By the time you read this Pastoral exhortation, I expect to have been in Ethiopia already, to visit our mission churches and Rev Ephrem Chiracho, who has been unwell for some months. I am accompanied by my son, Andronicus, and, God willing, we plan to be back in Singapore by Tuesday (18 March) evening.
Today, I would like to report to you some of the Gospel mission outreaches we might be able to undertake in the near future. Just as Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 2:12), I am also glad to bring to you some tidings of new Gospel missions.
Bro Dennis Kabingue will share with you later in this bulletin his upcoming Gospel endeavours in the Philippines. He will be accompanied by some of our Filipino brothers and Preacher Donald from Pangasinan. But, first, I would like to share with you of a new Gospel frontier in Kuching, Malaysia, that we are invited to consider.
Recently, I was invited by Rev Lee Kim Shong (Calvary Jaya B-P Church, KL) to consider the possibility of starting a Bible-Presbyterian Mission Outreach in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. There is already a Chinese mission outreach by Calvary Jaya. But now there is a desire to have an English outreach.
With our Church Session’s approval, I will be heading to Kuching on a two-day (31 March – 1 April) recce trip with Rev Lee. Our contact is Bro. Jeremy Teo, a brother whom I have met in 1991, when I was sent to Hope B-P Church, Adelaide, Australia, by the late Rev Timothy Tow for a two-month preaching stint. I received an email from Bro Jeremy a few days ago, welcoming me to Kuching; and it is published below.
Dear Rev Koshy,
Greetings in our Lord Jesus’ most holy Name.
My name is Jeremy Teo from Kuching. I heard from Rev Lee of Calvary Jaya that you will be coming to Kuching with him at the end of this month on 31 March. Welcome.
I remember you as I have met you many years ago at Hope B-P Church in Adelaide. You were a student at FEBC back then and I remember you were invited to preach at the church services and YAF camp.
I came back to Kuching in 1993 after my studies and joined a then-Sarawak government start-up computer company. I worked there for more than 2 years before my dad asked me to work for him in his auto parts company. I have been working here since 1996. I met my wife Niki in 1998 and we got married in 2001 at a local Methodist church. We have 3 children, Daniel, Samuel and Gabriel.
We started serving at Calvary B-P Church, Kuching, about 3 years ago, after being introduced to it by a friend, David Chua, who is also serving at Calvary Jaya. The church is supported by Calvary Jaya PJ and Calvary Sibu.
We look forward to meeting you and Rev Lee in Kuching.
May God bless and keep you.
Jeremy
My dear brethren, we rejoice always in every opportunity that God gives to preach the Gospel and to establish Christ-honouring, Bible-believing churches. Let us pray for God’s guidance and help in our exploration and eventual decision-making concerning a mission outreach in Kuching. Please pray for Rev Lee Kim Shong and me. “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:3).
A Gospel team, comprising Bro Julius Del Rosario, Bro Jomart Tindaan and myself, is leaving tonight for the Philippines on a one-week Gospel trip. Our first stop is Davao City, where we hope to evangelize the siblings, relatives and friends of Sis Juvy Baybayanon and Pr Donald dela Cruz, who are residents there. Pr Donald dela Cruz will make his way from Pangasinan and is expected to arrive there just before lunchtime on Monday morning. We plan to stay there from 17-19 March 2014.
The Gospel meetings will be held at the home of Mr Joel Baybayanon (brother of Sis Juvy). Pray that God may gather His elect and open their hearts to the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. Pray that this visit will pave the way for more Gospel meetings in the future. Truly, the need in this city is great. Davao City is the Philippines’ third most populous city and the largest in terms of land area, which is three times bigger than Singapore. It is located in the southeastern side of the Mindanao archipelago and is home to more than 2 million people.
After Davao City, we plan to visit three more places. We will drop by Cebu City to visit Gethsemane B-P Church, Cebu, as well as the 3-yearold nephew of Bro Norefel Resuma’s wife, named Raja Villagracia (who is currently undergoing treatment for leukaemia). Pray for God’s grace to share the Gospel with him and his parents. Pray for their salvation and his healing.
The following day (20 March), at about 6am, we are scheduled to take a domestic flight to Tacloban City, Leyte, where I came from. I hope to visit my relatives and friends who have survived the super typhoon Haiyan. Pray for opportunities to preach the Gospel. The main objective of our visit is to exhort the church where Rev John Pagliawan is pastoring. God willing, I shall be preaching on the Lord’s Day (23 March) on the theme “The Grace of God Wherein We Stand”, taken from Romans 5:1-5.
After the worship service, we will fly to Manila for our final stopover. Some of our brethren in the Gethsemane Filipino Fellowship are from Manila. Others may come from other provinces but most of them have relatives and friends living in Manila, which is the capital and home to more than 12 million Filipinos. Pray that God may provide opportunities for us to get acquainted with and talk to some of them during our few hours there. May the Lord bring us back to Singapore safely, on 23 March.