NavNews Oct 2020 by The Navigators Singapore

A n e w s l e tter o f The N a viga to rs S in ga po re M C I (P ) 047/03/2020

OCT 2020

Life of a Navigator

Navstaff Jae Kwan shares about his life and struggles as a Navigator. He relates his experiences to the Apostle Paul and the kind of anchor we should have as we navigate this life.

LIFE OF A NAVIGATOR By Jae Kwan, NUS Ministry Leader

o w do we navigate life as a Christian? How should we live our life on this earth? Who or what are we living for? These are some of the questions that we may ask ourselves from time to time.

Anchor Point 1: Identity Acts 27:23––“Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me...”

Acts 27 accounts of Paul’s voyage to Rome. In this voyage, besides the physical storm, Paul seemed to face a few unseen storms in his heart. From this story, the Lord showed me the kind of anchor Paul had as he went through these storms. As a Navigator, we can identify with many of the challenges that Paul faced.

Paul knew who he was in Christ. He knew he belonged to God, who gave him his life’s purpose––serving Him. During his first encounter with Jesus, his two questions to Jesus [“Who are you, Lord?” (Acts 22:8) and “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10)] were most likely the anchor to his new identity and purpose. Paul knew who he was and what he was called to do.

Storm 1: Limitation Acts 27:11–– “But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.” On the way to Rome, Paul warned the men not to sail from Crete, but they did not listen to him. Paul was a prisoner at that time. In the eyes of many, he was just a nobody; someone who had no status or authority in society; someone who was not worth looking at. Once, my neighbour asked my wife what my job is. It was hard for my wife to answer that question because people don’t understand what a Navigator is and what we do. From others’ perspective, I might be seen as just a nobody. There were times I did not know how to explain what I do and had an undeniable feeling of inadequacy while explaining about myself to others.

Matthew 4:19 (“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”) was one of the first few verses I had memorized as a young Navigator. This verse had anchored me to who I am and what I am to do over the years, especially in times of major changes of my life and ministry. Knowing my identity––a follower of Jesus, has anchored me to make decisions by faith in great peace and confidence. Anchor Point 2: Vision Acts 27:24 ––“You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.”

Paul could not afford to die in the storm just yet. He had a mission to go to Rome to testify about Christ (Acts Storm 2: Fear 23:11––“As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, Acts 27:24 ––“Do not be afraid, Paul.” so you must also testify in Rome.”). The vision God God was telling Paul not to be afraid. This tells me that gave for his life was to proclaim the gospel amongst the Paul had a fear deep down in his heart. On one hand, Gentiles and the people of Israel (Acts 9:15). he was portrayed as a man of wisdom and courage who gave wise advice to the people on the ship. Yet on the The vision and promise the Lord gave me had anchored other hand, he had an undeniable fear as he had been me to a life with purpose beyond mere survival. Recently, the Lord has encouraged me to continue to going through many days of raging storms. give my attention to raising labourers for the harvest Every time I approach students to share the gospel, I field beyond Singapore. Truly I am not here today just feel afraid (fear of rejection etc.). I have been doing this to survive this pandemic or to maintain local ministry, since my school days, however years of practice doesn’t but to advance His kingdom to the world. make my fear go away. I am continuously relying on the Storms are inevitable in our lives. They are intimidating Holy Spirit to overcome my fear. enough to make us afraid. However, God has graciously Amidst all these storms, what anchor did Paul have to given us an anchor of two points––identity and vision. We can live in the storm and continue to navigate this keep him moving forward and pressing on? voyage of grace till we finally reach home.

