Harvest Force 2021 issue 2 by MMS1

EXTENDING the SCOPE

Extending the Scope R

ecently, there was a squirrel trapped within an air well at my residence. We did not know how it ended up there but everyone was anxiously trying to help it get out. Someone tried to catch it so that it could be released to the outside garden. But the squirrel just ran away and tried its best not to be caught. Someone else set up some boxes in the hope that the squirrel would get inside a box so that it can be brought to a safe place. But the squirrel just would not go into any of the boxes. The more we want to help, the more the squirrel tried to run away from us. As I watched these amusing approaches, this thought came to mind: Wouldn’t it be great if I could speak squirrel? It would be wonderful if I could extend my reach to this poor creature to help it escape its trapped situation. At the same time, my heart ached to see how this lost squirrel was frantically searching for a way out. And I am sure that God’s heart aches too when He sees the lost trying to find a way out. I am forever grateful that Jesus extended his reach from heaven to come to us — so that He may become one of us and show us the way out. In this issue of HF focusing on “Extending the Scope”, Bishop Dr Gordon Wong also draws a parallel with John Wesley’s and the Apostle Paul’s extension of their scopes, and urges us to extend the love of to all people in all nations (page 40). Rev Derrick Lau, MMS Executive Director, encourages us to prayerfully consider how we may take steps to reach out to those without the Gospel (page 2). From pages 6 to 21, some of our ExCo members also express their views on extending the scope to unreached people groups. MMS plans to extend our scope by going beyond the seven countries that we are serving in. Would you and your church consider partnering with us in this endeavour – to reach out to the last, the least, and the lost? With this issue of HF, we conclude the series of seven themes from the acronym “E.N.L.A.R.G.E.” which is taken from our MMS Strategic Direction 2025. They serve as a guide to propel us forward to enlarge the Tent of God among the unreached peoples of the world so that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9 NIV) “Unreached People Groups” – Extend the scope of mission fields. “Prayer” – Nurture a vibrant network of 7000 Intercessors. “Missionary” – Launch an aggressive initiative towards enlisting 100 missionaries. “Discipleship” – Adopt a clear and contextualised Discipleship Framework for every entity. “Training” – Ramp up training/equipping for all. “Resources” – Glean towards a sustainable Financial Stewardship Protocol. “Partnership” – Engage 35 local Methodist churches towards collaborative mission partnerships.

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CONTENTS

Methodist Missions Society (MMS) is the missions agency of The Methodist Church in Singapore. MMS is given the mandate to establish indigenous churches supported by mission endeavours in communities across this region where there is no Methodist presence. Harvest Force is published three times annually and distributed free. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. All information published is correct at time of writing and may subject to change. All Scripture quoted is based on the English Standard Version, unless

WAZZUP! • Country Information • Opportunities to Serve

036/01/2021

ADVISOR Rev Derrick Lau

JULY 2021

EDITOR

Leongheng PROOFREADER

Wendy Tan CHINESE PROOFREADER Goh Tuan Gee

FIRST WORD • Extending the Scope of our mission fields for Unreached People Groups

otherwise stated.

PERMIT NUMBER

CONTENTS

FEATURE STORY • In search of new mission fields • Extending the scope to Reach the Unreached • Frontier Missions – extending the scope • Café and Education Ministry for People with Special Needs • God’s end goal for the world • Seeking open doors to Unreached People Groups • Reaching the Unreached

2021 ISSUE

TRANSLATORS Henry Wang, Thng Pheng Soon PHOTO CREDITS Alvin Tan, Anil Kumar Samuel, Caroline Ng-Cheng, David Chan, Heng Cho Hiong, Julie Sophawan Watthanasinkul DISTRIBUTION & SUPPORT Eileen Lim, Helen Tan, Tan Poh Ling & Volunteers DESIGNER SNAP! Creative Pte Ltd

PRINTER Print & Print Pte Ltd PUBLISHER Rev Derrick Lau 70 Barker Road #06-01, The Methodist Centre Singapore 309936 Tel: 6478 4818

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FIELD FEATURE CAMBODIA • Flourish in Cambodia THAILAND • Mission Conference declared TIMOR-LESTE • By His Grace, Grow in L.O.V.E.

mms@methodist.org.sg

www.mms.org.sg mms.org.sg mms.org.sg

t.me/mmsorgsg

mms_org_sg

Photo credits: COVER: Reaching out to another. banphote@bigstockphoto.com CONTENTS: Top right: salajean@bigstockphoto.com Below top right: kobby_dagan@bigstockphoto.com

HOME IN ON... • DIGITAL MISSIONS: Yes, We Can! • Kids Missions Adventures

CLOSING THOTS • Extending the Scope?

02 2

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

EXTENDING THE SCOPE OF OUR FIELDS for UNREACHED PEOPLE C

Rev Derrick Lau 刘作丰牧师

卫宣执行主 Executive Director of MMS. He is thankful to the Lord for the joy of being a grandpapa to two lovely grandchildren, Josh and Kayla.

ome September 2021, MMS shall be celebrating her 30th Anniversary. Over the past three decades, she has been mobilising local churches as well as developing resources to spread the Gospel and equipping the national leaders in this region via the four phases of Pioneering, Parenting, Partnership, and Participating. We praise God that by His Spirit and the prayers and participation of individuals, local churches, and Annual Conferences, there are 25 churches, 22 preaching points, and 10 outreach points associated with our mission in the seven countries (as of end 2020)1. Today, the Methodist Church of Cambodia is in her third year as a Provisional Annual Conference (PAC). In March 2021, the churches in Thailand transited into a Mission Conference, paving the way to becoming a PAC in four to five years’ time. The Methodist Church in Nepal is on schedule to become a Mission Conference in 2030. In addition to Church Planting efforts, Community Development projects such as schools, hostels, orphanages, shelters, etc. are taking shape in East Asia, Laos, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. As we reflect on the inroads that the Lord has provided over the past three decades, I believe that it is timely to seek the Lord to expand the scope of our missions as part of our contribution towards global evangelisation. (cf. https:// joshuaproject.net for a detailed analysis of the state of unreached peoples.) The questions are: Where are the harvest fields today? How are we reaching out to those without the Gospel, i.e. Unreached People Groups (UPGs)? Briefly, I would like to present five steps [C.R.O.S.S.] for your prayerful consideration: 1 Conviction. Pray to the Lord for fresh conviction to reach more people in our region via extending the scope of our mission. 2 Re-think the mission strategies that we have adopted so far. In the light of the “new norm”, explore new and creative avenues of doing missions today including developing digital platforms and challenging churches to intensify efforts in world evangelisation.

Due to its brevity, this article does not attempt to provide a full nor comprehensive analysis of the ministries in our fields. Suffice to note that some of the churches that we had planted had become independent or ceased operations, and hence the total figure does not reflect the sum total of all that we had ventured during the past three decades.

3 Observe missiological trends and movements. Examine the fields that are ripe for harvest in our region. Dialogue with church leaders and MMS on the viability of initiating new endeavours or explore collaborative efforts with existing missionaries and/or churches that have some forms of ministry apart from the seven MMS fields. 4 Share the ‘new vision’ with leaders and churches, and discern the Lord’s voice in the way forward. Enlist prayer intercessors to seek the Holy Spirit’s discernment, power, and presence in terms of breaking new and hard ground, and raising resources (human capital and financial) for new geographical horizons.

FIRSTWORD 03

MISSION GROUPS 5 Send missions teams, missionaries, and resources when travel restrictions are lifted. Meanwhile, explore virtual mission trips and give priority to the preaching and teaching on the urgency of fulfilling the Lord’s mandate of the Great Commission in our generation. “When the love of Jesus Christ gripped Wesley’s heart, he knew he couldn’t keep it to himself. There had to be some way to reach the vast masses of people who would never darken a church door. Initially, Wesley was convinced the gospel could only be preached in the stained-glass setting of a church building. But with so few people attending church services, he was forced to consider other options. Reluctantly, Wesley began preaching in the open air. He would find a high spot on the edge of a city and speak to whoever would listen. Crowds of three, five, even ten thousand people would gather. Many of them were touched by the spirit of God and awakened to their spiritual state. A revival in England was born largely because Wesley was willing to take the gospel where the people were.” (https://www.churchleadership. com/leading-ideas/seven-of-johnwesleys-practices-can-changehearts-today) Let me challenge you to respond to the Lord’s command, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his CROSS and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

扩展宣教触及未得群体来

临的2021年9月，卫理宣教会将庆祝成立30周年。在过去的三十年里，卫理宣教会一直在动员本地教会及开发资源传福音，并通过先锋接触族群、父辈般培育当地领袖、与当地教会结成伙伴、受邀才参与等四个阶段建立本区域国家的教会领袖。感谢赞美上帝，藉著圣灵的导引、个人及地方教会并各年会的祷告支援及参与，截至2020年底，我们在七个国家已有25间教会、22个布道道点和10个外展点。今天，柬埔寨卫理公会临时年议会已经迈入第三个年头。2021年3月，泰国的卫理公会已经组成宣教议会，为未来四到五年内晋升成临时年议会铺路。尼泊尔卫理公会则计划在2030年成为宣教议会。除了植立教会外，在东亚、老挝、东帝汶和越南等宣教区的学校、学生宿舍、孤儿院、庇护所等社区发展项目也已成型，保持稳健的发展。当我们回顾过去三十年主的眷顾与恩典时，我相信现在是时候求主来扩展我们的宣教范畴，对普世宣教尽上我们该尽的本分。（请浏览约书亚计划网站 (cf. https://joshuaproject.net以了解福音未及之民的状况及分析）问题是：今天我们的禾场在哪里? 我们该如何接触那些未听闻福音的人，就是那些未得之民? 我简要地提出五个步骤，请在祷告中记念:

