One MCS—TRAC Highlights

Crystal Tan, a dog-lover, is an intern at Truthmin and worships at Paya Lebar Methodist Church. She loves worshipping God through singing and dancing. / Photos courtesy of Crystal Tan

Crystal Tan (left) with TRAC President the Rev Dr Gordon Wong

(Isa 28:6), and the Lord will be a “source of strength” to the one who turns back the battle. We fight many battles on a daily basis: political battles; social justice battles. And some are more personal, such as family, mental and physical battles that we struggle with on a daily basis. But the greatest battle is one happening right outside the gate of my heart. In the midst of my day, does God only come to my mind when I need to solve a problem, when I have the space to be enthusiastic about Christianity, or when I say grace before a meal? I constantly battle to have Him remain in the centre of my every waking moment. During my internship at Truthmin, we read together Faith for Exiles, which suggested that we measure our fruitfulness not by how many things we do for people, but by being present with them. We should practise the awareness of God by being in the moment with Him, seeking His voice and heart for the person we are ministering to, instead of treating them like a task on our to-do list. Truthmin is a conference-wide ministry under the Trinity Annual Conference that seeks to serve the Church and local church youth ministries in nurturing Christ-centred youths in culturally-relevant ways through worship, discipleship and leadership development.

Our work includes Trackers (a three-month youth discipleship program), Fusion (annual youth conference), ERCO (song-writing competition) and Fuse (bi-monthly prayer meetings). We also provide training for youth, youth workers and youth ministry leaders through our various courses and retreats.

Turn back the battle at the gate

We are called to turn back the battle at the gate

https://truthmin.com/ The beauty about the journey of seeking God is that we aren’t called to get it perfect or right. We are just called to turn back the battle at the gate—to be constantly watchful of the things that can displace God in our hearts. And He promises that if we keep our eyes on Him, He will sustain us till the end.

We need to purposefully set aside time for Him. Fuse, held by Truthmin every two months, helps TRAC youths devote two hours of our time to connect to the Father in Spirit and in Truth as we worship God, dive into the Word and pray together. Discipleship programmes such as Trackers, where we can dedicate three months of our lives to seeking Him and learning how to walk a life in step with our God, can help us cultivate spiritual habits where God takes first place in every decision we make.

We can wake up earlier to do quiet time and give our first fruits to the Lord. Or take time during rush hour to surrender our anxiety to Him. Our Father is waiting to speak and I pray that we will choose to turn back the battle at the gate, refuse entry to the distractions and worries of the world, and allow only Him to take the throne of our hearts today. The more we seek Him, the more attuned we will become to our Shepherd’s leading.

Crystal (third from right) at FUSION 2017, a Truthmin worship event