I just emailed my first draft of chapter one to my thesis supervisor yesterday. It is exciting and anxious, to be taking this step towards a long, tedious effort of an 80,000 words journey. And I have to constantly remind myself why I’m doing this – I can only lead people till where I have been and if I have high hopes for them, then I better know how far I myself am capable.
The partnership of SAM-STM is progressing well. Despite its slow momentum but I believe God works matters in a pace He knows best for all involved. The Anglican Training Center is also slowly falling in place. The official opening is scheduled to be on 13August and classes are starting. Actually, just one – and with one student. But, let’s not despise humble beginnings. A 2-day seminar is also planned for September. The Chinese and Tamil modules have yet to start while the BM module is still contemplating when to begin, this month or the next. But then again, the BM module had a head-start because it comes under the “management” of SAM.
Due to a postponement of class in Ipoh, I only have one outstation trip in August – to Kampar for the Synod. I never liked change of schedules, especially last minute changes. Yet, I must “force” myself to accommodate the working style of different people in my team. So, August appears pretty relaxing (enough) for awhile. But things do pop up and sometimes at the last minute. I’m ready for the 3 overlapping/continuous classes of English/BM classes in Penang/Ipoh in these 3 months (July, August, September). With the start of my dissertation write-up, I will need to factor in time for this too. Then, the Bible Society’s translation work. The team just completed the first draft of Luke. Everyone seems every enthusiastic and they work so fast. I have to discipline myself to keep up with their pace. In the process, I’ve been delaying my editing work for ICM’s BM module. Due to all these, I’m too glad to offer LOGOS Hope team to come to preach/share on my speaking date to relieve me in September.
There are enquiries but yet to receive actual contributions to the SAM school’s student adoption project. This is a fund-raising project, aimed to raise funds as scholarships to enable the indigenous student pastors/church leaders acquire quality Christian/theological education. These students are mainly small-scale farmers in the interior earning meager cash income. The BM churches/outreaches are growing so fast, there’s a lack of funds to finance (even) the ministry. And they are very eager to partner with urban churches to develop their community, both church and non-church community.
Please pray with me for the development of the OA/BM work; for the Lord of Harvest to raise good workers to be trained into exceptional workers; for the Lord of Providence to provide every necessary resources – financial and human resources – as we grow the School.
PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Ministry Update June/July 2011
So it’s official, we have crossed the first half of the year. Things are picking up and I am excited. As I looked at my schedule, I must admit I had a great month of learning and discovery. It started with the youth visit to the OA villages, followed by the Bible Translation workshop, with a week in Ipoh full of activities, and the final week of June filled with meetings.
I had especially learned much from the translation workshop; especially, in rediscovering my Malaysian identity. I did not realized how much we’ve been influenced by Indonesian culture, even indirectly through our usage of the Indonesian Bible which is readily available as compared to the Malaysian version. It is a privilege to be a part of this project to embark on the effort to produce a new Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible. Even with the little I can afford and offer, I feel very honored to contribute a little to this spectacular project. More so, when I hold in my hands the “stamped” Bible – stamped by KDN & serial-numbered. I believe for us who use English Bibles, this hold little significance. For me, as a missiologist taught to function in just about any version, what matters is contextualizing the message to the target audience in a manner most understood by them. But as I minister among the malay speaking churches (here I mean Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia) I realize, as Malaysian Christians, we really need a version to reflect our identity.
A week filled with meetings flows into the next month. I have many things to prepare. The Anglican Training Center will hold its first English class on 18th where I’ll be teaching on the Introduction to the OT. Then I also need to prepare for its official opening 13th Aug. Following that is a BM class in Ipoh in mid Aug where I’ll be teaching. The weekend after the week in Ipoh is a short period of rest before departing to Kampar for the Synod meeting. Looks like it’ll be 3 days of sleeping with my eyes open through the boring speeches and endless debates. I think I’ll bring my netbook or tablet pc along to work silently.