1 坚定的信念。祈求主帮助，加强我们有新的信心，通过扩大我们的宣教领域去接触本区域中更多需要福音的群体。 2 重新省思我们所采用的宣教策略。在新常态中探索崭新、有创意的宣教途径，包括发展数码平台和激发教会竭力向普世广传福音。

3 关注普世宣教的趋势和动向，了解本区域即将收割的禾场。与教会领袖和卫宣就启始新事工的可行性对话，探索与现有宣教士和/或卫宣7个禾场教会之外其他形式的合作。 4 向领袖和教会分享“新愿景”，并在跟

进时仔细聆听主的声音。召募代祷者，祈求圣灵赐与洞察力、能力和祂的同在，以开拓更具挑战性的硬土，并为开拓新的地理区域筹集人力和财务资源。

5 在旅行限制解除后，迅速调度资源，派遣宣教队和宣教士到禾场。同时，探索网上虚拟宣教之旅，并把传讲和教导我们这一代去完成大使命的紧迫性作为首要任务。 “当耶稣基督的爱紧紧抓住卫斯理的心时，他知道他不能独占这爱。一定有什么办法能接触那些永远不走进教堂大门的广大群众。起初，卫斯理相信福音只能在以彩色玻璃装饰的教堂建筑里传讲。但由于参加教堂礼拜的人太少，他不得不考虑其他选择。卫斯理不得不勉为其难地开始露天布道。他会在城市郊区找一高处，站在上面对任何愿意听的人传道。三、五、甚至一万的人群会聚集在一起。他们中许多人被上帝触摸，沉睡的灵开始醒悟。英格兰的福音复兴在很大程度上是因为卫斯理愿意把福音带到人们所在的地方。” (https://www.

churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/ seven-of-john-wesleys-practices-canchange-hearts-today)

最后，我们要反思并回应主的命令: “若有人要跟从我，就当舍己，背起他的十字架来跟从我。”(马太福音 16：24)

04 44

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

Country Information To find out more about the different fields, please email the respective persons at these email addresses: Cambodia lichun.woo@methodist.org.sg East Asia hazel.mui@methodist.org.sg Laos

jularul.ps84@gmail.com

Nepal noel.tam@methodist.org.sg Thailand jeremy.choo@methodist.org.sg Timor-Leste

hazel.mui@methodist.org.sg koheng.quek@methodist.org.sg

Vietnam

Opportunities to Serve IN THE FIELD The fields are ready for harvesting – but there are so few labourers. In the seven countries that MMS is serving, we continue to be needful for the following: • Full-time missionaries. We are asking the Lord to send pastors, church planters, ministry workers, mentors, and teachers. • Short-term workers who are able to spend between two weeks and six months to help our missionaries. Please raise your own financial support. • Prayer partners to pray for our ministries and missionaries. What to do if you sense the LORD is calling you into His mission field: 1. Speak with your pastor and ask him/her to help examine your calling to missions.

For more information about these opportunities, kindly email mms@methodist.org.sg. Be in prayer with us as we seek God’s direction to challenge and mobilise our Methodist community to serve Christ.

2. If your church pastor and leaders affirm your calling and are prepared to support – praise the Lord! Call MMS straight away.

3. If your church pastor and leaders affirm your calling but are unable to provide full financial support for you – call MMS anyway! Some of our missionaries are supported by the combined efforts of multiple Methodist churches, agencies, and individuals.

WAZZUP! 05

Cambodia • Experienced Singapore Principal, Vice-Principal or Head of Department to serve as Principal of the Methodist School of Cambodia from first quarter of 2022. • Secondary and primary school teachers to teach at as well as empower teachers at the Methodist School of Cambodia especially in Science, Mathematics, etc. • Human Resource, Admin and Finance Personnel to serve at the school. • Prayer and financial supporters for pastors of the Methodist Church of Cambodia, who are receiving below the national minimum wage. • Missionaries who seek to be disciple makers. East Asia • Professional trainers to conduct enrichment courses, leadership development, young adult counselling. • Partners to support social work and community development programme, especially for medical services. Laos • Fulltime personnel to serve in Singapore Mission School (SMS) and develop partnerships. • Kindergarten and Primary teachers familiar with the Singapore curriculum to teach at SMS. Teachers can opt to serve a one-year term or longer. Nepal • Donors and sponsors for the Sophia’s Home girls who are continuing their studies in various disciplines in the local university in Kathmandu. This enables them to complete their professional studies, be financially independent, serve their communities and MCN, and be blessings to many. • Trainers to conduct online training on Discipleship, Financial Stewardships and Spiritual Leadership. • Missionary to serve in Nepal. Thailand • Short-term helpers to organise programmes and activities for BB, GB, and Children’s Ministry at Rangsit and Song-Roi Phee tuition centres. • Qualified Kindergarten and Primary levels teachers to conduct teachers’ training at Vineyard Methodist School and Little Candles School. • Mission teams to conduct evangelistic events, community services, etc at our Methodist churches. Timor-Leste • Teachers to volunteer for one year to provide instruction for students in Grades 7 to 12 at the St Paul Methodist School (SPMS), or mentor local teachers in basic curriculum design

and instructional strategies for at least a month. • Short-term volunteers to provide English, Science or Mathematics tuition for Grade 10-12 students in the Sundermeier Home. • More sponsors are needed for students enrolled at SPMS and high school residents at Sundermeier Home. Please support the MMS Student Sponsorship Scheme (SSS) for children and youth from poor families. Vietnam • An Assistant Pastor (with theological qualifications, with at least a Diploma in Bible and Christian Ministries); Pastoral Assistant; and Ministry Staff (experienced Bible Study group leader without theological qualifications) with a willing heart to learn and understudy to serve in International Christian Fellowship (ICF) and MMS-International NGO. • Tentmakers; Business People; Social Entrepreneurs; English and/or Chinese Language Teachers qualified to teach TEFL/ TESOL; and Professionals to conduct worship and serve in ICF while working in HCMC.

Exploration of New Geographical Missions Partnerships (NewGMP) • MMS is exploring collaborative partnership with local Methodist churches in countries such as Indonesia and Myanmar. • If the Lord is leading you to serve in places beyond the seven countries where MMS has some form of ministry, please get in touch with us.

AT HOME You can also come alongside as Mission Partners and Volunteers (MPV) at home to encourage and empower God’s work and workers to incarnate the love of Jesus Christ and to make a difference in the mission fields. Communications & Publications • Be an English-Chinese translator. • Be a photographer or videographer. • Be a graphic designer. • Be a web designer. Office Assistance • Be our MMS Event Coordinator. • Be part of our Fund Raising Team. • Be our Fellowship Mailer Team. Financial Assistance • Be a sponsor through the Student Sponsorship Scheme. Please refer to page 33.

06 6

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

IN SEARCH of NEW MISSION FIELDS

Alvin Tan MMS ExCo Chairman. He worships at Grace Methodist Church. He believes that going on mission trips keeps one grounded.

The latter part of the statement, “where none currently exist”, is not to be misconstrued as meaning there are no indigenous churches at all of any denomination. This phrase written into the MMS Mandate serves as a caution to prevent duplication of efforts and conflict of building upon earlier missions works, especially of other Methodist agencies. 1

he MMS Strategic Directions 2025 paper penned by MMS Executive Director, Rev Derrick Lau, envisions the enlargement of “the Tent of God through the process of actively engaging our Methodist churches, and being resourced by them, to reach the lost, the last, and the least in our region for God’s glory through church planting and community development.” It captures well the intent and the process involved, but the obvious question is “Where?” MMS is now in seven fields, some more tilled than others but nevertheless have missionaries on the ground with ministries initiated. Amongst the newer fields, concerted effort over the last quadrennium has been put into establishing the pioneering ministries in Timor-Leste, which are making good progress. In this new quadrennium, it is time to shift our focus onto a neighbouring country in SEA which has been on our radar screen for a few years to explore, expand, and establish ministries. The potential for ministries needs to be scoped and the strategies defined. Whilst focusing on our under-served neighbour beloved of God, we also need to be looking beyond into possible new fields. So, how do we decide on “where”? We are of course guided by the MMS Mandate “to establish indigenous churches where none currently exist” 1. We should take advantage of the good work done by various agencies in highlighting Unreached People Groups (UPG). The Joshua Project (https://joshuaproject.net), for instance, provides a useful global picture of UPG for

FEATURESTORY 07

missions agencies throughout the world to target their initiatives. We also need to consider our own capacity and effectiveness. A practical approach is to focus on accessibility to countries within a radius of certain number of travelling hours from Singapore. The search for new fields can be led by MMS: in identifying the field, exploring the ministry potential, and defining the entry strategy. It can also be a field, not led by MMS, where the local church or Annual Conference already has a ministry. The field may be adopted as an MMS field, to the extent it fits in with the MMS criteria, and MMS can collaborate with the local church or Annual Conference to rally wider community support to make further ministry inroads into that field. The role of MMS as a denominational agency goes beyond identifying or adopting new fields, rallying support, and leading the work in these fields. It should also serve to promote missions, generally, and enrich the experience of the Methodist community in heeding

the call of the Great Commission. Where we cannot take a lead in any field, as the field does not fit within MMS’ criteria, we can play a collaborative role – in the provision of training and equipping, advice, resources – in support of our local church and Annual Conference in their missions initiatives. So, one conversation we can look forward to having in our church engagement programme would be to rally interest in new fields we may have identified, and also to hear about initiatives and ministries the local church or Annual Conference may have in countries outside of the MMS fields. And this is so that as a Singapore Methodist community, we may be collectively guided in reaching out to fulfil the vision “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)

08 8

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

EXTENDING THE SCOPE to REACH THE UNREACHED M

Dr Christopher Cheah MMS ExCo Member and a member of Fairfield Methodist Church. A retired medical doctor, he was Chairman of Singapore Centre for Global Missions and currently chairs the board of Pioneers in Asia, a mission agency sending missionaries to UPGs worldwide. He is married to Fung Fong and they have three adult children, one of whom is working in a country where MMS sends missionaries to.

