Ministry Update

The previous month was one busy month. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were continuous activities in campus, dinners with church friends and colleagues, preaching engagements, and a short mission trip. I’m now preparing for the next module of STCM. The BM school will start a week later. There will be weekend activities at every weekend, culminating with another short over-the-weekend mission trip (last month was up north but this month it’ll be down south). At the close of STCM, there will be several missions teams traveling to various missions locations. I’m participating in a team to Indonesia.

I hardly have time to work on my thesis. I’m revising the first draft & seem to be stuck at the concluding chapter. Anyway, my supervisor will be away to Africa for the next 3 weeks, so it doesn’t matter if I drag it a bit. But in a week’s time I’ll be attending the last classroom course. Yeah! Then no more classroom courses…as a student that is?!

There is one issue that I’ve been confronted with recently. If any of you can lend some wisdom, I will greatly appreciate it. I can’t elaborate publicly this matter but I’m questioning the lack of spiritual discernment on the part of several Christian leaders I know. I don’t know whether it is because I’m too idealistic, too futuristic, or too naïve myself but when a situation contradicts the Biblical mandate (or advice) I think it’s extremely foolish to pursue that matter. I believe the church should be influencing the world, however, many circumstances in the church today reveal that it is the world that is influencing the church! If God prompts you to think along this line, do share your thoughts with me.

Updating you briefly this month…SB

Ministry Update June 2007

Dear partners in ministry,

Thanks for your partnership in serving God together. It’s been an extremely busy time here in campus. We have two modules of the School of Trans-Cultural Missions this short term. The first module has the English/Chinese stream plus the children studies (HCD). The second module has the English/Chinese stream plus the BM stream! We are planning field trips to the OA settlements end of each module and concluding the school are missions teams to various parts of South East Asia.

I’ve completed my first draft of thesis and it has been returned for revision. I’m glad that I only have to re-write one chapter (out of six). Next month I’m attending the final classroom course and I’m done with classroom courses (forever! Dissertation is 100% research). I hope to return to “normal church life” by October after disciplining myself to complete all requirements for graduation in early November. (Yea, I’m graduating again but no big deal this time, the sash color is still the same as the previous)

Please remember in prayer:
1. The STCM here in campus: overseas students/lecturers – travels, study, activities…
2. The missions teams: preparations, travel, logistics…
3. The exciting topic & writing of my thesis “Urban Youth in Cross-cultural Missions”
4. The youth work that is progressing slow & sturdy at GBC (S)
5. The ever growing Viet church
6. The fear of God upon the church & spiritual awakening of the church in Malaysia
7. Cousins/neighbors to embrace the Truth

Once again, Phil 1:3, Aku mengucap syukur kepada Allahku setiap kali aku mengingat kamu.

SB

Ministry Update – May 2007

After three consecutive weeks of preaching engagements I was ready to take a break. Actually, it also marked my 50% done of my thesis (first draft). So, I think I deserve a little break. I went to visit my nephews in PJ over the long weekend. The problem with taking a break is the reluctance of getting back to work! That’s why I’m in front of the PC right now writing this blog entry.

The Seminary is all geared up for the next School of Trans-Cultural Missions (STCM). There are exciting programs lining up – classroom instructions, field study, etc. I’m taking a team to Pengkalan Hulu end of June, another team to Gopeng at the end of July and still another team to Acheh in August. So, should I go for the church camp scheduled for the first weekend of June? I’m still pondering. But back to Seminary news, we have just launched another prayer meeting. Besides the dawn prayer meetings that are attended by most residential students, we have this lunch time prayer meetings. And I invite you to share my vision for the Seminary to be so soaked in prayers that there is an open heaven above us. Those of you who are MBTS Alumni, do join us to carry the burden for a spiritual revival of our Seminary.

My thesis is coming along well. It’s a great opportunity to speak to various churches to discover the status of youth ministry in Malaysian Baptist churches all through the peninsular. Apart from that is the study into various aspects of discipleship, training, missions education, etc. What is more exciting is that my study is an original research needing raw data from the field. Actually, I’m very excited to pursue further into a dissertation on missions strategy involving youth in missions. Anyone like to join me in this study?

