Ministry Update July-August 2020

Praise God that I had the opportunity to briefly visit Penang in early July to savour the delicacies not found anywhere else. And the food tasted even better as I was surrounded by good company. There’s still so much uncertainty caused by COVID. At home I happened to see a box of gift I received from a Korean missionary, once upon a time. It was two sets of cutlery – a pair of chopsticks n a long spoon – gold plated. It looked too delicate n costly for daily use n it only stayed in the box. But with this COVID uncertainties, I asked myself why not use it?! Keep keeping it for what?! So, these days I am eating “in style.” Every day, I am eating my food with gold-plated cutlery. So, does my food taste better? Unfortunately, they still taste the same – whether I use a pair of gold plated chopsticks or wooden disposable chopsticks!

 

The adventure continues as we adjust to virtual activities. Patience is tested as we seek to move around the SOPs. I feel it is very much like a “push” into a new era of doing things/lifestyle. Online activities suddenly become a necessity rather than an option.

 

SAM Penang (Prai) has started classes while abiding by the necessary SOP. There will be a scheduled one-week intensive class in August. SAM Ipoh (Tapah) had taken a break till further notice. Some unfortunate issues arise in the church leadership and it will probably only resume next year.

 

Elsewhere, COVID related issues are pushing towards online activities – classes, discipleship training, etc. Recent days’ developments are causing some worrying trend. Many people seemed to have let down guard till the authorities are bringing back certain restrictions. So, let’s be more disciplined, responsible, and civic-conscious. #kitajagakita #yesusjagakita

 

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Ministry Update June-July 2020

June is drawing to a close n the second half of the year is right around the corner. For about four months half the world hid away in our individual caves while the “angel of death” stalked the corners of the globe. As we emerge from our caves, the feeling is like learning to walk all over again. At least for me…Online classes approach is the main talk of this hour.  Second semester just started with each one adjusting to stand on unfamiliar ground. In the midst of all these is the haunting fear of COVID still lurking unseen all around us. News of good progress is abundant at the eastern side of the globe while at the western hemisphere, the battle is bitter with a lot more casualties in this unprecedented “battle of the century.” Again, I’d like to meditate on what God is saying to us in this emerging pattern.

In Malaysia, restrictions are slowly being relaxed with even cinemas permitted to start operation.  Several view this cautiously referring to countries like South Korea and Australia who experienced sudden spike after relaxing restrictions. Should we or should we not? I am one who would vote to take the risk. After all, how can we continue staying in our individual caves…forever? Life has enough risks. What is one more to that? Of course we need to comply to the long list of SOPs which can be pretty troublesome.

SAM Penang (Prai) is starting its physical class. The rest may be online classes. SAM Ipoh (Tapah) paused after its February class n we are planning for an early October class before concluding the academic year. As with many other activities, plans are paused, cancelled, changed, or cut short. In a few short months’ time I will have to begin planning for SAM’s 2021 class schedule. Will appreciate your prayer support. Will also greatly appreciate your continuous partnership in this exciting n challenging times as we witness God unfolding His great plans locally n globally today.

Ministry Update MayJune 2020

My google calendar reminded me…I should be in Sabah for a mission trip. Again my google calendar reminded me…I should be in Tapah for a class. Everything seemed to pause and the pause is getting long. From mid of March till almost mid of June, that is about 3 months pause. And everyone is still unclear what holds after 9^th June. Will the Conditional Movement Control Order continue with lesser restrictions. For sure big gatherings n international travels will still be restricted. How about domestic travel? Wondering, wondering…with safety in mind; not so much for self but for people around in the community I am in.

