GOOD NEWS TO ALL
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 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.” (Matt 28:18-20)
We thank the Lord for the opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the vigil and funeral services of our church members recently. On such occasions, the heart is more attentive and sensitive to the issues of life and death and the life hereafter. That is why Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.” At the vigil and funeral services of the late Mr Tow Siang Swee the beloved father of Arthur Tow, and the late Mdm Low Guay Keow the beloved mother of Shirleen (Arthur’s wife), relatives and friends of the bereaved families had the opportunity to hear the gospel.
We praise the Lord that Mr Tow and Mdm Low were believers of the Lord Jesus Christ. For believers, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8). The body now dead will one day be made alive, and the spirit of believers now in heaven will be given a glorified body which can never die. Jesus promised, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).
In vigil and funeral services (burial, not cremation), the good news of the resurrection can be presented most clearly and powerfully. The gospel comforts the living and gives hope to the lost in such times, and they will remember the message more readily. We pray that all who heard the gospel during the recent vigil and funeral services will come to believe in Jesus Christ very soon. Pray also for the FEBC gospel meeting on September 24.
We thank the Lord for opportunities not only to share the gospel locally to our fellow Singaporeans but also those of other nationalities. Here are reports of gospel outreaches to the Cambodians, Myanmese and Filipinos in which we are privileged to have a part.
To the Cambodians
An email from Sun Sokha (26 August 2015):
Dear Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo and True Life BP Church,
Greetings to you all in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
How are you, your family and the ministries of True Life BP Church and FEBC? We are doing OK by the grace and mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank the Lord for taking care of us and His ministries in Phnom Penh. The ministries here are growing slowly each week by His grace alone. Teaching the Word of God to the cell group leaders and church members is one of the most and urgent works. The Lord put this burden in our hearts. Therefore, Wednesday and Saturday are the days of training and Sunday afternoon is the day for mission work in church and outreach ministry.
Now the church members are growing in faith and the knowledge of our Lord much better than before. Cell group leaders are the ones who will be responsible for making disciples outside the church but with their relatives and family members first and then to others. Each church member has his or her responsibility in the church according to his or her gift, By doing so the burdens of the church are lighter and they come to church regularly.
Our hope and prayer is that each may meet the Lord personally and grow in Him deeply and when the temptation or persecution and hardship come they might stand still and trust only in the Lord Jesus alone.
As Phnom Penh is the capital city, many people move to work, live and study. We also pray that the Lord will open more doors for us to reach out to them. Our burden is reaching to the youths, mostly the university students. So we just thinking of having a church dormitory. One of the advantages of having a dormitory is more time spent with them in fellowship, prayer and Bible study.
In real life, as a servant of the Lord, sometimes I am strong but sometimes I am weak. Yet the joy of the Lord is my strength. In the last two plus years, through online learning, my spiritual life grew a lot but now without study my faith sometimes goes down. I try to find ways to build up my faith. Finally, through the website of Gethsemane BP Church founded by Rev (Dr) Das Koshy, I watched and listened to many sermons. I have been blessed and I use some materials to bless our church members too. Praise God for that.
We never forget to give thanks to the Lord and True Life BP Church and FEBC for training, praying, caring and sending your love gifts to us for the sake of the Gospel, we really appreciate and thank all of you.
May the Lord continue to bless you, your family, True Life BP Church and FEBC to grow in strength of our Lord and be the light to the world, and FEBC as a school of prophets to teach the pure Word of Life and train more faithful men and women for the Lord.
In Christ Jesus,
Sun Sokha, a servant of the Lord
To the Myanmese
In an email to Thangno on August 7, I wrote, “Thangno, I know that your government is strong enough and doing what it can to help the flood victims with material needs, and many countries (even Singapore) are contributing materially. What you can do is you can go with what you have and most importantly go with the gospel and the Bible. That is what others don’t have and what they truly need. Please go and share with them the gospel and teach them His Word. Yes, do your small and important part. ‘Self help with God’s help is the best help’. jk”
Here is Thangno’s report on his gospel outreach to the flood victims (27 August 2015):
Dear Pastor Jeffrey,
I am very pleased to inform you of our trip to North Myanmar, Chin State, for the flood victims. In my view, the flood was worse than I thought. Many big bridges were damaged and many villages also destroyed by the flood and many people are homeless and some are moving to others places etc.
Thank God that I and my uncle could share and preach the gospel and the Word of God from house to house in the villages. The villagers we preached to have been moved to another village temporarily. They said, “Many people come to give food, rice, clothes, medicine etc but you only preach the Word of God and the gospel.” We told them that the gospel and the Word of God is for eternal life if they would receive the gospel. When we share the gospel, many people are so happy and get encouragement in their heart.
We have to go to the village by boat and there is still much water. I am very afraid but for them it is normal. When we went to their village, they are so surprised because nobody came and preached and shared the gospel there. We said that it is the love of God and it is for you. They said, “You can come again and share with us more in the future. You are welcome to share the gospel.” We spent two days there. I did not take any pictures and they trust us more than other people. Other people take many pictures. They said to me, “You only preach the gospel and did not take any pictures.” They are so surprised.
By the grace of God, we arrived back in Yangon safely on Tuesday by the same express bus, about 27 hours’ journey. Tabernacle BPC’s love gifts have also been received on Tuesday as soon as I arrived and I sent some to the flood victims who are trustworthy persons to share especially with those who are worse off and to widows.
I and Joseph Lian went to different places. I spent S$1500 and Joseph Lian spent S$1000. And also I have passed the designated love gifts to Rev Andrew Kam, Joseph Lian and Steven Mang already. I am very happy and pleased for them and for His glory.
Even though we faced many dangers and are tired, we are still very happy and appreciate the help for the flood victims and for the gospel and for His glory. Thanks.
Yours in Christ,
Brother Thangno
New Life Orphan Center
Yangon, Myanmar
To the Filipinos
A thanksgiving email from Dr Lagapa (30 August 2015):
Dear Dr Khoo,
Greetings in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
On behalf of the Filipino Bible Study, I would like to thank True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church, which the Lord has used to reach out to the lost souls of many Filipino workers in Singapore. Particularly acknowledged is the Filipino Gospel Rally held this afternoon. The Lord is so good to draw 20 guests today to hear the wonderful news of salvation through faith in the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that the seeds sown in the hearts of those who came may take root and bear fruit in God’s perfect time.
I thank the Lord for the church session in providing a place for the rally. Thank God for the assistance of Dn Philip and sister Wendy. Praise God for the assistance of the Filipino FEBC students, Raggi and Aprilaiza. Thank you very much for the use of the church van, it really helped in fetching those who had difficulty finding where RELC is. We also acknowledge the help and assistance of some members—Johnny and Wella Heng.
As much as the apostle Paul’s heartfelt cry for the Jews, it is also our heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Filipinos, “that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-3).
May all that has transpired glorify His Name and magnify His Word!
Sincerely in Christ,
Jose Lagapa
