A newsletter o f T h e N a viga to rs S inga pore M C I ( P ) 014/04/2016
SEPTEMBER 2016
Jae Kwan (L) and Chan Hye, ministry leaders at the National University of Singapore. The poster of Jesus in their home reminds them of their one job — to follow Him.
FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST, FISHERS OF MEN by Patricia Lian
Korean missionaries Ryoo Jae Kwan and Chan Hye have served in our student ministries for the last 15 years. They currently direct our ministry at NUS. God has used them to raise up our ministry directors at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Institute of Management, Nanyang Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic. Along the way, they have also raised two daughters. Their home is filled almost nightly with fellowship dinners averaging ten to twenty people, and there is always a couple of students or graduates living with them at any one time for “home training.” Chan Hye confesses that she sometimes falls into bed at night exhausted, but such is the love and joy that the couple has for Jesus that they can only see themselves continuing to do what they do best — helping people follow Jesus. NavNews catches up with the couple.
TOP: Dinner fellowship at the Ryoos. These are almost nightly affairs with the women cooking and the men preparing the place for dinner and cleaning up afterwards. Everyone learns to serve and encourage each other, living out the example of the fellowship of believers in the book of Acts.
Why do you do what you do? JK: My job titles have been Ministry Leader, Ministry Director and others. But over the years, God impressed upon my heart that I have only one job. That is to follow Him. Back in Korea as a student, I always felt I was a failure spiritually, not having borne much fruit for God. On the day I graduated with my Masters degree, I saw myself as a failure, even though I was armed with a degree. That was when Jesus came to me with Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me and I will send you out to fish for people.” I heard Him asking me, “Even if you bear no fruit, will you still follow me?” That set my course and made my life purpose right. I just want to follow Jesus. And teach others to do the same.
Do the one thing — Follow Christ
How do you do what you do? JK: By the grace of God, and with my wife! [laughs] I think people will always appreciate being loved. We value each person, pay attention, and love them. Sometimes, they commit their lives to God and start doing the same (showing love) to others. When we cook meals and do chores together, serving in love day after day, people are touched. We are changed by the little things we do every day. I have my shortcomings and weaknesses, but as God sends people, I treat them as my family and give my life to them. I just help them to abide in Christ and it is God who transforms them. CH: Faithfulness is important. When things happen in life that break its rhythm and things become inconvenient, we can be flexible, but the basics of following Christ, reading His Word, sharing the faith etc. must continue. I ask God for wisdom to make adjustments, but I must never give up on choosing to honour God by being faithful to what He has called me to. We love, we encourage and as we hold fast to God, our people in the ministry see that they, too, can be faithful in changing or trying circumstances.
Love people, be faithful
How do you make disciple-makers? JK: From the first day when I meet a convert, I do not see him as a convert. I see him as someone who has the potential to one day be a missionary or a leader. So even in imparting little things, I am mindful to teach him well so that he can one day teach others well. I dream of the person as a leader one day and ask myself, “How can I help him?” When Jesus first met Simon, He called him Cephas or Peter meaning “rock.” (John 1:42) When you see a young believer, do you see a Simon or do you see a Cephas?
See the person as he will be in Christ
From left: Jae Kwan, Chan Hye with Patricia, Viloane and their two children. Viloane Ko and Pat were helped by the couple for many years. The Kos now lead the Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Institute of Management ministries.
Viloane: As a young man, I showed very little interest in knowing Christ. But Jae Kwan faithfully gave me personal care and teaching. He didn’t give up on me when I stumbled and strayed. Like a father, he grieved for me, and picked me up with patience and gentleness, again and again. I believe he really takes my whole life very seriously. Patricia: Chan Hye loved and cared for me as a whole person, not just in spiritual matters. She believed in my worth as an individual and trusted in my God-given potential, despite my weaknesses and failures. Her boldness to trust God for the “impossible” inspired me to trust in our great God in practical ways too. I can’t thank God enough for loving me so much to send me a mentor like Chan Hye.
Doug Erdmann
Changing topics slightly, my term in Singapore is coming to an end! In November we will pick a new National Director, and in December I will turn my responsibilities over to him.
N ATION AL DIRECTOR
The “Hedgehog Concept.” This is something management author Jim Collins refers to in his bestseller, “Good to Great.” Collins says that the fox uses many strategies in its attempt to make a meal of the hedgehog, but in response, the hedgehog has only one … to curl up in a ball so that only its sharp spikes are protruding, thus always frustrating the fox. Collins goes on to say that, like hedgehogs, organizations which have one basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything they do are the ones who become great. To find this one principle an organization must ask “what is it deeply passionate about” and “what can it be the best in the world at?” What are The Navigators deeply passionate about, and what can they perhaps be the best in the world at? Making disciples, and even more so, making disciple-makers. This is our Hedgehog Concept. Indeed, this is our vision. “A new wave of disciple-makers for Singapore, Asia and beyond.”
Joyce, I and our three youngest children arrived in Singapore seven years ago. We’ve progressed from trying to pay for bus rides with cash (what’s an ez-link card?) all the way to chope-ing places at food courts with tissue packets. God has blessed the ministry during this time. We’ve added 19 new staff, almost half of our current total. The number of converts, disciples and disciple-makers in our ministries has more than doubled. Three new campus ministries have been started, as well as three new community ministries. Why this blessing? Simply put, the faith and hard work of our staff and volunteers. People like Jae Kwan and Chan Hye, featured in this NavNews, who labor day in and day out in the harvest. They are the ones who do what Navigators do, make disciple-makers, and whose labor God has honored. Please pray with us that God will give us a new director who has both skill and character (Ps 78:22), and who is, not surprisingly, passionate about making disciple-makers.
