Dear Reverend / Pastor / Elder / Leaders, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We are grateful to have you join us in the ministry’s work this year. One of our main projects is the focus on Bible Engagement for the next generation. We praise the Lord for enabling us to share 35,000 children’s resources in Malay, Chinese and English.
We praise the Lord for enabling us to share 35,000 children’s resources in Malay, Chinese and English.
The children learned about Psalm 139, Jonah, Esther and the teenagers were nurtured with the series, “When I Don’t Feel Okay: Devotionals for Tough Days”, God Hears Her for Girls and Stand Strong for Boys. Our 2nd year in collaboration with the Boys Brigade in Malaysia also reached out to teenagers with custom-written Leader’s Guides for their officers as well.
Testimony: One 8-year-old girl who read three books from the Give Us This Day (GUTD) Series said, “I like reading GUTD because the stories in it teach me how God loves me. I also learned that Jesus is my friend and always keeps me company, and I now appreciate the friends around me even more.”
We are obeying the call for a Bible Engagement movement together with churches and other Christian organisations,
and for us to continue to sow the seeds and to train the next generations. Please feel free to reach out to us for any workshops, training, camps, book tables, preaching opportunities or partnerships, especially with Children and Youth-related ministries.
Other than this major project, 2024 also sees us continuing our focus on BM-speaking work, especially for the first Malay Bible Atlas and to increase our ministry coverage in Sarawak. Support us in this critical work with prayers, contacts, encouragements and also, helping us to raise support for this extended work.
We are obeying the call for a Bible Engagement movement together with churches and other Christian organisations, and for us to continue to sow the seeds and to train the next generations.
We have been focusing a lot on Bible conferences for the Chinese-speaking community language work by working with renowned Bible teachers and churches. Read on to discover who they are, and do follow us on social media in anticipation for more in 2025.
At the same time, 2024 also sees a new season in which we move into a new office in Johor Bahru which does not require such a large warehouse and office space. Our digital work is growing tremendously
Thank you for serving together and encouraging us with prayers, encouragement, volunteering your talents and time as well as financial support.
Just as in Hebrews 13:21, we pray that the God of peace equips all of us with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Thank you for the privilege of serving alongside you in the Lord.
His grace be with all of us,
Caroline Ong Country Director
Special Projects
ODBM & The Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia 40-Day Challenge
This year marks the second year of our partnership with The Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia (BBM). We launched a 40-day reading challenge entitled “Journey of Faith: Obedience & Reverence”, focused on building godly character. Written in-house, the booklets in print and online include a Leader’s Guide for BB officers to guide their members.
In the first year, 250 people took part in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, recording 27 salvations. This year, the number increased to 400 participants and 15 salvations. We’re thrilled that our investment in writing and printing these resources for the next generation has borne fruits.
Christmas 2023: Christmas Chronicles
While many focus on evangelism during Christmas, we recognised the need to support mature Christians with more insights and theology. As such, we launched the “Christmas Chronicles” website about the significance of Jesus’ geographical origins in Bethlehem and Nazareth. We also included three Malaysian pastors’ testimonies on how their hometowns shaped their faith journeys.
Easter 2024: Anewed Everyday in Christ
For Easter, we focused on Passion Week prayers and meditations with a 5-day reading plan on the website
“Anewed Everyday in Christ”. We also supplemented the content on Instagram Live with a 5-day lunch break devotion titled “Manna at Noon”, led by Country Director Caroline Ong. Participants meditated on God’s Word for one hour every weekday in the lead up to Easter.
In 2024, we produced content across a wide variety of age groups, topics and platforms. These include:
“The Bible at a Glance” This booklet is a one-page summary of all 66 books in the Bible. For Christians of all ages, it’s essential light reading for anyone committed to studying the Bible.
