A newsletter o f T h e N a viga to rs S inga pore M C I ( P ) 185/03/2017
SEPTEMBER 2017
Labourer’s Day at a glance: A fun-filled day spent understanding the Nav Core and fellowshipping cross-ministry style.
On 22 July 2017, The Navigators Singapore organised a Labourers’ Day event to share, learn and pray with one another. There was an air of festivity, as many of the 180 labourers who attended the occasion came dressed in red and blue t-shirts. It was exciting to see these labourers from our various campus, church and community ministries congregate.
LABOURERS FOR THE NATIONS by National Director, Yap Kim Meng On 22 July 2017, The Navigators Singapore organised a Labourers’ Day event to share, learn and pray with one another. There was an air of festivity, as many of the 180 labourers who attended the occasion came dressed in red and blue t-shirts. It was exciting to see these labourers from our various campus, church and community ministries congregate. The Navigators Singapore. What do we do? Why do we do what we do? Early in the event, I shared the Nav Core—Calling,Values,Vision. Together with Viloane Ko, who is leading the NP-SIM-TP ministry, we simulated an interview between us to clarify what these meant. Emphasis was placed on what “to advance” means, a phrase found in our Calling. For the Gospel to advance, there is a need for a destination, since this important task cannot hover in mid-air. This Calling of ours is undergirded by nine Core Values God wants to see in us. This is us being in Christ. Finally, our Vision is about God’s purposes and God’s glory, as embodied by the phrase “Gospel going out into the Nations”. As the day progressed, we shared our personal disciplemaking stories—on stage, while fellowshipping or during small group discussions. Julian Teh, a volunteer helper with The NavTeens (TNT),
TOP: Viloane explaining how the nine Nav Core values fit into The Wheel® illustration. BOTTOM: Julian sharing with the audience his journey in serving the Lord.
gave a lively explanation of why he described himself as “a testimony of spiritual generations of faithful men”. It was truly an eye-opener when Julian walked us through his spiritual ancestry, tracing it all the way back to Dawson Trotman. What a wonderful example of what our God can accomplish when we are faithful! Julian seeks to perpetuate his spiritual legacy, to invest in the lives of others, just as those before him had done. He shared that this is by no means easy, since he encountered various disappointments and fears in the process. Nonetheless, we must stand firm, because our labour in the Lord is not in vain (see 1 Corinthians 15:58). As the day drew to a close, I challenged the labourers not only “to advance the Gospel”, but to go “into the nations”. In Singapore, we have been making disciples locally—in our campuses and community. But it cannot stop here. We have to go beyond the shores of Singapore. This is a feasible task, as seen in the lives of some of our former caretakers. Those men went beyond tending to 117 Lorong K, Telok Kurau. They have gone forth from us to serve in foreign countries. God has been good to us and we must go into the nations and minister out of the overflow of His goodness. Feedback from those who attended the event was encouraging. Here are some of them: “I identified with the struggles of fellow labourers. Their sharing gives me the courage to look to God and rely on His grace. The reminder of our CORE brings renewed perspective to why I am doing what I am doing; difficult and painful it may be, because it is all about God and His glory and purpose.” “I found the various sharing of ministry promises insightful. I was ministered to and encouraged to have faith and to persevere in claiming these promises. My key takeaway is to have a heart for God and people. I cannot be satisfied only by someone receiving Christ. I need to go further and help him enjoy an abundant life in Christ.” “The cross-ministry sharing was encouraging as we interacted with those who have spent more time living for God’s kingdom and discipling others. I have become more open-minded after seeing the wide range of areas discipleship covers. It is very precious how God brings each of us uniquely to himself to be discipled and to disciple others!” Our Asia Pacific counterparts share our desire to continually equip our labourers for the harvest field. On 6-9 July 2017, 81 labourers from different nations gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the
Kim Meng ending the day with reflections from Psalms—God’s goodness to us.
Asia Pacific Campus Forum. The forum was targeted at younger campus staff and labourers. The theme of the forum was “Complete the Task with A Clearer Vision”.
Abraham, I am challenged to reconsider what I see in the students I help. Campus? Community? No...it must be the world.
Chiang Kiam Siong, director of TNT, led our local team of nine labourers. For Kiam Siong, the forum affirmed God’s calling in his life and encouraged him to live a purpose driven life. Everyone in our team left the forum with renewed visions to invest in the lives of others and to place greater value in the worth of the individuals they help. Adrian Ho, one of our EDGE staff, shares with us two of his burning desires that resulted from the forum: 1. Be the one man It is important that I transform my life, because the lost around me will pay greater attention to my actions than my words. I need to be in the midst of the lost, live a transparent life and live out the Gospel. 2. Raise the one man To help one be an effective labourer, I need to help lay a strong foundation in the Word and establish conviction in the Calling. Just as God saw the nations through
THE FLOW OF BLESSINGS “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
The Singapore team at the forum’s cultural night. (L-R) Siew Siew, Julian, Astrid, Kiam Siong, Jensen, Abner, Jozyah, Adrian and Nicholas Our God has given us the privilege of making Him known. May we boldly claim Psalm 2:8 “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the end of the earth your possession”. Let us go forth and claim the nations for our Lord!
