Berita NECF - July-August 2009

7/31/2019 Berita NECF - July-August 2009

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2/162 B e r i t a N E C F J u l y A u g u s t 2 0 0 9

Chairmans Message

NECF Malaysia CouncilChairman

Re. Eu Hong Seng

Vice-Chairman

Elder Kong Yeng Phooi

Honorary Secretary

Pr Tay Wah Seng

Honorary Treasurer

Dr Khoo Kay Hup

Committee Members

Re. Dexter LowRe. Ng Kok Kee

Re. Richard Ong

Re. Peter Mutang

Re. Foo Moy Peng

Re. Elisha Satinder

Re. Simon Chandran

Pr Chan Theam Lai

Pr Alfred Phua

Pr Jerry Dusing

Mrs Grace Hee

Advisor

Re. Tan Sri Prince Guneratnam

NECF Malaysia StaffSecretary-General

Sam Ang

Senior Executive Secretary

Patrick Cheng

Executive Secretaries

Daniel Loh (Tamil)

Lucrece Loo (Prayer)

Kathryn Tan (Finance)

Eugene Yapp (Research)

Cheong Sze Ying (Chinese)

Alfred Tais (Bahasa Malaysia)

Larry Lee (Youth and LeadershipDeelopment)

Simon S. Arputham (Administrator)

Ong Juat Heng (Communications)

Jeff Chok (Information Technology)

Confdential Secretary

Ching Bee Gaik

Administrative Secretaries

Alice Wong

Yonne Chin

Leong Kit Wah

Sangan Mutang

Administrative Assistants

Sally Tan

Jouslly BuayaExecutive Advisor

Re. Wong Kim Kong, j.m.n.

EditorialEditor

Sam Ang

Assistant Editor

Ong Juat Heng

Address32, Jalan SS2/103,

47300 Petaling Jaya

Selangor, MalaysiaTel: 603-7727 8227

Fax: 603-7729 1139

Email: [email protected],my

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Batu12, 47100 Puchong, Selangor

...continued next page

By Rev. Eu Hong Seng

(Lessons on transition woes)A tale of 3 Kings

The stores of the three Kngs ofthe nted kngdom (Sa, Davdand Soomon) provde rh essons

abot sessons and transtons for

both the orporate man as we as the

man of the oth.

We have awas assmed that f we

do a the rght thngs, transton w

be smooth. Bt there are no mag

formas for trobe-free transtons.

indeed, wth hanges ome woes.

Sre we an earn from israe, iran

and even ipoh bease there are awas

the other opposng part and the

dev.

Saul, the rst king of the 12 tribes,

od not aept that there was a prefor hs mstakes (dsobedene b

assmng the prest roe of offerng

sacrice), and that there could be

another sessor.

As ong as he was kng, t ddnt

matter who anonted whom (n ths

ase Davd) at whose behest. Peope at

the apex of power often forget there

are bondares and there s the a-

powerf Amght who promotes and

demotes.

No dobt drnk wth power, Sa

was no hstor stdent and had not

earned that kngs do fa. Davd dd

ndeed seed Sa, bt not before

Sa saw the wkedness of hs own

heart when he attempted to spear the

anonted.

Then n 1 Kngs, the book begns

wth Davd, advaned n age, ra 1015

Bc, jst before hs trn to transt.Thogh he knew he had to transt,

hs probem was that he had to be

prompted to appont Soomon over

Adonjah b the prophet Nathan

together wth Bathsheba.

Whe Sa was nwng and ended

hs term wth a spear n hs hand, Davd,

thogh wng, amost fmbed and

was sow. And thogh he ddnt have a

spear n hs hand, he dd have a ong

vrgn (not hs wfe) n bed, assgned to

keep hm warm(1Kngs 1:24)

it was tme to transt bt before

he od hand over the kngshp to

Soomon (1Kngs1:13, 17), hs other

son Adonjah, exated hmsef (1

Kngs1:5ff) to take the throne. Prests,

prophets, ommanders and mght men

were nvoved. Grand eremones were

panned. Where there s no egtma,grander and popar endorsements

are ra to athentate the op.

