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Sharing Quiet Time lessons at 8 a.m. on campus
by Patricia Lian
I left my house at 6.30 a.m., intending to reach Ngee Ann Polytechnic by 8 a.m. to join the
Navigators there for their daily Quiet Time Sharing. I was late, unprepared for the heavy traffic and overcrowded buses and trains. So I marvel at the staff and students who make their way every morning to a designated meeting place on their campus to share what God has taught them earlier in the morning. I put 2 questions to students from our tertiary ministries to find out why they GOT TIME to meet God and each other daily. What does it take to form a habit of meeting God for Quiet Time? Benji, NUS: It definitely takes discipline and commitment. However, over time, the joy of meeting the Lord in the morning to read His Word becomes the main driving force. Wai Kit, Singapore Poly: For me, it takes discipline, encouragement from my Christian friends and the desire to meet God. I now sleep earlier and also set multiple alarms to ensure that I am able to wake up on time. Gervais, Ngee Ann Poly: I come from a Christian home and attend church but I was not taught what it means to read the bible or pray. I only started doing Quiet Time when a Navigator friend taught me how and set an example for me to follow. Experiencing God is important as well. Only when a person gets to taste the goodness of
Staff member Pat Ko (left) and Swee Ming (second from right) , a volunteer staff, help girls in their Quiet Time journalling.
meeting God through Quiet Time will he crave for more (1 Peter 2:2). That way Quiet Time is not just a routine, but a privilege and blessing. Ps 23:1 says “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.� Having experienced God through QT, I realise how I cannot live without Him, for He meets all my needs.
How has meeting for Quiet Time Sharing (QTS) helped you in your personal growth? Adrian, Republic Poly: As I live in Johor Bahru, I have to leave very early in order to reach my campus on time so that I can be blessed by the sharing from my Christian brothers and sisters. Before bed, I ask God to enable me to wake up early and for the traffic to be unobstructed along the way. God desires me to be encouraged by the sharing from my friends in the ministry so as to keep myself away from sin and get my day right before Him (Hebrew 3:13). Coming together to share our thoughts has helped me to grow in love and fellowship.
Tom Yeakley, who travels internationally, coaching and
developing leaders for The Navigators, recalls how his struggle to meet God early in the morning ended with him throwing away his alarm clock! Tom spent an afternoon in February training our staff through a discussion of the first three chapters of Mark.
Tom explaining the wrinkles in his bible when he fell asleep doing Quiet Time at night
“There’s nothing magical about waking up early to meet God, or about the early morning that makes it different. In Mark 1:35, which is famously known as the Quiet Time verse, we are told that ‘Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.’ It was a matter of necessity for Jesus to wake early because it was the only time he had to spend alone with God! If he had woken up when the others were already awake, he would immediately have been busy attending to the needs they brought to him.
I finally told the Lord, ‘Well Lord, you made me the way I am. I am not going to fight it. I am a night person. Jesus, if you wake me up, I’ll get up. If not, I’ll just sleep in, guilt-free.’ So I went to sleep. On the first night, I woke, looked at my clock and it was 3 a.m.! This must be a mistake, I thought, and tried to get back to sleep, but I was wide awake. I got up and spent time with the Lord. On the second night, I woke at
3.30 a.m. That’s 30 minutes more sleep than the first night. Hallelujah! That was 27 years ago and I have not used an alarm clock since, except for the times when I have to catch an early morning flight. Nowadays, Jesus usually wakes me up between 4.30 a.m. to 5.30 a.m. and I get a good time with the Lord. You know, Jesus is more interested in meeting you than you are with Him!” v
Join us for daily Quiet Time Sharing if you are on any of the following campuses, or email us at admin@navigators.org.sg if you are keen to start a Quiet Time group on your tertiary campus! Ngee Ann Poly (and SIM), 8 a.m., outside NP Co-op@83 S’pore Poly, 8 a.m., Spectrum Level 1 (guys); FC3 Study Area (gals) NUS, 7.50 a.m., Yusof Ishak House canteen NTU, 8 a.m., Canteen B (near Mr Bean)
I am a night person. When I was younger, I’d do my Quiet Time at night and wake up with the bible over my face and drool marks wrinkling the page! When I got married, I decided to wake early to meet God. I set my alarm clock. When it rang, I would hit the snooze button, and hit the snooze button and hit the snoo...well, after the third time, my wife got really upset!
