Dear Brethren,
Last week I had the privilege to minister and preach God’s Word to 2 Malaysian Churches in Kemaman Life BP Church and Kuching Calvary BP Church. Our Almighty God is not just the God of our Church, Tabernacle BP Church, but also the God of all true Bible-believing Churches in every country in this world. The people of God can gather in worship in Church buildings or on bare grounds without shelter, the number can be in thousands or only a handful; they can come in their Sunday best clothes or in dirty torn old clothes, if they come sincerely to worship the Lord according to His Word, the Lord is pleased to bless and lead each one of these Churches and accept their worship services.
Let me share a little of these 2 Malaysian Churches that I just went to encourage your hearts and also challenge you to enlarge your ministry for the Lord beyond what you are doing in our own Church. Today’s weekly will be about Kemaman Life BP Church and next week, I will share about Kuching Calvary BP Church.
Kemaman Life BP Church
I took the coach from Larkin JB bus station on Thursday night departing at 9.45pm. Thank God the traffic to JB was good as I had to rush there after work and also managed to take a quick dinner at Larkin bus station before boarding the coach. Preacher Daniel Lim from Gethsemane BP Church was with me as he preached at Kemaman Chinese service while I preached in the English worship service. This time we took a new bus service and it arrived rather early in Kemaman at around 3.30 am in the wee hour on Friday morning. As usual, I slept very soundly and it was Preacher Daniel who woke me when the coach arrived at Kemaman, If not, I probably would have missed the stop. The Lord knows best to lead and prepare the way in our service. Of course, this does not mean everything is smooth-going in serving the Lord.
The lock to the upper-room that we would take our usual rest when we arrived in Kemama was changed and our keys could not open it. We can’t possibly sit at the staircase till 9am when a Church member would come to fetch us. Dr. and Mrs. Wee were away in Australia visiting their daughters so there was no one for us to contact. It is easy to murmur at such situations and complaint about the poor arrangement especially when we were so tired. By God’s provision, there was a nearby hotel to stay for the night and we had enough money to pay for the room. Thank God for every provision even when things don’t happen the way we hope for.
Kemaman Life BP Church has Sunday School classes for the children in Dr. Wee’s house at 2 pm on Friday. Only 8 children came for the service and thank God for a member who drove the Church van to fetch them. Most of these children come from broken families and they are rather rowdy and naughty. But they need God’s Word and love and support to help them grow in the Lord. Due to the age range of these 8 children, I was asked to teach a class for the primary school group at the last moment. We must be ready to serve the Lord at any time and answer to the call of God. I readily accepted the challenge and spent about 30min to prepare the lesson in Mandarin. Thank God for a blessed time to teach 5 children in the Sunday School class.
In the night worship service, there were 11 who attended the English worship service. The Mandarin congregation has more than 20 as very few people in Kemaman can speak English. I have no regret making the long journey to Kemaman just to preach to 11 souls. Why? Because every soul is precious in the sight of God and if one soul is saved, the whole Heaven rejoices. If God can use me to encourage one soul to seek the Lord, it is worth every bit of my time and travelling. On Friday night at 11pm, a young adult member sent us to the bus stop to take our 11.45 pm bus back to JB Larkin bus station. The Lord was good that He used me to answer some queries this member has in his Christian walk. This further confirmed in my heart that the Lord has led me to Kemaman in this trip with a purpose. I thank God that by His grace, I can fulfill it.
Pray for the ministry in Kemaman Life BP Church. Dr. and Mrs. Wee are in their 60s and there is no one now who can continue this ministry in Kemaman. It is a difficult ministry as you don’t really reap the Gospel-sowing efforts you put in for the children as when they grow up to be youths or young adults, they will very likely leave the small town in Kemaman to pursue their further study or career in other big cities in Malaysia. God is sovereign and He is God of Kemaman Life BP Church and will surely provide for their needs. I count it my joy to help and support this Church in a very small part to the glory of the Lord.
“The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into the harvest” Matthew 9: 37-38. May you give your life to be a labourer in the big harvest field for the Lord!
Elder John Leong