At tmes ke these we need to be

remnded of Bathshebas words of

wsdom 20the eyes of all Israel are on

you, that you sh ou ld te ll th em who

will sit on the throne of my lord the

king after him. 21 Otherwise it will

happen, when my lord the king rests

with his fathers, that I and my son

Solomon will be counted as offenders.

1 Kings 1:2021 (NKJV)

We mst provde eadershp n

seasons of transton; otherwse,

nnoent peope w beome

offenders f we fa to at. in the

words of Egene Peterson, Bathsheba

sad m son Soomon and i are as

good as dead.To hs redt, Davd dd make


3/16B e r i t a N E C F J u l y A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 3

Soomon kng that da tsef ( 1 kngs 1:30,

3335). Adonjahs regn asted ess than 24

hors. The stor amost beame a tae of 3

ps 1 kngs, bt t was not to be so.

When news spread that Soomon was made kng, the

oasts of Adonjah eft the eebraton part. Peope are

basa opportnsts nwng to foow Gods hoe

nta bt most happ to stand b the wnnng sde.

lnes were drawn that da and two essons an be

earned we sometmes have to eave the baggage of od

reatonshps (those who stood wth Adonjah) and move

forward. Some prests, prophets and mght men ost ther

jobs that da.

Seond, Davd was wse he dd not deare Adonjah

not kng bt took steps to appont the rghtf kng. Do

the rght thng, not so mh as ndo the wrong thng. its

not what we shod do wth the wked bt rather how we

shod work wth the rghteos.

Sometmes too mh tme and energ s spent pttng

out res, which if left alone, would die out by themselves.

last, Soomons transton to hs son was smarmarked b the nfortnate ntervenng hand of God (as

n Sas ase) bease of hs doatros nnatons and

adteros addtons. The lord beame angr wth

bdng a progressve soet

that w make se of sene and

modern tehnoog.

NOW THEREFORE WE, the peopeof Maasa, pedge to fos a or

energ and efforts nto ahevng these

ambtons based on the foowng

prnpes:

u BEliEF iN GOD

u lOyAlTy TO KiNG AND

cOuNTRy

u THE SuPREMAcy OF THE

cONSTiTuTiON

u THE RulE OF lAW

u cOuRTESy AND MORAliTy

in aordane to the ntent and thrst

of the Rkn Negara, the evangea

ommnt of chrstans n Maasa

as pon the Government to:

Afr an pt in pac

afrmative and action-oriented

programmes and poes that

ata promote mta respet

and trst wthn and among a

raes and regos ommnt n

Maasa;

Afr an aintain a sh

prates, aton-orented pro-grammes and poes that

preserve and expand pon the

v and fndamenta bertes

that a hman bengs are aed to

enjo;

Rcgnis that at present, there

exst barrers, obstaes and

hndranes whether soa,

tra or regos n the

attanment of mta respet

and trst among the dfferent

raes n Maasa and that the

Government shod make

whoehearted and ever attempt

to remove sh barrers, obstaes

and hndranes;

Insti n a raes and ommntes

and mbbe the sprt and vae

of nterdependene among a

raes, reognsng that an atons

arsng from one partar rae

and ommnt w affet and

onseqent have a bearng on

the wefare and we-beng of the

other ommntes n Maasa.A sprt of nterdependene s

therefore essenta and fonda-

tona towards the bondng and

formaton of mta respet and

trst for a n order for ths naton

to move forward and fae the

haenges of the ftre; and

Rcai an rcvr the oss of

pb morat n a aspets of

pb fe n Maasa. The bas

qat, and the manfestaton

of an prght, mora fe s an

essenta and ndspensabe vae

and haraterst to espose f

ever mta respet and trst for

a are to foster and exst.

1Maasa for All Maasans!

Continued from front cover

Soomon, bease hs heart had trned from the lord

God (1 Kngs11:9a), hene the 12 trbes were dvdedbetween Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

Sa had a spear n hs hand, Davd was

sow, preoped wth a vrgn n bed,

whe Soomon had to ontend wth the sn

of doatr.

Tanted egaes, bmp transtons, attempted op.

Trobes and hps at tmes voent and bood

page amost ever transton, not on bease the stakes

are hgh bt bease there are power strgges n the

heavenes, be t n bsness, naton or hrh.