LIVING & DISCIPLING AMONG THE LOST By Kai Hua

ai Hua, one of our senior associates in his 70s, has been actively involved with the Navigators in ministry overseas for the most part of his life. Now, back at home because of the pandemic, he has decided to work part-time as a security officer to stay engaged with the lost. In the course of his assignments, he managed to have long and meaningful spiritual conversations with his colleagues and the public –– people whom he crossed paths with regularly. Kai Hua has shared with staff and labourers on several occasions what he has been learning during this time on what it means to live and disciple among the lost. Here are some excerpts from his sharing: How do we live among the lost? “I think living among the lost has to involve interaction within the community that goes beyond small talk. Being a relief security officer, it gives me the opportunity to work in a number of different sectors. Since January, I have worked in primary schools, a government ministry building, office buildings in the CBD and even in car showrooms! Along the way, I had opportunities to interact with many different people whom I worked with. There was this guy that I talked to about the importance of exercising (he had noticed my fitness condition in spite of my age) and gradually I switched to talking about the need to take care of our spiritual condition as well. Hence I asked him, “Hey, are you a Christian?” He shared that there was a time when he was in a deep depression and a Christian friend came along to help him walk out of his depression. In the process, I’m sure this friend

shared the gospel with him because he told me that he has “prayed to receive Christ!”.We had a good few minutes of interesting discussion. There was another guy that I partnered with on one assignment. He is about 60 years old and was retrenched. He decided to take on a full-time security officer job. His first experience was at a hotel in Sentosa. It was a really bad experience, so he changed company and came to work with me that day (I believe it was really a divine appointment). He was very negative, complaining and grumbling. I chatted with him and tried to listen to his story. Then I asked him, “Have you ever thought of going to church?” He said that he is a church member and has been a Christian for 2 years. As I was chatting with him, I found out that he had no assurance. As we had much time on our hands (the building we guarded was due for demolition and there was nobody coming in), I got to spend 2-3 hours sharing with him about assurance and having Quiet Time with the Lord. What are some lessons that I have learned? The key lesson to living among the lost is to have interaction. I have learnt to have conversations with people, which will eventually lead to spiritual conversations. By having conversations, I can relax and be natural in expressing my opinion and views. What’s more important is that through it all, I demonstrate genuine interest in the person. I am not after him just so that I can preach the gospel to him (though of course that’s the ultimate objective, if God opens

the way), but to be very natural in discussing and sharing about issues that are of concern to the person. I have learnt to be genuine and natural, and to be a good listener.

How to have spiritual conversations? Demonstrate genuine interest in the person and the things they are concerned about. Be a good listener and ask questions to draw the person out.

When you read books about being a good listener, they will say things like you have to nod your head, say “Uh huh, I understand” etc. By doing this you are showing the person that you are listening, but I believe you need to go further than that. What I mean is that we need to ask questions, but I don’t mean ask questions like in an interview or in a threatening manner. I remembered one nonChristian telling me that a Christian who approached him started asking him questions as if he were interviewing him: “Do you believe in a God? Have you read the bible? Do you go to a church?”. It was like an interview! No, that’s not what I mean by asking questions. As I listened to this person share his story, I was like, “Oh, I wonder how it happened. Can you tell me a bit more?” He might also tell me about an interest that he has and

I’ll say, “Oh, I wonder how you developed this interest…how did you learn more about it?” I’m trying to draw the person out and to know more about him. That’s what I mean by being authentic and non-threatening. But of course, I also need to be an interesting person such that when I speak, the other person would feel that I have some good thoughts or experiences to share. Hence, it’s an interaction, not an interview. It’s a discussion and sharing of thoughts and ideas back and forth. Natural conversations will lead to spiritual conversations–– conversations where we talk about our beliefs and worldviews (not gospel presentation!). The person may be a Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, but I can also share my views on Christianity. Hence, it’s simply a spiritual conversation on spiritual matters but as time goes on, it can lead to a gospel conversation. As we live among the lost, we need to learn to have conversations and be able to pick up where we left off, perhaps a day or two later. For example, the next time you meet you can say, “Hey, you mentioned that you are going to do this exercise so have you done it?” It’s a series of conversations and through the process, we begin to build trust. He sees me as an interesting person and as a friend. We can talk and as our relationship deepens, he begins to tell me more of his stories and life issues. He may even want to know more of my story! Besides conversations, it is also helpful to demonstrate acts of kindness. It is through acts of kindness, I believe, that others would come to see that we are different from the common folks. We are not just people who bury our heads in the bible or spend all our time at church. Jesus says in

