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HARVESTFORCE 2021 • 2
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.
