professional’
mountain-climbing equipment such as oxygen bags/tanks and some rain
gear (it’s
the rainy season still). Much to our disappointment, the shop was
empty! All
the equipment and gear were rented out to a group going up Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest
mountain in Africa).
We were now a
bit concerned but nobody wanted to
give up and travel 3½ hours back to Nairobi. Anyway, one of
the members suggested we buy some
balloons and fill them up with oxygen from a bicycle shop. Wonders of
Chinese
technology! So, off we went, doing just that. On our way towards the
entrance
of Mt Kenya, we had to pass
many
villages; there was a look of amazement from waving children as they
saw two
four-wheel drives occupied by Chinese people filled with multi-coloured
balloons going towards the mountain. They must think we were going to
have some
crazy party up there!
However, far
from our original plan to pray when we
got to the summit, we had to pray right at the foot of the mountain.
Our trip
was dogged every step of the way with very challenging obstacles. We
learnt
that we had to pray every step of the way to avert serious accidents.
Just
15 or so metres from the gate, both four-wheel drives got stuck in mud.
From
there, our adventure started going downhill (forgive the pun.) All
seven guys
and drivers got down to push, pull, shout and struggle with the hefty
vehicles.
After almost four hours of it (they started at 4.30pm,) they finally
gave up.
The sky had turned dark, the gates to the mountain had closed, we were
all
hungry and tired but had to start tracking up to the first station.
That was 8.30pm. A very
bedraggled group
of people with poorly equipped torches and sticks, lugging luggage,
started to
climb up the mountain in semi-darkness, at about 12ºC. We had to make a
lot of
noise to scare away wild animals, as we were in a country filled with
them. We
climbed 8km before we reached the first station.
Half-way
through, I asked them to leave me by the
roadside to die. I had difficulty breathing, putting one foot before
the other
took tremendous effort, and my head was swimming. Every step I took, I
uttered
a prayer. But my group were all very supportive – they had lots of
encouraging
words for me, and physically supported me as well. They fed me with all
kinds
of miracle tablets made in China. They made me
breathe the oxygen from the
balloons, which didn’t help much but I hadn’t the heart to tell them.
They even
sang some of the praise songs I had taught them just to cheer me up
(they
always sing them very badly, and I always laughed at them, so they
thought I
would laugh and be energized.) They showed me God’s love and strength
by their
actions. Their encouragement warmed my heart as nothing else could on
that
cold, cold night. I struggled on.
With one more
kilometre to climb, I could no longer
feel my hands, feet or anything, but they continued to drag me up. I am
sure
they were really tired by then. With less than 200m to the station, I
collapsed. They took turns to piggy-back me over the steepest climb. We
arrived
at 2am after a
five-hour climb.
In my senseless state, they administered first aid, piled me with their
warm
clothing and trickled hot drinks down my throat. They really thought I
had
died, because they stuck their fingers under my nose to see if I was
still
breathing. Later, they told me they were really scared and prayed like
crazy.
Well, I survived
to see sunshine the next day.
Praise the Lord!
They
left me behind at the first station, at 3,300m altitude, and continued
to climb
to Station Two (5,000m) taking Jeremy with them. From the moment they
left, it
rained cats and dogs. They later related to me, with only plastic bags
and
garbage bags for covering, not a single part of their body was dry. As
the
terrain got tougher, they climbed over big rocks and crossed two
rushing
rivers. By the time they reached Station Two, it was raining
hailstones! The
temperature was zero degrees. What’s more, the porters who accompanied
them
forgot to bring wood and charcoal and so they had no way to dry out,
and had to
sleep one night there in freezing conditions! Only four persons,
including
Jeremy, made it to the summit at 5,500m, on the third day, to see the
snowy
top. Few felt like holding a prayer meeting then. Shortly, they had to
track
down.
The cars were
supposed to meet us at Station One to
bring us back to town. But again, they got stuck in mud, unable to make
more
than 15m from the gate at the bottom of the mountain. When the party
returning
from the summit were greeted with the bad news of having to endure
trekking
another 8km downhill, they almost cried!
To make a long
story short, we barely made it to the
bottom before darkness fell again. From there, we still had to travel
3½ hours
back to Nairobi.
