On every occasion of joy, whether it be a new year or anniversary or birthday, we must humble ourselves and give glory and honour to the LORD. God’s people must remember the Lord’s goodness and consider how to render their gratitude to Him. We have a good pattern in the humble reflection of the psalmist in Psalm 116 - “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people” (vv.12-14).
We must readily and enthusiastically ascribe glory to our God, saying, “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness” (Psalm 65:11). It is the LORD who preserves us and keeps us alive (Psalm 41:2). It is because of His compassion that we are delivered from all our troubles (Psalm 34:6). In His mercy, He healed our sicknesses (Psalm 30:2-3). With the outpouring of His grace, He has strengthened our weak frame and made us triumphant (2 Corinthians 2:14; 12:9). So let us praise Him in our hearts, and also let us declare His truth to all around us.
During this Lunar New Year,
Prabhudas Koshy & Carolyn Koshy
The beginning of the Gethsemane Ladies’ Fellowship (GLF) can be traced to a small group of about five ladies who had gathered together to pray, knowing that without prayer, the struggles and challenges of Christian life is impossible to be overcome. They met in their respective homes to pray for themselves, their families and ministries of the church and came to be known as Ladies’ Prayer Group (LPG). LPG started to reach out to other ladies in the church and held prayer meetings in their homes. Soon the number of participants started to increase, and the preachers and elders of our church were invited to provide exhortations from the Word of God. To help ladies who needed counsel and clarification of doubts, a “Question and Answer” (Q & A) session was also included after every message. This was followed by prayer in small groups and some refreshments.
Due to the increasing number of sisters in the church, a committee was formed in 2010, with our Pastor as the Advisor. Pastor advises the committee to plan and organise special programmes, such as seminars to educate ladies more deeply in God’s Word, as well as to conduct regular visitations of sisters to provide biblical counselling and prayer support. To name a few seminar topics that GLF has organised and which are uploaded in the Bible Witness Web Radio of Gethsemane B-P Church (under the Ladies’ Segment known as “Women of Virtue”): “Quest for Revival”, “Prayer for Revival”, “Sarah - Faith that Overcomes Sense and Reason” and “Esther - Prodigy of Providence”. (Please visit the website of BWWR [https://biblewitness.com/webradio/women-of-virtue] to listen to those seminars, that you may be further edified.)
To better represent the goals and activities of this ministry, LPG has been renamed Gethsemane Ladies’ Fellowship (GLF). The present committee members are Carolyn Koshy (Coordinator), Gina Sim (Secretary), Sarah Yong (Treasurer), Mah Lean Choo and Annie Ho, with Pastor Koshy as the Advisor.
We praise the Lord that last year, GLF could learn precious lessons from a series of character studies on “Women of Faith” in the Bible, such as Eve, Rebekah, Jochebed, Rahab, Ruth, the Syrophenician Woman, etc. Those lessons were taught by Preacher Ho Kee How. God willing, these may be uploaded in the BWWR this year in a “Q & A” format for further spiritual edification of all listeners.
Presently, GLF meetings are conducted on every 3rd Saturday of the month in the homes of sisters (except for March and September, where we have our seminars held in rented auditoriums). After every teaching of God’s Word, there will be a short “Q & A” session for further clarification and understanding of the Scriptures, especially in relation to our lives. This is followed by intercessory prayer among two or three sisters, ending with fellowship over refreshments. The GLF thank God for all full-time staff of the church and also for other voluntary drivers who constantly fetch the ladies from designated MRT stations to the respective meeting venues, not forgetting also the kind hospitality of many ladies who welcome us to their homes.
The GLF committee have committed themselves to meet every second Tuesday of the month to uphold sisters and the church in prayer. Please feel free to approach any one of the GLF committee members if you have any queries. You may send your prayer items through WhatsApp or via SMS. As we also regularly visit ladies for mutual encouragement in the Word and prayer, please do let us know if you would like us to visit you and pray with you.
We give thanks to God that sisters have received much spiritual blessings through all these activities, including sisters from other churches as well (who themselves have testified of the blessings they have received). To God be the glory!