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Volume. XIX, No. 28 Current HappeningsElder and Mrs Peng Kiat Khoo
They have been with us for the past three months, ministering to us, encouraging us, building us up in the faith, while our pastor is away. There is a lot of work involved in this ministry. Take for example, the preaching of God’s Word on Sunday mornings. It takes an average of 15 to 18 hours of hard work to prepare a sermon message, according to Elder Khoo, and I totally agree with him. As they prepare to go back to Singapore for a well earned rest, we praise and thank God for their work here. They have indeed been a blessing to us and we hope we have been a blessing to them too. They have touched us, especially myself, with their dedication, commitment, sincerity, frankness and straightforwardness. We pray that God will continue to give them good health and strength (as they are not young) and also many bonus years of service in His name. Cambodia Mission Trip (January 2005) Hope B-P Church has a team in Cambodia between 10-31 January 2005, led by Pastor Ki and Elder Lee. The other members of the team are Deacons David Yeo, Yaw Chiew Tan and Tony Law; Sally Law, Joyce Gong, Rachel Volvritch, Raphael Ng, John Wong and Jason Tan. There are also many others joining the team from B-P Churches in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. Let us remember them constantly in our prayers. The Cambodian Missions Prayer Meeting will also continue every Sunday at 12:15 pm after the Worship Service, until the team comes back. We hope many will be able to join us in the Library, which is above the Sanctuary, so that we can pray together and pray fervently for God’s work in Cambodia; the preaching and teaching of His Word, the nurturing of young believers, and that those who are still outside of God’s Kingdom may come to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Final Repayment of Interest Free Loan to Sharon B-P Church, We have finally paid off the interest free loan to Sharon B-P Church. We praise and thank God for this loan which was for a period of 10 years (1995—2004). Sharon B-P Church, Singapore has indeed been a great help to us over the years - not only materially, by the huge interest free loan for 10 years, but she has been faithful in sending Rev Peter Chua to us whenever we are in need of pastoral care. We at Hope B-P Church are indeed forever grateful to them and we praise and thank God for such a church whose mission was to help out Hope B-P Church. Tsunami and Earthquake I would like to share a few thoughts on the recent earthquake and tsunami, the sufferings they have caused and the questions arising from this event. The tsunami (or tidal waves) has caused enormous loss of life and property as never before experienced. It is right that we continue to pray for God’s mercies for those who have suffered, but also give generously in time, money and other material ways. They question on why God allowed this earthquake and tsunami, and their consequent enormous human suffering is another important aspect which came out from this disaster. Some of us may be shocked and flabbergasted at the enormity of the human suffering and may tend to ask this common question: “Why did God allow this to happen?” this is a fair question on the surface, but the topic of suffering is a complex one. There is no fast answer to this question (theological answers have been dealt with quite frequently by our preachers and pastors). Personally, I think that we may be asking the wrong question. The question I would ask myself is “How do I respond to sufferings, as a Christian?” Dn Ngie Joo Gong |
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