MS Vision 2025 is to ‘Enlarge the Tent of God’ among the unreached people groups (UPG) of the world so that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9) The Lausanne Committee defined a people group as ‘the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance’ in 1982. The Joshua Project estimated that there are about 10,400 people groups (or 17,400 if country boundaries are considered) worldwide, with about 4,600 UPGs (or 7,400 if country boundaries are considered) today. (Source: https://joshuaproject.net) We praise God for the seven field countries that MMS is currently involved in. As it enlarges the tent going forward, MMS could first look at the UPGs in the seven field countries and see how they can be reached with the Gospel. Next, MMS could look at the UPGs in the other ASEAN countries as they are our closest neighbours. Finally, MMS could look at UPGs further afield in other Asian countries in South Asia and East Asia as the Lord leads. UPGs in MMS Field Countries Table 1 provides a summary of the 988 UPGs in the seven field countries that MMS is currently involved in. Among them, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, and Thailand have large percentages of their population living among UPGs and should receive the greatest attention and resources. The Khmers remains the largest UPG in Cambodia with about 14 Million, predominantly Buddhists. So are the 60 Million Thais in Thailand, and the 3.5 Million Laos in Laos. The picture is more diverse in Nepal with more than 275 UPGs waiting to be reached, especially among the Brahmins and Chhetris. TimorLeste* has the least number of UPGs presumably because it is considered a Roman Catholic country. (Source: https://joshuaproject.net) Table 1: UPGs in MMS Field Countries Countries

Population

People UPGs Groups

UPG Population

% Unreached

Cambodia 16,662,000 44

15,982,000 95.9

East Asia

1,424,582,000

444

146,663,000

Laos

7,236,000 127 106 5,485,000 75.8

Nepal

29,015,000 285 275

Timor-Leste* 1,299,000

545

10.3

26,209,000 90.3 0

Thailand 69,585,000 113 77

61,378,000 88.2

Vietnam 97,238,000 118 67

8,889,000 9.1

(Source: https://joshuaproject.net)

FEATURESTORY 09

UPGs in Other ASEAN Countries Table 2 shows that the other ASEAN countries where MMS is not present have fewer UPGs (total of 406) as the churches there are older and more active in outreach and evangelism. The Philippines* also has fewer UPGs as it is also considered a Roman Catholic country. Apart from Brunei, all four other countries have strong Methodist presence. While MMS need not send missionaries to these countries, it can partner the Methodist church there to reach these UPGs, especially in countries like Indonesia and Myanmar where the percentages of their population living among UPGs are higher. (Source: https://joshuaproject.net). Table 2: UPGs in the Other ASEAN Countries Countries

Population

People UPGs Groups

UPG Population

% Unreached

Brunei

427,000

239,000

56.0

Indonesia 273,402,000 789

236

170,927,000 62.5

Malaysia 32,272,000 182 79

16,628,000 51.5

Myanmar 54,311,000 149

45,298,000 83.4

Philippines* 109,421,000 200

5,427,000

5.0

(Source: https://joshuaproject.net)

UPGs in Other Asian Countries Beyond ASEAN, the picture is grimmer as shown in Table 3. All six countries listed have large numbers of UPGs (total of 3,367) with more that 90% of their population living among them. These are also big countries with huge populations. Again, MMS need not send missionaries there as most of them already have a Methodist presence, can work with the Methodist church there to reach the UPGs. (Source: https://joshuaproject.net)

TIMOR-LESTE

Table 3: UPGs in Selected Asian Countries Countries

Population

People UPGs Groups

UPG Population

% Unreached

Bangladesh 163,945,000 331

299

162,028,000 98.8

Bhutan

769,000

766,000

India

1,373,941,000 2,717

2,445

1,313,878,000 95.6

Japan

126,395,000 37

123,750,000 97.9

99.6

Mongolia 3,229,000 28 22

3,167,000 98.1

Pakistan

217,904,000 99.1

219,925,000 512

504

(Source: https://joshuaproject.net)

These 18 countries alone account for 4,761 or 65% of all UPGs today. While they are closer to home, there are obviously other UPGs in other countries that are equally in need of the Gospel. The harvest is truly plentiful. May we heed our Lord’s advice to ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into the harvest field! (Matthew 9:37-38). Photo credits (clockwise) @bigstock.com: RuslanKphoto • RudiErnst • Pierre-Jean Durieu • salajean • watchtheworld • maloff • Serg73 • Aleem Zahid Khan

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

Frontier Missions — I

Rev Dr Andrew Peh MMS ExCo Member and a CAC diaconal minister at Charis Methodist Church. He lectures in the area of missions at Trinity Theological College.

t was almost fifty years ago that Ralph Winter used a simple “pie chart” to bring a new awareness of the thousands of people groups who were overlooked by mission agencies and churches around the world. In his address at the first Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation in 19741, Winter introduced a new awareness to evangelical leaders, as he warmed of “people-blindness” and “hidden peoples.” Employing graphs and charts, Winter demonstrated that some geographic countries had simultaneously both very evangelised as well as completely unevangelised groups of people. His challenge was for those gathered to begin missionary work among the estimated 17,000 people groups had no churches of their own, nor any missionary presence among them. In the following years, Winter’s notion of unreached people groups was increasingly clarified and redefined. The various Lausanne Working Committees in the late 1970s and 1980s collaborated and consulted in the quest to define the people-group concept and then continued to define “reached” and “unreached” peoples. This hence gave rise to the term “unreached people groups” that describes the spectrum of peoples from various geographical regions who have yet to hear the Good News of the Jesus Christ. Subsequently, Winter, convinced of the urgency of the task, resigned from Fuller Theological Seminary and dedicated the rest of his life to researching, publishing, clarifying, and mobilising for what he called the “frontier mission” task: going where no missionary has gone before.

FEATURESTORY 11

EXTENDING THE SCOPE Mission scholars are cognisant of the urgency of the task but at the same time, they are cautious of an uncritical adoption2 of nomenclatures such as unreached people groups or unengaged unreached people groups3. In a provocative paper, missionary and scholar Rebecca Lewis, Winter’s daughter wrote: I believe we will continue to have little success in these remaining frontier groups if we do not return to the fundamental biblical principles of frontier missions that have been demonstrated again and again in people groups throughout history – and as were first put forth by the Apostle Paul. Much more discussion and research is needed on this subject4.

I think her call for the church today to reclaim a biblical principle of (frontier) missions is very much needed. While mission scholars and organisations whose research and observations inform us of various trends and best practices are indeed important, we must be cautious of our uncritical preoccupation with “keeping up with the Jones.” We must indeed extend our scope - but rather than an exercise in missiological navel gazing, we should perhaps start with hearing more clearly God’s call. For God will indeed call some to minister along the frontiers. Yet, this is also the same God who calls all of us to join Him in reaching out to “the last, the least, and the lost” who are located along the peripheries, along the margins of societies, be it local or international, whether here in Singapore or among the unreached peoples beyond our shores.

1 2

https://lausanne.org/content/the-highest-priority-cross-cultural-evangelism https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/may/redefining-unreached-people-groups-frontier-unengaged-missi. html Kate Shellnutt, “Why Missions Experts Are Redefining ‘Unreached People Groups’”, in Christianity Today, 22 Apr 2019, https://globalfrontiermissions.org/gfm-101-missions-course/the-unreached-peoples-and-their-role-in-thegreat-commission/ Rebecca Lewis, “Clarifying the Remaining Frontier Mission Task”, in International Journal of Frontier Missiology 35:4, Winter 2018, 167, https://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/35_4_PDFs/IJFM_35_4-Lewis.pdf

Photo credit: banphote/bigstockphoto.com

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CAFÉ AND EDUCATION MINISTRY for PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Joyous and Hopeful Joyous is an experienced secondary school teacher who has served in the Sunday school ministry for more than three decades. Hopeful has extensive work experience in IT and has served in church in the areas of discipling and training for a good number of years.

here is a great need to educate the general public on accepting people with special needs in this city in East Asia. The authorities have labelled this group as “disabled”. It is almost impossible for this group of people to find jobs here. No employer is willing to hire them even for simple jobs like packing and cleaning in shops. Society at large is not ready to embrace them. Most family members feel ashamed to bring them out to interact socially. The public special needs training schools have limited vacancies and resources to educate and train these students. As a result, a huge majority have yet to acquire basic life skills to care for themselves. Many of them are only able to stay at home and continue to be a burden to their families. There seems no hope for them to improve the quality of their lives. His calling

Who can help this group of people and give them hope in life? Who is to bring forth the Good News of Jesus Christ to this neglected and unreached people in the society? Under the strong conviction of the Holy Spirit, the answer became clear that we are the ones called to serve them in this foreign land. We are indeed thankful and joyous to receive this clear direction God has set for us, to set up an employment platform and a learning support centre for people with Special Needs here. As we look back, we realise God had prepared us for this ministry in our home church. We were tasked to start a Special Needs Sunday School seven years ago. We served these children for five years before we embarked on this mission journey. His ministry

Our café is a take-away eatery serving toast, cream puffs, ice cream, fruit juice and other beverages. It is situated at the shopping area in the city centre. It occupies 32 m2 and has a small sitting capacity. It is located at the second storey of a building which has many restaurants. During weekends and public holidays, the place is crowded with diners. This business is ideal as the start-up cost is not too high and the monthly rental is manageable. The chances of making the business sustainable is higher as human traffic is rather good. We were able to break even six months into the business and it is even making small profits today. This business style is also ideal because the skills which workers with Special Needs need to acquire are not too complex. Editor’s note: This article was first published in the Vol. 15 No. 2 MayAugust 2020 issue of Mission Round Table, the OMF Journal for Reflective Practitioners.