Enough of diocesan matters, I’m looking forward to another trip into the jungles next weekend with another youth group…on the weekend Bersih 2.0 is planned. I hope I don’t miss exciting news while dwelling among the trees…no, it’s not THAT bad. Preaching engagements are lined up. It’s another marathon-like schedule. Thought of accepting a “working holiday” speaking in a church camp in Lake Toba end of Aug, but it clashed with another engagement I had earlier committed. Aise…but do pray with me for:
1. The training center and its programs (endorsed by STM) in all 4 languages but I’m only dealing with English & BM
2. The fund-raising project (SAM Student Adoption Program) I just launched in an effort to raise funds to help the OA church pastors/leaders to be equipped theologically. Plz pray for the BM program and wisdom to do a better planning job next year for all centers (Gua Musang, Penang (island & mainland), Ipoh)
3. The speaking engagements in various churches
4. The OA visits and various teams/churches to partner our OA work
5. The Christmas speaking engagement – this, I’m praying. It came unexpectedly and being one attracted to challenge, I have sort of, agreed to it. It’ll be a 7-day speaking circuit through North Sumatra as a prelude to Christmas programs for the North Sumatra churches
6. The dissertation write-up. I’m starting this next phase for my study program. Kindly pray alongside me
7. Discipline – that in the midst of all busyness, I will always remember the reason for each task and be well-disciplined to put Him first and above all
Once again, I thank you for your partnership in ministry.
SB
I had especially learned much from the translation workshop; especially, in rediscovering my Malaysian identity. I did not realized how much we’ve been influenced by Indonesian culture, even indirectly through our usage of the Indonesian Bible which is readily available as compared to the Malaysian version. It is a privilege to be a part of this project to embark on the effort to produce a new Bahasa Malaysia version of the Bible. Even with the little I can afford and offer, I feel very honored to contribute a little to this spectacular project. More so, when I hold in my hands the “stamped” Bible – stamped by KDN & serial-numbered. I believe for us who use English Bibles, this hold little significance. For me, as a missiologist taught to function in just about any version, what matters is contextualizing the message to the target audience in a manner most understood by them. But as I minister among the malay speaking churches (here I mean Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia) I realize, as Malaysian Christians, we really need a version to reflect our identity.
A week filled with meetings flows into the next month. I have many things to prepare. The Anglican Training Center will hold its first English class on 18th where I’ll be teaching on the Introduction to the OT. Then I also need to prepare for its official opening 13th Aug. Following that is a BM class in Ipoh in mid Aug where I’ll be teaching. The weekend after the week in Ipoh is a short period of rest before departing to Kampar for the Synod meeting. Looks like it’ll be 3 days of sleeping with my eyes open through the boring speeches and endless debates. I think I’ll bring my netbook or tablet pc along to work silently.
Enough of diocesan matters, I’m looking forward to another trip into the jungles next weekend with another youth group…on the weekend Bersih 2.0 is planned. I hope I don’t miss exciting news while dwelling among the trees…no, it’s not THAT bad. Preaching engagements are lined up. It’s another marathon-like schedule. Thought of accepting a “working holiday” speaking in a church camp in Lake Toba end of Aug, but it clashed with another engagement I had earlier committed. Aise…but do pray with me for:
1. The training center and its programs (endorsed by STM) in all 4 languages but I’m only dealing with English & BM
2. The fund-raising project (SAM Student Adoption Program) I just launched in an effort to raise funds to help the OA church pastors/leaders to be equipped theologically. Plz pray for the BM program and wisdom to do a better planning job next year for all centers (Gua Musang, Penang (island & mainland), Ipoh)
3. The speaking engagements in various churches
4. The OA visits and various teams/churches to partner our OA work
5. The Christmas speaking engagement – this, I’m praying. It came unexpectedly and being one attracted to challenge, I have sort of, agreed to it. It’ll be a 7-day speaking circuit through North Sumatra as a prelude to Christmas programs for the North Sumatra churches
6. The dissertation write-up. I’m starting this next phase for my study program. Kindly pray alongside me
7. Discipline – that in the midst of all busyness, I will always remember the reason for each task and be well-disciplined to put Him first and above all
Once again, I thank you for your partnership in ministry.