Ministry in church is progressing well, I suppose. The new youth group is doing sturdily well in GBC South. We are meeting once a month, at the first Saturday of each month. Our regular program is a game followed by Bible study and we project towards the next meeting & how to prepare for it. I’m hoping to build some accountability in them as I asked them to commit themselves to study a certain portion of the Bible. I certainly welcome suggestions from anyone of you. There’s some good youth study materials offered to us at the Seminary by some local publishers at a discounted rate. I think if we start using these, I can start letting the youth lead some sessions. Youth needs to know that they don’t need to wait until tomorrow to be effective ministers.

The Viet church is growing. It’s due to the Viet pastor who is actively ministering to the Viets around Paya Terubong. This old man can hold cell groups to cater to those working on shifts regardless of time. This means, there’s a cell meeting at 2am!

Please remember me in prayer – the three mission trips (two short over the weekend field trip & the overseas one), my studies (scheduled to graduate this November with ThM), my ministries in MBTS (BM Dept., Graduate Studies Dept., Missions Dept.) & in church (GBC South & Viet church). Thank you. (Phil. 1:3)

Ministry Update April 2007

Ministry Update April 2007
11 April 2007

Entering into the second quarter of the year gives the impression that things are moving so fast, maybe just too fast. On Good Friday I finished the last of the assignments for my doctoral seminar (I have some doctoral seminars & several master level courses for my ThM program & there's only one more master level course in July besides the thesis to complete my program) I spent Resurrection Day with two wonderful friends. We had the best koay teow thng in town for breakfast & attended Easter Service in church; then we proceeded to the best char koay teow in town for lunch, then adjourned to the best ice-cream parlor in town. What a Sunday!

I preached the Easter message at the Vietnamese church & it was frustrating because my interpreter could not understand "evidence" nor "proof" – so I let you imagine how I delivered a message on the proof of Easter…I hope my next preaching engagement this Sunday will turn out better. After all, she eagerly asked for the message script to be emailed to her as soon as possible. Please pray for this ministry. They are extremely hungry for God's Word and whenever the Vietnamese pastor is away, we are limited by language.

We had the second youth meeting at GBC South last Saturday (someone mentioned that I ought to report about church ministry in my updates) The first meeting the previous month had 3 members & the second (last Saturday) we had 9. Please join us to pray for this young group. They are very fun & active.

I led the dawn prayer meeting in campus this morning, once again sharing the burden in my heart for revival. Was pretty upset & disappointed seeing blank faces staring at me in the midst of the meeting. But God never fail to amaze me. Despite being so disappointed with myself & the students, great things are churning. One student shared with me of her burden to pray more, to soak campus with prayer, etc. then at lunch another student stepped up beside me to ask if I have the burden to join him in praying for our cousins. And guess what?! These two students are Honkies! Malaysians, where are you?!

Soon we will be publishing several books translated into BM. They are now in the final stages of editing before publishing. There are exciting developments in the BM Dept. (sorry I can't be more specific), teaching/preaching engagements, my mission trip to Acheh and most of all great things God is revealing everyday…Thank you for your partnership in ministry.

Ministry Update March/April 2007

Days are moving fast don’t they? After my previous posting I was thinking, what can I post next? And now as the month comes to an end, I have found so many things to share. Well, last Sunday was a great worship service in church. Partly because it has been a long time since I heard some preaching. Huh? You may wonder. There should be preaching at every Sunday worship service, right? Well, that is the ideal. However, I discovered that many people failed to distinguish the difference between preaching & teaching. Even preachers themselves. 95% of the time, at Sunday worship services, the message was taught & not preached. I remember last year when I conducted a sermon preparation workshop at FGA with some lay preachers. When I asked the difference between preaching & teaching, no one gave an adequate answer. Besides, most of them looked puzzled. And they are not alone. In fact, most people would think preaching is teaching & teaching is preaching. Nope! That’s not it. There is a fine line dividing the two. But before I give you the answer, why not pause awhile & think…what is the difference?

I taught my first Bible class in BM. It went well. I was pretty worried of my lack of fluency in the spoken BM language. But praise God that my students were very patient & helpful. Despite the lack of language fluency, the Lord was with us & we had a lot of fun studying the historical books of the OT. I gave the lecturer evaluation form at the end of the course & received very good feedback. It encouraged me a lot. In fact, the comments were so good, I felt embarrassed reading them! (Perhaps the student wanted to encourage me, perhaps they were aware that I have not marked their tests and assignments yet!)