The café family

In the first six months of running this business, we witnessed to 23 workers, amongst whom were university students. The regular workers heard the name of Jesus for the first time in their lives and understood the purpose of setting up this business. They were touched by the love we showed and were also willing to work alongside workers with Special Needs. Currently, we have a steady work force of five workers. Two of them are mentally-challenged and one is physically handicapped. One worker is the mother of a mentally challenged worker.

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Our lives, the message

The lives of these workers with Special Needs changed dramatically after working in the cafe. They received their very first pay cheques in life here and were able to support themselves financially. As we work and live with them like a closely-knit family, we are able to show Christ in us and send a strong message to them. Our lives are the message. Many times, they asked about our faith and they were keen to know Jesus and the stories in the Bible. Discussing the Bible became a daily routine in the shop. Glory to God! One of our male physicallychallenged employees was baptised in December 2019. Two other workers have accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. Whenever we receive delivery orders, our workers acknowledged that it is God who supplied them and thanked the Lord for giving us business. We praise God for giving us a safe platform to share His Love freely and that our workers are able to meet Jesus right here. On top of attaining monetary rewards, our workers also find salvation, joy, confidence, purpose, and direction in their lives. Lives are indeed changed and improved here! Multiplication

So far, all our workers were able to meet every order independently as the orders are simple to produce. If there is a need to expand the ministry in future to benefit more people with Special Needs, our current

workers are confident to train other workers for new outlets. Training like-minded people with missional business (MB) interest is also our priority. To date, we have provided experiential coaching for four people from two countries. Each of them spent one to two months in our food outlet. They learnt all the baking skills needed and important lessons about MB in this Creative Access Nation (CAN) country. They learnt to work with both regular workers and workers with Special Needs here. They had a chance to experience living in this city and interacting with like-minded members of our community here. While they equipped themselves here, they also had ample time to crystallise their calling. We are glad we can prepare them for MB and are hopeful that they will come on board. The ground is ready for multiplication and we are waiting for more support for this kingdom business. Stable workforce

As both of us were previously not from the food industry and the business world, we learnt many lessons in this new adventure. We realised that it is very difficult to hold the workers as the workforce here is very volatile. Though working in the cafe is both simple and enjoyable, we have had a high turnover of 23 workers in the first six months of business. These workers quit due to a number of reasons like family and study commitments. Only when we started hiring workers with Special Needs and their family that our workforce

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stabilised. Hiring high functioning workers with Special Needs is indeed manageable; most of them take about two months to gain independence. Although they may make little mistakes every now and then, they were not too much trouble to rectify. We work in the shop like family working together, and workers come to work joyously every day. Right products for the customers at the right location

The second lesson we learnt was that although choice of location is very important for retail businesses, launching suitable products are equally or in fact may be more important for a business to succeed. As our outlet is in the midst of established restaurants, a take-away counter serving toast may not be most ideal here. The customers are less inclined to bite on bread when they are surrounded by many restaurants. Moreover, bread is not the staple food here. We noticed that people coming from more metropolitan cities are more interested in eating bread. They found our toasts very good and often suggested that we start similar business in their cities. Even though our products are healthier (less oily, spicy, and salty) than most food found in this city, people here are not ready to buy into the idea of eating healthily. However, as stewards of His ministry, we insist on not using too much oil, food colouring, preservative, and other food additives to enhance favour. Healthier corn oil, and fresh and natural fruits are used to prepare all our products. Hence, we have gained some loyal, returning customers. Most of our income comes from the sale of fruit juices. Small items like eggettes seems to sell better than toasts too. To survive in this highly competitive market, we must be flexible and agile, and listen to our customers whilst paying attention to providing healthy and quality products. For take-away food retail businesses, it would be better if outlets were located at the street level. For delivery only businesses, a location can be more flexible as long as the shop is near a high-density residential or office area. In addition, selling staple food items like rice, fried rice, or rice noodles is more likely to garner high business volumes. Special Needs Learning Support Centre

There are at least 10,000 people with Special Needs in this city but there are only three public schools available for them. These schools only take in very high functioning children, making it impossible for less

abled children to enter the Special Needs schools here. As a result, many of these people here receive no professional intervention and education. The schools here also stop taking in students who are 18 years old and above. We saw a great need to set up an early intervention centre to help young kids as well as provide training and equipping those who are 18 years and above with living and vocational skills. A private learning centre for people with Special Needs was established in the last quarter of 2019 to meet the needs of these people. Small setup for easy multiplication

The learning centre occupies only an area of 95 m2 and can take in a maximum of 15 students at any one time. We intended it to be a small centre so that it would not be a burden financially and would not attract unnecessary attention. If there is a need to expand, we could also easily multiply with another small setup. We have one special needs educator and two occupational therapists who share the vision and joined us at the centre. Professional consultancy with His love

The centre is equipped with many teaching aids suitable for cognitive development and equipment for sensory integration. There is also a kitchen and laundry area for imparting life skills. In future, we hope to prepare some of these students to enter the work force. Our teachers conduct therapy sessions through sand play and music. On top of these, we include assessment services and other lessons like roller blading courses to enhance learning support to the students. We are different from the other three schools currently in the city. Our teachers have many years of professional experience and teach with abundant love. Parents have testified that their kids demonstrated significant positive change after attending a few lessons with our teachers. Students had remarkable improvement in areas like concentration, speech, communication, and behaviour. We praise God for bringing students to our centre. Although we are only three months into this business, we are already facing a shortage of manpower. It is our desire to appeal for special needs professionals and therapists to join us in this meaningful ministry. We intend to provide counselling services to parents of our students if we can have qualified counsellors join our team. We can then interact more with the parents and provide holistic support for these families.

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Sustainability and meeting the needs

Many single income families cannot afford to pay school fees. One school in a nearby town is charging 10,000 units per month for services similar to what we provide at our centre. Even though we capped the school fees at a maximum of 2000 units to help them, it is still a heavy burden for many of them. Supporting such families financially becomes a challenge for us. As this is operated using a for-profit business model, we need to justify our existence by making enough profit to be viable. MB in CAN countries

A people-focused MB model has a brighter future for mission work in CAN countries. This is especially true when the country becomes richer and more developed; what more when the local authorities have tightened controls. We also see that the two platforms we have set up can provide a source for livelihood to people with

Special Needs and improve their lives by providing early intervention. We can support these people and their families holistically and give them hope. We are proud to send a strong message to potential employers that there are many abled people with Special Needs who are capable of working and that they should not be deprived of job opportunities in the market place. We have also explored the possibility of working with the local churches and other mission agencies to operate the two businesses, so that we could achieve early indigenisation. However, they are not ready to take on this task now. We will continue to empower the locals through transferring our know-how, vision, and mission. One day, when the time is right, God will move the locals to do His work here and beyond their nation. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24

Photo: Dzmitry Dzemidovich@bigstock.com

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GOD’S END GOAL for THE WORLD

Lyndon Gan MMS ExCo Member. He serves as a Lay Ministry Staff at Kampong Kapor Methodist Church. Over 30 years ago, he told God he would be happy to do Christian mission anywhere except in country X. He has since been involved in Christian mission in country X for over 30 years and enjoying it.

ne of the key goals of MMS Vision 2025 is to enlarge the Tent of God among the unreached or least reached peoples of the world so that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9, NIV) MMS is currently involved in seven countries in Asia. Within these countries and others in Asia, the harvest is plentiful and there are still vast numbers of unreached people in our region. This region includes some places that are challenging to access and where there may be higher inherent risks for traditional missions activities. Add on the current pandemic with its restriction on travel, and there seems to be a host of obstacles to our goals of bringing the gospel to the least reached people.

“Take your stumbling-blocks, and turn them into stepping-stones.” John R. Mott (1865-1955), Evangelist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Mott was a Methodist layman and one of the key organisers of the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910. Over a hundred years later, we see plenty of obstacles to missions and yet each of these obstacles can be God opening our eyes to new opportunities. Opportunities we would not have considered if the obstacles were not there. Perhaps the presence of obstacles to Christian missions forces us to look again at what the Bible picture of the Mission of God is. The Bible sees that the goal of God’s mission is for the new heaven and new earth to be joined together in a single whole. The final scene in the Bible is that of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, so that “the dwelling place of God is with man.” (Revelations 21:1-3, ESV) Since it is God’s mission to put the whole world right in the end by the power of the gospel so that He can dwell with humans, it follows that God places human beings who have been made right with Himself in this world with a mission to become part of his putting-right project for the earth. And the putting-right project must include putting right everything that is wrong with creation.

