Dear Brethren,

Update of search for Church Premises

There was much joy and rejoicing when the Pastor of Changi Bethany Church, located at Upper Changi Road East, shared to me on 15 February 2012 that they have in principle agreed to rent their premises to us. If you remembered my earlier weekly sharing that this premises is the most suitable for our requirements. We made a proposal to Changi Bethany Church of a reasonable rental payment and have waited till now without any official reply from them. We can only wait upon the Lord for His will and leading. I urge everyone to seek the Lord earnestly in prayer for the Lord to provide and show us clearly His will for our Church. If the Lord’s will is for us to move on 1 April 2012, let us all be united together to support the move and help each other to settle in the new place. Without prayer, we will not accomplish anything. Pray without ceasing.

Psalm 27:14, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

Kemaman Life BP Church

I had the privilege and joy to minister at Kemaman Life BP Church on 24 February 2012 (Friday). Every Church has their struggles and difficulties. In Kemaman Life BP Church, their young people will leave this small town in Terengganu state in West Malaysia for further studies and then work in a bigger city. The Church work very hard to reach out to the children with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank God that we can share a little part in co-labouring by helping to organise the children vacation bible school for them in the past few years. When these children believe in the Lord Jesus and mature in their faith as they grow up, most of them will not be able to stay on in the Church. Pray for God’s grace and strength for those who stay on in the Church to labour for Him faithfully even though the outward result is not obvious.

Kuching Calvary BP Church

By God’s grace, the Lord has used me to minister and help at Kuching Calvary BP Church in East Malaysia in the past few years. I try to travel there once every 2 to 3 months. God willing, I will preach at Kuching Calvary BP Church for my next trip on 18 March 2012. This Church is a small Chinese Church without a preacher. This is their need and the members are young in their faith too. Preacher Ling from Sibu will travel to Kuching to preach in the Church. When I travel to Kuching, he can be relieved on that Sunday. The Lord has also used our Church to organise an annual Church camp for them and God willing, this May 2012, we will organise the third Church camp for them. The Lord works in each Church camp, that there is a burden in the members to reach out to newcomers to grow the Church. Pray that the Lord will use us to be a blessing to fellow believers in the Lord near and far.

Elder John Leong

Testimonies of Colgate, Laidlaw and Welch

First, William Colgate left home at the age of 16 to earn for his own upkeep as his father was too poor to support him. He left with little possessions. Not long after he met an old canal-boat captain. The old man then kneeled and prayed earnestly for the young lad that he might succeed in some business, perhaps, soap-making. He counseled young William : “Be a good man, give your heart to Christ, pay the Lord all that belongs to Him, make an honest soap…”

Young William remembered the captain’s words. He began to tithe faithfully. Every dollar he made, he gave 1/10 to the Lord. Over the years his business grew even more. He began by giving 1/10, then 2/10, then 3/10, 4/10, 5/10, and finally he gave all his income to the Lord.

Second, Robert Laidlaw, the New Zealand businessman who wrote the gospel booklet, The Reason Why (which was translated into 30 languages with 16 million copies printed) began to tithe $3 of his weekly salary. He was then 18 years of age. As time passed, he was earning more, and decided to give even more to the Lord, even 50% of his salary. Forty-five years later he could testify that God had blessed him 100-fold. Besides, he had been blessed spiritually and entrusted with a stewardship far beyond his expectations.

Third, a young man who was accepted for mission work in Africa but later found his wife could not adapt to the African climate. He was heartbroken but remained prayerfully. He decided to return home and support missions instead. He took over a business in making grape juice which his dentist father had developed on the side. Welch’s grape juice business grew. Subsequently, he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to support missions.

(Source: Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, p. 474-9)

Testimony

The homework and the common tests sometimes affects my quiet time with the LORD and sometimes I even skip it. The LORD has done so many things for me but sometimes I do not even spend time to learn His Word. Sometimes I am also distracted by other things which takes up time and causes me to do my homework later and thus affects my quiet time. Doing that means I am actually putting those other things before God who has done great and mighty things for us. However, despite all the difficulties, God will help us if we just sincerely ask Him for help.

Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Brother Javan Koh