A newsletter o f T h e N a viga to rs S inga pore M C I ( P ) 185/03/2017
MARCH 2018
Edmund Hor (left) and Pun Wee Leong share their experiences of being with Nav ITE.
COME
Edmund (extreme right) leading worship at Nav ITE’s 2017 Thanksgiving Night.
ALONGSIDE ME For Pun Wee Leong, who heads the Nav ITE ministry, disciplemaking means coming alongside an individual. “When we come alongside someone, we go all the way for him, through good times and bad. Doing so brings God’s presence to these people and they can see that God is here for them too,” shared Wee Leong. Since 2009, Wee Leong has been coming alongside students in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
Who Is Edmund? Besides reaching out to students in ITE, Wee Leong also mentors individuals in Nav ITE. He has been mentoring Edmund Hor, a teacher, since 2013. Prior to joining Nav ITE, Edmund was spiritually dry. He wanted to know God and His Word in a deeper manner. Aware of Edmund’s plight, Kok Sin, Edmund’s friend and neighbour, introduced him to several fellowship groups, including Nav ITE. “I felt the warmth and joy in the Nav ITE fellowship when I attended their meetings. The people here care deeply and provide excellent teaching,” Edmund said. Before long, Edmund found himself growing closer to God and started serving as a volunteer helper in Nav ITE. Edmund’s most memorable involvement with the ministry
was going for a week long mission trip in 2015. In a foreign land, Edmund learnt to be bold in order to befriend and engage local students. What encouraged him most was having the privilege to lead a local student to Christ. Today, he continues to maintain a friendship with this student, who even came to Singapore to attend Edmund’s wedding.
Coming Alongside Edmund Last year, Edmund found himself under tremendous stress when he experienced four major changes in his life. Over the span of a few months, he had to adapt to teaching in a different school, prepare for his wedding and marriage, set up his new home and adjust to a new church environment. These changes took a toll on Edmund’s health. What saw him through were God’s goodness and the support of
his loved ones and people in Nav ITE. Edmund clung on tightly to God’s promise in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” God remained true to His Word and straightened all paths for Edmund. In his new school, Edmund found himself blessed with godly leaders. While preparing for his wedding, tricky situations were resolved after Edmund spent time praying and committing them to the Lord. God gave Edmund and his wife a home they love immensely and they adjusted to life as husband and wife. Above all, Edmund found numerous familiar faces in his new school, neighbourhood and church. These people gave him a sense of assurance, one that he knew was provided by the Lord. “God has been good to me. It is definitely not coincidental when I keep bumping into familiar faces everywhere. It can only be the Lord’s doing,” Edmund testifies.
Edmund Comes Alongside Others Having personally experienced God’s blessings and the value of having Wee Leong come alongside him, Edmund desires to do likewise for others. He shares Wee Leong’s desire to help ITE students and is presently meeting with two youths. One of these youths is Symon Chong. Symon graduated from polytechnic recently and was a former student of ITE. He is currently serving National Service. When Edmund first met Symon, the latter had little confidence in himself. Nevertheless, Edmund saw potential in Symon and desired to help him grow. In order to help Symon realise how valuable he is to God, Edmund spent time praying and studying God’s Word with him. When Edmund found out that Symon enjoys hymns, he took the opportunity to rope him in to lead worship during Nav ITE’s Discipleship Night meetings. Gradually, Symon grew in his self-worth. “Because of all that have been invested in my life,” Edmund shares, “I have become a very joyful and thankful person.” Seeing the transformation in Edmund’s spiritual life has certainly delighted Wee Leong. “I am very encouraged by Edmund’s life,” says Wee Leong. “He is always full of thanksgiving and he remembers God’s goodness in his life.” Similarly, Edmund marvels at how God has transformed Symon’s life and he is heartened by the latter’s desire to grow in the Lord.
By coming alongside Edmund, Wee Leong has developed a strong friendship with him.
Would You Come Alongside Them? The harvest is certainly plentiful in ITE, but the workers are few. Behind the walls of the three ITE colleges are numerous students who are often overlooked or undermined in society. They struggle with a myriad of issues in life. These students need to know Christ and experience his love. These students need people to enter their lives and run alongside them. Nav ITE is presently managed by two full-time staff, and the ministry faces a dire need for more people to join them in serving and saving the lost. Just as the Lord saw the crowd and had compassion on them (see Matthew 9:36-38), students in ITE need someone to help point them to the lord and show them the love of God. Would you consider coming alongside them?
Should you desire to bring hope to these youths or find out more about Nav ITE, please email ite@navigators.org.sg for more information.
Nav ITE family at a recent Chinese New Year gathering.
the Gospel of Jesus can truly give us the power to forgive and be forgiven. Thanksgiving flows out of a forgiven soul.