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This understanding of the mission of God will help us to move beyond the tendency to focus the gospel only on the heart and the mind. The ‘heart’ could be moved to tears by the thought of Jesus standing knocking on the door, or the father embracing the prodigal son. The ‘mind’ could be persuaded by the clever apologist. But Jesus taught us to love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength. The church can best represent the mission of God when it holds all four together. The ‘strength’ could be the energy that goes into works of justice and mercy. And the ‘soul’ could be works that reflect beauty and truth in this world. We need all four. The early followers of Christ understood this and were able to live out the Mission of God, so that the gospel of Jesus was articulated loud and clear by their new patterns of life and community. On page 20 of his book ‘Evangelism in the Early Church’, Michael Green said this of the early Christians: “They made the grace of God credible by a society of love and mutual care which astonished the pagans and was recognised as something entirely new. It lent persuasiveness to their claim that the New Age had dawned in Christ.” In his book called ‘Who Is This Man?’, John Ortberg showed how the followers of Jesus completely changed the way the world approached education, medicine, and care of the poor, orphans, sick, and dying. Attitudes towards children, women, and slaves are radically transformed. The good news was subversive in that it helped to challenge the evil and put things right socially, culturally, economically, and politically. People

could sense the warmth of the Creator’s love seeping into heart, mind, soul, and strength. For too long, religion had become relegated to the private sphere and God was not necessarily welcomed in the public life. Christian missions too had followed and operated largely in the private sphere. Yet today, more than ever, the whole church of God needs to recover the early Christians’ ability to live out the mission of God in putting right the evil in every private or public sphere. Jesus in proclaiming the good news confronted not just the sinner, the demon-possessed, and the sick. His was a good news that reformed the way outsiders were treated, women were viewed, and citizens were obliged to society and authority, etc. If Jesus had good news for every sphere of life, Christian missions too needs to bring that good news in all walks of live. The first followers of Jesus and the subsequent history of Christian missions appeared to have defined missions activities much wider than what we did in more recent times. Unless we extend the scope of mission to cover all spheres of life, we may be restricting the impact the good news of Jesus could have in putting things right in the world. As we look to extending the scope of missions, may each one of us have a clear view of God’s end goal for the world and then prayerfully seek to know the part we must play in God’s Mission.

Background photo: Stephen Lavery@www.bigstock.com

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SEEKING OPEN DOORS to I

Heng Cho Hiong Chairperson of TRAC Board of Missions and Chairperson of Paya Lebar Methodist Church Missions Committee. He likes hiking in overseas mountains but biking in Singapore’s PCN (Park Connector Network).

Ethnic village choir (2005).

n 2005, my family joined our cell group’s first mission trip to a mountainous province. On the first day, we were brought on tour to an ethnic village in the city. We learnt that there were over 25 ethnic minority groups in this mountainous province – each with a distinct language, ethnic clothing, dancing style, and traditional practices. Although it was a tourist attraction, it was my first exposure to minority people groups in this province. A few days later, we visited a minority village living in the mountains, interacting with an ethnic group who still lived in mud houses. We were ushered into the sanctuary of their concrete church in the middle of the village. As the choir (who were mostly farmers) sang their first lines, our jaws dropped as we listened in astonishment to their rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus! They all carried vocals from their diaphragms and their voices could reach the other side of the mountain! We found out later that 80% of the villagers were already believers. Their ancestors were an Unreached People Group (UPG), but they were now 3rd generation Christians. They were the fruit of missionary efforts to this mountain village in the distant past. Five years ago, I was part of a mission exploratory trip to another mountain location in this nation’s western border. While the kids here spoke the main language of the nation, they certainly did not look nor live like those you would associate as a citizen of this nation. They were modern day UPGs, even though this nation as a whole is considered “reached” based on the Joshua Project (https://joshuaproject.net). As such, missional effort is still required to bring the gospel message to these UPGs in their language and present the message in a context that they can relate to.

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UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS As I took on my new role in the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) Board of Missions (BOMS), I sensed that one area BOMS could help in its partnership and support of the missions ministries of TRAC churches, is by providing a People Group focus. A quick poll at a recent BOMS event for TRAC Missions Chairs revealed that most TRAC churches currently do not have a focus on people groups but on geographical locations. Learning and picking up the language and culture of UPGs for direct engagements take a long time and involves one immersing fully into their communities. It would be more feasible for full-time field workers to do direct engagements with the UPGs. As for shortterm mission trippers or church congregation, they could come together with one another and the field workers to research the religion, worldview, cultural and community practices of UPGs, then develop supporting resources and content that can aid field engagements with the UPGs. Leveraging technologies, the usage of these content and resources can be scaled to reach UPGs in different countries and locations. These were

TRAC BOMS UPG INTEREST SURVEY If you have suggestions or interest in working on UPG initiatives with TRAC BOMS, please provide your feedback and contacts via the UPG Survey (https://forms.gle/PEkgSeZdTYjftmej9).

some of the thoughts that came to mind after a recent coffee chat with the national director of a missions agency. I believe that if a people group engagement approach is what the Lord wants us to focus on for this season, He will surely open doors for us.

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REACHING the UNREACHED A

Rev Anil Kumar Samuel MMS ExCo Member. He is the Pastor-incharge of Singapore Telugu Methodist Church. He believes that when we share Christ, we give hope.

https://joshuaproject.net/people_ groups/statistics 2 Zane Pratt, Here’s What We Mean by Unreached People and Places, November 22, 2016. 3 Zane Pratt.

ministry colleague shared a story, sometime back, about one of the evangelists he knew who was sent to a certain village in North India. As this evangelist entered the village to share the gospel, he asked an elderly man who was seated at a main junction, “Hello uncle, have you heard about the Lord Jesus?” The elderly man, without a pause replied, “There is no such person in our village; go and check in the next village.” Experiences like this portray the reality of unreached people and the need to reach out to them. Even after two thousand years, there are places around the world where people have not heard of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In its research, Joshua Project1 reported that there are 3.24 billion unreached people around the world. “When Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16–20), he used the word “ethne”, which refers to people groups and not to geopolitical countries.”2 The Great Commission of Christ is as relevant to us today as it was in the first century. There is a need to mobilise people for missions, at both individual and church levels, under the framework of Christian discipleship. The whole church is called to preach the gospel to the whole world. Through this proclamation, people can hear, turn from their sinful ways, and be saved by Christ. This is God’s ultimate purpose for humankind. Why is there a need to reach the unreached groups? We lose our God-given purpose when we lose sight of the lost. The world needs Christ. Those who are transformed by the gospel should share Christ with grateful hearts. “Unless someone intentionally crossed barriers of language and culture to bring them the good news of Jesus, they would remain lost in darkness.”3 The mandate is given to the body of Christ, i.e., the Church. “For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16, NIV) Many of us may wonder where the unreached groups are. Generally speaking, unreached people can be found everywhere in the world. To be specific however, unreached people are found both at the doorstep (in the urban and semi-urban contexts) as well as beyond the frontiers to where the gospel has not reached and where resistance to the gospel exists. Today, we find that people with certain ethnic identities, cultures, languages, and religions live together in our neighbourhood and the market place. Can we not safely say that the mission field is at our doorstep? Well, with this reality, which is getting clearer every day, the church is compelled to embrace missions at her doorstep all the more, apart from going beyond the church’s geographical locations. The harvest is plentiful; the labourers are few. May the Lord open our eyes to see the unreached people groups. While the doors are wide open, we can impact someone for Christ. Some of you may be asking, “What can I do to reach the unreached?” We can pray, network, and exchange resources with like-minded agencies to strengthen each other towards strategic and sustainable missions. People are searching for hope and meaning in life. We can continue to be the channel to make a difference, with God’s help. What Christ commanded, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15), is still valid.

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Would you respond to the command of Christ, to go and share His Good News? This could be at your doorstep (to a migrant worker, a maid, or a professional) or beyond the frontiers beyond which the gospel is not preached (an unreached people group). We could do it by going, sending and giving. With God we can do valiantly. May God bless us.

LEFT Maids Ministry BELOW Ministry among the Irula tribe in Doddagavana palli, South India (2013)

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BORN INTO LIGHT ~ a poem by Flourish ~

Who do we turn to when life becomes unbearable? When happiness is nothing but a hope whispered in the dead of yet another sleepless night. When the person who promised to love us becomes the very reason we lose our faith. When illness strips us of every dream we’ve dared to dream. When our families remain only to remind us of the hurts we carry the losses we bury and the brokenness we try so hard to mend. When we live only so our children won’t need to face the darkness alone. With heads to the floor we weep until our bodies feel like nothing but the smoke of unanswered prayers. And then, one day on a day unlike the rest a window opens. And hope begins to make its way back into our fractured hearts.

Photo: jenyateuay@www.bigstock.com

Our fellow women arrive with hearts open and hands raised for service. And we begin a beautiful exchange of time, talent and stories. Our hands formerly cusped in perpetual prayer now in service to craft something beautiful. Hope is the fabric of healing that we weave With every stitch we become stronger. Together, we dreamt of and built a community committed to all creeds, convictions colours, cultures and conditions. We work towards a vision of God’s eudaimonia United by our love for each other and our Creator. Building a world where ‘light in darkness’ is not just another idea; It’s who we are it’s what we’re made of it’s what we were born to do.

