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Volume. XXV, No. 33 Batam Missions & The Lord is G-R-E-A-T (Part 1)An Australian team comprised of 19 members from Ebenezer Bible-Presbyterian Church and Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church travelled to the island of Batam in Indonesia to conduct Bible lessons to about 50 children over a period of 3 days. A total of 7 classes were conducted. We met and taught some children who were from Buddhist and Muslim families. In addition, we were given the opportunity to speak at the weekly church Bible study and prayer meeting and to the youth fellowship group. Preaching of God’s message was also delivered at 3 separate churches. We worked closely with Sister Ang Liang Phoa and her husband Ady from Filadelfia church. This church was established in 2004 with some initial support from Grace BP Church in Singapore. However, Filadelfia church has been independent for 2 years now. The church attendance is about 60 to 70 adults and 30 children each Sunday service. Their session comprises of 5 members. Their theme of the year is “Learning to Pray, Serve and Evangelize”. They have a Shelter Home Ministry for children which started in February 2008. They are able to accommodate up to 40 children. The home currently supports 15 neglected children who are orphans or from broken families. When we met, taught and played with the children, we can see that they were happy children who were well cared for. Their smiles and laughter were wonderful memories we have brought back to Australia. The cost to upkeep a child is A$46 per month. This is charged to parents who leave their children at the home. However, some parents cannot afford this payment and in these cases, the church assists in paying this fee with a monthly shelter home collection. Some permanent donors also assist in covering the shortfall in funding. As part of the children’s ministry, a playgroup and kindergarten has been built. A 6 classroom school is about to be finished. Brother Phil Surman assisted in some of the final building works. The school will open its doors to the first group of students in July. Sister Ang Liang has continued to communicate with us after the mission trip. In her most recent email she says: “I thank God for Hope BP and Ebenezer BP Church for your concern and support towards us. I have discussed with my committee members, they welcome any help towards our ministry. I was feeling desperate for more workers, but God sent all of you in His good timing. I have shepherded this local church for 7 years this coming July 2011. We are still praying for a full time pastor for the future and more full time workers. Please uphold us in your prayers.” We have learnt much from this trip and have been greatly blessed by the opportunity to teach the children and deliver God’s word to the church congregation. We have been encouraged by the testimony of this church in their love for the less privileged children and their zeal in spreading the gospel to the children and their parents. The missions committee and those who participated in the recent Batam mission will meet shortly to have a debriefing session. We will also discuss what other support initiatives we may have for Filadelfia Church in Batam. We plan to produce a booklet documenting Batam Missions 2011. A presentation and Question and Answer Session are also planned for. Meanwhile please pray for the harvest of children and their parents in Batam and the needs of Filadelfia church in Batam. Dn David Yeo, Chairman, Missions Committee. (Hope Batam Missions Team - Ps David Weng, Dn David Weng, Bros Daniel Ki, Jonathan Liaw, Phil Surman, Jonathan Yeo & Sis Clara Sim)
The Lord Is G-R-E-A-T (Part 1) Psalm 86:10 “For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.” Introduction Our God is Great. He is Greater than any other god in this universe. He is greater than Allah, god of the Muslims, and Krishna, one of the gods of the Hindus. He is so Great that His authority and power is immeasurable! He is so Great that He is invisible and yet, is everywhere. Psalm 139, a great Psalm by King David reveals who God is! Psalm 139:7-12 “7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee”. To God, light and darkness are irrelevant matters. We cannot really comprehend what complete darkness is like until we are separated from any source of light such as if we were in an underground cave. In the underground cave, we can hear the sounds of voices of people talking, and water dripping down the roof of the cave, but we cannot see one another in absolute darkness. People who had been to an underground cave would understand what I mean. To God, in light or in darkness, He can still see us with absolute clarity. We cannot hide from Him. He sees our thoughts, and knows our desires and intentions. God created all things. He created the universe, the angels, and man. Although God is Great and All-powerful, He is also merciful, loving, and provides for all our needs. I would like to use and concentrate on the letters of the word “Great”. Each letter of the word “Great” represents some character of God. This is good for our memory. By the end of this article we should all be able to know what the individual letters that make up the word “GREAT” means! This is a mnemonic – the science of memory improvement. We use mnemonics in our study to help us remember the order of things. One of the earliest mnemonics that I had ever used was in relation to the Solar System when I was in junior secondary school. I had great difficulty remembering the right order of the planets in our Solar System beyond the planet earth. To help us to remember the order of the arrangement of the planets, a science teacher taught us to use a mnemonic. It goes like this: Marching Very Earnestly, My Aunt Jane Swallowed Umpteen New Pins. M in ‘marching’ stands for the planet mercury, V in ‘very’ stands for Venus, E in ‘earnestly’ is Earth, and so forth. Since then, I have had no problems remembering the order of the planets from the sun! There are 5 letters in the word “G-R-E-A-T”. Using the word “GREAT” I will go through each letter and find out what each of them means to us and find out for ourselves the character of God: 1. The letter G stands for G-OD. 2. The letter R stands for R-EDEEMER. 3. The letter E stands for E-MANCIPATOR. 4. The letter A stands for A-DVOCATE. 5. The letter T stands for T-RANSFORMER. (…….To be continued).
Elder Michael D Lee |
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