Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. - 2 Timothy 4:2-5 (NLT)
It’s been more than a month since J’s mother was called Home to be with the Lord and our return to this city after the funeral.
I remember it was barely a month after coming back to this city after Chinese New Year that we had to fly back to Singapore because J’s mother was seriously ill. Because of its urgency, we didn’t have much time to prepare CTM Church for our temporary absence. We had to leave the weekly demands and operations of the church, such as prayer meetings, life groups, Sunday Services & Alpha Courses, to the leadership team at the last minute. We could only hope and pray that the months spent on training them earlier was sufficient to enable them to do so on such short notice. We were also unsure how long we would be away and wondered who could help to supervise the work and preach on Sundays? Should both of us return to Singapore or should one of us go back first to ascertain the situation? When we shared our concerns with the team, we were relieved and encouraged that all of them told us to not worry and to return to Singapore to care for J’s mother immediately. They would take care of everything while we were away. Thank God for this maturing team who is willing to step up in leadership at such a time as this.
J’s mother was promoted to Glory two months after our return to be with her. When everything was over, we flew back to the city and plunged straight back into the ministry – water baptism, marriage counseling and conflict management. One particular conflict was between members of the worship team. Worship ministry is certainly not easy because it requires members to first have a certain degree of spiritual maturity, musical skills and stage presence. Many often find themselves susceptible to pride and envy. I am grateful that when we led them to come to grips with their problem, they were willing to humbly accept and forgive each other! All things indeed work out for good to those who love God.
CTM Church celebrated her 2nd year anniversary on July 28! In addition to planning ahead, we also reviewed the past year’s events. Take for example, our 13-week Alpha Course. Through this, many members began to realize that the church belongs to everyone and when everyone did their part, there is mutual strengthening and love. We also had the privilege of seeing curious observers at the start of the course become serious seekers who came every week without fail to learn who Jesus is. Many gave their hearts to God at the end of the course but because this city is made up mainly of migrant workers, about 70% of those who attended this course have left the city in search of work. While this dented the hopes of our members, God remains faithful. We were able to encourage them from the book of 1 Timothy to continue to be faithful in sowing and to leave the results to God and to bless other churches who may in turn reap the harvest we labored so hard for.
Please pray that CTM will persevere in:
- making evangelism an essential part of life.
- reaching the unchurched.
- sharing the full gospel.