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CAMBODIA

FLOURISH in CAMBODIA The Seed of Flourish lourish is a ministry God has provided for women in need to build livelihoods that impact and transform their lives and that of their families. It is also a ministry where God enables the volunteers to witness the seed of His faithful providence, to grow the seed of our faith and giftings, and to enable us to share the seed of His Word, light, and hope. Flourish was started in 2011 by Barker Road Methodist Church (BRMC) as a Missions Livelihood Project. Then called the “Love Cambodia” Project, Flourish’s first group of ladies were from Prek Toal Methodist Church, Steung Meanchey, Phnom Penh. In 2012, the BRMC Women’s Society of Christian Service (WSCS) made a large order for crochet crosses for Mother’s Day cum WSCS Sunday. This started us on a nation-wide crochet outreach campaign where we taught crochet in all Methodist institutions across Cambodia. All glory to God, we managed to fulfil the order for more than 1,600 pieces of crochet crosses and provided jobs for more than 20 women. In 2014, God extended our mission field to Chress Church, Community Outreach Services–Immanuel (COSI), Post-COSI Integration Programme (PCOSIIP), and the area of Odem. When COVID-19 struck in 2020 and Singapore went into its Circuit Breaker, Flourish evolved to include local artisans referred by BRMC’s Outreach & Social Concerns (OSC). Thanks be to God for opening more doors as we went through the Circuit Breaker. Today, Flourish is a volunteer-run ministry supporting more than 20 ladies in Cambodia and seven ladies in Singapore.

Caroline Ng* is the visionary crafter, befriender, ideator, and marketer. She is passionate about combining her love for crafts and business skills to create equal opportunities for the under-valued, underserved, and underprivileged.

Jessie Yong* is the volunteer business strategist, committed to creating positive change through bringing the transformative power of businesses to mumpreneurs and home crafters.

Cara Chiang* is the volunteer creative whiz, model, stylist, and storyteller. She is passionate about using her creativity to pursue justice and equality amongst the marginalised, and telling stories and giving a voice to those who would otherwise be unheard.

Tan Li Diang is an MMS Missionary since 1998. She is from Bedok Methodist Church.

* They worship at Barker Road Methodist Church.

The Journey with our Artisans The poem “BORN INTO LIGHT” on the facing page describes our manifesto of how Flourish reaches out to women going through challenging situations in our broken world. Many are single mothers struggling to raise their children on their own, after going through difficult relationships. Others may be going through difficulties due to critical illnesses. Whatever their situation, Flourish is committed to journeying with them, providing a sustainable livelihood for them and a life of dignity for them, their families and community, that they may see the hope and light of our Creator.

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The stories of our Beneficiaries Chab Nern, 49, Artisan who sews Bags, Home & Living Collections I became a Christian in 1999, and picked up a useful sewing skill when I was with the Cambodia Women Centre in 2005. In 2013, I joined an outreach workshop conducted by Flourish at Chress Methodist Church. I have had many difficulties in my life. Before I joined Flourish, I never knew what it felt like to have more than US$10 in my hand. However, I received my first ever US$100 note through working with Flourish. I thank God that I have been sewing products for Flourish for Chab Nern working on her crocheted bags for over five years now. When I fell ill, Flourish helped me with the Flourish. medical bills. It is wonderful to be a part of a family where you know help is always at hand. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us badly in Cambodia. My son was unable to work because construction projects were halted. Thanks to the income from Flourish, I was able to earn enough money to bring my son home during the lockdown. Because of God’s love and the Flourish team’s love, I can support my own family. May Flourish continue to receive more orders.

Manin, 27, Cambodia Project Manager I work with a team of artisans to deliver products based on customer requirements. I come from a large and complex family. I got to know Jesus when I attended free guitar lessons at Chress Methodist Church in 2011. After my graduation from university, I desired to serve God by working at the church kindergarten. Unfortunately, the kindergarten was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and I did not have any income for many months. Thank God that Flourish was looking for a Project Manager. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the Flourish ladies and have a source of income. I am assured without a doubt that God loves Manin and her family at her graduation from university. me and provides for me in every season of my life. Flourish is an amazing collaboration between two countries united by God’s love. I am thankful that I am able to use my communication skills to help my fellow Cambodian ladies to make a living. Though I cannot sew or crochet, I am able to use English as a bridge between the Cambodians and Singaporeans. May Flourish keep on going and growing to include more members and create more job opportunities for needy ladies here in Cambodia.

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Cambodia Group

Cambodia-wide crochet outreach in 2012 led to more than 200 learning to crochet.

PRAY with a grateful heart of praise and joy, we give thanks to the Lord for sowing the Flourish ministry. Do pray alongside us:

Flourish’s first group of ladies from Prek Toal Methodist Church Women’s Ministry learning to crochet on 20 February 2011.

HELP • BUY OUR PRODUCTS

heck out our web store at www.craftedtoflourish. C com. Every product you purchase will enable more products to be made, which will provide more jobs for our artisans. Custom or bulk orders are always welcome. 100% run by volunteers, and all proceeds go towards healthcare, education, and community development for our artisans.

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VOLUNTEER Are you someone who believes in our mission? We need all the help we can get. We are calling for befrienders, product designers, sewers, crochets, social media storytellers, photographers, videographers, models, content creators, and business development professionals. As long as you have a willing heart to serve, come alongside us and join the Flourish family.

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GIFT RESOURCES If you own a factory with raw materials such as fabric, yarn, and leather to donate, or have a company seeking corporate social responsibility projects, or share our vision and would like to support our mission, we would love to hear from you! Email us at flourish.brmc@gmail.com.

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PRAY for the beneficiaries and families to be healed physically and emotionally and to live transformed lives redeemed by His grace and hope.

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PRAY for the beneficiaries’ families to witness the new dawn in their lives and together as one big family seek to know and accept the Lord as their Saviour.

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PRAY for the volunteers to serve as one united body emboldened by God’s love, be faithful in following the Lord’s leading and wisdom and strengthened to journey with the beneficiaries, and to share the Good News.

•

PRAY for the provision of new volunteers including artisans, donors of materials, or partners to journey with the beneficiaries.

•

PRAY that all involved in the Flourish community will rejoice always in whatever we do, pray continually for all involved and give thanks in all circumstances, so that God’s light shines forth in all the lives we touch and His Name be lifted high and glorified.

Editor’s note: This article was first published in the May 2021 issue of Methodist Message.

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THAILAND

MISSION CONFERENCE declared This article was jointly written by:

Col (Ret) Quek Koh Eng Col Quek is the MMS Area Director (Thailand & Vietnam). He is also the Field & Church Engagement Director. He worships at Charis Methodist Church.

Rev Henry Yeo Rev Yeo is the MMS Country Director of Thailand and District Superintendent in Thailand.

t its 16th Annual Meeting held on 16 March 2021, the Thai Mission of the Methodist Church in Singapore, also known as the Mettakij Church Association (MCA), was officially declared by Bishop Dr Gordon Wong to be a Mission Conference! This event marks a historical milestone in the journey of the Methodist Church in Thailand. The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) established the Thai Mission in 1994. And on 19 March 2005, upon the recommendation of MMS, the Thai Mission became an Annual Meeting in accordance with the decision of the Presiding Bishop and the Council of Presidents of MCS. This led to the official formation of the MCA. The plan was to declare MCA a Mission Conference in March 2020. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions, we had to defer it. This was the first time that the Annual Meeting was conducted on a virtual platform with delegates from MCS, MMS and representatives from the partner Methodist churches participating online from Singapore. We thank God that most of our MCA members could meet at Shineforth Methodist Church, Chiang Mai and participate in the Annual Meeting. Rev Derrick Lau was instrumental in establishing MCA as a Missions Conference. In his address as our Mission Superintendent, he praised God for His sovereignty and grace in enabling MCA to fulfil His mandate in Thailand. He was heartened to learn of the many encouraging reports of progress made by our fellow Thai Leaders and MMS Missionaries. He placed on record his deepest thanks and appreciation to one and all who have contributed and committed their services. These included our national leaders, both clergy and laity, the many volunteers who are serving in the School Boards, the management of infrastructure projects, our missionaries, and the Home Team

FIELDFEATURE 27

Editor’s note: This article was first published in the June 2021 issue of Methodist Message.

ABOVE Pastor Training

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Annual Meeting.