Yuxiang, a volunteer staff, discussing that morning’s Quiet Time with his guys
“We DON’T have the
option to delegate the Great COMMISSION”
Frontline Stories
MISSIONS
Our missionaries came home and celebrated Chinese New Year with our local staff. Doug, our National Director, observed that “Singapore Navigators has a rich history of sending missionaries. I thank and honour our current missionaries for their work. Along with that, we need to think about getting our young people up and going into the mission fields. [As Christians], we don’t have the option of delegating the Great Commission to other people.” We are sending 6 teams over the next 3 years to explore mission opportunities in Asia.
THE MINISTRY IS BATHED IN PRAYER Amy prays during her 2-hour daily exercise for this East Asian city and the people in it that God is bringing to Himself. “The ministry is bathed in prayer,” says Linda, our missionary who has been co-labouring with Amy and her husband since 2011, “and God is saving and transforming lives.” An example is a couple who were facing serious marital issues. They have seen their lives and marriage transformed since knowing Christ. The husband recently quit his job to serve in the ministry. Daniel, their son, shared the gospel with his classmate Tian who came to Christ. Tian brought his mum to Christ, who in turn, brought her colleague. Many in this city are coming to Christ, growing well and bringing family and friends to the Lord.
I WANT TO GIVE ALL MY TIME TO MINISTRY Joan, 69, has been a tentmaker for decades. She considered stopping work several times but was pressed by her boss to stay on. When her work permit application was rejected because she was deemed too old to work, Joan was delighted! “My days are numbered, so I really want to give all my time to ministry.” After Joan left her job, she met a student who wanted to learn English. An English Club was started in her home and many came. Besides learning English, they get to hear the gospel too. A similar ministry was started with nursing students. God gave her a co-worker--her house help who “wanted to serve the Lord but didn’t know what to do.” Joan invited her to labour alongside so that she could learn discipling skills.
YOU HAVE POTENTIAL William works with high school students and undergraduates in Los Banos, Philippines. Many of them come from broken families where poverty is no stranger. William says, “Here is a guy, a good guy but maybe a little lazy. But we don’t train people who are already perfect. I tell them, ‘If you are lazy, I was ten times lazier than you. You have potential!’ ” Last year, they were evicted from their Youth Centre. But God blessed them with a new place, sold to them by a kind person who told them “Take your time to pay.” The new Hope Centre, with conference and accommodation facilities and a library, is now up with help from volunteers. An 80 yearold bookstore owner from New York donated 500 boxes of books to the new library!
* Some names of persons and places have been changed for confidentiality.
Our missionaries and staff catching up amidst a sumptious spread and a “Lo Hei.”
“While he was but one...” What kind of influence does a shepherd, a truck driver or a drawing room engineer have in the world? Not much, until God steps into their lives. Doug Erdmann National Director “Fundraising is, first and foremost, a form of ministry. It is a way of announcing our vision and inviting other people into our mission.” So writes theologian Henri J. M. Nouwen in his book, A Spirituality of Fundraising. Nouwen continues, “Fundraising is also always a call to conversion. It is a shift of attention in which we set our mind on divine things.” The ministry of The Navigators is supported solely by the gifts of families, friends and churches. We have no central fund to pay our staff salaries and administrative expenses. Yet we have often shied away from the vital ministry of fundraising. To do better, we have asked longtime staff member Royston Koh to focus his attention on “donor ministry.” Royston knows our ministries inside and out, having Royston Koh personally ministered to students, professionals, churches, and alumni-community people. He is the ideal person to “announce our vision and invite other people into our mission” through their resources, helping them to “set their minds on divine things.” He is also someone who can relate to current donors, thanking them personally for their support and, as needed, provide counsel regarding spiritual needs. I know you will enjoy getting to know him!
Using Isaiah 51:1-2, Mike Treneer, International President of The Navigators, homed in on how God chooses to use our very ordinary lives as steps in His Plan. Abraham’s acts of faith occurred not when he was a spiritual legend, but while he was a humble nondescript shepherd. Dawson Trotman was just a truck driver, committed to act according to God’s heart, when he taught Les Spencer about Christ and challenged Les to teach another likewise. One life led to another, and without seeking to start anything, The Navigators movement was birthed. Mike, in Singapore for a brief stopover in January, found time to examine our spiritual ancestry with some of our staff and ministry partners. Mike traced his own spiritual ancestry to a drawing room engineer who had made a commitment to the Lord during Quiet Time to reach out to another young man in the office by lunching with him daily. This young man, Ron, came to Christ and in turn reached and discipled a student named George. While in university, George brought a fellow undergraduate to an outreach event. That undergraduate, Mike, came to Christ and would become a missionary in England, Africa and eventually oversee the worldwide work of The Navigators.