Davd was no transton gr, bt he dd eave behnd

man nvaabe essons he was proatve n ensrng a

smooth transton (oh es, he mstered enogh strength

to get ot of bed thogh t was warm); he was teahabe

and dd sten to adve; he dd have oa, god men n the

orrdors of power; he hanged the team and he dd foow

throgh on the promse made earer (that Soomon wod

st on the throne) and on Gods pan for the naton.

it has been sad that we are n dre need of statesmen,

bt the ontr s rawng wth potans (and pota

anasts ever sbsrber to the aternatve meda s anexpert toda.) let ths be not sad of the chrh and

the peope of the Book. Wth chrstan Statesmen, there

shod be ess transton woes.

Continued from pg 2: Tales of the 3 Kings



THE Government s proposng a

ompsor week off-da forforegn domest workers soon. The

provson omes wth a penat of

p to RM10,000 for non-ompane.

Ths move s not on weomed bt

i wonder wh t has taken so ong.

Fndamenta, ths s not a

qeston of abor aw and prate

bt one of ompasson and eths.

Mst we wat nt the

Government passes a new aw tomake t ompsor to gve or

domest workers a week da of rest

before we are wng to do so? Wh

ant we jst do nto as we wod ke

others to do nto s?

How wod we fee f we have

to work seven das a week? f or

daghters, ssters and even mothers

are fored to work overseas b

rmstanes and the have no rest

da? There are man Maasansworkng overseas n Erope, the

uS, Japan, Tawan and esewhere. it

is not uncommon to nd families

where wves, daghters, ssters and

mothers have gone overseas to work

as domest hepers.

M wfe and i dont have a foregn

heper, bt we are part of an NGO

reahng ot to sh as these. We

have rst-hand knowledge of the

ondtons these domest hepers

worked under. Apart from the difcult

workng ondtons, the aso sffer

pshooga from homeskness,

oneness, tra shok and the ke.

Man of them ome from rra and

farmng envronments and have never

been to a t before, even bak at

home.

Some who are Msms have the

horrbe opton of ether eatng porkor jst pan re and sardnes. On top

of ths, some are nfortnate enogh

to be absed, phsa or sexa

Gn opportnt to be cpassinatand caring empoers

or both. Gven a hoe, man wod

want to go home tomorrow f not forthe mone the need to send bak to

feed hngr stomahs.

Needess to sa, empoers aso

have ther far share of panf

experenes. Take m mother-n-

aw for nstane. She has b now

empoed sx or seven indonesan

hepers. There s nothng mh for

them to do and

there are no hdren toook after. Basa a the heper has

to do s to be a ompanon and arer

to her and keep her hose td and

neat. Shes rea generos to a fat

and spos her heper thorogh.

And what dd she get n retrn?

Wthot exepton, the a stoe her

mone and eventa ran awa. One

even regar sneaked her over nto

the hose n the wee hors of the

mornng. it was on after she ran

awa that we fond ths ot from

neghbors and evdene of the safe-

sex prates that she had eft behnd.

Bt does ths mean that jst

bease there are a few rotten hepers,

the whoe ot s spoed and shod

be dened the bas rght of a rest

da? it rea depends on how we

ook at t. Are we chrstan empoers

part of the probem or part of thesoton? We a know the probem

qte we. We dont have to wat for

the Government to pass a new aw to

By Bob Teoh

fore s to gve or domest hepers

a week off-da before we an be partof the soton.

On or own, we an eas gve

or hepers a da off a week for her

to do what she wod rea ke:

seeng frends, shoppng, or jst dong

nothng and seepng n.

Bt some ma arge: What f the

hepers are gven the week off-da

and the trn bad after hangng ot

wth ther feow ontrwomen?Trnng bad happens, jst ke

a chrstans trn bad one

tme or another. its a matter of

magntde. Even b not gvng

them an off-da, domest hepers

have st rn awa or trned bad.

When we empo a domest

heper, we take the rsk, jst ke

when God gave s Hs on Son, he

took the rsk wth s. And we ma fa

Hm, jst as or domest hepers ma.For chrstan empoers, the

week rest da s a dvne-

mandator obgaton. it s the forth

of the Ten commandments to

honor the Sabbath Da where the

whoe hosehod s to ease from

work and onserate t as a ho da.