SB
Friday, June 3, 2011
Ministry Update May/June 2011
Ahhh…a blink of an eye and we have almost conclude the first half of 2011. May had been a busy month, but was filled with exciting activities till I got my appointments mixed up. End of May was a trip to Kg Pergum in Simpang Pulai with Ipoh AOG Cantonese Church and about a week later was a trip to Kg Geruntum and Kg Kepayang in Gopeng with Jubilee Outreach, Penang Youth Group. It was also another round of preaching marathon with 11 speaking engagements through 7 weekends.
June sees 2 outstation trips. One is to a Bible Translation Workshop in KL on the first week and to Ipoh on the third week, bringing a teacher to teach a diploma class for SAM. That will allow me to do some admin work for the Ipoh center while visiting the OA villages and meet OA friends to interview them for my dissertation. The last week is scheduled for the first BM class in Anglican Training Center (ATC). I’ve yet to start actively publicize this class as I’ve been busy. Besides, I’m still chasing my printer for the brochures. It feels so lonely with no one sharing the similar burden and passion for this BM teaching ministry. Inquiries come but not translated to actual registration. But the English class will start in mid July after the Mandarin class in early July. Tamil is scheduled to start its first class in early September.
July will see another trip to the OA villages with another youth group. I’m hoping to start my dissertation write-up in July itself or I’ll be behind schedule. I’m planning to complete my study by end of next year. August is another busy month. ATC official opening has been re-scheduled to 13 August.
The highlight in May/June was obviously the OA village visits. Managed to visit Kg Kepayang, the much anticipated kampong visit. I think it is these visits that bring joy and excitement, besides the satisfaction and gladness in an otherwise monotonous ministry. Watching people grow in the Lord, escalating passion for ministry, and excitement in church related work…these are moments to cherish. The grocery store in the village is doing extremely well. I met with the coordinator recently and he told me he is considering re-stocking 4x a week, instead of 3x a week because business is good. I’m still looking into helping a local pastor with his kampong chicken project. At least to lighten his livelihood burden so he can focus on his studies and ministry.
I have photos of the recent OA visits posted on my facebook. Hope you take sometime to browse through them to see how exciting home missions is…
PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
June sees 2 outstation trips. One is to a Bible Translation Workshop in KL on the first week and to Ipoh on the third week, bringing a teacher to teach a diploma class for SAM. That will allow me to do some admin work for the Ipoh center while visiting the OA villages and meet OA friends to interview them for my dissertation. The last week is scheduled for the first BM class in Anglican Training Center (ATC). I’ve yet to start actively publicize this class as I’ve been busy. Besides, I’m still chasing my printer for the brochures. It feels so lonely with no one sharing the similar burden and passion for this BM teaching ministry. Inquiries come but not translated to actual registration. But the English class will start in mid July after the Mandarin class in early July. Tamil is scheduled to start its first class in early September.
July will see another trip to the OA villages with another youth group. I’m hoping to start my dissertation write-up in July itself or I’ll be behind schedule. I’m planning to complete my study by end of next year. August is another busy month. ATC official opening has been re-scheduled to 13 August.
The highlight in May/June was obviously the OA village visits. Managed to visit Kg Kepayang, the much anticipated kampong visit. I think it is these visits that bring joy and excitement, besides the satisfaction and gladness in an otherwise monotonous ministry. Watching people grow in the Lord, escalating passion for ministry, and excitement in church related work…these are moments to cherish. The grocery store in the village is doing extremely well. I met with the coordinator recently and he told me he is considering re-stocking 4x a week, instead of 3x a week because business is good. I’m still looking into helping a local pastor with his kampong chicken project. At least to lighten his livelihood burden so he can focus on his studies and ministry.
