Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).
Gethsemane Children’s Ministry (GCM) was established with the dual purpose of meeting the spiritual needs of children within our church (cf. Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”), and evangelising children outside the church (cf. Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen”).
The GCM Committee has recently met to discuss and plan needful, edifying programmes / activities for children. We would like to encourage parents – with children aged 4 to 12 years old – to ensure your children participate in all our scheduled activities.
This year’s Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS) will be held on the 7th and 8th of December at Aloha Changi, Changi Seafront Chalet C (9.30am to 3.30pm). Kindly sign your children up for DVBS. Your prompt response in this matter will greatly help to facilitate our planning. Please pray also for God’s blessings to be upon our efforts to share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and to strengthen the faith of our children.
Furthermore, there are also activities for children on Saturdays while the respective fellowship groups are meeting. We strongly encourage parents with children from 4 to 12 years of age to bring them for GCM activities, while they attend the fellowship gatherings. The need to bring up our children in the blessed environment of Christian fellowship and service should not be neglected.
Lastly, GCM needs volunteers. We need help to redo – and maintain – our webpage on the church website. We need drivers with cars to help out from time to time. If the Lord moves your heart to serve in this ministry, come and speak to us. There is much work to do for the Lord! If you are interested, please contact any of our committee members: Bro Kenneth Wong, Bro Neo Kian Seng, Sis Choy Luan Kheng, Sis Melissa Mah, Sis Kamala, Sis Winnie Yap or myself.
Dear Pastor,
Greetings in the blessed Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
I am thankful to the Lord for His grace and mercy while I am here in Kuching. The Lord has protected and preserved me in all my travels, especially as I walked alone in the streets of Kuching, giving out Gospel tracts and invitation flyers for the upcoming Seminar and Gospel Rally in November.
I arrived in Kuching on Friday, 7th Oct 2016. In the evening, there was a Bible study as usual in the house of Bro Jeremy Teo (although the others could not come). We then tried to discuss the things we should do while I am here in Kuching. Plans for evangelism, visitation and Bible study were discussed, but in all these plans I still need to rely on Bro Jeremy, as I am new to the area.
Bro Jeremy had tried to contact church members to ask if they had any friends we could visit and to inform them of the activities we would be having while I am here. He also tried to contact some of the former members of the church who had left the church, and managed to get in touch with one whom we had Bible Study with in the church.
On Sunday morning at 10.30am, we had our English service – attended by Bro Jeremy’s family, his brother, and Sis Fiona. I thank the Lord for Bro Jeremy’s son, Daniel, who could play the piano for the service, which helps us to get the tune and sing better. In the evening, their Chinese service began at 6.30pm. I did join them for the service, and I took the children for Sunday school class just before the message started. Though we are few, we rejoice in the Lord for the opportunity to worship and serve Him. We did use the last two Sunday afternoons (after our English service) for evangelism. I had a bit of a struggle, as I can’t communicate with a lot of people because many here prefer speaking in Chinese to English. They do speak Malay, but that was not their preferred language of communication.
It is rainy season here now and I got caught in the rain often when I was out distributing tracts. I made use of the daytime to get familiar with the surroundings and also used any opportunity to share the Gospel. I walked alone around the city on my own as Bro Jeremy is working every day (except on Sunday).
The housing estate here can only be reached by dropping the tracts in their letterboxes, which was what Bro Jeremy’s family and I have been doing for the last two Sundays. We couldn’t knock on their doors because of the gate-barrier. Besides, a lot of them have dogs to guard their houses. Many shops are owned by the Chinese, who responded only when spoken to in Chinese. We did give out some tracts to various restaurants and eating-places and, God willing, also hope to give out the tracts and invitation flyers to the shophouses around Bro Jeremy’s area. We are praying that the Lord will use the tracts to reach out to the people.
Every evening (except Sunday), we have Bible study, which is held sometimes in the church or church members’ homes, but mostly in Bro Jeremy’s house when others couldn’t come. We continually encourage them to bring their friends for the Gospel Rally and Seminar in November.
May the Lord be praised in all things, and use the tracts and invitation flyers to bring people during the Gospel Rally and Seminar.
In Christ,
Samson Hutagalung