CHURCHES MAKING DISCIPLES by Sita Shanmugam On July 21, 40 pastors and church leaders from 11 churches met for the “Discourse on Sustainable Discipleship and Disciple-making Models in the Local Church.” They were leaders from churches which had gone through the Intentional Disciplemaking Church Process the last 12 years, as well as those who had come as observers. Organised by the Church Discipleship Ministry, the objective was to facilitate continued learning where church leaders could meet to share and learn what a sustainable discipleship and disciple-making environment in a local church could look like. Pastors from 5 churches gave 20 minute presentations on various issues related to sustaining a disciple-making culture in their church. After each presentation, there was a time of interaction among those present.
We were encouraged by the feedback we received: “The Discourse was very helpful for us as it gives us a chance to hear and learn from other churches who are on a common disciple-making journey. Personally, the presentations allowed me to see how the same discipleship and leadership principles can be adapted in different contexts…” — Lead Pastor Beh Soo Yeong, The Bible Church “A refreshing and edifying time of hearing what God is doing in the various churches embracing this common vision of being disciple-making churches. Hearing from fellow practitioners brought much needed encouragement and testified that God is at work…” — Lead Pastor Kelvin Low, Bt Panjang Gospel Chapel Church
INTO ASIA We have had six missions team sent out to countries in Asia since January and the NavTeens’ team to Bangkok was one of them. “Through games and English conversation with university students, my team mates and I learnt about the students’ lives and their world views. In exchange, we shared about Singapore and personal experiences with God. We were amazed at how students readily asked our opinions about overcoming their weaknesses; we even had a chance to invite some students to
consider the possibility that God exists since many Thais hardly perceive the idea of a Creator. We were not the first team to have visited these students as English teachers and we see that with each successive encounter with followers of Christ, they are becoming more spiritually open and sensitive.” — Chloe Cai, NavTeens staff Four more teams will be going out this year to other places in Asia as part of our missions strategy to grow longer-term missionaries from short-term missions.
The Bangkok missions team (L-R): Rostina, Chloe and Yi Wen
A homemaker with 4 children and God tells you to go to East Asia. Is your heart prepared to obey? Poon Keen Shan did and shares her experience: “A few years back, I heard God’s call twice to go to East Asia and decided to obey. I sought the blessings of my husband and children. I prepared the children to share the responsibilities of housework. But no opportunity arose until June this year when I was invited to join a Navigator staff on her trip to a city in East Asia. For the trip, I had enlarged a photograph of my family. It opened the door to conversations about children and parenting that led to spiritual matters. I spoke to a mother who felt that it was enough for just her husband to join the Christian fellowship, not her. I explained to her that God likes to speak to each of His children, in the same way that we as mothers treat each child as unique and special. She took my words to heart and was at the next fellowship meeting with her husband. In
The photo that became a great conversation starter! another conversation, I was able to share deeply of God’s message of hope with a woman who was struggling with the same medical condition that I had. From the trip, I learnt that it was easy to introduce Jesus to people in daily conversations. I tried this almost right after the trip. I was at a clinic (without my wallet!). I gathered the loose change in my car and it came up to the amount needed for payment. I thanked God aloud, the receptionist heard me and we had a conversation about Jesus. I hope to continue the conversation with her the next time we meet!”
FRESHMEN OUTREACH National University of Singapore During our “Vacation Training Program” from May to July, graduate-volunteers and students from the NUS Navigators regularly went back to campus to share the gospel with freshmen. It was with great joy that we saw three of them accept Jesus into their lives. Freshmen Welcome Tea on 12 Aug was well attended with 107 people getting to know each other through ice-breakers and a skit. Those who joined us found out about what we do through testimonies and Bible Discussion. On the subsequent Friday, we organised 16 Bible discussion groups of five or six members each to give newcomers a taste of how to get into the Word of God. We also hosted an additional Freshmen Welcome Tea for our fledging Medical ministry. 13 Medical students, including 6 freshmen, attended.
NTU Navs Welcome Dinner — Ben shares about how his roommate Gavin came to know Jesus.
Nanyang Technological University With only two days allotted for CCA Booth this year, Freshmen Outreach extended into the third week of term with a Welcome Dinner and a subsequent workshop on Presentation Skills. From these events, we met people who had expressed interest to
grow in their faith, and non-Christians keen to have someone explore the Bible with them. We also had numerous enquiries via social media, and friends connecting us with their non-Christian friends. This is all very exciting!
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: Patricia Lian, Sita Shanmugam
Editor: Patricia Lian
Design & Layout: Loo Jia Yu
Photographers:
“Be prepared to get fat” was the joke passed around as our staff, graduate-volunteers and senior students began meeting up with these individuals over meals to have spiritual conversations. We are gearing up for Bible-Study groups with new students and Investigative Bible-Studies with nonChristians as the term progresses.
Cheng Zhen Yang, Joel Koh, Loo Jia Yu, Poon Keen Shan, Ryoo Jae Kwan, Viloane Ko
Printer: Seng Lee Press © 2016 by The Navigators Singapore