I have photos of the recent OA visits posted on my facebook. Hope you take sometime to browse through them to see how exciting home missions is…
PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Ministry Update April/May 2011
April is a busy month that conveniently leads into May. Being a work-oriented person, I’m obviously thrilled to see the many entries in my monthly planner. Without realizing, I discovered I am on another preaching marathon; 11 consecutive speaking engagements through 8 weekends and 2 out-station trips in May and in June; traveling out-station at least once a month till October. Sounds so exciting, right? Yes, it is but age is catching up and I can no longer read small prints without effort.
I really do not know if the problem is me or my colleagues but I recently find myself easily irritated when my colleague is not moving at the same pace as myself. Or another irritation I recently encounter is when someone keeps calling on me to teach how to use tablet computer or GPS. I almost wanted to scream, read the owner’s manual yourself!
I am in Ipoh right now and a bit disappointed at the class turn-up. Perhaps the local coordinator is not aggressive enough. Or simply, he's been sleeping on the job! The BM class in Penang center concluded at the start of the Holy Week with 8 students completing this first module. Next class is in July. Right now in Ipoh is the first diploma class of the new curriculum and attendance is still not certain. Maybe it's because the local coordinator himself is not sure of the structure despite numerous explanation. Really...you can take a person out of the jungle but you cannot take the jungle out of the person.
Besides the continuous speaking engagements in every weekend in May, there will be 2 trips to the OA villages in later part of May. This is followed by a translation workshop in early June, followed by a working trip to Ipoh in later part of June.
Several ground work is in progress for the Anglican Training Center. A new signboard should be up and displaying brightly by mid-May. Classroom equipment should also arrive by then. This will consume my time in setting up the classrooms and library. Also needing attention is the official opening scheduled for 2nd July. Hopefully, we can soon start offering classes in 4 languages; English, Bahasa, Mandarin, Tamil. I know Bahasa is already on-going. Mandarin has some plans already. I will need to start planning for the English schedule while the Tamil work will have to rely solely on my colleague who is busy running around many places. This center will offer basic Christian ministry training in affiliation with STM. This will surely present an alternative for those seeking theological/Christian training in an urban, easily accessible campus.
Please join us in prayer as we venture into exciting times in this nation.
PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
I really do not know if the problem is me or my colleagues but I recently find myself easily irritated when my colleague is not moving at the same pace as myself. Or another irritation I recently encounter is when someone keeps calling on me to teach how to use tablet computer or GPS. I almost wanted to scream, read the owner’s manual yourself!
I am in Ipoh right now and a bit disappointed at the class turn-up. Perhaps the local coordinator is not aggressive enough. Or simply, he's been sleeping on the job! The BM class in Penang center concluded at the start of the Holy Week with 8 students completing this first module. Next class is in July. Right now in Ipoh is the first diploma class of the new curriculum and attendance is still not certain. Maybe it's because the local coordinator himself is not sure of the structure despite numerous explanation. Really...you can take a person out of the jungle but you cannot take the jungle out of the person.
Besides the continuous speaking engagements in every weekend in May, there will be 2 trips to the OA villages in later part of May. This is followed by a translation workshop in early June, followed by a working trip to Ipoh in later part of June.
Several ground work is in progress for the Anglican Training Center. A new signboard should be up and displaying brightly by mid-May. Classroom equipment should also arrive by then. This will consume my time in setting up the classrooms and library. Also needing attention is the official opening scheduled for 2nd July. Hopefully, we can soon start offering classes in 4 languages; English, Bahasa, Mandarin, Tamil. I know Bahasa is already on-going. Mandarin has some plans already. I will need to start planning for the English schedule while the Tamil work will have to rely solely on my colleague who is busy running around many places. This center will offer basic Christian ministry training in affiliation with STM. This will surely present an alternative for those seeking theological/Christian training in an urban, easily accessible campus.
Please join us in prayer as we venture into exciting times in this nation.
PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Ministry Update March/April 2011
March started full of activities and they were significant activities. Some Upper North Anglican pastors met to discuss the possibility of starting an Anglican Bahasa church on the island to cater to Anglicans from East Malaysia, who are here for study or work. Then there was the meeting with an Indonesian pastor who expressed an interest to partner Bagan Jermal Anglican Church (BJAC) to start an Indonesian service to cater to the Indonesians who are in Penang for medical purposes (at Adventist Hospital), besides the fact that the Indonesian Consulate is just around the corner.