At present I am doing a self study course on Christian leadership in missions. The books I have to read were great. In fact, they were so interesting I found myself completing the reading assignments so fast! Among the many things I learnt were about planning, communication, team work, team building, management, etc. But one very interesting thing I learnt was this – give and it will be given to you. I’ve always known that familiar Bible verse – ask & it shall be given – but this is a bit different. Only recently did I discover the truth of it.

I found myself getting deeper & deeper involved in my students. Somehow, I just have this passion to give the best of all I have in every single task the Lord entrusted to me. (Be faithful even unto little, eh?!) And it so surprised me when this one student commented that I’m so a pastor because I regularly ask a few of them regarding their progress in studies. Huh? I have always known the pastoral tendency in me is the most and very weakest. But as I pour out care & concern, I received that in return. As I gave, it was given to me. You see, I was in a pretty frustrated moment. Then a simple phone call came to enquire, “hey…heard you were in such & such a situation, you doing ok?” Well, I suppose that’s what pastors ought to be doing. It’s only that I’ve never received such attention. (Thanks Alan…you’re a brother!) And it also taught me how I need to be more sensitive to people I work with and people all around me. (Honestly, I’m pretty “numb”!!!) Bottom line is: there’s still so much I need to learn!

I had a very interesting meeting over lunch with a friend recently. And I’ve learnt so much from her. I have to admit that I’m such a green horn in ministry. After serving in the pastoral capacity and comparing studying about it, I must admit that one definitely need to have a proper balance of the two. Seminary training is redundant without practical ministry. Just the same, practical experiences carry no weight without proper training. There really need to be adequate balance of the two. I praise the Lord for the networking opportunity He is opening to me, locally & overseas. It’s great serving here at the Seminary. It’s fun in the missions department. It’s exciting exploring cross-cultural studies. And those who have had a taste of it will testify to this. Just like my brother Casey from (EAST) Singapore!

Please continue to pray for us at the Seminary. I have a strong conviction that if the Lord should visit us, the most strategic location is the Seminary – the very place where He had given the mandate to train leaders for His church. Join me in prayer for a spiritual revival here in campus. One student impacted is a whole congregation impacted and who knows, that very student may be a denomination head, a mission organization boss, etc.?! Please pray for me as I serve here in the Seminary. I’m having a great time here in the missions department, the graduate school & of course, the BM stream. And my studies? Couldn’t be better! Praise the Lord.

PS: So, have you decided what is the difference between preaching & teaching? Well, when we prepare to preach or to teach, two important elements are (1) to study the passage in its original context & I mean thorough study of it, (2) then the next step is applying it into our contemporary context. The following step is what makes the two different. When we prepare a message to preach, we proclaim it with an element of inviting or challenging a response from the hearers so that they are convicted in their thoughts – enough to spur their heart into acting out their responses. On the other hand, proclaiming the message by teaching is to teach the facts, how it can be applied into our lives and we leave it to the hearers to apply what they hear (that feed their knowledge). Most preachers, myself included, tend to pose a challenge when summing up the message. It is because, after we learn of God’s truth, we need to show our hearers how to apply them and challenge them to actually make that commitment of applying the truth that has been learnt. It’s not accomplished by a showing of hands or coming forward to the front for prayers but it is the assurance that these people are equipped enough and they are convinced enough that they need to actually practice what they hear. Imagine yourself in a cell group meeting. A message taught from the pulpit on Sunday is no different than the teaching you hear in your cell groups. But a message preached is a message that reasoned the head (knowledge), spur the heart (conviction by the Holy Spirit) & expressed through action. Well, in short, preaching is delivering a message containing an “aggressive” urge (challenge) for a response…something absent in teaching.