To look back at Abraham receiving God’s promise, and even Trotman starting The Navigators, one sees that great movements can be birthed “‘while he was but one.” That one man, ANY man, when joined in prayer to the heart of God, will find his life multiplied by the power of God. Mike observed, “God doesn’t use us on the basis of our natural gifts or abilities.” Abraham, and others like him, had great influence, “simply because they trusted God and tried to walk in obedience to Him.” Will you be that man today?
by Joanna Tee Watch the full video on Mike Treneer
Did you know that Dawson Trotman did not coin the name “The Navigators”? It came about when 6 naval officers of the USS West Virginia purposed to follow Jesus as their Captain and the Bible as their chart. They were the first Navigators.
Minstry Reports Silent Prayer Retreat - Our staff started the year with a silent prayer retreat.
It was a deeply revealing and revitalising time of solitude with God for all of us. As the prayer retreat director, John Chong, observed, “It is the spirit of Christ that makes a ministry life-giving, not the ministry itself.” Staff Development - Our staff learnt about recognising and responding to
the Emotional Drivers of those in our ministries. Nav alumnus Leslie Choudhury, ranked as one of the World’s Top 10 Communication Gurus by Global Gurus International, taught us in a captivating session the power of engaging people by being sensitive to their Emotional Drivers such as the need for diversity, significance, excellence, belonging and security.
NUS Navs 29 Mar, 9am-2pm, Games and picnic, Labrador Park; 10-12 May, Nav HQ, Discipleship Camp; 10-31 May, Vacation Training Program nus@navigators.org.sg NP-SIM Navs 25 Feb-14 Apr, Vacation Training Program @ Ngee Ann Poly and Nanyang Poly np@navigators.org.sg We have more ministries! For information on other ministries, visit our ministries at www.navigators.org.sg
Leslie highlighting the ways to engage meaningfully with the people in our ministries
Navigators Worldwide Philippines - 12 years ago, a
Vacation Training Programs and retreats - Students from our campus
ministries finished their Vacation Training Programs and retreats with spiritual growth, changed habits and many stories to tell. Here’s one from an Engineering student in our Polytechnic ministry: “I was once just a ‘Sunday Christian’ because I failed to receive follow-up after receiving Christ – there was no difference between me and a nonbeliever. I never really did learn the basics like assurance of salvation or even how to pray! Fortunately, God led me to Navigators to help me grow. I attended a Vacation Training Program, and learnt how to help others know Jesus well. I learnt about the importance of the follow-up process from the booklet “Born to Reproduce.” Believers should be followed-up so that they may be able to experience God’s
presence in their lives, and also to carry out the great command of God: sharing the Gospel.” Read more testimonies at www.navigators.org.sg
Ministry Happenings SP Navs 28 Mar-8 Apr, Learning trip to Korea; 15-27 Apr, Freshmen Outreach; 4 Mar-14 Apr, Vacation Training Program sp@navigators.org.sg RP Navs 1-3 Mar, Camp, Nav HQ; 4 Mar-12 Apr, Vacation Training Program. rp@navigators.org.sg NTU Navs 12 Mar, 26 Mar, 2 Apr, “Understanding Easter from 3 perspectives”, TR80@South Spine ntu@navigators.org.sg
small group of Navigators started helping a few poor and hungry young people. Soon they were providing weekly meals for a crowd in a low-income part of town. That service opened the doors for the Gospel and many came to Christ. Today, there are more than 70 Navigator groups scattered across the Philippines, integrating Biblestudy, community life and service among the poor to open doors for the message of Christ. West Africa - In one of the 7 French-speaking countries in West Africa, villages are being reached for Christ through teachers who are Navigator labourers. These teachers choose to stay long term in the rural areas, living without running water or electricity, to teach the children and serve the families, building a rapport that allows them to reach and disciple within these communities.
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. THE NAVIGATORS SINGAPORE • National Director: K. Douglas Erdmann • Editor/ Design & Layout: Patricia Lian 117 Lorong K, Telok Kurau, Singapore 425758 • Tel: (65) 6344 4133 • Fax: (65) 6344 0975 • E-mail: admin@navigators.org.sg • www.facebook.com/singaporenavigators Printed by Seng Lee Press Pte Ltd