FIELDFEATURE 29

and volunteers supporting the operational, financial, personnel, training and education needs of our ministry in Thailand. They have all been exemplary in their passion and commitment in supporting and working with our Thai team. It is an opportune time to acknowledge with appreciation, the support and prayers from our Singapore partner churches. They have contributed immensely in our various initiatives and projects and have been a divine blessing to MCA. And as MCA continues her journey, we will undoubtedly continue to engage our valued partners and look to build new partnerships with other Singapore Methodist churches through our Church Engagement efforts. We praise and thank God for the partnership with our Thai brothers and sisters who are labouring conscientiously for the mission of Christ. We are deeply thankful to God for the giving of their time, talents, and resources. We pray that God will bless them and their families as we serve together in the ‘unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’. Significantly, as we celebrate the establishment of the Mission Conference, we continue our efforts toward achieving our vision of attaining a Provisional Annual Conference status by 2024. We now have the pre-requisite number of Elders that would meet the requirements stipulated in the Book of Discipline. However, we will need to have a physical Ordination

Service for our Elders-Elect when travel can be resumed when the COVID-19 situation improves. To support the Mission Conference, the following were established: a. Provisional Board of Ordained Ministry (PBOM) b. Discipline Drafting Committee (DDC) c. Provisional Judiciary As part of efforts towards developing and equipping our missionaries and national leaders, we conducted a three-day training program immediately after the Annual Meeting. The programme included broadening our Pastors’ understanding on Methodism, the theological aspects of Salvation, Holy Communion & Child Baptism, and Family & Social Concerns. This will equip and enable them to impart the knowledge gained to their members, building for the future. Finally, the Mission Conference of MCA would like to thank MCS for establishing the Thai Mission in 1994 through the efforts of the late Rev Dr Clarence Lim. He was dearly missed at this historical event. MCA looks forward to the episcopal leadership of Bishop Dr Gordon Wong. MCA also would like to express their thankfulness and appreciation to Bishop Emeritus Dr Chong Chin Chung for his active participation and inspiring leadership in the last quadrennium. To God be the Glory!

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

TIMOR-LESTE

By His Grace, GROW IN L.O.V.E. G

rowing in love is expected of those who have experienced the grace of God in their lives. The students of St Paul Methodist School (SPMS) have been no exception, for the grace of God has abounded upon each of them in many ways, especially amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. As love should be shown not only with words but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18), the school embarked on SPMS L.O.V.E. Projects 2020, in the hope of growing the students in Leadership, Obedience, Vision, and Excellence.

David Chan Country Director of Timor-Leste. He is an MMS Missionary from Aldersgate Methodist Church. He is also the director of St Paul Methodist School (Timor-Leste), which was founded in 2016.

Growing in Leadership: Dignity Project

SPMS’s Dignity Project was conducted in partnership with Liman Hamutuk, a rehabilitation centre for the disabled started by a Brazilian missionary, Pastor Branca. The project saw the students planning and running three days of activities for participants who are wheelchair-bound, have Down’s syndrome, are mute, or have other disabilities. Choosing suitable activities to involve these individuals in required the students to be sensitive to their needs and abilities. This is L.O.V.E.! To LEAD is to serve the needs of people. Growing in Obedience: Garden Project

Editor’s note: This article was first published in the April 2021 issue of Methodist Message.

The Garden Project took the students to a farm about a 20-minute drive away from school. Under the hot afternoon sun, the students were put to work on the farmland. For three days, they pulled out weeds, tilled the ground, and planted kangkong seeds

FIELDFEATURE 31

and dragon fruits seeds. The toughest job of all was erecting stone structures needed to grow the dragon fruits. Listening to and following the instructions of the four resident farmers in preparing the ground and not being able to enjoy the “fruit” of their labour taught the students to persevere in obedience in doing good to others. This is L.O.V.E.! To OBEY is to do good to others without expecting any return.

Growing in Vision: Compassion Pack Project With donations from friends of SPMS, the school gave out 430 compassion packs of basic necessities, namely rice, oil, biscuits, milk, sugar, flour, and noodles, to needy families living in Hera (where SPMS is located)

PRAY • PRAY for SPMS that by God’s grace, every student will Grow in L.O.V.E.

PRAY that in so doing, the students will be •

a purpose-driven generation, committed to loving God passionately and to loving people practically, so as to make a difference in Timor-Leste and beyond.

and in Lebutum (a mountain village in Metinaro). The students spent four days delivering the compassion packs to families identified by Pastor Branca as having no food security, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. As for the 20 families known to be very lonely due to lack of family support, the students not only delivered the packs but also spent time having fellowship with them, praying for them, and helping to clean their homes. The visits to these families opened the students’ eyes to see what God sees and their hearts to feel what God feels. This is L.O.V.E.! To have VISION is have a heart of compassion for a world without vision.

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

Growing in Excellence: Kitchen Project An elderly couple living near the school had been cooking their meals in a dilapidated kitchen. They had no one to turn to for help and no means of having it repaired or rebuilt. Having come to know about the couple’s plight, the older students took up the challenge to bless the couple with a new kitchen. Under the supervision of a local builder, they built the kitchen from scratch, starting with the foundation and finishing with a zinc roof. Within three days, they not only managed to build the kitchen, but also painted the house and fixed a broken door for the couple. The project taught the students to give their best, even if it was only for one couple, for they were doing it for God. This is L.O.V.E.! To be EXCELLENT is to give your best to the least and the last.

Please apply glue here

OUR GIFTS FOR MISSIONS

We would like to support MMS so that the Good News of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed to the ethnic Cambodians, Lahus, Laotians, Nepalese, Thais, Timorese and Vietnamese, by giving to:

GIFT DETAILS General Donation (where it is most needed)

Crisis Relief Fund (General)

Rev Dr Clarence Lim Missionary Development Fund $

Student Sponsorship Scheme (Non-Residential)* General $ @ S$45 per month Cambodia / Laos / Nepal / Thailand / Timor-Leste

Student Sponsorship Scheme (Residential)* General @ S$110 per month [ ] COSI (Cambodia)

$ $ $ $ $ $

Church Planting Ministry Staff & Ministry Support Methodist School of Cambodia COSY Post COSI Integration Programme National Pastor Support

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PERSONAL INFORMATION •

$ $

Nepal

$ $ $

Community Development Staff & Ministry Support Sponsorship for Pastor Lay Leader Training at Caleb Bible Institute Education

Staff & Ministry Support Community Development

] COSY (Cambodia) ] Sophia’s Home (Nepal) ] Mettakij Hostel (Thailand) ] Term Fun Home (Thailand) ] Sundermeier Home (Timor-Leste)

Cambodia

Ministry Support

Laos

Thailand

Staff & Ministry Support

Timor-Leste

$ $

Staff & Ministry Support St Paul Methodist School Building Fund

Vietnam

V ietnam Children’s Fund

Printing And Postage Cost

Harvest Force, PrayerConnect, etc.

Others (please specify):

Please inform us of any change of mailing address, contact number, and email address.

Name [Rev/Dr/Mr/Mrs/Ms] Mailing Address Telephone

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[home]

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[office]

[mobile]

Church

I wish to receive Harvest Force magazine regularly. Please add me to your mailing list. My comments, feedback and suggestions:

METHOD OF PAYMENT I would like to make my gift of S$

through

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[please tick one]

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Cheque [Please cross and make cheque payable to “The Methodist Church in Singapore (MMS)” and mail it together with this form] Bank & Cheque No.

Internet Bank (IB) Transfer

PayNow Scan the MMS PayNow QR code with your Bank App.

Name of Bank Account: The Methodist Church in Singapore (MMS) Bank Name:

DBS Bank Ltd

Bank Account Number:

033-016829-2

Bank Code:

7171

Or enter UEN No ‘S88CC0564JMMS’.

Branch Code: 033 Swift Code: DBSSSGSG If you choose Internet Bank (IB) Transfer or PayNow option, please state your name <space> phone number <space> gift purpose [e.g. Helen 98765432 General Donation] in the Reference field. Or mail/scan to mms@methodist.org.sg this form with your details.

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PDPA MMS is committed to ensuring the security of all personal data she collects. MMS shall use and disclose such data only for her necessary purposes and if so, shall adhere to the guidelines of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). All personal data shall be kept strictly confidential at all times. If ever MMS has to disclose any personal data to any third party, she shall do so only with the prior consent of the owner of the personal data. To withdraw or limit consent, please email to mms@methodist.org.sg.

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[ [ [ [ [

East Asia

OUR GIFTS FOR MISSIONS “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing” 2 Samuel 24:24

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Postage will be paid by addressee. For posting in Singapore only.

BUSINESS REPLY SERVICE PERMIT NO. 08175

MMS Executive Director Methodist Missions Society 70 Barker Road #06-01 The Methodist Centre Singapore 309936

HOMEINON... 35

DIGITAL MISSIONS:

Yes, We Can!

Introduction key feature of missions across geographical borders in the ‘new norm’ is capitalising on the digital platform more than ever before! Both digital natives like millennials and students as well as the older digital novices need to creatively explore the digital platform to be on the frontiers of cross-cultural missions!

A Juliette Arulrajah Chairperson of the MMS Training Committee. She is also the MMS Area Director for Cambodia and Laos.

We can tangibly empower local Christian leadership in other nations with contextualised and creative new ideas, strategies, and possibilities! Yes, indeed we can bring significant transformation through God’s love and hope to nations around us despite not being able to travel there due to the COVID-19 pandemic! MMS seeks to be on the cutting edge and aspires to facilitate Singaporean Methodists to explore the potential of the digital platform for missions. A two-session series on crossing cultures digitally was jointly organised in February 2021 with the three Annual Conferences’ Boards of Missions.

I. X-Culture-Digi 79 participants from 30 different Methodist churches (6 ETAC, 9 CAC and 15 TRAC) in addition to 6 non-Methodist Churches were actively engaged in this two-hour zoom session on 20 February to explore and enhance missions ministries over the digital platform. Nearly 90% of the participants were key leaders of local churches (LCEC, Missions, Pastors & staff) and Annual Conferences. This session highlighted the practical digital measures employed by MMS and others from the Singapore Methodist community after the onset of the pandemic in 2020, involving and engaging children, youths, millennials, professionals, church leaders and seniors!