Ministry Update March 2007

I’m never a morning person. Having to wake up early is a drag. I prefer staying up late but never to wake up early. Because of that I was pretty worried when I was asked to lead the dawn prayer meeting in campus. They meet at 7am on every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I stayed in campus hostel the day before so that I don’t have to wake up super early & drive through dark streets under the moonlight zig-zagging through the mountainous road to campus. And it was a great meeting. I did a little sharing & led a corporate repentance for ignoring our cousins and denying them the Good News. I appointed a few students to represent several people groups to pray for God’s forgiveness and I also asked a few foreign students to represent their nation to accept forgiveness of how Malaysians had treated them. I did not think I did a good job, yea – maybe I’m a bit of a perfectionist, after all, my secondary temperament is melancholy. But the response amazed me. One after another came to me to express how touched they were – both local and foreign students. Some even caught the passion to pursue further in such prayer and there are talks about planning an all-night prayer. So, please join me in prayer as we press in for a spiritual breakthrough at MBTS. I can feel it in my bones that we are coming near to a time of a great out-pouring of God’s power upon us. Where else is more strategic than the place where God had given the mandate to train leaders for His church? Please pray for Dr L, Amanda & myself to press on for a spiritual breakthrough in campus

At the same time last week, a Korean intercessory team was here. Several more are coming, from Korea and from America. Praise God that Penang is going to be so saturated by prayers! Great things are in store. I am very excited.

In a week’s time I’ll be teaching a week-long intensive course in BM. The very first time teaching the Bible in BM. Please pray for me. It’s not easy trying to converse/teach in a language with different Biblical terms. Pray for my students who are ministering in this language.

Pray for Michael S & myself as we launch the youth work at GBC South. I carry the conviction that youth today are leaders of today and this is Biblical. And youth work is not merely a “babysitting” ministry or an extension of children work. It is a distinct ministry of raising individuals at the cross road of childhood and adulthood. In fact, it is pretty much a “cross-cultural” effort.

Also, please pray for my thesis. I have started the initial ground research and I’m probably steering it into a narrower path to focus more on qualitative implication of data collected. And it’s a bit more focus than previously. I also need to consider its “sequel” because I’m extending the same topic into a dissertation.

Finally, thank you for your partnership in ministry. God is good all the time & all the time God is good.

Between the past & the future: Ministry Update February 2007

The previous week, I conducted two similar classes on writing forms. Though both consisted of very diverse groups of students, they share a similar concern – why the need to learn the various confusing writing forms? I wondered about this myself – why is the footnote done in this manner while the bibliography is done in that manner? Why the need to set the margin as such and such? Why indeed? But the years of learning, plus the many times of grading student papers, I have reached a conclusion. A standard writing format is important for the following reasons (though not comprehensive):
- it shows quality (if other organizations can strive for standardization, eg., the ISO certifications, why not the church? Aren’t we supposed to be the head and not the tail? (Deut. 28:13) We should be the one leading in excellence, not tailing far behind the world)
- we ought to present the best to God (if God takes us so seriously that He died for us, should we not take seriously everything He entrusted to us?)
- as we strive for (academic, especially) excellence, standardization exhibits professionalism
- God is a God of order, not confusion (1 Cor 14:33) – as such, a standard format is necessary

I’m presently studying the second last course to complete the credits required to fulfill my study program requirements. Please pray for me that as I complete the studies and work on my thesis, God will direct and lead me. I am truly enjoying ministry at MBTS. Probably because my temperament as a choleric-melancholy that makes “work” fun & fulfilling. I love having loads of tasks in my hands and in His own way, He speaks to me through this channel. I have not forgotten my mission nor my passion and calling. And I trust Him to take me to and through circumstances in order to mold me and prepare me for the ministry He is taking me to.

Differing from most Christians, the church is to me first universal before it is local. However, the view of the general Christian population will probably accept the church first as local before it is universal. Perhaps it is this differing perception that I find myself among a small distinct group of individuals who prefers ministering from a wider angle. What I mean is, seeing the universality of the church and ministering from that perspective. This include a, what I may address as “cross church effort” – meaning the coming together of Christians from various churches with a similar passion/conviction to serve in a ministry that seeks to honor God and bless His church. This is how I would define “Kingdom Perspective” – looking beyond each local church and seeking to glorify the Lord, pooling together efforts/talents/gifts with a common passion which is to grow the Kingdom of God. I believe the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24: 44-49; Acts 1:7-9; John 20:21) specify “ministry policy” – equip and go forth – and it is only when we obediently comply to this “policy” that the Lord will truly proper what is “at home.”

Luke 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.