宣教随笔Mission Highlights - 5

宣教随笔 Mission Highlights - 5
23 Dec 2012 – Kuching – Blessed Church
Blessed Church with a congregation of a few thousands.can be
considered as a mega church in a small city like Kuching The
sanctuary is fully carpeted that allows the worshippers to bow
down to the clean holy ground during worship. What an
awesome place to worship the Lord in His holy presence! It is a
great community of believers that helps transform the city of
Kuching.
The church senior pastor, G T Lim, a law graduate from NZ is the
visionary leader of this very vibrant church. He is a well-known
and very gifted "singing pastor" in South East Asia. From many
albums he had produed over the years, I can see he has very
strong anointing and calling in both cultural mountains of "Arts
and Entertainment" and "Church". To God be the glory!
The morning service in Mandarin was from 9:00am to 12:30pm.
I was led by the Holy Spirit to preach a sermon entitled "A
Blessed Life" that is really appropriate to the name of the
Church. A very Blessed church with many transformed lives that
impacts the city of Kuching. Being an architect with the help of
God, I tried to paint a picture of seven perfect blessings in Psalm
1:3 during the sermon.
After the service, I was so surprised to be greeted by my wife's
classmate, Chai Yi Fong and her husband. Yi Fong is also the
sister of my old classmate, Marcus Chai. Once I went to a
hairdresser in Kuching with my friend one day and someone I
had never met before recognised me as a minister. This really
reminds me the message in Jer 48:11, people can see through us
as a servant of God needs to settle on the lees and pour from
vessel to vessel.
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宣教随笔 Mission Highlights - 5
23 Dec 2012 – Kuching – Blessed Church
Jacelyn (my sister-in-law) and I were treated a very nice
lunch by the church leaders. Brother Sim (left) with his
wife Maggie are the main leaders in the church. He
shared many great testimonies about the growth of the
church, and the main thing was the unity within their
church leadership. Before the exponential growth of the
church, God called them to fast and pray for 40 days!
Brother Joseph (to my right) is the othe leader who is
always full of joy. We just felt so comfortable and happy
to be around him. Hallelujah!
The Bilingual Service in the evening was from 6:30pm to
10:00pm. The anointing of the Holy Spirit in this church is
so strong, that believers were able to stay in the church
services for seven hours on Sunday. At the beginning of
the service, Ps Lim shared about the holy presence of God
from Isaiah 6. I believe it is the presence of God that
draws people there to worship God in truth and in spirit.
The children were so well behaved as they worshipped
near the front of the stage with the adults. PTL!
In the evening service, I delivered my sermon in English
and Ps Lim interpreted to Mandarin. He is a great
interpreter and the message was very well received by
the congregation. I have never worked together with Ps
Lim before, but we co-operated really well with very
strong anointing from the Holy Spirit. To God be the
glory!
I was asked by Ps Lim to deliver the same sermon for both
services. But I used to preach without any sermon notes
and it was quite a challenge to deliver exactly the same
sermons during the two services. But praise God, by His
grace He put the right words in my mouth just at the right
time as I learned to trust the leading of the Holy Spirit. It
has much better impact when I just trust and rely on Him.
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宣教随笔 Mission Highlights - 5
25 - 26 Dec 2012 – Kuching – Christmas Day Celebrations
Praise God, in morning of Christmas Day I was
invited to attend Mark and Adeline's wedding at
Kuching Grace Baptist Church. It was such a joyous
occasion to witness the holy matrimony of this very
special couple. We have a divine balance of
ADORATION (vertical) and CELEBRATION
(horizontal) at the cross. Hallelujah!
In the afternoon, we had our first mini secondary
school reunion at Janet's place. Our classmates had
arrived in Kuching from all over the world over the
last few days. One of my best mate in school, Elder
Marcus Tze (to my right), whom I had not been met
for about the last 32 years flew in from the States
today with his family. What a joy to see them all!
In the evening I was invited to Mark and Adeline's
wedding banquet at Riverside Hotel in Kuching. I
had a great time feasting and fellowshiping with a
lot of people I had never met. Though we didn't
witness the miracle of water being turned into wine
during the banquet, everyone seemed to be happy
with the very successful occasion of celebration.
On the night of 26th December, we had our second
classmates reunion at Joon Kiat's place. It was
definitely quite a challenge to remember the names
of those I had not seen for so many years. It was a
night of great fun recalling all the silly things we had
done during our secondary school years. Time flies,
Lord! Please teach me how to number my days.
