| ED's Update |
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ED's Update Where Shall We Buy Bread? “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (John 6:5) In the defining moment of need to feed the hungry crowd, Jesus could have asked the disciples what they should do or instruct them to do something. Instead, He asked, “Where shall we buy bread…?” Notice the small little word “we”. He knows the needs of the world, but He also calls us into fellowship and partnership with Him. This call for teamwork with Him remains an open invitation to us today. Let us avoid the pitfall of taking the matter into our own hands or be calculative like Philip. When faced with a crisis, we often begin calculating our means and resources and become anxious, like what Philip did when he replied Jesus, “Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" The little boy has only “his five small barley loaves and two small fish”, but placed in the hands of the Lord, it was more than sufficient to feed more than 5,000 hungry people with plenty to spare. The Lord Jesus is also asking the Baptist community the same question, “What shall we do to feed Baptists in Singapore?” The job is not restricted to a handful of faithful Pastors and Lay leaders. We need more Baptists to come forward to offer what they have and let the Lord do the rest. The Baptist community needs all the least and simplest of our time, talent and treasures, and God will turn them into blessings. The search is ongoing to invite Baptist Pastors and Lay leaders to serve the Baptist community in various positions and capacities in the Council, Executive Committee, Baptist Theological Seminary, Baptist Golden Age Home, Baptist Book Store, Baptist Community Care, Mission, Women & Youth Ministries. I pray that many, like you will come forward and say, "Here am I with my five small barley loaves and two small fish. Let us feed the hungry”. Baptist Youth Leaders Camp: 27-30 December 2010 The Baptist Youth Pastors met recently to continue their prayers and passion to groom our Baptist Youth Leaders. It is all systems go for the Baptist Youth Leaders Camp @ Pulai Springs Resort from 27-30 Dec 2010. Each member church is strongly encouraged to send 4 of their Youth Leaders to an experience that will sharpen their spiritual insight on leadership and service. The theme is “STEP UP!” – a challenge to participants to Step Up their Spirituality, Thinking, Evangelistic Zeal and Passion for Christ. The cost per person is $280.00 and includes an exclusive fun-packed laser-shooting game before the Camp. Invitation for registration will be sent to member churches soon. Let your Youths enjoy and experience God amongst their peers from other member churches. Its an unforgettable experience. Trail of the Apostle Paul in Turkey: 25 Oct – 06 Nov 2010 Join Baptists in a rare opportunity to visit ancient cities that inspire and fire the Apostle Paul and others in proclaiming the Gospel and exhorting early believers to live out their faith in the risen Christ. Follow the journeys of the Apostle Paul through the churches where he preached and ministered. The tour includes visiting several of the seven churches that the Apostle John wrote to in the Book of Revelation. The tour is organised by the Baptist Lay leaders Network and offers a golden opportunity to network with fellow Baptists. We are very pleased to announce that the Spiritual Director for the tour is Dr John Massey. John is a lecturer with the Baptist Theological Seminary and a staff of the International Mission Board. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a PhD in Systematic Theology, he has also pastored several churches in Tennessee and Texas, before coming to Asia 8 years ago. With his passion for mission, church history and New Testament doctrines, John is looking forward to share his historical and spiritual insights to help participants receive in-depth understanding and appreciation of the places that the Apostle Paul once ministered in turning his world upside down, for Christ. There is great pressure from Airlines to increase airfares. Please confirm your booking soon to avoid paying higher fare. Send in the registration form today and be on a spiritual journey of a lifetime. Baptist Community Care: Launch of cancerCare and fosterCare: Sat, 28 August 2010 The Baptist Community Care (BCC) has gone through a period of “soul-searching” and the BCC Team, chaired by Violet Yang is ready to roll out its initiatives to encourage and mobilise Baptists to offer compassionate services to the poor, sick and the elderly who lack the means to look after themselves. A soft launch shall be held on Sat, 28 Aug 2010 @ the Ministry of Communication, Youth & Sports (MCYS) Conference Hall (17th Floor) from 9.00 am to 12.30 pm to share the needs and challenges of “cancerCare” and “fosterCare”. Pastors, Chairmen and those involved in community services are encouraged to attend. Look out for official invitation coming your way soon. Early birds can sign up with the Convention Office through Ann Luo (tel: 6253 8004 or annluo@baptistconvention.org.sg) and providing your name, church, contact tel and email address. Calvary Community Care Congratulations to Calvary Baptist Church for its official launch of Calvary Community Care (C3), a registered Voluntary Welfare Organisation to serve the needy in the community, motivated and driven to care from a heart of love and compassion. By serving the needy with love, Calvarians hope to lift them to new heights of well-being. C3 is managed by Dr Tan Sek Wah, serving as its Executive Director. Currently, C3 offers (a) literacy programme to help children develop literacy proficiency, (b) ACE programme to help youths develop resilience to face life’s challenges and (c) Eldercare programme to provide HomeCare services to the frail elderly as well as to be a friend to them. Baptist Badminton Cup Congratulations to New Life Baptist Church for winning this year’s Baptist Badminton Cup held on Sat, 10 July 2010 at the Woodlands Sports Hall. The champion was ecstatic as the Cup eluded its grasp for the past 4 years. Participants from Calvary, Grace, Queenstown and New Life displayed skills, grace and great sportsmanship, winning new friends, despite losing matches. Raw unending energies of those in the early teens took on experienced players in their 50s who showed that their spirits were willing but their flesh were weak. It was a joy to see many new players brought along to play in the tournament. Rev Bobby Lee from Grace BC shared, “I was very blessed by the people who came, participated and made friends with one another. Although Grace BC did not win the championship, we are very happy to organise the event and have made some very good friendships. The four churches that participated can be described as follows: New Life BC – skilful; Grace BC – servantlike; Queenstown BC – submissive and Calvary BC – sporting. Train now for next year’s challenge. peter tang for Christ and baptist unity |
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