The MMS Training Chairman shared on the implications of COVID-19 for cross-cultural missions in the fields, on the missionaries, and how Singapore churches need to adapt to the ‘new norm’. She also underscored five simple digital measures to cross cultures through being E-Care Pals, E-Creative Innovators, E-Content Empowerers,

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

HOMEINON... 37

MSC Kindergarten Staff in Cambodia

E-Collaborative Funders, and E-Christ Warriors, citing concrete examples from a variety of nations. Four Methodists shared uplifting stories on their ‘digital missions’ ministries:

Weekly English tuition for NBLPMC children

(A)

Koh Geok Cheng Wesley Methodist Church (WMC) From June 2020, varied groups of WMC volunteers taught English on three different days weekly over Zoom to the children, youth, and adults of Nong Bua Lamphu Methodist Church (NBLPMC) in Northeast Thailand. WMC seniors also connected with their Thai counterparts every month through healthy exercises and creative arts. All these led the NBLPMC pastor to be invited to teach English daily at a school using WMC resources.

Teo Quee Lin Pentecost Methodist Church Quee Lin, a professional educator and coach for pre-school educators, shared how through the digital platform she encouraged the acting local principal and teachers of the Methodist School of Cambodia Kindergarten to improve the quality of their resources, teaching materials and pedagogy, resulting in the growing engagement of students and parents despite the challenges of online learning in Cambodia.

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

The Cambodia Breakout Group

(C) Leong Jenn Yeong Aldersgate Methodist Church God led him to motivate a Facebook pastor friend from South Asia and the latter’s pastor friends through weekly prayer meetings to be passionate, godly fathers. This led to two digital motivational conferences for 110 pastors who were later sent out to minister in 10 districts. These pastors were also taught how to manage a flood crisis, be financially accountable, facilitate crisis aid to their local community, and even begin a small-scale mango tree livelihood project. (D) Cindy Chen Wesley Methodist Church Through cFriendz and SuiteMozaic, a group of Methodists with their non-Methodist friends promote digital networking of Christians to encourage crossborder business and missions opportunities. This is to enhance capacity building of business communities especially for millennials and young adults through Youth Biz-Up Zoom Boot Camps across Asia and Africa. “Broadened Horizons, motivating, in-depth explanations, good spread of how individuals and churches can be creatively involved in digital missions” were part of the positive feedback received. II. X-Culture-Collab 60 participants from 25 Methodist churches (9 CAC, 3 ETAC, 13 TRAC) and 3 non-Methodist churches came together for this four-hour Zoom session on 27 February, to use their skills, gifts, ideas, and expertise to engage and collaborate cross-culturally over the digital platform with MMS field partners from Cambodia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. It was a time to innovate, collaborate, build communities, and meet real-world needs!

The participants were given an overview of six collaboration projects:

• Cambodia – Empowering Decision Making of the Next Generation at COSI and COSY

• Cambodia – Collection of Medical Data from Surrounding Villages to Set up a Clinic in the Future

• Thailand – The Puhada Livelihood Project for Under Privileged Women

• Thailand – The Good Soil Livelihood Project • Timor-Leste – Empowering Business and Financial Management Skills for Tertiary Level Youth • Timor-Leste – Enhancing Conversational English Skills for Tertiary Level Youth At the six breakout groups, the participants further delved into the details of specific needs and the types of help needed for each project. Each group came up with a plan of action after brainstorming different ideas and assessing the available resources both on the field and in Singapore, sharing their plans with all present. The participants found the session useful, relevant, helpful, and motivating as they learnt from one another. They acquired a better understanding of needs on the ground and asked for more collaborative sessions. Implementation of projects was followed up initially by the MMS Training team and subsequently the field teams spearheaded by respective Area Directors. An example was the group that discussed empowering better decision making for the children and youth at COSI and COSY in Cambodia. Representatives from Bedok MC WSCS, Toa Payoh MC, and Queenstown Chinese MC met with the MMS Cambodia field team on 30 March to further discuss on the implementation of befriending and training sessions over the digital platform on general principles of decisionmaking, BGR & Purity, Money Management set to start in June 2021. By mid-April and after checking with their church missions or WSCS leadership, the group had come up with

HOMEINON... 39

Photo with majority of x-Culture-Collab participants.

The Timor- Leste breakout group.

the implementation schedule of the collaboration project, spanning between June 2021 and January 2022. Conclusion Digital Missions: Yes, we can! God’s purposes and crosscultural missions can go on via the digital platform despite

the pandemic. Whether we be individuals, Christian groups, or even a local church, we can be the hands and feet of Jesus in very practical ways after hearing and understanding real needs to empower those in faraway lands so that they and we can be God’s Hope Bringers!

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

EXTENDING the SCOPE? T

Rev Dr Gordon Wong

Bishop of The Methodist Church in Singapore. His favourite desserts are bread and butter pudding, cream puffs, and crème brûlée. Dessert bribes will not get you into heaven.

his is the theme I was invited to reflect on. This theme has a most extensive scope! I shall limit myself to two random reflections. Firstly, sometimes we are led to extend our scope because restrictions befall us. COVID-19 restrictions have led many to extend the use of technology, and the scope of their business, to reach people and places they did not venture into before. John Wesley’s famous phrase “The world is my parish” was inspired by the restrictions that his church placed on him. Local parishes did not allow him to preach in their sanctuaries, and so he started preaching on the streets and around the coal mines. The apostle Paul also extended the scope and reach of his ministry in response to the restriction and rejection he faced from Jewish leaders. This Jewish restriction and rejection led Paul to extend his Good News mission to non-Jewish folk (read Acts 13:4447), Gentiles like us Southeast Asians! As the old adage goes, “When one door closes, another opens”, and often it opens to a more extensive and enlarged horizon. May unwelcome restrictions lead us to extend our scope and vision to other people and places. Secondly, we cannot really extend the scope of God’s Good News mission beyond what our Lord and Master has already commissioned! Jesus has already given us the most extensive scope possible on earth (Matthew 28:19): Go to all the nations! And so, even though we may be a Methodist Missions Society, we are firstly disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ who have been commissioned to make disciples in all nations. Jesus has not commissioned us to make Methodist disciples, but Christian disciples. Extending the scope should, therefore, not be interpreted as extending the scope of Methodism. Our goal is not to extend Methodism, but to extend the love of Christ to all people in all nations. May our Methodist Missions Society never restrict the most extensive scope of our Lord Jesus’ commission to all peoples in all nations. Of course, no disciple can do everything, and no Missions Society can reach all people in all nations. So let us partner and co-operate with non-Methodist disciples of Christ, and together share the most extensive scope of God’s love for all peoples. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 13:47; Isaiah 49:6) Amen.

扩展宣教范围? 扩展范围?

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再者，我们必须认识到，主耶稣所托付的福音使命，其实也无需超越。毕竟耶稣在马太福音28：19所说： “你们要去，使万民作我的门徒。”已经是耶稣给我们在世上最广最大的使命了。因此，尽管我们是卫理宣教会，但我们首要的使命是作主耶稣的门徒，是祂差遣我们走出去，使万民作祂的门徒。主耶稣并没有差遣我们去领人作卫理门徒，而是作基督的门徒。因此，我们的开拓事工不当被诠释为去开拓卫理宗，我们的目标是向万国万民分享主耶稣的大爱。愿我们卫理宣教会，永不束缚主耶稣的伟大使命，去释放万族万民成为主的门徒。诚然，没有一个门徒能单挑一切，更没有一个宣教会具备万全条件深入万民中。有鉴于此，让我们和其他非卫理宗的基督门徒携手合作，使万民共享上帝那无远弗届的大爱。因为主曾这样吩咐我们说： “我已经立你作外邦人的光，叫你施行救恩，直到地极。” （使13：47，赛49：6）。阿们。

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应邀撰写、反思本课题，但牵涉甚广，这里仅摘选其中两点，聊作反思。首先，我们必须认识到，限制看似藩篱，却也驱使，引导我们打破局限，开疆拓土。当下冠疫席卷全球，带来许多局限，却促使人们善用科技开业拓务，因而让触觉突破，延伸至新疆域、新社群。卫斯理约翰的名言， “世界是我的牧区”，即源于他敢于突破当年教会加在他身上的种种限制。地方教会不准许卫斯理在其教堂讲道，于是卫斯理开始在大街小巷、煤矿周围就地布道。当年面对犹太领袖们诸多刁难和排斥的使徒保罗，也同样将福音使命开拓至新的对象群体，延伸宣教事工的范围和疆域，踏入非犹太族群当中，（徒13：44-47），就像我们在东南亚的、犹太人以外的族群！有一句老话， “天无绝人之路”-- 迈开大步，前方就是海阔天空，但愿上帝藉着重重障碍引领、开拓我们的眼界，进入新禾场、新族群，广传福音。

HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2

Harvest Force 2021 issue 2

Articles inside

By His Grace, grow in L.O.V.E.

MISSION CONFERENCE declared

FLOURISH in CAMBODIA

REACHING the UNREACHED

SEEKING OPEN DOORS to UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS

GOD’S END GOAL for THE WORLD

CAFÉ AND EDUCATION MINISTRY for PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Frontier Missions — EXTENDING THE SCOPE

EXTENDING THE SCOPE to REACH THE UNREACHED

EXTENDING the SCOPE?

DIGITAL MISSIONS: Yes, We Can!

IN SEARCH of NEW MISSION FIELDS

EXTENDING THE SCOPE OF OUR MISSION FIELDS for UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS