A newsletter o f T h e N a viga to rs S inga pore M C I ( P ) 014/04/2016
JUNE 2016
Lin (R), graduating from Nanyang Polytechnic, where she came to know Christ, and encouraged Tabitha (L) to pursue Him too.
Lin (R) with other ladies, encouraging each other with reflections from their daily time with God.
HOPE IN THE MIDST OF SILENCE by Andson Tang and Patricia Lian
Lin came from an unhappy family. She was very quiet and found communication with people difficult. Living aimlessly and with deep sadness, she had lost her will to live. All that changed when she met Jesus Christ. Below is her story.
Hope in the midst of silence
“
Ever since I was little I got nervous easily and could not really open up to people. I felt that I was not living life properly, and often wondered what I was living for. In 2014, I met Bifen, a Navigator staff who invited me to read the Bible. I also joined the Nanyang Poly Navigators for their fellowship. Meeting the people in Navs and seeing their purpose-driven lives ironically made me sadder as I felt my own aimlessness. At a Nav camp themed “The Father’s Love,” I came across the verse Psalm 52:9 ‘... And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.’ Based on that hope, I said my first prayer in the hope that the verse was true and I could eventually find something if I continued joining the bible discussions.”
Sometime after that, Bifen asked me again if I wanted to accept Christ. I felt that although I had often heard that God loves everyone unconditionally, I could not really accept that. As I had problems communicating and relating to people, I felt useless, and God’s love to me was like a child giving love to a toy that was already broken. I could see no point in that. But Bifen then reminded me that man was created for God’s glory. We were in the canteen then, and I looked out of the window and saw the sky and trees. I thought that even the trees did not have to do anything, but they were beautiful. They were created beautiful. The realisation came to me then that God created me too and He saw value in this life of mine.
I decided then to invite Jesus into my life. After that, everything looked quite normal on the surface but I felt more at peace. Even on the bus, when I was alone with my own thoughts, I felt that God was with me. After her decision for Christ, Lin grew steadily in her faith and faithfully attended The Navigators fellowship. The transforming power of the Gospel began to work mightily in her.
Out of the Silence with the Gospel Since I was little, I lived with my grandparents. I was not close to my parents and saw them only occasionally. My parents led their own lives. One day near Christmas, I wanted to share Jesus’ story with my grandma. It was difficult sharing it in Mandarin, so I shared simply and asked her if she wanted to accept Jesus. She prayed the sinner’s prayer with me, although I was not sure if she went along with the prayer simply because I was her granddaughter. So I asked her, ‘Granny, who is in your heart now?’ She replied, ‘ The man on the cross.’ I see my father once a year during Chinese New Year. I usually don’t say anything to him beyond a brief greeting. This year, he was alone smoking outside a relative’s home. Somehow God gave me the courage to share the gospel with him. Amazingly, he didn’t reject it outright but said, “Dad has been going to the Chinese temple for years. It is very hard to change. I will need some time to consider.” That was the longest conversation I remember us ever having. My mother has a colleague who recently brought her to church and I am praying for her. Lin’s testimony continues to impact others. Two of her classmates were challenged by her growth. Tabitha started to join the Nav morning fellowship while another, Xu Xin, restarted her walk with God. Recently, Lin also had the opportunity to share Christ with one of her lecturers and he is open for further discussions. What a wonderful work God is doing in her life!
TOP: Lin (R) with her mother. BOTTOM: There is greater joy in a friendship when friends encourage one another to pursue God. Such is the case for Lin (R) and Tabitha (L) who now meet every morning to do Quiet Time together.
SEMINAR 121 Doug Erdmann N ATION AL DIRECTOR
I lead a Bible study for men. It’s a lively group … lots of laughter, and an occasional tear. Our pattern is to discuss a chapter from the “LifeChange Series,” then share prayer requests and pray for each other. At our most recent study, after finishing the discussion, we moved as usual into prayer requests. One of the men said that he was feeling somewhat dry in his relationship with God. Immediately I thought, “I wonder how his Quiet Time is?” However, being the leader, I decided not to ask him in front of the others in case it might embarrass him. Another member, though, was not so reticent! “How is our Quiet Time?” he asked. The first man said, “Well, not very regular, maybe once a week.” Rather than criticizing him, the second man said, “How about you and I have a Quiet Time together once a week?” The first man readily agreed. Why do I share this story? First, it emphasizes the importance of the Quiet Time to our spiritual growth. Indeed, for me, it has been the most helpful spiritual discipline. Second, the story shows how simple it is to disciple another. A lot of people are convinced that they should be discipling someone else, but they hesitate, saying, “I don’t know what to.” Yet discipling can be as simple as meeting regularly with another person to read the Bible and pray. To the right you’ll read about our recent Seminar 121. One of the aims of this seminar was to help people see that they can disciple someone else. It can be as simple as finding someone who is not having a Quiet Time, and then doing it with them, regularly. You’ll be surprised at what a difference it makes not only in their life, but also in yours as you obey the Great Commission to, “Go and make disciples.”
