Dear Brethren,
This afternoon I will be flying to Kuching to preach at the Calvary Kuching BP Church worship service which starts at 7.45pm. On Monday night, I will lead them in the Church prayer meeting and will fly back to Singapore on Tuesday morning. God willing, the journey will be a safe one and more importantly, I can be a blessing to the members in the Kuching Church and be used by the Lord for His glory. Please remember me in your prayers.
As I look back at this open door of ministry in Kuching, this will be the 10th time I have travelled to Kuching to preach in the Church. My colleagues told me that Kuching is like my second home. The first trip was made in August 2009. It was a burden that God puts in my heart. When I went with Calvary Pandan BP Church to Sibu in March 2009 to help in the VBS, I met Preacher Ling who is in-charge of the Sibu Church. He shared to me of the ministry in Kuching that he has to travel to Kuching from Sibu for 3 times a month on Sunday afternoon (Sibu Church worship service is in the morning). For one Sunday in each month, the Kuching Church will not have any preacher and they will listen to a cassette tape message that Preacher Ling sends to them. The flight from Sibu to Kuching is about an hour. This is about the same time for the flight from Singapore to Kuching. Both Sibu and Kuching are in East Malaysia.
The Kuching Church is a small Chinese congregation of about 10 members consisting of mainly 3 families. They do not have any full-time minister to help them. Though their faith in the Lord is still young, they are clear that they do not want to join the Charismatic Churches that have larger congregations in Kuching.
When I heard the sharing by Preacher Ling, I felt a burden from the Lord to help the Church in Kuching. I know my inadequacy as I can hardly preach in Mandarin and also it is a completely new city and new church to me. I believe if the Lord calls me to help in the Kuching Church, He will give me the grace and strength to do His work. In prayer and by faith in the Lord, I emailed to Preacher Ling one day that I would like to go and preach one Sunday in Kuching. Of course, Preacher Ling was very happy that someone can relief him of a heavy burden in the ministry. In my heart, I thought it could just be a once-off task and did not think of any continuity in it. Other thoughts that run in my mind was that maybe the Kuching members will think my preaching in Mandarin is so poor that they cannot understand at all.
In my first trip, I remembered my flight was delayed. This is a usual problem in taking budget airline. I prayed to the Lord that if it is God’s will, I could still make it on time. Thank God, I made it just on time for the worship service. Though there will be challenges in serving the Lord, we must not give up easily. Perseverance is very important as we serve the Lord. To save cost, I always take budget airline to Kuching which is about $100 for two-way flight. There is a budget hotel called Tunes that I always stay there which you can pay less if you do not need the air-con, TV or towels. It can be around $25 a night stay for non-peak period. The Lord will provide as we serve Him.
Thank God that I can build a close bond with the Kuching brethren and can minister God’s Word to them regularly now. It is amazing how God enables me to preach in Mandarin too. It is all by the grace and power of God but we must be willing vessel for His use. I will travel once in 2 to 3 months to Kuching. Also, the Lord gives us a desire to have a first church camp for the Kuching church last year in March. Thank God for some brethren who came with me to help in the Church Camp. God willing, we will organize another Church Camp in Kuching this March. Anyone wants to avail himself / herself to serve the Lord in Kuching?
I hope this sharing will encourage your hearts to be willing to serve the Lord wherever the Lord burdens your heart. Though we fear of uncertainty and there will be challenges and we feel our inability greatly, we just need to learn the lesson to go forth in faith trusting God to lead and use us for His glory.
The Lord Jesus reminds us in His Word in Matthew 9:37-38, “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 his harvest.” Will you enlist yourself to be the few labourers for the Lord?
Elder John Leong