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Volume. XXV, No. 40 Missions - Part 3Batam Missions 2011
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 Praise and thank God for the opportunity He gave the 2011 Missions Team to labour with the brethren in Batam, Indonesia! It was a great blessing for us to be able to teach the children from the shelter home and elsewhere stories from the precious Word of God. The first day started with an introduction and an outline for the rest of the missions trip, followed by lunch and preparation for our first Bible lesson! The children were divided into two groups – Primary 3 and below and Primary 4 and above. The older children were upstairs in the sanctuary, ministered to by Preacher Hai Seng from the book of Judges, while the younger ones had their lesson downstairs led by the Hope Church team on Joshua chapter 2. The younger children were taught and reminded that salvation comes not from strength or wisdom of men, but only by believing that “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7b), which was their memory verse. We were also much edified to see the good work wrought through Evangelist Ang Liang and her team. The harvest is indeed plentiful. Let us continue to pray and strive together with all the ministers for Christ in Batam and around the world! As our aim in doing missions is to preach the Gospel, let us not fear nor shy away from it, but may we have the same boldness of Paul, and to all the world proclaim, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;” Romans 1:16a Soli Deo Gloria! By His Grace, Bros Daniel Ki & Jonathan Liaw; Sis Clara Sim ************************ Batam Missions 2011 – Pr Hai Seng Lim Why another mission trip to Batam? Why not somewhere in Africa or needy places like Myanmar or Cambodia? There is a saying in mission circles that a vision for mission is best caught and not taught. Batam island which is just an hour away by ferry from Singapore is a good training ground for first-timers to be exposed to a mission-field which is not that daunting for concerned parents to give their approvals for venture into a foreign field. During this year\'s Batam mission trip, we had many first-timers from Ebenezer in particular who were able to work together as a team to minister to about 50 kids with Filadelfia BPC Batam. I was amazed by the talents and creative ideas that were demonstrated when the team members were confronted by the language problem of Bahasa Indonesian in teaching Bible stories and presenting spiritual songs. Since Bahasa Indonesian is romanised, they were able to pick spiritual songs from the local hymnal in Bahasa and use them since they know the songs in English. That indeed bridged the barrier of communications. So the need is to go the extra mile to prepare Bible lessons and get them translated into Bahasa Indonesian in order to be effective when presented in the local language. In future mission trips, Bible lessons and spiritual songs must be prepared before hand in Bahasa Indonesian by the mission team before they arrive on the island. Thank God for the provision of accommodation at Filadelfia BPC which was an ideal training centre for the first-timers to rough it out in the mission-field using the Sunday school rooms as their home away from home. Since the team members were housed together in the same premises, fellowship in labouring for the vineyard was enhanced from day one until we said goodbye. Sharing and planning for each day and the next day were being discussed and prayed as a mission team. It was amazing how each team member was able to contribute to make the daily mission activities a great delight for the ministry to the 50 kids during the duration of the mission trip. Filadelifa BPC premises served as an excellent training ground for first-timers in their cross-cultural exposure to foreign missions and it is best caught then taught in a class-room situation. Finally, may the Lord of the harvest, our Lord Jesus Christ raise more labourers for the mission-field when He sends forth more first-timers to experience what it is like to get out of our comfort-zone and see the needs of the harvest-field first-hand like our master. Matthew 9:36 “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd”. ************************ Batam Missions 2011 – Dn David and Bro Jonathan Yeo As an encouragement for parents and children to embark on a missions trip together, this recent Batam missions trip was indeed a wonderful blessing for father and son to labour together. It was a blessing for us to be able to prepare for a children’s message. Our message was on Joshua and the walls of Jericho. When we were preparing for the message, we sought some advice from Preacher Hai Seng who had been to Batam several times. His advice was that we should try to deliver the message in the Indonesian language. Our first plan was to deliver the lesson in English and rely on an Indonesian interpreter in Batam. However, after summing up some courage we had our message translated to Bahasa Indonesian and then followed many nights of oratory practise, often corrected by Giok on correct pronunciation. We also prepared some arts and crafts to follow the lesson. We made trumpets from cardboard tubes, latex gloves, lengths of garden hose and some packing tape. We were assigned an interpreter whom we asked to ask the children questions from the contents of the message. Most questions were answered enthusiastically, perhaps because the reward for correct answers was a dip into a bag of sweets. This trip also provided us with an opportunity to work with our brethren from Ebenezer BP Church Melbourne. It was a wonderful time to prepare all the arts and craft sessions following Preacher Hai Seng’s messages. Although most of the crafts and English lessons were “invented in Batam” they were nevertheless well done, improving with each lesson. The youth provided a skit on David and Goliath (Jonathan) which was enjoyed by the children. The team also practised and sang a hymn in English and Indonesian. This was certainly a hit as the youth group requested an encore for their fellowship meeting the next evening. We went excited to prepare and to teach the children and we came back with much more. We were encouraged by witnessing how the Lord has blessed our brethren at Filadelfia BP Church Batam. The church has about 70 adults and 30 children as regular attendees and we witnessed how God has blessed them with a shelter home for children ministry. They have willing workers who work tirelessly 24/7 (sisters Sonya and Maria) at the shelter home with financial contributions from their own congregation for the monthly expenses of the shelter home. The children’s ministry provides the opportunity to evangelise to Muslim and Buddhist children and their families. There is good attendance at their weekly church prayer meeting and Bible study on Wednesday evenings, evangelism activities on Fridays and their various fellowship group meetings throughout the week (youth, ladies and men). They also have daily visits to the shelter home. God has further blessed this church with a new kindergarten school (adjoining the shelter home) which is funded internally as an outreach to the local village children. When we finally left Batam on the 45 minute ferry ride to Singapore we reflected on our Batam trip. God has indeed led us to Batam and He provided us with opportunities to witness for Him. We pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to touch the hearts of these wonderful children. Luke 10:2 “The harvest is truly great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers unto his harvest”. |
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