“Just Teddy”,
“Jonah” and “When Don’t Feel Okay”
In our ongoing commitment to equip the next generation, we produced
two children’s books “Just Teddy” and “Jonah”, and a teen devotional “When I Don’t Feel Okay” on managing social anxieties. More teen resources can be found on Family Devotion.
Hope for the Wounded: A new mental health blog
In addition to providing mental health resources from a biblical perspective, our new blog has real-life stories that will hopefully resonate with those in need.
8 2024 ODBM Newsletter
Chinese Content
Special Projects
Chinese Bible Conference
In July this year, we collaborated with Southern Bible College and local churches to host two Chinese Bible Conferences. The guest speaker for the conferences was Rev. Dr. Po-ling Sun from Taiwan, who delivered a series of talks on “The Gospel of John: The Word Became Flesh vs. The Virtual World.” Each conference attracted over 100 participants, ranging in ages 20-80 years old.
• PJ State Chinese Methodist Church, 16 & 17 July 2024
• St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Ipoh, 19 & 20 July 2024
Book Table:
Chinese Youth Camp by Presbyterian Church
We took part in the Ministry
Exhibition at a Chinese youth camp in Melaka, organised by the Presbyterian Church.
This event drew participants from various states and featured around 15 Christian organisations in the exhibition.
Collaboration with kindergartens to distribute children’s materials
As part of our cause project “Bible Engagement for the Next Generation”, we gave away 75 copies of both English and Chinese
“Just Teddy” books to two kindergartens, FirstLight Learning Centre and Tadika elim-Bukit Indah.
Our team also conducted a storytelling session at FirstLight Learning Centre.
In 2024, we produced content across a wide variety of age groups, topics and platforms, such as:
“Remain in Him: Scripture Verses to Stay Close to God”
We produced a booklet containing 66 Scripture verses, one from every book in the Bible, to help readers remain close to God as they memorise and meditate on His loving promises from Genesis to Revelation.
“Just Teddy”, “The Chatterbox Gospel Tool”, “30-Day Special Edition for Teenage Boys and Girls”
To equip the next generation with God’s Word, we produced children’s materials “Just Teddy” and “The Chatterbox Gospel Tool”, and two teen devotionals for boys and girls. We also continued to print children’s devotional “Give Us This Day”.
Carousel posts related to marketplace and Bible mapping
The social media focus this year is on the marketplace, so we planned a series of carousel posts to encourage Christians to be a witness in their marketplace. We also posted two Bible mapping posts a month to help our audiences to meditate on God’s words.
Discipleship Content Plan: Spiritual Maturity
Spiritual growth is about lifelong learning. As our knowledge of truth deepens, our relationship with God grows closer and, in turn, we become more “conformed to the image ofhis Son” (Romans 8:29). As such, we invited Rev. James Yeoh to speak on cultivating the maturity of our spiritual lives.
12 2024 ODBM Newsletter
BM Content
Special Projects
Love & Romance Seminar
Zoom Seminar: The Apostles’ Stories
The first seminar targeting high school students, it was held on 27 January 2024 at Sunflower Hostel, Kudat, Sabah (under the care of Starfish) with 91 students participating. We invited Pastor Edmund Kumar to give a talk on love and romance, while the ODBM team gave a workshop on how to do daily devotions.
Bible Atlas launch at Methodist Theological School, Sibu
We were invited to launch the Bible Atlas (Atlas Alkitab) at the Methodist Theological School (MTS) in Sibu, Sarawak, with Bishop Ng Moon Hing as the guest speaker. The event was physically attended by students, lecturers and pastors nearby and broadcast live through MTS’ YouTube channel.
Our second year of conducting a Journey Through series seminar, this year we focused on Acts and Luke. Fom 8-15
April 2024, over 60 participants from Malaysia took part as we invited Pastor Tony Wong to expound on context and theology. Through this seminar, we discovered that 93.5% of participants actively use Journey Through for group Bible studies, and we received 30 new subscribers to our email and WhatsApp mailing list.