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宣教随笔 Mission Highlights - 5
27 Dec 2012 – Kuching, GRSS 1980 Reunion Dinner
This reunion dinner was held at Raja Court Hotel in Kuching from 6pm till late night. Thanks to a
group of dedicated classmates who managed to get all of us together from all over the world
for a very precious gathering like this. The night was filled with memories of the past that made
most of us pondered about life during those carefree years at GRSS.
Most of us are half a century old with many life experiences to share over the night. Thank God
that most of us came to know our Lord Jesus Christ during our time overseas. Every one of us is
unique, fearfully and wonderfully made, and God has a purpose for us. I truly thank God for the
very precious friendship even though we had been apart from one another for about 32 years!
As you get older you learn to treasure all the presents which are gifts from God in this life.
It is my sincere prayer that all my classmates who still do not know Jesus might come to know
Him one day. By the grace of God, I used this opportunity to share my faith on a one to one
basis with them. “Cast your bread on the waters, for you shall find it after many days.” – Ecc
11:1. Thank God that I also had a wonderful time of fellowship with those who already know
Him, and I was truly amazed at how much the Lord has transformed our lives from our
mischievous past.
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宣教随笔 Mission Highlights - 5
28 to 29 Dec 2012 – Kuching Grace Baptist Church – Seminar Training
The above picture is an artist’s impression of the proposed new church building for Kuching
Grace Baptist Church. Thank and praise God that they have outgrown their existing premise and
the Lord has given them the vision to build a new facility on a piece of land they had bought
many years ago.
I believe they are about to enter a new season of blessing and restful increase, as it can be
observed from an outsider’s view that they are now going through a transition period of labour
pain (Gal 4:19). The devil is not fighting at where they are but fighting at where they are going.
Please join with me to pray for these precious children of God that they will respond by faith
and not fear, and we will see a major breakthrough in their building project. Pray that they will
receive treasures of darkness and riches that stored in secret places as they trust God to go
before them. (Isa 45:2-3) Every set back is a setup for them to soar higher in God. Hallelujah!
More importantly, the building project is about building the people of God as His temple,
because what is spiritual is reflected in the physical. Please pray that their service to the Lord is
wroughted from within. To God be the glory!
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宣教随笔 Mission Highlights - 5
28 to 29 Dec 2012 – Kuching Grace Baptist Church – Seminar Training
I was requested by the Senior Pastor, Rev Lau to conduct two seminars on the church building
project:
28 Dec 2012 (7:30pm to 9:30pm) – How to prepare ourselves for church building project?
I expounded on the topic from various verses in the bible about Purpose, Vision and Mission;
and four steps to Godly achievements: (1) Plan Purposefully; (2) Prepare Prayerfully; (3)
Proceed Positively; and (4) Pursue Persistently.
29 Dec 2012 (7:30pm to 9:30pm) – How to participate in church building project?
I expounded on this topic from various verses in the bible about the true meaning of service or
worship. Then I moved on to leadership and team building for the project.
Thank and praise God, like Nehemiah and Ezra in the bible, I did my best I possibly could to
encourage God’s people. As they know how to position themselves to hear and receive from
God, they will reclaim all their inheritance that has been stolen by the evil one. It is their
attitude that will determine their altitude. It is my sincere prayer that God’s people will
understand the Father’s heart. As they align themselves with His will and covenant, they will
move from glory to glory. May the favour of God rest upon them and establish the work of their
hands. (Ps 90:17). To God be the glory!
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宣教随笔 Mission Highlights - 5
28 to 29 Dec 2012 – Kuching Grace Baptist Church – Sunday Service
I was led by the Holy Spirit to preach a
sermon entitled "A New Season, A New
Page". Thank and praise God I was told that
the message was well received by the
congregation as it was an appropriate
message for the church at this time.
This is aunty Macy from the church. She doesn't
look 72 years old because of her active
involvements in the church. I have always seen
her running around like a young lady serving the
Lord. She is really like the cedar from Lebanon
that bears fruits in her old age. Hallelujah!
It really warmed my heart that some of my old
classmates came to the service before they left
Kuching later that day. Thank and praise God for
their moral support. Well, maybe they came to
check out my theology and preaching. LOL!
We had a traditional hawker-style lunch
together before some left for the airport in the
afternoon. It was kind of sad to bit each other
good-bye as we did not know when we would
meet again. God is good though.
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