Mahal na mga Kapatid at Kaibigan,

Welcome po sa Filipino Worship Service!

Let us continue to pray as we continue to do the mission work in Luzon. There are problems we meet along the way, and we need to seek the Lord’s direction. Do pray for the provisions needed every 1st and 3rd weekends as we need around 2 thousand SGD every month for the work. Pray especially that there will be preachers whom the Lord will assign in the near future to these mission stations. We cannot keep on supplying preachers to go there. Lord willing, there must be pastors who will stay with them and be there to minister to them.

May I ask also a special request to pray for me to be submissive to the Lord’s will. I am currently in a cross road and do not know yet exactly where to turn to. Please pray that the Lord will grant me the heart to follow wherever He leads me and that I will be obedient to the guidance and counsel of God’s leaders over me, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17). May the Lord open my eyes to see which door He closes and which door He opens for me. Please pray that the Lord will be gracious to grant me contentment in whatever His decision is. “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain” (Proverbs 30:7–9).

The Christian’s “MUST-EAT” Food

Every individual has his own favourite food. This depends on his race, culture or family upbringing. There are races who like spicy food. Others want very sweet food while we Filipinos are “salty” people. There are those who are vegetarian while others are strict on keto-diet (low carbohydrates such as rice and high protein or fat diet such as meat) while we Filipinos are generally “rice-eaters” (I used to eat rice even with just soy sauce and cooking oil!).

As Christians, we have a “MUST-EAT” food. It is the favourite food of our Saviour. It does not depend on the taste or calorie content. It is the spiritual food that Christ had to eat because it is what the Father in heaven gave Him to receive. It is to “DO THE WILL” of Him that sent the Lord Jesus Christ. “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34). The word “meat” means food. Jesus was saying that there was a more important food that He must eat than the physical food on earth, which is to obey the commands of His Father to accomplish His mission. He would rather go hungry and fasting than missing the work that was assigned to Him.

What is our most favourite food? Of course, as a Filipino, I love lechon and the likes. Interestingly, the Lord has given me the appetite that can take in all kinds of dishes. Thank God! From the Japanese fermented beans called “Natto” to the spicy Indian foods and even African dishes, these are all delicious to me. However, these foods can be left out, but there should be a food that we should not fail to hunger for, that is to do His will.

What is the meaning of the will of the Father that Jesus had to do when he said that was His meat? The next verse tells us that He was talking about doing the work of preaching the Gospel. He describes this by giving a picture of a field ready for harvest. “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35). For us Filipinos, we are used to seeing the rice field ready for harvesting as golden in colour. When we see that the rice plants are bowing down because of the heavy palay grains, then we need not delay. We must get our reaping instruments and do the work or else the rats will come or the seeds will fall if over ripe and dried. There is haste in doing the work. There should be no procrastination, and lazy, slothful and tardy people are of no use.

Last April 6, I read an article in the Straits Times newspaper which highlighted a very high increase of Filipino migrant workers in Singapore. It mentioned that there were only 72 thousand Filipinos who worked here in 2022, however, in 2023, the record shows 182 thousand Pinoys are now here in Singapore working! It is even more than a double increase. No wonder, I noticed that when I asked those whom we evangelized, there are many of them who say they have just arrived a few months ago. I was so surprised but also felt a sense of accountability for how little we have done in reaching out to our countrymen here for the Lord Jesus Christ.

We do not have to beat around the bush. The direct question we have to ask ourselves is what does the Lord want us to do about it? We have to pray! We have to labour in prayer and seek ways where we can do the will of Him that sent us! May I propose that we do our prayer sessions again before the worship service so we can pray for ways to know and to do His will. We used to do that in Godhill, and I am guilty that we have missed that time of prayer session. May I encourage you to join us after Sunday School for a 20-minute prayer time (10–10:20 am) every Lord’s Day. We have to do our part. We should rise to this blessed opportunity God has given us. He shows us a greater field to harvest, and we must start working for if we linger, we will lose the privilege He has opened for us.

Moreover, we should also pray individually to seek for opportunities to invite some of them. The increase in the number of Filipinos means we can have more chances to meet them in supermarkets, wet markets, remittance centers, and other places. Let us equip ourselves with our gospel tracts. We can have a pack of tracts in our bags so that when the Lord opens a way for us to talk to them, we can readily pass a tract. Just be careful to do this with their willingness to receive. Do not force them for only the Spirit of God can move their hearts to receive and read the tract.

As the church is praying and planning to go door-to-door evangelism, I pray some of us can join the Evangelistic Band of True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church led by Elder Tan Beng Lee. There is also an increasing number of Filipino workers who brought their families to live here in Singapore. As we cannot see them in Orchard or Toa Payoh Park, the best way to evangelize to them is by door-to-door. This method of evangelism was how the Lord brought us to the doorsteps of some of our brethren. Let us pray some are able to take part in the soon door-to-door evangelism of the church.

Let us understand that the Lord Jesus Christ’s most important food is to do the will of the Father which is to reach out to lost souls for God’s Kingdom. We too must be like the Lord Jesus Christ who desire above all to obey His commission over the physical food on this earth. The food that we put into our mouths will strengthen our body in order to move around and work, but the “food,” which is to fulfil the will of the Father, will glorify God that we may enjoy Him forever. The former results in our physical well-being while the latter will grant us eternal joy in the presence of our Saviour!

What is your most favourite food? As a Christian, we should learn to eat the BEST food, a MUST EAT for every believer — that is to do the will of the Father and to fulfil it. As we take in physical food that will satisfy us for a moment, which of course, is needed in order for us to live, let us desire more to take the food that our Lord and Saviour taught us to hunger for, that is to do the will of the Father that sent Him and to finish His work! - JTGL

“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35)