March also saw the start of efforts towards establishing the Anglican Training Center, a center to house TEE programs for lay leaders/pastors. Also planned was skill-related programs/seminars. And these were not all that came together with month number three. The Sekolah Alkitab Malaysia (SAM) Penang center started its first class with its new curriculum in St Mark’s, Prai with an average attendance of 10 students. Classes are still on-going for the study of the Gospel of Mark as part of the New Testament study requirement. I also began my monthly missions training session with members of St Mark’s Prai that will continue till September. I’m excited to be a part of their missions efforts with the goal to be equipped to do outreach work in South Thailand. They also started their Thai language class with a Thai student from MBTS. They are hoping to pick up basic conversational Thai to enable them to function in their target group of Southern Thais.
BJAC also went to an OA village. We “closed shop” one Saturday and went to Pawong. There were 11 of us in the van with one participant from St Paul as the driver, one from St George’s as an observer, and another whom I never got to know which church he was affiliated to. We were joined by another 13 in 3 cars from FLC. As far as I’ve been informed, everyone had a great time and there are requests to plan another longer trip there. As to the situation in the village, the grocery store project is progressing better than anticipated. Their initial capital has been used and they are receiving requests to sell new items. I’m seeking for sponsors to invest in this ministry and let them run it as they deem fit. Profit will be re-invested and they will roll on their own. Besides being a source of income for the local church, it also serves as a developmental project and an outreach where customers can get to know the church.
Then there was the SAM Ipoh graduation I attended last week. The event was sandwiched by 2 meetings, before & after the graduation service. The Council met to decide on an autonomous style of governance for the various SAM centers. This is because some centers want to affiliate with STM while some with MBS. For myself, coming under the umbrella of the Anglican church, I was instructed to work towards affiliation with STM. There’s actually no choice as I’m obligated to the “canonical obedience” enshrined in my appointment. But I am very glad to witness and participate in the discussion towards drawing up future plans and goals for SAM to be an independent Bible School, standing on its own with its own accreditation and not having to lean on another entity to gain recognition of our programs. However, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Perhaps, it will take another 3-5 years. I’m pushing for the others to set a deadline so we can measure our progress. It will be in September before we start elaborating on this.
The following day after the graduation service I had a meeting with a church in Ipoh to establish partnership in our OA ministry. I’m so glad for this. When I returned to Penang I had a meeting with another church to discuss similar possibilities. I’m really excited. These two are AG churches. In fact, I am still very overwhelmed by the extent of potentials and possibilities in this ministry. I really pray God will raise someone to come along side me soon. At the rate this is going, soon I will not be able to attend to everything completely by myself.
Another interesting event in March was the 50th Anniversary of my school, CGL. It was sort of a last minute thing that I finally made it to the dinner, attended by over 1000 guests and students on the school field itself. As it was on a Saturday night, I was obviously late for the dinner. It was supposed to start at 6.30pm but I arrived at about 7.30pm and dinner was not yet served. Traffic was bad due to this very event. I arrived to meet a friend who showed me to the table, supposedly attended by friends of my class year. But I could hardly recognize some of them. There were 2 ladies at a nearby table who came over to exchange greetings. They recognized me but their faces just do not register in my mind at all. I came back from this event a bit shaken. Many people could recognize me but I could not recognize them at all. It was as if a part of my life had been erased from my memory and that was frightening. I kept asking myself, how come they don’t register in my mind? In fact, I have several facebook friends that I added without recalling who they are but they insisted we know each other from school, CGL. This continues to puzzle me greatly. I keep asking myself why and how come. I completely have no recollection of some friends in school. And these are individuals who claimed that we were pretty good friends. In a way, it is scary. I think I can remember pretty well events in university days. Earlier years seem too dim. It’s like my hard disk drive crashed and was re-formatted and not all data was restored.
April is right around the corner. There are several preaching engagements, and after Easter is a week-long trip to Ipoh for the SAM Ipoh’s diploma program class. Though I’m not teaching, I will attend to this first class and explain the new curriculum to the students. Other days of the week I hope to do 2 things: build better rapport with Ipoh churches while exploring partnership possibilities and to continue interviews for my thesis research. Ending the week will be a trip to Gua Musang, Kelantan. I’ve been looking forward to a chance to visit this place and I’m glad the opportunity has arrived. The local leaders are also waiting for my visit to extend the efforts that is being done in the Simpang Pulai/Gopeng OA Villages in terms of social development and Christian education.
The SAM center in Ipoh has also started their new curriculum this month with Gua Musang center planning to launch their first course in April. Also, kindly pray for the Anglican Training Center, located just next to my office, that aims to offer TEE programs in English, Mandarin, Tamil, and BM.
Once again, thank you for your partnership in ministry.
March also saw the start of efforts towards establishing the Anglican Training Center, a center to house TEE programs for lay leaders/pastors. Also planned was skill-related programs/seminars. And these were not all that came together with month number three. The Sekolah Alkitab Malaysia (SAM) Penang center started its first class with its new curriculum in St Mark’s, Prai with an average attendance of 10 students. Classes are still on-going for the study of the Gospel of Mark as part of the New Testament study requirement. I also began my monthly missions training session with members of St Mark’s Prai that will continue till September. I’m excited to be a part of their missions efforts with the goal to be equipped to do outreach work in South Thailand. They also started their Thai language class with a Thai student from MBTS. They are hoping to pick up basic conversational Thai to enable them to function in their target group of Southern Thais.
BJAC also went to an OA village. We “closed shop” one Saturday and went to Pawong. There were 11 of us in the van with one participant from St Paul as the driver, one from St George’s as an observer, and another whom I never got to know which church he was affiliated to. We were joined by another 13 in 3 cars from FLC. As far as I’ve been informed, everyone had a great time and there are requests to plan another longer trip there. As to the situation in the village, the grocery store project is progressing better than anticipated. Their initial capital has been used and they are receiving requests to sell new items. I’m seeking for sponsors to invest in this ministry and let them run it as they deem fit. Profit will be re-invested and they will roll on their own. Besides being a source of income for the local church, it also serves as a developmental project and an outreach where customers can get to know the church.
Then there was the SAM Ipoh graduation I attended last week. The event was sandwiched by 2 meetings, before & after the graduation service. The Council met to decide on an autonomous style of governance for the various SAM centers. This is because some centers want to affiliate with STM while some with MBS. For myself, coming under the umbrella of the Anglican church, I was instructed to work towards affiliation with STM. There’s actually no choice as I’m obligated to the “canonical obedience” enshrined in my appointment. But I am very glad to witness and participate in the discussion towards drawing up future plans and goals for SAM to be an independent Bible School, standing on its own with its own accreditation and not having to lean on another entity to gain recognition of our programs. However, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Perhaps, it will take another 3-5 years. I’m pushing for the others to set a deadline so we can measure our progress. It will be in September before we start elaborating on this.
The following day after the graduation service I had a meeting with a church in Ipoh to establish partnership in our OA ministry. I’m so glad for this. When I returned to Penang I had a meeting with another church to discuss similar possibilities. I’m really excited. These two are AG churches. In fact, I am still very overwhelmed by the extent of potentials and possibilities in this ministry. I really pray God will raise someone to come along side me soon. At the rate this is going, soon I will not be able to attend to everything completely by myself.