Thats where the word hoda

omes from. And the indonesan

worker s aso part of sh a

hosehod. She too mst ease from

her abor on her rest da. if we ook

at her ose enogh, we w soon

dsover that she s aso a hman

beng jst ke s, made n the mage

of God and needng a rest da.

Gvng or domest hepers a

da off s rea a goden opportnt

to be ompassonate and arng

empoers. lets not wat nt the

Government fores t on s.Note: Bob is the maanaging editor of the Sin

Chew (English) online portal. The view expressed

in the article is his.



chrstans an mpat the word arond them wth

ther ver exstene. Bt we an on

mpat the word most effetve f

we are nke the word. Otherwse, we

mere renfore ts tendenes and

trends. lke man organsatons,

the chrh has, n the past, qte

often paed ts nterests ahead of

even ts raison dtre. it has ether

atve ontrbted to or passve

santoned some of the most non-postve transformng events n hstor,

ndng boodshed, tortre and perseton

over dotrna and denomnatona dsptes,

political power and control, and even suppressed scientic

dsoveres.

There have aso been ong perods of ndfferene and

ompaen where the needs of the neghbor n the

Seond commandment were a bt forgotten. Ot of the

Reformaton, however, ame a reover of the gospe and

wth t, the desre to hange the word from wthn andwthot. Not on was there newfond passon to reah

the ost n dstant ands bt aso to reform the soetes

and ommntes n whh one ved.

Ths s prese wh t s so mportant to spread the

onter-tra message wthn hrhes bt n a wder,

rather than narrower, sense than t sa s. We are a

famar wth the passage that sas, Whoever claims to live in

him must walk as Jesus did. ... Do not love the world or anything in

the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in

him. For everything in the world the cravings of sinful man, the

lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes notfrom the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass

away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

(1 John 2:6, 1517)

To do the will of God is not conned to attending

hrh, evangesm and msson bt atng n a wa where

hoes abot work, feste, parentng, pots and soa

reatonshps a onform to the ntegra msson. The

greater the degree to whh we have been transformed

from within, the greater we can inuence the world

arond s n a tota feste sense rather than the sm

tota of ndvda atvtes.

in man senses, gettng the vng rght s the rea

ke to arger soa and pota transformaton. What

do chrstans who are engneered wth Bba vaes

thnk abot sh sses as good governane,

orrpton, soa jste, hman rghts,

treatment of mgrants and refgees,

and so forth? How do the pereve

nternatona probems of armed

onfrontaton, terrorsm, nhmane

regmes, near proferaton and

goba warmng? How do the

express and more mportant,

engage n addressng these ssesso that soet s bettered not jst for

themseves bt espea for those wthot a

voe and abt?

A too often, the chrstan ommnt reats to

defend ts own nterests bt s sow to at for others, et

aone those aross borders. it s mperatve ths shod

be reognsed to be an Ahes hee of man chrstans.

Perhaps not wshng to be mstaken as soa gospe

proponents or devate from the entra task of so

savng, chrstans have, b defat, vaated the task ofsoa deveopment and naton bdng to those of other

persasons.

Transformation via counter-cultural Christians

The dea that to be a goba transformng chrstan, one

mst be aed ot among Gods hosen ete, perhaps n

retant Gdeon-ke fashon, ma have more to do wth

or pshooga need for heroes and herones rather

than the need and reat of the staton.

The reality is that while larger-than-life gures are

needed to ead, nspre and abor, goba transformatonsare aompshed b the masses, that s, onter-tra

Christians living out an existence that reects and upholds

Gods prposes n a the spheres, whether pota, soa,

eonom or sprta.

it s on when these spaes are oped and

transatons worked at and arred ot b the arrers of

chrsts teahngs that the proess of transformaton an

and w be aompshed.

Ths s an extrat from the arte Transformng chrstant:

What Does it Mean To Be A Goba Transformer? whh s pbshed

n f n the pomng book Form Vi Transform Naton Agenda

proded b the NEcF Maasa Researh commsson.

By Steven Wong

Christians Impacting the World

Planet Shaking



M

aasan chrstans joned

mons n the fam of God

arond the gobe on Ma 31 to prafor ther ontres and the word. The

anna Goba Da of Praer (GDOP),

hed on Penteost Snda and bed as

the bggest praer meetng on earth,

saw a partpaton of 220 ontres,

the bggest nmber sne t started n

2005.

