NEWS July 2007 - July 2008 Kajang Assembly of God Private Circulation Only N N J J u u l l y y 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 7 - J J J u u l l l y y 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 8 K K K K a a a j j j j j a a n n g g A A A s s s e e m mb b b b l l l l y y o o f f f f G G o d d P P P P r r i i v v a a a t t t t t e e e e C C C C C C C i i i i i i r r r r c c c u u l l l a a a t t t t t t i i i i i i o o o o n n n n O O O O O O n n l l y y N N E E E E E E E E W W W W W W W W W W W W S S S S S S S S S S S N N E E E E E E E E E E E E W W W W W W W W S S S S S S S S S S S N N E E E E E E E E E E E E E W W W W W W S S S S S S S S
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July 2007 - July 2008 Kajang Assembly of God Private Circulation Only
Editorial Team David Christy Lam Lin Shi Leona Lim
Contributing Writers Ps Chan Nam Chen Chan Mee Lin Connie Seaward Ong Peter Shankar Timothy Ong Yee Tham Wan Ps Kalarani Ammu Raj Dr Fidel Monzon James Hosack Marcel Joseph Philip Chang Elisha Chua Salomo Sinaga Shirley Norman Bharat Bahadur
Missions Commitee Lilian Joseph - Secretary Chu Wai Lune - Publicity Ps Peter Lai - Chinese Rep KB James - Tamil Rep Mok Yen Ching - BM Rep Nicky Ling - Czone Rep Anita Lee - Children Rep Law Jen Jen - Youth Rep Redxona Boo - North Zone Frankie Loo - Central/East Zone Tan Seng Seng - South Zone Robert & Cassie Samuel - West Zone
Mailing Address PO Box 20, 43007 Kajang, Selangor Tel 03-87361890 Fax 03-87369396
The Harvest News is published annually by Kajang Assembly of God.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without express written permission is prohibited. Opinions and views expressed do not necessarily constitute the official stand of the church.
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Our Vision“But you are a chosen people, a royal priest-
hood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful
light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
Our MissionWhat we intend to do to fulfill our vision.Each of the mission statement below seeks to
fulfill one and at times two out of the three components of KAOGʼs vision statement.
To reach out to the different language, ethnic,
age and social groups in the Kajang area with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
To disciple and equip every member in order
that they may achieve their full maturity in Christ and be released into effective ministry.
To bless our society and our nation through
our community services and through the influence and ministries of our members.
To raise up and send Christian workers,
pastors and missionaries worldwide.
To plant churches in the regions beyond
Kajang which will share a similar vision and sense of mission.
To bless the body of Christ at large.
“Life is not about what gives you fulfill-ment...”
“We do many things every day of our life, but do we ask our-selves whether these actions are borne out of the will of the Father? Reverend Chan Nam Chen shares his thoughts”
This is what our world is all about. It is really about making the best of ourselves; getting the best out of life and enjoying life to the fullest. Every self-help book in the bookstores invariably revolves around one of these themes. Isn’t this what the Bible teaches? Answer: Yes and No. Yes, because knowing God and pursuing God will inevitably bring us to the best that we could ever hope for or dream of. No, because unless we get our thinking aligned with God’s t h i n k i n g, o f t e n t i m e s H i s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways, our ways (Isa 55:8).
It all starts from the heart. We’ve got to decide that what turns God on will be what turns us on. Jesus says: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the
fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (Jn 4:34-35) Life is not about what gives you fulfillment but what gives God pleasure. It is not about what you aspire to be but what God has destined for your life.
The will of the Father is to get the good news of salvation to those who need it. In God’s sovereign will, He has a specific destiny for you in His plans to reach every people group before Christ returns. Some of you are called to be the front-line troops. This is an awesome privilege. You are granted divine grace to come out from your normal c o m f o r t z o n e , c ro s s t h e boundaries and make the ad-justments to live and serve among an unreached people.