The Happy Chinese
Mountaineers who
never gave up!
My thoughts on
the whole adventure? If you have to
mountain climb, the best bunch of people to go with are these
warm-hearted
mainland Chinese. They might be poor on equipment and preparation, but
they are
rich in love, strength and prayer. And I am sure their thoughts on the
adventure would be – never go mountain climbing with a hopeless
Singaporean woman
called Jennifer!
A last thought –
you can’t plan when you wish to
pray. God expects us to pray all the way, from the word GO. We should
not have
expected a path without rocks and thorns but should have expected to
endure, to
overcome, to have strength and courage, and finally to lean on God and
each
other. We are made stronger that way.
I
am expected to give this testimony in church next Sunday, and I know I
can’t do
it with a dry eye. This experience has made a tremendous impact on me.
Well…
until the next mountain!
Jennifer Lim
Kenya, Africa
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I will lift up
my eyes to
the hills from whence comes my help?
My help comes
from the Lord
Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1
‘Led
by the Spirit’
CBC Sunway-Subang Church Camp 2005
May 21st – 23rd
2005 Cerating, Pahang
It
was a great time of experiencing God’s move, enjoying the
congregational
fellowship and simply having fun during the three days of our church
camp held
at Cherating from May 21 to 23,
2005.
The theme ‘Led by the Spirit’ was truly meaningful right from the start
when
the organising committee put the camp together, including the camp
schedule. We
wanted the Holy Spirit to have His way at the camp, so we allowed
ministry time
for each session.
About
120 members attended the camp. Pastors Daniel and Levi Lim were the
main
speakers. An apt choice, says Ps Malcolm, as they are gifted in this
area of
ministry. Upon arrival, campers were given time for R&R (rest and
recreation). The moment we arrived, some ran down to the beach, some
chose to
rest, and the majority of the kids wasted no time jumping into the
pool.
Waves
of
Praise
By
5pm, some had
gathered in the
hall for an hour of prayer and worship with Ps Daniel – to cover the
camp and all its activities with
prayer. The first session started with team building led by Anne’s
young
adults’ cell group. Campers were assigned teams, named after David’s
mighty
men. Praise and worship for the evening followed and Ps Daniel
delivered the
Word with an introduction of the Holy Spirit and His works. Levi then
shared
her experiences of God-given
dreams
and their interpretations. The next day, at the beach, everyone was in
for a
surprise during team building. We learnt a great lesson that whatever
activities thought up by people like Sze Gion and Marcus Tan will ‘call
out the
mighty in you’ and will summon courage you never thought was there!
Mouths were
used to ferry seawater, teams were buried under the sand, we ran around
trees
in a half-dizzy state and to top it all off, teams had to eat bizarre
concoctions of food found only in the likes of episodes of Fear
Factor.
Fancy having to gobble down cornflakes with Malta, sardine, syrup
and mayo? Maybe some pickled
ginger by the side?
In
spite of some of the inane things we had to do, we had fun. Pastors and
elders
let their hair down and joined in the insanity. After such tough stuff
and
teamwork, how can relationships not be stronger? Later, it was free
time to
comb the beach, swim, sleep or just hang out. After lunch, Ps Malcolm
held a
water baptism class for those interested in getting baptised the next
day.
Straight after that, Ps Daniel addressed a number of China students who
were new to
Christianity.
Confirmed Baptists, after
the dunk!
We
had our Sunday service that night and Ps Daniel showed a video of the
work of
the International House of Prayer (IHOP) where he and Levi are based.
When the
service proper started, he prophesied over several members of the
church,
including some youth. The Word was preached followed by Levi sharing a
dream
God gave her regarding the church.
On the last day, before leaving, Ps Daniel
again
prophesied over several other members, and had a time of ministry where
everyone was prayed for. Since time was short, he anointed the cell
leaders who
in turn prayed and anointed their cell members. It was a wonderful time
being
able to pray for each other. After lunch, we packed up and left for
Subang
Jaya.
Water
Baptism
On Sunday, six people were baptised by Ps Mal
and Elder
Beng Teong. The candidates were Rebecca, Rachel, Margaret, Joshua Tan,
Sze Jiun
and Jack Ng. We gathered on the beach for this joyful event, to witness
our
friends make an open declaration to follow Christ. After praying for
each
candidate, they were immersed in the sea. Congrats to all those who
took this
step of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.
By Pat Low
Shepherd of Faithworks
Youth Cell in
Subang
……………………………………………………………
Puchong
CBC’s Camp
May 28th – 29th 2005, Damai Laut, Lumut, Perak
Being new to
Puchong CBC, the
first lesson Ian (my husband) and I learnt from this church camp is
that of
punctuality. While we both value punctuality, we were nevertheless
running late
because we left the house a little later than planned and because of an
unscheduled stop at an ATM to get some cash (unfortunately this ATM had
run out
of cash). We showed up first at Chew Meng’s house, left our car in his
garage
and car-pooled with his family to get to the designated waiting place.
Ian and I were
surprised (and
in awe) to discover that we were the last to show up even though we
were less
than five minutes late. And throughout the camp, the chartered bus that
ferried
us campers from the apartment to the activity area kept very good time.
Thumbs
up for the CBC culture of punctuality! We had been so used to Malaysian
Rubber
Time.
The camp itself can
be
briefly described as Fun, Food and spiritual Food. The afternoon that
we
arrived at Damai Laut resort saw CBC folk having fun at a Telematch
organised
by the resort. The games were generally challenging for those of us who
aren’t
so young anymore; with some games more so than others. Try making your
way
across sandy ground
by continuously
stepping on
two small pieces of plank. Or spinning eight
times around a cone
and then
trying to run a straight line back to your team members – no mean feat!
The
children recovered noticeably faster in this spinning game.
Walking on Giant Slippers
require great team work!
Sunday promised
more fun with
Keng Yew and Sheau Jing in charge of the indoor games. The burger
scramble had
the youth and young adults ‘fighting’ for a soft toy burger that was a
disguised CD holder – the modified-rugby game was hilarious. Then the
teams
vied for the widest ear, the longest toe, etc., and acted out skits
with themes
like “The Walls of Jericho” and Christ’s crucifixion. A tie-breaker was
needed,
which resulted in an arm wrestling match between Dr Kim and Nico.
Nico’s team
emerged champs after an exciting pitting of bicep against bicep. Dr Kim
refused
to give up for some time and went down fighting.
As for food,
besides the
normal hotel buffet of salads, main-meal dishes and desserts, which
were
reasonably tasty, the buffet dinner offered delectable mussels. Its
buffet
breakfast was pretty enticing too. Surely it was a gourmand’s weekend
where we
church campers ate lots of good food in the hotel as well as outside,
especially since Lumut is well-known for good and affordably priced
seafood.
The clams we had for Sunday dinner were huge and that dinner itself was
lip-smacking
– dish after dish like a wedding dinner till we campers were quite
stuffed. I
think we ladies had to deal with the aftermath of gaining a kilo or two
over
the weekend.
Senior Pastor
Richard Toh
preached on Saturday night as well as at the camp’s Sunday morning
celebration
– it was a sermon in two parts. Pastor Richard shared the 10 things
that are
obstacles to intimacy with God: unyielded lives (disobedience),
unbelief about
God (God is not real in your life; do not be ignorant of God),
unconfessed sin,
untutored spirit (learn from wise, godly people), uncrossed bridges in
our
lives (deal with your past), unfounded fears (fear God alone, not
anyone or
anything), undefined priorities (make time for prayer), unresolved
guilt (call
up and ask for forgiveness), unwholesome relationships (do not marry
someone
who’s not a Christian; husband and wife relationship that’s bad hinders
prayer)
and unrighteous motives (serve God because you love God, not for other
reasons).
On Saturday night,
all the
men present were asked to come forward and were collectively prayed
over. On
Sunday morning the same was done for all the women. It was something I
appreciated – being prayed for by the leadership and the rest of the
congregation.
A
time of
repentance on the sandy beach, followed by baptism
Another momentous
event was
the water baptism on Sunday after the celebration and indoor games. The
baptism
was by immersion in seawater, accompanied right after each dip by the
rousing
song I Have Decided To Follow Jesus and guitar-playing.
Something that
really tried
our faith was when
Pastor
Richard asked us all to kneel for a pre-baptism prayer — on the sharp
grainy
sand! Ouch!
Sheau Jing had
shared during
Sunday celebration that she had been resisting water baptism for some
time but
that God had impressed upon her that she had no good reason not to.
Amid the
yes-and-no tussle within her, God convicted her to press on with the
baptism,
and she did – Praise the Lord!
Baptism Candidates – “We have decided to follow
Jesus!”
On a personal
front, during
Pr Richard’s sermon, I felt God was asking me to cross the bridge from
my
previous church, DUMC, to become a member of Puchong CBC. My husband
had
already decided but I was nostalgic about leaving our previous church.
It was an
emotional bridge I was having difficulty crossing, much less burn. I
told the
Lord I would do so.
I’ve been a little
nostalgic
occasionally although I’ve already given my husband the green light to
inform
the leadership of DUMC, and he’s
already done so.
But I know
that decisions are made as an act of the will in obedience to God and
that
emotions sometimes take a while to catch up even as we act in faith.
Leaving
our previous church was a decision made in faith believing that God was
leading
us to Puchong CBC.
It
is also
the fulfillment of an impression God gave me when I first joined DUMC
in 1999.
I had wondered in my heart whether I would stay with DUMC for the rest
of my
life, and God impressed upon my heart that I would be there for between
five
and 10 years only. So Ian and I have decided to become members of
Puchong CBC
and are looking forward to what God has in store for us here.
By Chew Juliane
Pictures by Ian Chai
& Daniel Cheong Kok Meng
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
True faith
will obey without delay
……………………………………………………………
OA Mission
Trip
June 6 – June 9, 2005
It
was a trip of faith, as many of us in the team will testify. Our lives
were
impacted not only as a team, but also individually. There were six of
us in
this trip – Joel Toh as leader, Loretta Chin as advisor, Huey Wen, Sze
Jiun
(SJ), Wahome and I. The trip was arranged to visit the orang asli
villages in
Pahang near Raub. It has been some time since a team from CBC has gone
there.
Our
team was small and most of us were first-timers with the exception of
Joel and
Loretta. We didn’t really plan an elaborate schedule (in fact, we
didn’t even
plan on specific places to visit), but instead left it to God’s
directing. It
was wonderful to be able to depend on God like that as it meant we
needed to
wait upon Him. Joel and SJ prepared games, whilst Huey Wen did the
children’s
agenda. Wahome and I prepared new worship songs and translated them
into Bahasa
Melayu. Loretta was to testify, and our team leader, Joel, to preach in
the Rejoice
sessions. We were also scheduled to stop by at the bible school in
Cheroh. We
bought balls and a guitar to give away, and a supply of food. With that
we left
for Raub after breakfast and devotion on Monday morning.
Day
1
We
met Ps Moses Soo at Raub, and he led us to the Bible school, where
about a
hundred Orang Asli (OA) from various villages gather monthly. When we
arrived,
they were having their Bible study. Our two OA mission trip veterans
were
surprised to see how well equipped and beautiful the premises had
become! A far
cry from the last time they were there. We rested awhile, and later
helped sort
and distribute clothes to the Bible school students. That done, having
nothing
else to do, we then prayed and worshipped, asking God to lead and guide
us as
to where we should go. At night, after washing dishes, we joined in the
session. The one thing that caught my attention was how beautiful the
OA voices
were, singing praises together to God. By bedtime we still didn’t know
where we
were going the next day.
Day
2
The
girls in the group were struck with diarrhoea. By noontime we still had
no clue
where to go, but we had an idea that we will leave by the next day. Ps
Moses
must have thought we shouldn’t waste anymore time. By noon he told Joel to
get us ready as we will be leaving
in an hour’s time. He even prepared an entire itinerary for us. Well,
at least
now we know where we’re heading. We took a van to the meeting point and
jumped
into the next Hilux (a four-wheel drive). Destination: Janggap. We
stopped by
at base camp in Tuah, and then headed off to Renggang where we began to
hike.
The
uphill hike was strenuous. I had no idea it would be this bad. There
were times
I felt like giving up, but when I looked at my teammates, I knew I had
to press
on. The hike was made slightly easier by Joel, who helped with my load;
Huey
Wen, who shared my need to stop frequently; and Wahome, who gave me a
helping
hand. The sights were beautiful, and after several false alarms, we
finally
arrived in Janggap. We were greeted warmly, and made a stop at the
Patin’s (the
village head) house. It began to rain.
We
had our first meal out there in the jungle. For some of us, it was our
first
try of grilled tapioca, corn and tea made with copious amounts of
sugar. The
evening was spent preparing for the Rejoice sessions and resting. At
the
service, Joel shared on ‘God, Our Master’ followed by worship and
testimony
time. We ate together and the experience of such communal dinners left
a
lasting impression in my heart. Later, some stayed behind to fellowship
and
learn the new songs we brought with us.
Day
3
I
woke up with a bout of flu. Nevertheless, the day had to go on. Some of
us went
to play ball with the children, who were so adorable, but very
sagap (shy). An
impromptu Sunday
school session ensued, conducted by Huey Wen. Before we left at noon,
the
villagers gathered to see us off, and we were asked to pray for healing
for an
elderly uncle who had knee and leg problems, and baby Sam who was sick
with
fever.
As
we hiked down, I had only one petition – God, please help me carry my
load.
With God’s grace we all managed to reach base camp with ease and even
had
enough time to bathe in the river. Then we met Sis Jo who drove us to
the
drop-off point at Sawei, a village none of us had ever been to. The
hike was
moderate, and a piece of cake compared to Janggap!
Upon
reaching the village, we were met by the Patin and Yahya. Later, we
walked
around the village and met the villagers, and then took our customary
rest as
we were tired from the hike. At night Rejoice was held. The tiny church
was
packed, and you could really sense a feeling of warmth. Yahya shared a
verse in
Psalm 133, about brothers and sisters coming together in unity, in
Christ. He
then continued by saying it was an honour to have the first African
(Wahome)
set foot in their village. You could sense the people’s love for God,
and their
passion for the Truth. What truly impressed us also was the humility of
the
Patin, who ate with us, sat with us, chatted with us, and even invited
us to
spend the night in his house (which we did). They provided us with
pillows and
even late night entertainment in the form of a Christian karaoke VCD.
Their
hospitality really touched us.
Day
4
We
left in the morning for a day trip to a village in Senderut. We were
scheduled
to visit homes, but when we reached there, we received news that
the village cikgu’s
wife had just miscarried her baby. The community was in mourning. As a
result
we couldn’t go on with the initial plan, but we had the chance to talk
to and
pray for Cikgu Norman, a great man of faith. Even in his
situation he
still had so much faith and trust in the Lord. He also shared about the
persecution his village suffered, yet he spoke fearlessly with much
faith. We
were very much encouraged.
After lunch, we rested and Sis Jo arrived to
pick us up
an hour earlier. We left for Cheroh, back to the bible school. We had
planned
to head home on Friday morning, but since we had nothing else to do, we
decided
to spring home earlier. We arrived safely that night itself.
It
was amazing being able to minister and be ministered to, being able to
gather
with people from other places and origin to worship the one true God,
and to
spend time with the team members and work together under His banner.
I’m
looking forward to the next trip.
By Pat Low
Shepherd of Faithworks
Youth Cell in
Subang
♥ ♥
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
God
Won’t Ask
1...God won't
ask what
kind of car you drove.
He'll
ask
how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.
2...God won't ask the square footage of your house.
He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
3...God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet,
He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.
4...God won't ask what your highest salary was.
He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
5...God won't ask what your job title was.
He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
6...God won't ask how many friends you had.
He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
7...God won't ask in what neighbourhood you lived in.
He'll ask how you treated your neighbours.
8...God won't ask about the colour of your skin.
He'll ask about the content of your character.
9...God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation.
He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the
gates of
Hell.
10....God won't ask how many people you forwarded this to.
He'll ask if you were ashamed to pass it on to your friends.
Happy
moments, praise God.
Difficult
moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful
moments, trust
God.
Every moment, thank God!