Matthew 5:16, “...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” We can’t let our light shine before others if we are hiding ourselves behind closed doors. We need to be a light to others by reaching out to them in kindness whenever the opportunity arises. In fact, we should seek out such opportunities deliberately. One of the guys I met at work had colon surgery and he has to carry a bag on his body (because he has difficulty controlling). Hence I decided to give him some unused diapers that I got from my neighbours. He was really happy. There was another guy I met at work who was not feeling well while he was on duty. As each of us has our own break time, I told him that he can use my break time so that he can rest longer. These are simple acts of kindness which we can do for others and people will appreciate and be drawn to you. Christian Work Ethics I believe that when we bring Christian work ethics into our workplace, people will take notice. It is a very effective way to make a difference. We don’t cheat or lie; we say what we mean; we do our work in a responsible manner (as to the Lord); we do not grumble, complain or talk behind people’s back, and we don’t speak ill or join in on conversations about our “bad” bosses or complain about the government policies etc. Colossians 4:5-6 reminds us of how we should behave towards outsiders and to make the most of every opportunity (“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”).

Need for a Paradigm Shift Working and living among the lost needs a paradigm shift. I think we are all very used to the cold turkey, apologetic approach–– walk up to a stranger and present the gospel in the quickest and earliest opportunity (Acts 17:23). However, I feel that when we work and live among the lost, we need to take on an incarnational approach. John 1:14 says that the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us. Hence, we need to adapt accordingly to the situation we are in. Be it at work in the marketplace, being neighbours or living and studying among our fellow students, we need to adopt the incarnational approach. 2 Corinthians 2:14 tells us of how God uses us to “spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere”. So as we move among the lost, what fragrance do they smell? Let that be a challenge for all of us.”

Demonstrate acts of kindness and make the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5-6). To live and disciple among the lost, we need to take on an incarnational approach.

REST, RESET, RE-STRATEGIZE By Chelsia Chan, Communications Executive

Knowing who Jesus is means knowing that He is sovereign and omnipotent, that He loves and cares for us and that He is good even in the storms of our life. It means trusting in His higher purposes even when we do not understand the reasons for what we are going through.

Our first virtual Labourers’ Day held online over Zoom

July 2020 marked our 4th annual Labourers’ Day. This year was different as it was the first time it was held online over Zoom. Our invited Guest Speaker was Mutinta Silenga, our Navigators African Missions Leader from Zambia. Despite the restrictions of having a physical meeting, it was very encouraging to see about 260 labourers attending the online session to listen to Mutinta’s sharing.

We can also take this pandemic as an opportunity to demonstrate Christ-like love to the people around us. As we can’t have fellowship or interactions with each other as before, expressing love and concern to the people in our community requires intentionality on our part. It can be something simple such as sending a text message to reach out to our friends and ask how they are doing. ‘Love and Grace expressed among us in community’ is one of our Nav Core values. Now is a good time to show our friends and loved ones how much we care for them.