What transpire along the months of MCO n CMCO: weekly broadcast of panel discussions aimed at the young adults segment trying to understand God in the midst of the COVID crisis. It started as a live stream on FB and later “progressed” to pre-recorded sessions on FB n Youtube. We started as “Teh Tarik sessions” n later became “Into the Unknown” series. We are also discussing to “expand” to another mid-week devotional. Apart from this, everything is pretty much normal except for the restricted movements. I used to go out once a week to get supplies during MCO n now during CMCO, twice a week to get supplies. NS is still pretty much a RED zone area, after Selangor n KL. Seremban district itself doesn’t seem to break away from RED; still swaying regularly between RED n ORANGE . My office is just about 2-3 minutes walk away from my apartment in campus. So, I still regularly go to the office for online classes, grading assignments, preparing for next semester, etc. Besides, the internet here is stronger than the one in my apartment block. And talking about the apartment block, it has been a mystery game for all dwellers in the apartment block to guess the water supply that comes on n off in our kitchens. We even hv a whatsapp chatgroup to update each other on whether water is here or water is gone on a daily basis! Well, that seems to be our only “entertainment” during this MCO/CMCO.

Several things I hv learned during this “confinement” period:

1.      Crisis brings out the “real” person: It is in such times that we see who really has the “substance” or they are just full of empty air. Some people talk big but when it gets to real work, there’s nothing at all. Some just cringe at the sudden change n cannot function all together; unable to make decisions, or just waiting for someone else to make decisions. I suppose it is in a crisis that we can clearly see the leadership quality of an individual (or the extreme lack of it)

2.      The “underdog” winners: several nations are confronting COVID more successful than others. I noticed (n I’m sure many too) that the “lesser known” nations are doing better than “developed” nations. I read these articles (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/21/africa-coronavirus-successes-innovation-europe-us; https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52628283; https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/whats-south-koreas-secret/611215/; https://www.leadersleague.com/en/news/here-s-how-taiwan-succeeded-in-containing-covid-19) African nations, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan…just to name a few. Nations the world overlook in many aspects. Malaysia…I remember someone was sharing of his Singaporean friend’s response to COVID. The gist of it was that this doctor in Singapore was overwhelmed by the task to control COVID n I remember the comment…If Singapore finds it too overwhelming, how about Malaysia? We’re doomed! The next few weeks we surprisingly see Malaysia doing better than Singapore! Even videos uploaded to Youtube praised Malaysians for chipping in regardless of background to be united to fight COVID. Honestly, watching this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__G7wcGW43s; one I’m sure many Malaysians watched n moved to tears. On the other hand, the big developed nations, ie, the obvious Big Bro a.k.a. US, already had 1.68 million infections n over 98k deaths as of today 25052020, with its first case reported in late Jan while news reported that on 12 Apr US became the nation with the most deaths by COVID. What is God telling us? The “big nations” vs the “small nations”

3.      Church: everything we hv falsely built to define “church” are being challenged. Church is NOT buildings, traditions, structures. We are re-defining church n recognizing it as the people of God. Live streaming breaks down every boundary of geography n denomination. Finally, Christians come together to sing of blessing over our nations. Hey, wait a minute – do we need a crisis before we come together? In Haggai 2:6-7, For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.  and Hebrews 12:26
At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well."

I think this is the time that the Lord breaks down everything that hinder us from drawing close to Him so that what remain are what truly matter – our faith, our love, n our trust in Him n Him alone

4.      Of prophecies and miracle healings: can one still believe in prophecies n miracle healings today in light of what’s happening? Several prophecies stated that COVID will fade away after April. Today is almost the end of May n COVID is still very much in the news every day. Some are even growing tired of it. So, what about the prophecy that COVID will end in April? All I can say is I STILL BELIEVE in prophecy! Look at ALL “predictions” n they all show cases dropping AFTER the month of April. WE may hv expected God to work the way we wanted Him to but He has His own ways. Healing? Look at nature n the many reports of how the pause is healing nature. For the first time in many decades the top of famous mountains can be seen, rivers are flowing clear, clean water, the ozone layer is recovering, etc. The problem is more of – can we RECOGNIZE the work of God in the events/news that we read each day. (https://www.india.com/viral/after-several-decades-mount-everest-visible-from-kathmandu-as-covid-19-lockdown-reduces-pollution-4032223/; https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/04/11/mco-lets-nature-repair-rivers-in-the-klang-valley/; https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/ozone-layer-healing-coronavirus-climate-sun-uv-rays-a9429341.html)

