MYANMAR MISSIONS
Report from Thang No
NLSC, Yangon, 22 Nov 2022
By the grace of God and your prayers and cheerful love gifts, we at New Life Student Centre (NLSC) are fine and doing well till today. Praise God.
Thank God I have received True Life BPC love gift support of $2950. Thank you so much.
We are very happy and really thankful to the Lord and to True Life BPC, and because of your prayers and support, we are running well and fruitful physically, spiritually and educationally despite the dangerous situation here. Please pray for peace and justice to be restored. Please pray that we will be more fruitful and more and more transformed to the glory of God.
Thank you for your love, concern, kindness and prayers. To God be the glory. We at NLSC pray for True Life BPC and FEBC always.
PHILIPPINES MISSIONS
Reflections by Aw Beng Teck
I had the privilege to join in a mission trip organised by Rev Jose Lagapa under the auspices of the Filipino Bible Fellowship to the Philippines from 12 to 16 November 2022. I’d like to share some reflections on this trip.
First, God uses people to do His work. As we know, evangelism and outreach can only happen if someone takes the first step to do something. This is vividly taught in Romans 10:14–15, “how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”
Christ BPC first started as a Bible fellowship meeting among the family members of Bro Deccarlo Igot (Carlo in short). I remember during its early days, Bro Carlo and Bro Jude Gabales had to take turns over alternate weekends to travel to Lapu Lapu to minister to the fellowship group. They did this regularly for almost a year, until God sent Bro Jose Mangco to serve as preacher.
This incident highlights how God uses people to accomplish His purpose, and we must respond accordingly. God had used Brothers Carlo and Jude to take the first steps towards setting up Christ BPC. There may be good ideas and strategies, but if there is no one to carry them out, it is unlikely anything will happen. That is the reality. Nevertheless, we believe that God is the one who orchestrates the work invisibly behind the scene, and we can only pray that He will move people to do His work.
Second, God expects us to be good stewards of our time and resources.We need resources to advance God’s work, and I am sure the Lord will provide them. God will move His people to contribute to His work. As His people we should be circumspect in how we use our time and resources, as scriptures admonish us in Matthew 6:19–21, “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
The seeds in Lapu Lapu were planted many years ago. There is the House of Hope (HOH), a Christian drug rehabilitation halfway house, where many of today’s preachers in Cebu started their journey. HOH was set up in 1987 by the late Anthony Yeo, an FEBC alumnus and founder of the Helping Hand in Singapore.
Some would know that Rev Mangco was converted while in HOH. On this trip, I met several alumni of FEBC—Rev Reggor, Pr Thaddeus and Pr Eliezer—who also started their journey in HOH. They are all serving the Lord actively in the region. I also met an elderly member of Christ BPC, Bro Charlie. He was converted while in HOH about 1½ years ago, and he now joins Rev Mangco regularly in evangelism and outreach. His wife Juanita and granddaughter were among the seven baptised by Rev Lagapa on that Sunday.
From here, I can see the importance of investing time and resources in the work of the Lord. God willing, we could be partakers of the vision of having Lapu Lapu as the Antioch of the Philippines. To realise this vision, resources and time are needed. For instance, a place to worship may be needed. Doing so will provide a tangible platform to build for the future. We may or may not get to see the physical dividends of our investments in our lifetime. What is more important is the eternal value of our actions, and the part we play.
Indeed, God uses people to do His work and God expects us to be good stewards of His resources. In the Master’s hands, more mission stations will be blessed.
AFRICAN MISSIONS
Report from Bai Eun Young
BCEA, Kenya, November 2022
After the presidential election in Kenya, life here has returned to the routine. If I try to mention any positive changes brought by the new government, well, so far we have not seen very many. We just bought a portrait of the new president and exchanged it with the picture of the previous president that was located in the main office in the college.However, we continue to experience the economic struggles in Kenya. The prices of fuel, foodstuffs, and other commodities have gone up very high. We know that that is a worldwide problem for now, yet it is a strain here.
Graduations
By the end of this November, I will have attended three graduations. Two in the kindergartens affiliated with the Bible College of East Africa, and the last one in the college. This time around, we can celebrate indoors because the government restrictions on COVID regulations have been lifted. The parents who attend the kindergarten graduation will be very excited to see their children’s performance on that occasion.
Interestingly, many Kenyans are nominal Christians, and it can be seen in how they attend to their daily duties and make decisions. Mostly they are good and friendly people. However, who said good people and friendly people are necessarily spiritual people? Regardless, many do admit the existence of God; yet the God that they admit exists is not necessarily the God of the Bible.
The reluctant attitude of the children in the morning kindergarten chapel is a reflection on their family’s spiritual life. Yet, by the grace of God, and by the time they graduate from kindergarten, we do observe noticeable changes. They can memorize many Bible verses, sing Christian songs, and pray. Yet I pray for something more. On the occasion of their graduation, when parents will happily attend, we share about the love of the God of the Bible, and pray that God will bless His Word to the parents’ hearts also.
Vacation Bible School
Before COVID, I used to organize VBS for children in different mission stations under Glory Bible Missions. Now we can resume our ministry and the VBS will be held at three churches in Maasai land and one in the Bible College in Arusha, Tanzania. Immediately after the November graduations, four BCEA students and me will be a team and leave for two weeks of VBS. The children of the churches in such remote areas used to be very welcoming and obedient. Now we will need to minster to them with an awareness of the changes brought to these areas after COVID.
Besides young children, this time around we will also try to reach out to young adolescents. It has been a request from Pastor “O” for many years now. He even mentioned a desirable topic: moral purity. Since he has been serving there for almost 20 years now, there has been no wedding celebrated in the church for Maasai girls (due to premarital pregnancies). So heartbreaking to their lives! During our visit, we plan to teach children in the morning and young adolescents in the afternoon. This task needs much effort and prayer.
A New Way to Reach Out
Last midterm break (October), I visited a BCEA graduate, Obadiah, in Kiptagichi. By public transportation, his place was about six hours away from Nairobi. It was an eye-opening experience for me. I used to stay in BCEA in Nairobi, except for visiting churches for ministry under the Glory Bible Missions. I also had a few chances to visit other areas of Kenya. In fact, my purpose to visit Kiptagichi was to check if I can organize a camp for the Junior Youth. During my stay I was shown the famous tea plantation and tea factory.
Obadiah also took me to his church where he serves as pastor. Since it was Friday, there was no service. Instead, I was invited to a nearby house where church members slowly came in, one by one, for fellowship. Just before the fellowship, Obadiah told me that a guest should share in the fellowship. Whoops! Who was the guest he was speaking of? So, I had to share my morning devotion to about 15 people in the fellowship, far from BCEA. It was never planned at all! I tried with Kiswahili and used many gestures to compensate for my lack in Kiswahili. By God’s grace, though it was not perfect, it was understandable. I was also able to introduce the ministry of BCEA. Well, with that experience, I can now think of a way to recruit students to BCEA. Visiting graduates from different areas will work not only to encourage them in ministry, but also to be able to meet people and introduce them to our ministry.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15).
[Bai Eun Young is an FEBC alumna and a missionary of IBPFM, USA. She is supported by TLBPC as a missionary to BCEA, Kenya.]