Reverend Dr. E. N. Poulson from my church, Grace Baptist, passed away in October 2017. As a young missionary in the early 1950s, he was bound for Indonesia. He was rerouted to Singapore as he waited for his visa to be cleared. That wait turned out to be for 64 years and he spent his time here preaching the Gospel and teaching the Bible. My heart is stirred to do something not only to honour this man who had given his whole life for the Gospel, but also for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. As such, together with my good friend, Mok Chok Sun, we will be taking the stage for a Gospel outreach event, “2Gs Lunchbyte—GIVE Thanks and ForGIVE”. We will share our personal stories of how having Christ makes all the difference in these two areas of our lives. Why these two “Gs”? These are two areas that many of us find hard to do and they are closely related to the Gospel. Only
What better time to have this Gospel outreach event than during the coming period of Good Friday and Easter? These Christian holidays present us with wonderful opportunities to intentionally share Christ’s love and forgiveness with those around us. We are trusting God to draw many of our parents and relatives to this event which is open to public. While the sharing is in English, it will be translated into Mandarin. Various ministries in The Navigators Singapore are also planning different outreach events during this period. Would you please pray along with us that lives will be touched, as we go forth boldly and intentionally share what the Lord has done for each and every one of us? We are trusting that God will bring to fruition what He promised in John 14:13, “‘Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13 ESV).
“100-50-2”
MISSIONS LAUNCH “It was scorching hot. The roads were very crowded. As I sat on the motorcycle, I kept wondering if somebody would knock into us!” shared Chloe Cai, a full-time staff with The NavTeens, during the “100-50-2” Missions Launch. 180 people attended this launch that was held on 28 January at St. John’s-St. Margaret’s Church. Through this launch, The Navigators Singapore hopes to send 50 labourers for mid-term exposure trips that will range between two weeks to two months in duration. This launch was held to motivate labourers to respond to God’s call of making Him known to all nations. The audience spent time worshipping, praying and hearing about God’s desire for us to “Go” (see Matthew 28:1920). Chloe also shared memories from her recent twoweek trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. “My teammate, Jolynn Ng, and I, made trips to the park, which was the location for an English-speaking club called Talking with the Tourists. There, university students get opportunities to practice speaking English as they introduce their country to tourists. Through it, we interacted with students and talked just about anything under the sun.” said Chloe. “I prayed for opportunities to connect further with some of these students so that they could get additional English practice. I also prayed that we could have meaningful conversations with them.” Chloe’s prayers were answered. She made friends with some of the students who drove Jolynn and her on
Our National Director encouraging everyone to respond to God’s call. motorcycles to visit their campus. Over postcards from Singapore and Vietnamese Milo, these locals asked freely about Singapore. Chloe and these students chatted about Singapore’s streetscapes and Christmas lightings, which led to a discussion about the origin and meaning of Christmas. Conversations eventually got deeper, which Chloe and Jolynn are very thankful for. Their relationship with this group grew to the point that these students actually made time and took them out thrice. Through this launch, we trust that our labourers will come to experience living in lands beyond Singapore and obey Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. Pray with us that these labourers will bring God’s love to those they encounter, all over the world.
Chloe (right) and Jolynn experiencing how the locals commute daily in Ho Chi Minh City.
FORERUNNER FOR CHRIST Since young, Jolynn Ng thought that being a Christian meant attending church and Bible lessons on Sundays. After joining The NavTeens (TNT) in 2007, she realised that identifying herself as a Christian means making Christ the centre of her life. The work of faithful labourers has inspired Jolynn to come on staff under the EDGE programme. She hopes to disciple and love others. Jolynn shares with us her journey to becoming a full-time staff:
“I never had a definite answer for what is an ideal and meaningful job for a graduate. Upon a friend’s prompting, I reflected and realised that I have been volunteering with TNT for the last seven years. There must be a reason why I stayed and served for such a long time.
When I was presented with an option to become a full-time staff, I prayed, sought godly counsel and studied the Word of God. The final challenge came after I read Philippians 3:8. Am I able to count everything as loss in view of Christ? With that, I took the step of obedience.
The road ahead seems intimidating, but I hold on to what Chiang Kiam Siong, Director of TNT, advises, “The scariest moment in life can turn out to be the most memorable.”
Chloe Cai, who disciples Jolynn, believes that Jolynn’s dependence on God’s grace will not only equip her in her ministry venture, but will also empower those whom Jolynn journeys with. In the coming three months, Jolynn will be attached to the Republic Polytechnic and Nanyang Polytechnic (RP-NYP) ministry. She looks forward to learning how to reach out to her contemporaries. Thereafter, Jolynn will return to TNT. She will resume training with the Geylang Methodist Secondary School (GMSS) Athletics co-curricular activity (CCA), which was established last year. Beyond helping students become better athletes, Jolynn prays that her passion for track and field will be a springboard for her to impact youths for Christ.
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. All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® Copyright © 1984, unless otherwise stated.
National Director: Yap Kim Meng
Writers: Yap Kim Meng, Sophie SimLawrence
Editor: Loo Jia Yu
Design & Layout: Loo Jia Yu
Photographers:
Jolynn (front row, third from left) with some of the members from GMSS Athletics CCA.
Chloe Cai, Goh Phek Tin, Loo Jia Yu, Ong Huei Jun
Printer: Seng Lee Press © 2018 by The Navigators Singapore