Diong Siew Siew, EDGE staff and one of the participants in the Asia Pacific Campus Forum, shares with us how her dad came to know God through an interesting “flow of blessings”. Shi Xin and Shi Yi are twin sisters. After Shi Xin joined the RP-NYP ministry, she brought her younger sister, Shi Yi, along. I have been helping Shi Yi in her faith, while my mentor, Bi Fen, disciples Shi Xin. We have a good relationship with the twin’s parents. Both the twin’s and my parents live in Malaysia. On 1 May 2017, God prompted the twin’s mother to visit my dad with some of her friends. My dad was never home in her earlier attempts to visit him. That day, he was. After they shared the Gospel, my dad received Christ immediately!
(L-R) Shi Xin, Bi Fen, Siew Siew and Shi Yi
In my recent trip to visit my parents, I was repeatedly assured of my dad’s salvation. God also provided me the opportunity to bring him to church. Incidentally, Continued on next page >>
Continued from previous page << The team cooked, cleaned, weeded, hosted “Speak English” breakfasts, and Singapore themed dinners, held Bible discussions, taught English...all these would have been just a flurry of activities if the battle for unsaved souls was not first fought through prayer. It was in those quiet moments that the team learnt to be sensitive to what God wanted them to know and to do.
After church service. (L-R) Pastor, twins’ grandfather, Siew Siew’s dad, Siew Siew and twins’ mother
the sermon topic was “Are You Saved”. It was an added bonus when the twin’s grandfather warmly welcomed my dad, the moment we arrived at church. Both men even made an appointment to attend church together. I often tell God: “God, I am taking care of your business and I will trust You to take care of mine.” God has truly been faithful in taking care of my family, though I fail Him at times. His blessings have been nothing short of overwhelming. In recent years, my mum, two of my sisters, a niece and a nephew have come to know Jesus Christ as I obediently share the Gospel with them. The blessing of His Gospel, which I teach the Shi sisters, has flown back to my family. To God be the glory!
KIMI WA AISARERU TAME UMARETA (YOU WERE MADE TO BE LOVED) by Patricia Lian For the third year running, the NTU Navigators sent a missions team to BEST club at Utsunomiya University. BEST (acronym for Bible, English, Sports and Travel) is a campus ministry of Japan Navigators.
One night, the team shared their personal testimonies. God led them to share vulnerable aspects of their lives that He had healed and restored. The expressions on the Japanese students’ faces changed when they realised the depth and authenticity of what was shared. This resulted in an openness to talk about God in the days that followed. Read on for more detailed stories! Kathleen Ho “Initially, I relied on my own strength and struggled to stay engaged and listen to the machine-gun foreign language. My self-centred and distracted heart was stirred when I witnessed missionaries like Emi-san willingly love and serve the students, despite their isolation and fatigue. Soon, I found myself loving and praying for the students. God showed me that these lives mattered to Him. I only need to be faithful and to let His Spirit lead. Fruitfulness is God’s business, faithfulness is ours.” Grace Yeo “My highlight of the trip was reading the Bible with the students. As we listened to their opinions, they in turn listened to ours, even when we included God. Miko, a final year student, made an effort to join us, though her part-time job had ended late. She found our Christian perspectives to make a lot of sense, though she had not experience God in her own life yet. Miko had joined BEST in her freshman year. It may take years to see fruit in the ministry. Yet in the silence, God is cultivating the ground and germinating seeds.” Joel Koh “At the start of the trip, I was in poor health and I had no confidence in my Japanese language ability. Under the care of my team and the staff in Japan, I recovered. I also discovered that I could communicate with the students by serving them. When Yuki invited me to
Continued from previous page << stay at his home, God gave me the opportunity to wash Yuki’s dishes and share with him the Gospel message. God has shown me that He is strong in my weakness.” The team may be back from Japan but God’s work continues. Two students whom we met have decided to meet regularly with one of the missionaries to study the Bible. Friendships with others are continuing through social media. Indeed, “Fruitfulness is God’s business, faithfulness is ours.”
Interacting with Japanese friends over a “Speak English” Breakfast.
At Utsunomiya: BEST club with the missions team from Singapore. BEST (acronym for Bible, English, Sports and Travel) is a campus ministry of Japan Navigators.
LOOKING FOR IT EXECUTIVE
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: Yap Kim Meng
Writers:
Requirements:
Yap Kim Meng, Patricia Lian, Sophie Sim-Lawrence
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Editor:
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Full-time position Degree or Diploma in Computer Science/Computer Engineering or equivalent certification Proficiency in Windows Server and Structured Query Language (SQL)
Sophie Sim-Lawrence
Design & Layout: Loo Jia Yu
Photographers: Diong Siew Siew, Loo Jia Yu, Nicholas Wong, Patricia Lian
To apply or find out more about this position, please email admin@navigators.org.sg
Printer: Seng Lee Press © 2017 by The Navigators Singapore