Geriatrician Dr Chan Kin Ming giving tips on keeping young when old(er)!
Organised by The Navigators Alumni-Community Ministry (ACM) and hosted by True Way Presbyterian Church, Seminar 121 (a play on the phrase One-to-One) attracted 200 people on 14th May. Those who attended were keen to learn how to live purposefully for Christ through the challenges of growing old. They heard from Dr Chan Kin Meng, a geriatrician who shared his expertise and spiritual insights about care for the older people, whether ourselves or others. Ezra Mok encouraged those present with his experience of God’s grace through his recovery from a brain tumour that, for a time, robbed him of his cognition and speech. A retired teacher, Ezra is now helping others grow in Christ as an associate Nav staff. Yap Kim Meng, ministry director of ACM, taught the practical steps to discipling one-to-one. In conjunction with the seminar, an anthology Rivers of Living Water was launched. It comprises 21 stories showing how the circumstances of growing old and taking care of the aged can become opportunities to live out the gospel. The experiences in the book illuminates Jesus’ words in John 7:38: ‘’Whoever believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
(L-R): Dr Chan Kin Ming, Ezra Mok and Yap Kim Meng in a panel discussion with the audience
THE NAVTEENS GOOD FRIDAY The murder weapons were a whip, a spear, nails and a crown of thorns. 120 teenagers acted detectives for a day. They interviewed “eye-witnesses” like Roman soldiers and collected evidence to piece together the picture surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thus was the gospel creatively shared during The NavTeens Good Friday Evangelistic Outreach.
A volunteer dressed up as a Roman soldier sharing his perspective on Jesus’ death
We thank God for our teens who invited their friends, out of whom seven invited Jesus into their lives that day. More than forty others were keen to either find out more about the Christian faith or join a Biblestudy group.
Kristen (left) and her friends Ashley, Min Yee, Megan and Mei Si.
Kristen Chiang was one of those who invited her friends:
“
For the Good Friday event, I brought four friends from my school. All of us had an enjoyable time together going around the National Stadium to participate in the different activities. The programme was fun, engaging and creative and my friends especially liked the way the gospel was shared! Not only that, two of my non-Christian friends took the next step of
faith and made Jesus their personal Lord and Saviour that day. I am really glad that I invited my friends for the event although I was worried that I might be turned down. Personally, their decision to follow Jesus was the greatest encouragement to me that God blessed me with.
JENSEN CHIANG, NEW STAFF You met him in the last issue of NavNews, fresh from his missions trip to Sierra Leone. Adventurous and sporty, Jensen Chiang is now part of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Navstaff team and he introduces himself to NavNews: I was born into a Christian family. In my teens, I was doing quite poorly spiritually. I had dropped out of going to church, and I just spent my time on myself and going out with friends. In 2012, I met The Navigators while studying in Ngee Ann Poly. Over the years as I joined their fellowship, I learnt to walk with God. I came to experience disciplines like Bible Reading, Scripture Memory and Bible Study as ways of knowing God and drawing close to Him daily. Meanwhile, I also caught the vision to be
a disciple of Christ and help others follow Him and become Kingdom labourers, who will in turn be able to help others do the same. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of
the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. — Matthew 9:36-38 Jesus’ call for workers in this passage is meaningful to me because I see an increasing need among this generation today to know the Lord and follow Him. The Ngee Ann Polytechnic Campus has a student population of 16,000 and 90% have yet to know the Lord. God has put a burden on my heart for them.
EDGE SUMMIT
www.navigators.org.sg The calling of The Navigators is to advance the gospel of Jesus and his kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of labourers living and discipling among the lost. Views expressed in published articles are those of the individual writers and may not necessarily be the views of The Navigators Singapore.
National Director: K. Douglas Erdmann
Writers: Andson Tang, Patricia Lian Editor:
EDGE Summit is a week-long annual training program. Held at the U.S. Navigator Headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, our team of nine joined with 170 others drawn from all parts of the U.S. They had intensive teaching on discipleship from godly leaders such as Mike Treneer (previous International President), Doug Nuenke (U.S. Director) and Mike Jordahl (U.S. Field Director). Along with the teaching, there was much opportunity for the younger staff to interact, with the Singaporeans and the Americans learning alot from each other.
Patricia Lian
Design & Layout: Loo Jia Yu
Photographers: Christopher Lian, Loo Jia Yu, Na Xin Yi
Printer: Seng Lee Press © 2016 by The Navigators Singapore