Mentoring Program with Malaysian CARE
We collaborated with Malaysian CARE to mentor students of Asrama Harapan Baru in Pitas, Sabah by providing books and resources needed for the programme. In addition, two of our staff volunteered to mentor two female students, who are 14 and 17 years old respectively. This program continues until November 2024.
The Rajawali Project
Sarawak is the state with the largest Christian group in Malaysia, and the Rajawali Project aims to strengthen the Christian community by supporting churches and Christian organisations in Sarawak. This year, we already visited Sibu, Kuching and Miri to meet with pastors and denomination leaders. Pray that we will find likeminded people to serve God with us and become ODBM representatives in Sarawak.
Christmas 2023: Malam Kudus (Holy Night)
For Christmas 2023, we produced a 5-day reading plan on our website called Malam Kudus (Holy Night) and offered the Discovery Series “Mary and Joseph: Reflecting on the Wonder of Christmas” as an online PDF. We based this reading plan on five popular Christmas songs in Bahasa by artists like Grezia Epiphania, Sudirman Worship and Putri Siagian.
In 2024, we produced the following resources: Bible Exploration Guide Series:
How Can Parents Find Peace
of
Mind
A guide for parents to adopt a wise and loving approach with their children, while looking at examples in the Bible of parent-child relationships.
Journey Through Series: Ephesians
A theological reflection on the church and its nature, origin, character, mission and future. It also challenges
Jonah: 14-Day Children’s Devotional
A 14-day devotional for children aged 5-12, filled with quizzes and fun activities to help them discover God’s love through the story of Jesus Loves Me:
About Good Friday and Easter
Through interesting stories and fun activities, this book helps children to answer their questions about Good Friday and Easter.
Queen Esther Comic
A colourful comic based on Queen Esther in the Bible, to help children aged 7-12 understand and remember her life story and God’s work through her.
Prayer Support
We’d love your prayer support. As we faithfully manage the work He has given us, we pray that our Lord will provide for all our needs. In Him, we find our sufficiency and experience abundance, for “...our sufficiency is from God...” (2 Corinthians 3:5).
• The ODBM team remains faithful in Christ, depending on God’s sovereignty over us, and deepens their engagement with the Bible. For from Him, we draw strength to work for Him and serve others. May God grant us wisdom in planning and producing resources that are accessible across various platforms, whether physical (such as books, conferences, and book tables) or digital (such as social media, websites, and apps).
• Our readers, of all age groups, to be encouraged to practise the 3R (Receive, Reflect, Respond to God’s Word Regularly) that we intend to infuse into our resources so that their lives and spiritual growth are nourished, and they draw closer to God as they engage with our materials.
• The ongoing expansion of our BM Ministry to meet the needs of the largest Christian community in Malaysia. May more Malaysian Christians be moved to support the ministry’s growth and fruitfulness, and may the support we receive reach as many people as possible.
• As we strive to achieve our visions and missions, we pray for more opportunities to collaborate with churches, schools, and organisations. May we find like-minded partners in Christ to advance our work vigorously.
• More readers, individuals, and churches will take part in supporting our work through donations, prayers, and by joining our ministry for His purposes. We are looking for people to join us as full-time, part-time, or volunteer staff, to serve together and meet our needs across different functions and offices in Malaysia.
Your Contributions Bring The Word To Others
We are grateful for your generous and consistent financial support for more than 25 years, enabling God’s Word to be accessible and understandable to many in Malaysia. Lives are transformed daily. Your participation has enabled us to produce, publish and distribute both digital and print Biblical resources; in English, Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia and other languages.
Join us in this journey to be a blessing to others.
Please send us a screenshot of your receipt with your full name and 10-digit readership number via post, email, or WhatsApp 012-3371718.
Our Daily Bread Ministries Malaysia
Johor Bahru Office
01-32, Block A, Permas City, Jalan Permas Utara, Kaw. Perdagangan Permas Utara, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750 Masai, Johor.