Rest

Mutinta encouraged us to make three decisions during this pandemic –– to Rest, Reset and Re-strategize. She highlighted Luke 8:22-25, where we saw how Jesus remained calm during the storm. When Jesus and his disciples were on the boat and the storm was raging all around them, Jesus was resting and had Mutinta encouraged us to take time to rest, reset and fallen asleep on the boat. The disciples were afraid that re-strategize in this pandemic season. they might drown and called out to Jesus to wake him up. Jesus got up to rebuke the wind and the raging waters and all became calm. He asked the disciples, “Where is The other Nav Core Value that Mutinta touched on was ‘Families and relational networks in discipling your faith?” the nations’. It is easy to forget or neglect the people Similarly, we must not forget that Jesus is always with us. around us when we get so caught up in the busyness of During the storms of our life, we are challenged to rest life. However as many of us are spending more time at in Jesus, knowing that He has everything under control, home now since the pandemic, let us make the most of have faith in Him and to trust in His love and goodness. this God-given opportunity to reach out to the people around us, be it our siblings, parents, grandparents, children or neighbours. Mutinta also shared with us what it meant The decision to to live out our Navigator Core during this pandemic crisis. One of our Nav Core Values is ‘The passion to re-strategize is inevitable in times like this. Technology know, love and become like Jesus Christ’. As we take has played a big part for us in continuing and carrying the time to reflect, reset and assess ourselves during out the work we are called to do. Figuring out new ways this pandemic, we should ask ourselves these questions, in reaching out to others and advancing the gospel has “Do I really know who Jesus is? Have my responses in been a new challenge for all of us. Online Bible studies this pandemic been demonstrative of what it means to and outreach over Zoom have been some of the ways trust and have faith in Him? In what ways can I become we have been doing it. Let us continue to depend on Jesus to guide and show us the way as we navigate more like Jesus?” through uncharted territory in this season.

Reset

Re-strategize

FROM THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR Yap Kim Meng

After almost a year and a half studying the Acts of the Apostles with our staff and leadership team, we have come to Acts 28, the concluding chapter. It can be summarized in three words––Healing, Hearing and Hereafter.

Acts 28 begins on the island of Malta, with two accounts of supernatural healing: Paul unaffected by a poisonous viper’s bite, and Paul healing the father of the island chief, Publius, with prayer and the laying on of hands. Indeed, we should pray for the sick in Jesus’ name and not be afraid to ask God for healing. Whether by medicine or miraculous means, it is God who heals. Paul arrived in Rome in early AD 60, where he lived as a prisoner in his own home for two years under the supervision of a guard. He had great freedom to speak, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus to the local Jewish leaders with all boldness and without hindrance. In AD 64, there was a big fire in Rome, and Emperor Nero put the blame on the Christians. Major persecution of Christians abounded, whereby many were killed for fun at Colosseum games with animals and gladiators. Paul was killed between AD 66-67, and Nero committed suicide in AD 68.

www.navigators.org.sg @SingaporeNavigators The Navigators Singapore, 117 Lor K, Telok Kurau, Singapore 425758 Tel: (65) 6344 4133 Email: admin@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.

No one knows exactly what happened to Paul, but his writings provided ‘clues’ of his tale. Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and 2 Timothy were written from Rome. From Philippians 1:12-14, we know that his imprisonment “helped to spread the gospel” throughout the whole imperial guard as he spoke the word “with great boldness and without fear.” In Romans 15, he expressed a desire to preach the gospel in Spain while 2 Timothy 4 accounts of his anticipation of his end. From these, we can line up the dots in the puzzle of Paul’s life. But Paul’s life and ending is not the point of Acts. The ending of Acts points to the continuing task of gospel advancement hereafter!

The Hereafter is now. Today, the good news of the gospel resonates ever louder and more powerfully to the world. Paul had wanted to preach the gospel in Spain, which is being done there today, and even to the remotest parts of the world. Thus, the unfinished story, Acts 29 and beyond is still being written today… by us. May our story resonate with Paul’s “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”

PRAYER PULSE Perseverance in Ministry

Recruitment of New Staff & Labourers

The need to press on is necessary and overcoming current limitations is crucial for helping younger ones in our midst see our perseverance and trust in God’s promises. Pray that our lives will offer the message of hope and point people to the ‘Christ in us, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27) and that we will be intentional and focused in our nurturing and training of our labourers to be mature and perfect in Christ-likeness (Colossians 1:28-29).

Pray for the recruitment and development of our Nav staff and labourers as they are crucial to our work of Gospel advancement. God willing, we are seeing 4 marriages taking place among them in the months ahead. We are praying that the Lord will help clarify their calling together as married couples and send them out into the harvest field here and abroad.