All of us are called to serve as support to the front-liners. We mu s t p r ay f e r ve n t l y a n d consistently because our mis-sionaries are engaged in spiritual warfare and they need all the
spiritual firepower we can give. They need our letters and words of moral support and encour-agement because they are nor-mal human beings, experiencing the emotional ups and downs that we go through. We must give our finances regularly and sacrificially because “who serves as a soldier at his own expense?” (1 Cor 9:7)
Finding our place in God’s plans and being effective in that place is impossible without faith. But when you choose to believe, God’s faith in you will cause you to seek His will and do His will. Faith will overcome your fears and empower you to do what you naturally cannot do.
The starting point - what really turns you on? Choosing to be turned on by God and His purposes will release blessings, f u lfi l lmen t and a l i f e s o maximized beyond what we could ever attain in the natural. This is my desire for you.
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Rev. Chan Nam Chen is the Senior Pastor of Kajang Assembly of God. He is married to Chan Mee Lin, an active social worker with the Orang Asli. They have two sons, Micha and Jeshua.
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WHATTURNSYOUON?
China in AfricaBy Connie Seaward Ong
The Mandarin worship songs flowed over me like a sweet breeze on a warm day. I couldn’t help but notice 70-year-old Mr Fuk worshipping God with his arms outstretched and tears slipping down his wrinkled cheeks. I was overwhelmed. Why was this scene so touching?
The reason this was so extraordinary; I was sitting in our Chinese church in Accra, Ghana! God had brought these dear folks all the way from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia into a newfound relationship with Him. Now they stood side by side in Africa worshipping God.
This church was born not to accommodate the Chinese Christians who already existed in Ghana, but to bring the Gospel to those who did not know it. Everyone who attends the service walks away with the realization that nothing is impossible.
In 2000, Rev F.O. Seaward, the senior pastor of Elim church, Singapore, visited Accra. He was overwhelmed by the Chinese he saw in the city. He wanted to know, “What are you doing about these people?”
We told him, “We are here to reach the Ghanaians”.
He corrected us, saying, “You are here to reach the lost!”
He commissioned us to start a Chinese church. It didn’t matter that there were no Chinese Christians that we knew of at the time. He appointed Pastor John Lim and a team from Singapore to start the church. Pastor Lim visited a Chinese missionary and asked what he thought of this new venture.
“Impossible, don’t bother trying, I’ve been here for 15 years and I’ve never been able to get anything going,” the missionary said.
Others gave similar words of discouragement. They gave evidence that such a project would never get off the ground. Despite what they said, we went forward with planting the Chinese church in Ghana. God is a God who surprises us if we are willing to break through the natural limits. He is not restricted by natural thinking. Slowly but surely, many Chinese were saved. Many from mainland China thought that God was only for the foolish. As they came to know God, their lives were forever changed.
Now almost six years later, the Chinese church in Accra is still going strong. Pastors David Tan and Hannah Tan are now leading the church. The wonderful thing about this church is that when those who have come to do business in Ghana get saved and their lives are transformed, they return to mainland China with a fervor to share their faith with their family.
Everyone in the church has a testimony. There is Dr Wong who was sure that only fools believed in God, and who now says, “If believing in God means I must be a fool, then I will be a fool’. Jo-seph was filled with hurts and came to know Jesus as his healer.
Mr Fuk started attending church to please his wife. He mocked the church people, but soon the truth began to set him free. He had a stroke and it was those in the church who rushed to help him. He recovered and was baptized.
What if we had decided not to push the limits? What if we had decided to listen to those ‘experts’ who said it was not something that could be done? I shudder to answer those questions, for none of these people whom I see now would know the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
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The Chinese Church in Accra
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Connie Seaward Ong
“All over the world, there is a harvest. Wherever God puts us, we are there for souls.”
All over the world, there is a harvest. Wherever God puts us, we are there for souls. The way is open for ministry to the Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Africans, Jews, Dutch, Germans, Ameri-cans and Spanish. The list covers every tribe, tongue and nation. The harvest is ripe and ready. Are we willing to push forward and break through our limitations and reach for that which God has already set before us? He wants us to be His pace-setters!
Connie Seaward Ong and her husband, Rev Daniel Ong, are missionaries sent from Singapore to Ghana, West Africa. Connie has written a book called "Letta In China". You can find it on Amazon.com. It is a story about Connie's grandmother, who was a missionary in China in the early 1920s.
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KAOG @ MISSIONS
WHAT THE ORANG ASLI NEED IS...by Chan Mee Lin
Breaking the limits and setting the pace in the Orang Asli community is not impossible. But it takes time, patience, understanding and walk-ing alongside them with lots of encouragement and faith in God.
As I interacted with the Orang Asli in Kampung Tekir, Negeri Sembilan, I begin to understand that they are where they are today because of inherited values from past genera-tions. For generations, they had survived on food collected from the jungle or fish from the river or sea. They didn't see such a need as going to school.
In a way, they were self-sufficient. But all this changed when outsiders intruded into their territory in the name of ‘develop-ment’, clearing jungles and polluting rivers. In the process of ‘development’ they are ex-ploited, hired as cheap labour and bullied.Very often, they are considered as people with few capabilities. As such, they begin to believe and see themselves as people who are always poor and without much hope and purpose. With such a destructive mindset, breaking the limits is beyond their imagination. Those who work among them need to see them the way God sees them, as peo-ple of destiny. We need to give them the op-portunity to know Jesus. Teaching them bibli-cal values is the way to ‘break the limits and set the pace’. Discipleship includes practical ways such as helping them cope with development that affects their way of life. The younger gen-eration has to be prepared to earn a living in the town or city. Education is no longer an option but a need.
Praise God that He is working in their lives. Step by step, they are breaking the limits as they learn to trust God. We not only help them to cope with modern living but also to fulfil the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. As they begin to spend time with God, they will see how God can bless them and use them to reach out to their fellow kampung people, their own race and beyond.
Teaching the children of Kampung Tekir.
Missionarieswho failBy Peter Shankar
I wish I can say that missionaries are super humans. In reality, they are not. They are just like the rest of us with emotions, mood swings and needs. They enjoy watching movies, col-lecting stamps, going on holidays, swimming, playing tennis, shopping and everything that 'non-missionaries' enjoy.
It has never occurred to many Christians that missionaries need a sound support structure within their local church.
According to Barret’s survey in 1998, more than 12,000 missionaries (from the global Catholic and Protestant pool) are lost annually. One might won-der why missionaries leave the field prematurely, especially from newer- sending countries like Malaysia, Singa-pore, Korea and the Philippines.
It is evident that missionaries need love and care. Some of the areas that need attention are:
1. Communication80% of missionaries fail within the
first 2 years in the field because they lack encouragement. They leave their home country with zest and passion, ready to ‘conquer’ the land. As time goes by, there seems to be less and less communication between the church and the missionary. Inevitably, they find themselves battling with discourage-ment.
2. Prayer Have you ever considered becom-
ing a prayer missionary? This is a role anyone can undertake. Missionaries need teams praying for them on a regu-lar basis.
3. Logistics Logistical support is administrative
support. This includes helping the mis-sionary collect mail, file income tax forms, collect rental and pay insurance.
4. Finance Finance is usually seen as the be-
ginning and the end of missions. For some Christians, once they have given some money, they feel they have fulfilled their responsibility to missions. Real giving is honouring the Lord by giving
unto Him so that His name will be glo-rified.
In my wife's first month in Thai-land, she 'suffered' when her church
could not fulfi l l the pledge to support her. It was a very difficult time, not knowing how she could pay her rent and transport and whether she could even afford to eat. One day, all she had was 50 cents and she was
hungry. As she walked, she prayed that God would provide her with some money to buy lunch. She found 1 dollar on the street and that gave her a decent meal. She had to live by faith during that season of her life.
5. EncouragementEncouragement means a lot to mis-
sionaries. They love reading letters, receiving news from their home churches, sermon tapes and church bulletins.
6. Re-Entry Support Transitioning from the field to their
home country can be a major effort. It is like transitioning from winter in the US to the Sahara Desert. It can cause a lot of stress. There were cases where missionaries committed suicide when they returned home because they were unable to adjust to their new environ-ment. A re-entry team can help by tak-ing care of the needs of the returning missionary.
7. A Listening EarMissionaries are constantly chal-
lenged by cultural stress, field stress, team problems, language stress, com-munication stress and other pressures that drain their energy. They need a listening ear.
8. Team ChampionThe support team can only func-
tion well under good leadership. It needs a 'champion' who is willing to hold the team together. Peter Shankar Nambiar is serving with STAMP, a missions agency focusing on unreached peoples.
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KAOG @ MISSIONS
AN AMAZING JOURNEYBy Timothy Ong
I used to fear going on mission trips, worrying about the toilet, food and hy-giene. Not anymore. Here's a short ac-count of my life-changing trip to Sabah with Rev Chan Nam Chen, Pastor Calvin Lee, Elaine, Alicia, Liannie and Mikha.TongodPastor Martin and Brother Ma were our guides throughout this amazing journey. The journey to Tongod took 4 1/2 hours by jeep. The muddy roads were riddled with potholes and rocks. When we ar-rived, it was a great relief as most of us could barely stand. We took part in a gotong royong to help the villagers clear the land. After the hard work, the villagers served us river prawns which were big and sweet! We were sad, however, that the river, the villagers’ source of water and food and means of transport, has been polluted by effluents from factories.During the two nights, we shared our testimonies, encouraged the villagers and prayed for healing and deliverance. BeluranWe headed for Beluran in the afternoon. We went to the village and housing area to invite the locals for a special service. SandakanSandakan is like Kajang but with nicer seafood. We ministered in a small church that night. The next day, we went to Calvary Charismatic Centre to minister to the youths. I felt great joy and free-dom when I was able to do what my heart wanted to for a long time - to preach and to save souls for God. What I’ve learntI realized that men are selfish beings who will do things to destroy their own kind. We not only have to give financially to support these villagers but we also have to think of other ways to help them.Jesus uses ordinary people to impact the world. He doesn’t need the rich and famous. In Beluran, God showed me that people who do not have enough resources still can do well and shine for Jesus. How about us? Can't we do better?
FINDING HER CALL- ON A FLIGHT
By Yee Tham Wan
A few years ago, when flying from Manila to Kuala Lumpur, I was seated next to a young Filipina. When the plane took off, she started to cry. Be-cause I was not with my wife, I did not feel comfortable starting a conversation with a female stranger. So I just left her alone.
But I took out my Bible and started reading. As I was flipping through the pages, she asked, “Are you a pastor?”
I told her I was a pastor and that I was teaching at a seminary in Baguio. I asked her why she was crying. She told me that she was home on vacation after working for a couple of years as a do-mestic helper in Barcelona, Spain. She had just met her aged mother and she was returning to Spain. It would be years before she could see her mother again. She was crying because she did not know if her mother would still be alive the next time she returned.
I found out that she was a Christian and went to church every weekend in Barcelona. She was serving as a worship leader. I told her that she was probably
a much more effective missionary than I could ever be. She even had a part in nurturing, teaching and training the children of her Spanish employer. I might carry the title “missionary” but there were many things that she could do as an overseas contract worker that I could not.
It is not the “missionary” title that qualifies us. It is His calling. Moon Tee and I have been here at the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio for the past three years because we believe that it is the call of God for this season of our lives. We are now involved in train-ing church leaders in the Asia Pacific.
We also involve ourselves in the local churches during the weekends. We preach and conduct seminars for pas-
tors. We travel out-side Baguio for min-istry as well. Moon Tee is a volunteer at public schools where she teaches Bible classes. The work we do is not always easy and that is why the assurance of a divine call is so im-portant. I told the Filipina on the plane that it was God’s plan for her to
be in Spain. Her life might not be easy but when she sees it as a divine call, she can find strength. After all, the One who calls us is faithful and He will do it. (1 Thess 5:24) I could see her counte-nance change as I encouraged her to see her life in terms of God’s mission. Instead of going to Spain simply as a domestic helper with a sense of resigna-tion, she was going with a sense of purpose as a missionary, albeit without the title.
Every Christian has been called to play a role in God’s mission. In that sense, every Christian is a missionary.
Revs Yee Tham Wan and Moon Tee are Malaysian Assemblies of God missionaries to the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio.
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KAOG @ MISSIONS
THE CALL TO KAMPONG SPEUBy Rev Kalarani, KAOG’s missionary to Cambodia
Chum Reap Sua,
17 February 2006 was a day to remem-ber as I stepped into Kampong Speu. ‘Speu’ in Khmer means ‘starfruit’. As I walked around the area, all I could see was a dusty, undeveloped and dull area with sprawling villages. It reminded me of the story of Lot and Abraham (Genesis 13). God says, "Go walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you”.
Kg Speu is 48km west of Phnom Penh. The Macedonian call to go to Kg Speu came after a year of praying and waiting. Presently, I am working with a local Khmer church which has a regu-lar congregation of 20-25 people. The church has 8 cell groups, a pre-school (30 children), and youth and Sunday School ministries. I have just started English classes for the children. There are 3 full-time workers.
Sunday School Class
The church needs assistance in the areas of administration, finance, spiritual growth, evangelism, training and jobs for workers and members. There is a great opportunity for growth. They need the Lord and you to work in part-nership to fulfil God’s purposes for this land.
It is challenging to be here and I am reminded of God’s promise in Eph 3:20. Thank you for your undivided care, support and prayers. Preah on protein po (God bless you).
USING WHAT WE HAVETO REACH THE LOST By Dr. Fidel Monzon
I still remember the time when I was invited to speak at a Sunday service in a Filipino church in San Diego, Cali-fornia. The pastor introduced my wife and I to the congregation before I was given the pulpit. What struck me was his comment of being blessed by what my wife and I did, which was giving up our profession as doctors to serve the Lord in Cambodia as missionaries.
“Did we really give up our profes-sion?” I asked myself. Remembering the work we did in Kampong Speu and Siem Reap provinces, it was actually our profession as doctors that served as a tool in bringing the gospel to the Khmer people.
I clarified to the congregation that the Lord didn’t require us to surrender our profession. Instead, we dedicated our profession unto Him and made use of it to reach the lost.
Because of this, we were able to reach out to Khmer health clinic staff and lead them to Christ, establish an integrated physical-spiritual community health development project resulting in village Bible studies, and encourage others to trust in Jesus as we provided treatment and free medication during medical outreaches.
“But why Cambodia?” one of our professors in medical school asked. “Why not just stay in the Philippines or, better yet, go to the US?”
I have to agree the suggestion was good. But as a follower of Christ, it’s no longer our will that we seek to accom-plish but His.
As we study God’s word, we will discover that the Lord’s heart is not just for one person, family, tribe or nation. One of His last words were, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt 8:19). If this is God’s concern, shouldn’t this be our concern as well?
God’s primary method was and will always be people: Ordinary people who put their trust in a faithful God and regular people who have offered unto God what they have. What do we have? We have a medical profession. And the Lord is using it for His glory to reach the lost.
People would ask what are we do-ing in the Philippines. We would tell
them that Melody is specializing in Family Medicine, after which I will pur-sue my Masters in Public Health.
Some have said it is good we have decided to pursue such a plan for rea-son that we will have better chances to be financially stable. But then we would explain that it’s not for financial secu-rity. It’s in order for us to use the train-ing and knowledge that we get to train others and, in the process, win them to Christ. We plan to go back to Cambo-dia.
What do you have that the Lord can use to reach the lost? Offer it to Him in faith. You may be surprised to see what can be done in the hands of the Master.Dr. Fidel Monzon is the Director of Rapha Health Care Ministries.
KAOG @ MISSIONSMOVING AHEAD WITHGOD'S HELPBy Ammu Raj (Praise Community Church Balakong)
Since 2006, we have witnessed His powerful Hand upon us. God blessed us with a van so that we could reach out to new souls and transport members who have difficulty attending church, espe-cially those in the rural areas.
The Chinese youth ministry was initiated by Jean Yap last November. They meet every Sunday at 2pm.
In March 2007, we started an English language class for students from Year 4 to Year 6 every Friday from 5pm to
7pm. We received good response from parents and students in the neighbour-hood. We are planning to start other classes that can help us build bridges to the community. The immediate one will be an English class for working adults. We also reached out to our community through a charity campaign. Our mem-bers donated foodstuff and clothes so that we could help the poor. Thus far, we have been helping four families.
A new milestone was reached by PCC on March 31 as we continued to fulfill the Great Commission. Our first mission pledge was launched with the theme “Now Is The Time”, totalling RM1,200 per month. Among the recipi-ents are Wycliffe staff, BM Station of Life, Desa Amal Jireh, Malaysia Tamil Bible Institute, Bible College of Malaysia and
PCC member Rafida who is planning to join Wycliffe for Bible translation work. We are also partnering with our Indonesian AOG church to pioneer a church.
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“As we study God’s word, we will discover that the Lord’s heart is not just for one person, family, tribe or nation. One of His last words were, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt 8:19). If this is God’s concern, shouldn’t this be our concern as well?”
Dr Fidel Monzon, Melody and their 2 children.
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ONE WITNESS IN EVERY VILLAGEMission Impossible?By Pastor James Hosack
A key indicator of a church’s vision is its degree of in-volvement in missions.
Thailand has 76 changwats (provinces), 926 amphurs (districts), 7,447 tambons (local governments) and over 200,000 mubans (villages).
The evangelical churches have a vision that before 2010, we would have established a church in every amphur, a small house church or cell group in every tambon, and every vil-lage will have at least a viable Christian witness who lives there. This is an ambitious vision for a country of which only around 1% of the population is Christian, but I believe the vision is attainable.
The task calls for more than just meeting this goal. My concern is that after this ambitious goal is met, will the church be able to maintain and enlarge this vision?
People need to be trained to effectively lead churches, small groups and village believers. Some of this training needs to take place in local churches. But advanced leader-ship requires extensive training, for which the Thailand As-semblies of God has established a Bible training centre.
Our sincere thanks to KAOG for partnering with us.
Pastor James Hosack is also the Director of Thailand Assemblies of God Bible Institute
Thai students, the future leaders of the church
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KAOG @ MISSIONS TREASURES IN ANESTATELay Pastor Marcel Joseph (Praise Community Church Semenyih)
Our community service at the Abaco Estate, Semenyih, has been blessed tremendously. The estate chief clerk has allowed us to hold classes in the creche. Seeing an improvement in their children’s academic performance, the parents are encouraging their children to attend the classes.
Our members also visit the families and pray with and coun-sel them. The families welcome us openly. The parents often hear Bible stories and the miracles of Jesus Christ through their children and ask our members many questions about Christianity. Through this, we are able to witness to them. We also support some families by giving them provisions, clothes and shoes.
Orientation for new students.
A student ministry outreach at a remote Hmong village.
House-to-house carol-ing during Christmas.
The families have agreed to attend our service in Abaco Estate every fortnight at 5pm. Our members, especially the youths, are very excited about the service and we believe that the Lo rd w i l l b l ess t he service by bringing in more souls into His kingdom.
Our team praying for a family
A Youth at PCC Semenyih teaching the nursery class
GOD @ WORKBy Philip Chang
What is happening in our present-day “Jerusalem” (Klang Valley), “Judea” (Malaysia), “Samaria” (Southeast Asia) and the uttermost parts of the world? My travels have taken me to over-crowded mega-cities as well as small cities that are developing frantically and, in stark contrast, to deserts, small rural towns and snow-covered moun-tain villages where homes have no clean piped water, bathrooms or toilets but wireless Internet, mobile phones and satellite TV all work perfectly!
In those places, where many have not heard the gospel, it is interesting to see how God is using Christians to be the “salt and light” to the people. They are involved in all sorts of professions and businesses, and sharing Jesus Christ creatively through word and deed.
In a tiny remote town of 5,000 people, for example, a few believers from a big city came to open a small curry restaurant and, at the same time, they shared the good news with the local community which is very resistant
to the gospel. A year or two later, it re-sulted in a handful of new believers who are being discipled discreetly by these restaurant owners.
In contrast, one can find local and foreign Christian professionals working in mega-cities who are professing their faith openly, attending churches and holding fellowship meetings or Bible studies in their offices.
All over, I met Christians who are working not only in Christian institu-tions but in community development projects, NGOs, educational institu-tions, hospitals and a variety of busi-nesses as well. Many are making an impact in the places where they work.
The terms “Marketplace Ministry”, “Tentmaking” and “Business as Mis-sion” are commonly used to describe the different ways Christians are en-gaged in to impact and transform communities.
While “Marketplace Ministry” and “Tentmaking” promote the evangelistic potential of Christians in the workplace, “Business as Mission” stresses the re-demptive potential of a business itself.
God is certainly at work through Christians who have skills and profes-sions, and in business and through busi-ness. And we can’t tell God to mind His own business in what we do. God is interested in everything we do. Our job is His job; our business is also His busi-ness!
So how does an organisation like Interserve come into the picture? In-terserve works in partnership with local churches to enable Christians with skills, professions or businesses to serve in Asia and in the Arab world. To find out more, call 03-7848430 or email: [email protected] or check out our website: www.interserve.org. Philip Chang is Chairman of Interserve Malaysia
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KAOG @ MISSIONS
KELAHIRANPCC BRAYANOleh Pdt Salomo Sinaga (Gereja Praise Community Brayan)
Pada Mac 2004, bila saya masih menun-tut di Sekolah Tinggi Theologi Sumatera Medan, saya melalui kota Brayan dan hati saya mulai tertarik dengan daerah tersebut.
Saya dan isteri saya mulai berdoa untuk Brayan, buat survei dan mengunjungi orang di daerah tersebut. Kami melakukan lawatan serta penginji-lan, bahkan tim misi dari gereja Kajang AOG juga terlibat dalam penginjilan di Brayan.
Pada bulan April 2005, kami memulai pelayanan sekolah minggu di rumah sebuah keluarga Nias. Pada bu-lan September 2005, kami memulai sel orang dewasa di rumah keluarga Nias yang dihadiri 3 orang.
Pada bulan Januari 2006, kami membuka satu lagi sel dewasa di rumah lain yang dihadiri 6 orang. Pada Mac 2006, kami membuka satu lagi sel dewasa yang dihadiri 5 orang. Satu lagi sekolah minggu dimulakan dan dihadiri 15 orang. Minggu demi minggu, anggota sel semakin bertambah.
Oleh kerana penambahan anggota sel dan anak-anak sekolah minggu, mereka yang kami layani meminta supaya Kebaktian Ahad diada-kan. Pada bulan April 2006, sebuah rumah disewa di No 44 Brayan, Lorong 19.
Ketika kami ingin memulai kebaktian di rumah tersebut, masyarakat berdekatan tidak mengizinkan kami untuk melakukan kegiatan ibadah. Akhirnya dengan alasan tidak terjamin-nya keamanan di kawasan tersebut, kami tidak mengadakan Kebaktian Ahad.
Kami terus berdoa. Maka kami menyewa sebidang tanah yang dimiliki stesen keretapi dan memban-gunkan sebuah rumah dengan dana yang kami miliki. Pada 4 Februari 2007, lahirlah Gereja Sidang Jemaat Allah Praise Community Brayan. Kami bersyu-kur kepada Tuhan dan berterima kasih keatas sumbangan KAOG.
Ps Bernard & Ps Julian pada perasmian gereja PCC Brayan
Puji & Sembah di PCC BrayanPs Bernard & Ps Julian berdoa untuk Pdt Salomo
By Bharat Bahadur Shah (Simon) - now back in Nepal
I was born on 23rd February, 1983 in Asham District of Nepal. I was a Hindu.
I came to work in Malaysia three years ago. I met Pastor Ber-nard and Pastor Roshan who shared the gospel and invited me to church. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord in May 2004 and was bap-tised in July the same year.
“Come to Me, all you who la-bour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) This verse brought a radical change in my life. God has blessed me in various ways through His grace. He has brought me our of darkness and made me the child of light. My goal is to serve the Lord. I want to thank God and KAOG for giving me the opportunity to grow in Christ and financially supporting my studies in a Bible school in Nepal.
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MEN OF GOD WHO BROKETHE LIMITS By Rev Elisha Chua
As I ponder the phrase “Breaking the Limits, Setting the Pace”, I am re-minded of the testimonies of a few great men of God. Missionaries like Dr David Livingstone, who pioneered mis-sionary endeavors to Africa and set new principles. He reversed the 3Cs (Com-merce, Civilization and Christianity) of his time to Christianity, Civilization and Commerce which are still practised today.
In those years it was believed that only an educated person could under-stand the gospel and be a Christian. So trading ships set sail with missionaries on board. These ships opened trade routes and brought business to new-found land. Missionaries then brought education with the hope that it would result in a civilized culture. And thus, Christianity would have a place among civilized societies.
David Livingstone challenged this old adage and brought Christianity to Africa without the commerce factor first. He believed that anyone could understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and be a Christian.
William Carey was another man who broke the limits and set the pace. During his time, missionaries were sent out by mission boards which paid them salaries. Carey changed that and intro-duced faith mission - the hallmark of the modern missionary movement.
Hudson Taylor took the gospel into China. While previous missions had taken the gospel to coastal areas, he took it inland - which was more primi-tive and dangerous.
Cameron Townsend (founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators) pioneered new Bible translation strategies and brought the unreached people groups to the forefront of the modern missionary movement.
As I think of these great men, I see some common values among them.
Firstly, they believed in His cause. They never had any doubts. They were totally committed to God’s command-ment to “preach ye the gospel to all nations”.
Secondly, they were willing to pay the price. It was total self for the total cause or not at all. They brought the meaning of sacrifice to a new level.
Thirdly, they walked the talk. They practised what they preached.
David Livingstone went to Africa, called the Dark Continent in those years. It was also called the “missionary graveyard”. William Carey went to In-dia and was involved in translating the scriptures into 44 Indian languages.Rev Elisha Chua is the regional director of South and South-East Asia, Asia-Pacific area office, Wycliffe International
KAOG @ MISSIONSBRINGING GOD’S LOVE TO THE PEOPLE OF THE SEA By Mok Yen Ching
An awesome experience with special people. That sums up KAOG’s missions rendezvous with the Mokens, a “people of the sea” or Orang Laut. On April 18, 2007, the KAOG team set out on an exploratory trip to this colony of fishing folk near Phuket, Thailand. The company comprised Pastor Chan, Pastor Bernard Ong (team leader), Anita Lee, K.C. Ang and I. Peter Shankar from Strategic Mis-sions Program joined us, too.
Upon reaching Phuket island, we journeyed to Ranong. We were introduced to Pastor Sien, better known as Ajan Sien ( Ajan in Thai means teacher or pastor). Ajan Sien is the senior pastor of Full Gospel Church, Ranong.
The next day, we journeyed to Ko Rhao island with several teachers in a motor-boat skippered by Pak Sidek, a Moken who also served as our translator. As we neared
the island, we saw many houses built on stilts by the shore. The beauty of the place enrap-tured us, until we saw large amounts of rub-bish scattered along the shore.
We were greeted by smiling faces of children. About 47 of them heard the story of Creation from Anita during the children’s minis-try. After a handicraft lesson and lunch, it was time to say goodbye.
On April 20, we met again with the Mokens. At the fellowship with the children, more than 40 of them gave their lives to Jesus. The meeting with the adults was similarly fruit-ful. We were surprised that some of them
spoke pidgin Bahasa Melayu.We conducted a programme on April 21 and 22 o n p e r s o n a l h y g i e n e . T h e ch i ldren were t a u g h t t h e proper way of brushing their
teeth and bathing. Later, they also painted some seashells col-lected from the shore. Each of them was asked to give a shell to the Sonshine Kids in
KAOG. Every child had 3 to 4 shells. Practi-cally every child chose the biggest shell to give away.
As we bade goodbye to the chil-dren, we sensed that God is doing a great work among them
Ps Bernard teaching the children craft.Ps Chan preaching to the villagers.
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“Hudson Taylor took the gospel into China. While previous missions had taken the gospel to coastal areas, he took it inland - which was more primitive and dangerous.”
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MISSIONS FINANCIAL STATEMENT FROM FINAANNCCCIAL SSSTATEMAUG ‘06 - MAY ‘07
RM RReRececeipiptsts: Mission Pledge 315,553 General Fund 63,394 TTotal Receipts 378,947
DDisbursements: Local Outreach Works 218,796 Foreign Outreach/Partnership Works 15,689 Social Concerns 31,000 Bible Institutes 36,000 Missionaries & Individuals Works 36,000 General Council AOG Malaysia, etc 17,792 TTotal Disbursements 355,277