Another interesting event in March was the 50th Anniversary of my school, CGL. It was sort of a last minute thing that I finally made it to the dinner, attended by over 1000 guests and students on the school field itself. As it was on a Saturday night, I was obviously late for the dinner. It was supposed to start at 6.30pm but I arrived at about 7.30pm and dinner was not yet served. Traffic was bad due to this very event. I arrived to meet a friend who showed me to the table, supposedly attended by friends of my class year. But I could hardly recognize some of them. There were 2 ladies at a nearby table who came over to exchange greetings. They recognized me but their faces just do not register in my mind at all. I came back from this event a bit shaken. Many people could recognize me but I could not recognize them at all. It was as if a part of my life had been erased from my memory and that was frightening. I kept asking myself, how come they don’t register in my mind? In fact, I have several facebook friends that I added without recalling who they are but they insisted we know each other from school, CGL. This continues to puzzle me greatly. I keep asking myself why and how come. I completely have no recollection of some friends in school. And these are individuals who claimed that we were pretty good friends. In a way, it is scary. I think I can remember pretty well events in university days. Earlier years seem too dim. It’s like my hard disk drive crashed and was re-formatted and not all data was restored.
April is right around the corner. There are several preaching engagements, and after Easter is a week-long trip to Ipoh for the SAM Ipoh’s diploma program class. Though I’m not teaching, I will attend to this first class and explain the new curriculum to the students. Other days of the week I hope to do 2 things: build better rapport with Ipoh churches while exploring partnership possibilities and to continue interviews for my thesis research. Ending the week will be a trip to Gua Musang, Kelantan. I’ve been looking forward to a chance to visit this place and I’m glad the opportunity has arrived. The local leaders are also waiting for my visit to extend the efforts that is being done in the Simpang Pulai/Gopeng OA Villages in terms of social development and Christian education.
The SAM center in Ipoh has also started their new curriculum this month with Gua Musang center planning to launch their first course in April. Also, kindly pray for the Anglican Training Center, located just next to my office, that aims to offer TEE programs in English, Mandarin, Tamil, and BM.
Once again, thank you for your partnership in ministry.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Ministry Update March 2011
It’s been a quick month full of activities. First, the CNY break where I “locked” myself indoors to escape the stress of Penang traffic. Just concluded last week was the SEA Anglican Provincial Gathering. Never thought I’ll enjoy an Anglican function but I did. Actually, I discovered that there are Anglican pastors from other diocese who are “fun” and it’s not all dull traditions. Don’t get me wrong. Traditions are good… if it serve a purpose.
Entering into the third month sees the start of the BM school in Penang and Ipoh. Not sure yet when exactly Gua Musang is starting their classes although the coordinator said it should be in March too. The Ulu Tiram center is still pending. The coordinator is busy being a daddy.
Later in the month (12th), I’ll be bringing a team of blind participants to an OA village. A friend asked in a surprised tone…what can they see? Anyway, I sort of forced them to play a role in the trip. 4 of them will be sharing their testimony and 3 of them are blind. I have a van load going and we will be joined by FLC to this “exposure” day trip. Please pray for us: good weather, logistics, those ministering (BJAC sharing to adults & FLC ministering to the children), the journey, etc.
The grocery store project at Pawong is apparently doing well. Stock is already running low. But I’ll go see the place and study the needs before I update further. Anyone interested to partner development work with the OA community? There are several other projects needing partnership with urban church/individuals. Pray over it and let me know. A little monetary investment from our part is a huge contribution to them. I have 2 chicken projects pending needing investment of approximately RM5000 a year for 2 years. These are all located within Perak/Pahang and we can go visit anytime.
Kindly pray also for the Bible translation workshop scheduled for early June by Bible Society of Malaysia. It was postponed from December last year. As we all know there is a tremendous need for contemporary and contextualized translation into Bahasa Malaysia. The present one, the only version, is not accurate at all and Malaysians have been relying on Indonesian bibles in BM services/churches.
Well, once again let me end with this familiar quote…
PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
Thank you for your partnership in ministry.
Entering into the third month sees the start of the BM school in Penang and Ipoh. Not sure yet when exactly Gua Musang is starting their classes although the coordinator said it should be in March too. The Ulu Tiram center is still pending. The coordinator is busy being a daddy.
