Transforming Power!

8 Sept 2009

Dear Prayer Partners,

1. TQ for your prayers! It was wonderful to be able to speak in the Family Church Camp for the church in Kuching, Sarawak. About 170-180 people came, mostly families. I spoke for the same church’s youth camp in Aug 2007.

2. The Lord moved and challenged many hearts to obey and worship Him. The camp climaxed on the last service where they had an oil anointing service for each family. The Lord spoke to many families and inspired them as we prayed for them. Many were just weeping gently in the presence of the Lord and soaking in His love.

3. They have asked me to come back again to do some leadership training as well as some church consultancy in my next trip. They are praying for the next level of growth. A number of the church leaders are my previous students who had studied in West Malaysia in the 1980s.

4. My vision at that time was to disciple and developed them so that they can become spiritual leaders for their local churches, and make an impact for the Savior. Fast forward 27 years later, it is amazing to see that vision fulfilled right before my eyes and continue to unfold further.

5. I did not expect so many of them to be in the same church and become significant leaders of the church – and for them to work together to bring me to minister to the whole church. Some of them even jokingly introduced me as their grandmaster.

6. When I initially decided to disciple-mentor them in the 1980s, a number of church leaders questioned the wisdom of doing so. They were tribal, rural, children of ex-headhunters, poor, shy, passive, Malay-speaking - in short, they were not in the mainstream and may lack leadership potential.

7. But God knew otherwise. They went on to universities and got their degrees and became the first generation in their families (and for some, their villages) to have a graduate. They all point to the fact of God’s goodness.

8. I rejoice for that opportunity that God has given to me to be part of that journey with them. It’s not only for them but also their children and their children’s children. This foundation has changed & will continue to change the course of their future generations. And it happened because of the transforming power of the gospel. It broke them out of poverty, illiteracy, and spiritual darkness.

9. Pray that they will in turn catch the heavenly vision to entrust the life-changing gospel to the next generation and that they will fulfill the Savior’s command – to evangelize and make disciples of all nations. Only Jesus can bring sustainable transformation!

10. After the Kuching camp, it was off to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. I conducted Bible Study (BS) for several days with a group of 4 women. They were hungry for the Word and took annual leave to dig into it. They are all classmates from the 1980s in Labuan.

11. Then several of them went over to West Malaysia in 1990 and bumped into me. I was still actively ministering to uni students at that time (I started to slow down in 1994 to study). I started mentoring them and now – despite the fact some of them are married with kids, have their master degree – still owe their BS assignment to me!

12. At night, I was preaching in revival meetings in a church. The Lord moved greatly in the services and many were touched by His presence. I actually had ministered at this church in April this year – and many of them came expecting.

13. The leader had invited others from various churches to come for this meeting too. After seeing the HS moved, they are now inviting me to go into their villages and churches to do revival meetings and camps.

14. Sabah has been on my heart for the past few years. From my limited observations, the spirituality and commitment of the tribal people has declined sharply for some time. In the 1980s when they were being persecuted, there were stories after stories of revival and deliverance.

15. But in the 1990s after major political changes, paralyzing materialism, and church in-fighting, the level of spirituality has declined significantly. I am praying that God will grant me an opportunity to minister to them, probably this Christmas season. And then may be next year to do some camps and concentrated ministry time with them.

16. Thank you for all the wishes, sms-es, and angpows for my birthday on the 7th Sept. I appreciate all the effort that you took to remember it. Please pray for me and family as we seek to serve the Lord in the capacities that He has given to us.

17. Pray for me as I spend the next few days to prepare for the next camp in Cameron Highlands and revival meetings among the indigenous people in N. Sembilan.

God bless! Only He reigns!