For the next few days till 9^th June, I pray we use it wisely n to spiritually discern God in the events that unfold each day – locally n globally. Let us adopt the new normal n practice what we know we should. We hv reached a junction n beyond this is a whole “new world” where the “old” is in the past. It is both a reset/pause n an accelerator. It is both scary and exciting as God takes us to the next level. Once again, thank you for your partnership in ministry

Ministry Update AprMay 2020

Into the unknown…entering into the fourth phase of MCO: Some morning I wake up uncertain which day is it today? Everyday feels like Saturday. What are you up to these days? For me, nothing much different from the usual, except that I can go to bed as late as I want and wake up as late as I want! Other than that, it’s work as usual, actually – virtual classes and grading assignments, preparing for next semester and the “old new” classes (repeated classes with new students). The worst of this MCO has to be my cooking which confirmed an already known fact – I cannot cook! But I m “forced” to tolerate my own MCO recipes (MCO is “mong cha-cha origin: grab whatever is available in my kitchen to come up with something “creative n new” n sometimes I literally “forced” myself to eat my “master piece” dish)

Inter-state activities are all cancelled and this includes all mission trips and classes. There is not much to report as there is hardly any activity but much uncertainty. Many are expecting the MCO to further be extended till 28 May. Even the PM’s latest announcement already gave hint that it may be extended. Year-end graduation events are also uncertain whether they can proceed. The “no big gatherings” advice is till end of the year or till a vaccine is found. I remember a friend telling me at the start of the MCO that “if China, a nation so advance, needs two months to control this, what makes you think Malaysia can do better?” Well, she has a point and rightly we are going into two months, perhaps more, of MCO. In the meantime here in campus and in our individual “caves” we are churning up video conferences, webinar, FB/Youtube broadcast, etc. In the little way that we can, we raised funds to make face shields and bought face masks for the frontliners in Seremban public hospital; many groups hold weekly podcast/service/panel talks on various topics; and there’s a list of public lectures on zoom, etc. In between, I also participated in online free short courses.

I am a Christian in Malaysia. We may have an “illegitimate” government and a cabinet made up of clowns but I believe in my God and the reason why events turned up the way it did. There had been many, n I mean countless opinions on how Malaysia will “fail” both as a nation n in its fight against COVID. And such “reports” are still being circulated n forwarded in WhatsApp chat groups. In such times of crisis as we are in right now, yes, many so-called “analyst” will emerge with their “professional views.” But I know who my God is. The Bible I read each day is not a fairy tale of sorts. It is a record of a mighty God who is my God. He is the same yesterday, today, n forever. Despite the “gloomy” scene of each negative “analysis” I know who I have believed, who I am believing, n who I will always believe. This is not some positive-thinking to make myself “feel good” in the midst of a crisis, but this is a fact for one believing Christian in Malaysia. From the start of this MCO, I have observed n very sad to say that it involved Christians – how some of us “contributed” to the spread of fear n curse to our nation. Hello…there is power in the spoken word. So, my fellow believers, if you are claiming yourself to be a Christian, please be careful of your words. Let it be words that bless n edify. It is in a time of crisis that we can see each person for who he/she really is – whether a person of substance or a person full of air. The same goes with a “friend” – is this person trustworthy or a friendship not worth maintaining? I am upset that a “long-time friend” can actually texted me “to inform” that she is not doing any favour for my mom in Penang. And this is a Christian! Horror of horrors! On the other hand, I’d like us to notice the good from all these, where we are being “reset” into what we ought to be, ie., families together; earth healing herself from pollution; time to pause n “smell the roses;” clear skies n singing birds. I realized, yes, it is costing more to the poor n the “aftermath” of lock-down is tremendous n devastating to many. But hey, this is when Christian stewardship takes over. Christians are called to live a life of sacrifice n this is the time for us to make that sacrifice for those in need. We are in this together, let us go through this together.

I hope you are doing well too. Personally, I am excited at what the Lord has ordained for us. We read so much of this great God and His miracles/great wonders in the Bible. Here, in our contemporary stage, He is unfolding His great might once again, both locally and globally. What privilege that we have this opportunity to personally witness these. Let’s continue to pray for spiritual eyes to be opened, hearts to be willing, and lives surrendered to Him. This is the time, this is the hour. Let’s not miss this moment

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