Later in the month (12th), I’ll be bringing a team of blind participants to an OA village. A friend asked in a surprised tone…what can they see? Anyway, I sort of forced them to play a role in the trip. 4 of them will be sharing their testimony and 3 of them are blind. I have a van load going and we will be joined by FLC to this “exposure” day trip. Please pray for us: good weather, logistics, those ministering (BJAC sharing to adults & FLC ministering to the children), the journey, etc.
The grocery store project at Pawong is apparently doing well. Stock is already running low. But I’ll go see the place and study the needs before I update further. Anyone interested to partner development work with the OA community? There are several other projects needing partnership with urban church/individuals. Pray over it and let me know. A little monetary investment from our part is a huge contribution to them. I have 2 chicken projects pending needing investment of approximately RM5000 a year for 2 years. These are all located within Perak/Pahang and we can go visit anytime.
Kindly pray also for the Bible translation workshop scheduled for early June by Bible Society of Malaysia. It was postponed from December last year. As we all know there is a tremendous need for contemporary and contextualized translation into Bahasa Malaysia. The present one, the only version, is not accurate at all and Malaysians have been relying on Indonesian bibles in BM services/churches.
Well, once again let me end with this familiar quote…
PHP 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
Thank you for your partnership in ministry.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Ministry Update 2 Feb 2011
Almost at the blink of an eye, we have completed the first month of 2011. Everyone is still in their holiday mood as we prepare to celebrate Chinese New Year tomorrow. In fact, January passed by so swiftly I had almost no opportunity to reflect upon the activities planned in the new year. It’s like in daze and I’m not sure I am fully awake to realize it is already February.
As I can recall from looking at my January schedule, there were speaking engagements with little break for me. But it was fun to complete a marathon of 9 preaching engagements through 7 consecutive weekends, starting from November, ending in January. At the Upper North Anglican clergy meeting last month, a decision was made to establish a training/theological center in Penang. That was an exciting decision which I hope to be given more responsible and involvement. After all, that is my calling. Pastoral…eh, not really my cup of tea. I very much prefer working within a teaching institution, ie., the (Christian) education ministry.
The Bahasa Bible School will start its class in March. I’m in the midst of promoting it and getting the ground work ready. My coordinators in other centers don’t seem to be as enthusiastic. Perhaps it’s because they are pastors first, unlike myself. Penang will start its class in Prai at the start of March. The same for the Ipoh center. Gua Musang and Ulu Tiram have not given me any details yet. End of the month is the SEA Provincial Gathering and I’ll meet most of them. I intend to personally push them to expedite the work. We really need a good start in a professional and impressive manner. After all, first impressions count. I want it the very best, just for our Lord. He surely deserves that. Nothing less but the very best.
As we prepare to celebrate the lunar new year, I would like to take this opportunity to greet everyone a very blessed Chinese New Year, Kong Xi Fa Cai, and a (spiritually) fruitful year ahead.
As I can recall from looking at my January schedule, there were speaking engagements with little break for me. But it was fun to complete a marathon of 9 preaching engagements through 7 consecutive weekends, starting from November, ending in January. At the Upper North Anglican clergy meeting last month, a decision was made to establish a training/theological center in Penang. That was an exciting decision which I hope to be given more responsible and involvement. After all, that is my calling. Pastoral…eh, not really my cup of tea. I very much prefer working within a teaching institution, ie., the (Christian) education ministry.
The Bahasa Bible School will start its class in March. I’m in the midst of promoting it and getting the ground work ready. My coordinators in other centers don’t seem to be as enthusiastic. Perhaps it’s because they are pastors first, unlike myself. Penang will start its class in Prai at the start of March. The same for the Ipoh center. Gua Musang and Ulu Tiram have not given me any details yet. End of the month is the SEA Provincial Gathering and I’ll meet most of them. I intend to personally push them to expedite the work. We really need a good start in a professional and impressive manner. After all, first impressions count. I want it the very best, just for our Lord. He surely deserves that. Nothing less but the very best.
As we prepare to celebrate the lunar new year, I would like to take this opportunity to greet everyone a very blessed Chinese New Year, Kong Xi Fa Cai, and a (spiritually) fruitful year ahead.
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