Throghot Maasa, hrhes n

43 towns and tes gathered for ther

oa GDOP meetngs. in the KangVae, some 2,000 chrstans from

varos hrhes and denomnatons

gathered at SiB Kaa lmpr to ft

p the naton and the word to God.

Pror to ths meetng, over 50 hrhes

had taken part n the 10-da, 24-hor

praer drve organsed b NEcF

Maasa.

The GDOP 2009 nght was paked

wth prase, worshp, repentane and

nteresson for the kng and ontr,good governane, mgrant workers,

soa jste, freedom of regon for

a raes, hrh nt, ooperaton and

aanes among hrhes, mssons, and

para-hrh grops, and to top them

a, the frtherane of the gospe.

To reect an all-age prayer move-

ment, there was a spea hdrens

sesson where severa hdren praed

n dfferent angages and daets, and

another sesson ed b oths nder the

banner of RnNat (Rn for the Naton

see pg 14 for more nformaton.)

Dearatons were ed b the

adts Dr Tan Nget Hong (GDOP

Maasa oordnator), Rev. E Hong

Seng (NEcF Maasa charman),

Rev. loo Kok Km (GDOP Maasa

o-oordnator), Bshop Hwa yng

(Bshop of Methodst chrh Maasa),

Rev. lawrene yap (Senor Pastor,chars chrstan centre), Eder Kong

yeng Phoo (Eder, PJ Gospe Ha),

Venerabe Edde Ong (St Pas chrh,

PJ), Rev. Esha Satvnder (Senor

Pastor, New covenant commnt),

Rev. Dane Rat (Presdent, SiB

Semenanjng), Pr And yeoh (AcTS

chrh) and Pr Dr chew Weng chee

(Senor Pastor, SiB Kl).

Back to Simplicity,

Back to the Cross

in hs openng message, Rev. E

observed that the Maasan chrh

had beome ompated and aed for

a retrn to the smpt of the ross.

He sad: We beeve n God bt

not n prang to the God we beeve

n. We wont ompromse on the se

of the Bbe bt (we) obe t seetve,

espea the part where we are

exhorted to awas pra.

We beeve God an answer b

re, but we dont have the re in our

praers to mpore Hm to answer b

re. We believe in intercession as long

as ts reegated to some sma grop

dong t and we dont have to pa the

pre for t.

He sad that NEcF has two mangoas to get the hrhes nvoved n

naton bdng, and to get the chrh

to retrn to the hose of praer.

The droght over the naton s

not only nancial but political, moral

and sprta as we. chrstans mst

therefore earn to pt ther heads n

between the knees ke Ejah dd.

Otherwse, the ran w not omeat the end of the three and a haf ears

and there w be no dstntveness

between the peope of the Book and

the peope of other faths, he added.

The rss n or naton seems

never endng the eonom eakages,

bons sqandered. The wrong peope

seem to be gettng arrested whe

the drama n or orts od keep

Howood gong for a ong tme to

ome, BuT or praer meetngs reman

nspd and stess, he amented.

Tonght, we a pon a to go

bak to or hrhes to pra!

yES, ts tme we stop barkng

p the wrong tree, stop faterng, and

retrn to smpt, retrn to the foot

of the ross, and retrn to good od

fashon prang.

At the gatherng, the GDOP

ommttee aso annoned that nextears GDOP wod be hed on a far

arger sae at Stadm Meawat n

Shah Aam. Gor to God!

(Bottom) FLYING FLAGS: Youths, a symbol of our future, ying the differ ent ags of

Malays ia. (Top) Men united in prayer.

Global Prayer Power



Pota sppresson and heav-handedness are

we and ave n Maasa whe ethno-regospoarsaton s growng, aordng to the jst-

reeased NEcF Maasa 2008 Regos lbert Anna

Report omped b the NEcF Maasa Regos

lbert commsson.

The report traes the trends n nter-fath

reatonshps, doments ases of abses reatng to

regos freedom, reommends was to resove the

tenson and rges hrhes to be more nvoved n

matters reatng to regos bert so as to preserve

ther pb spae.The report observes that whe more optmst

Maasan voters wod have expeted postve

deveopments de to the otome of the 12th Genera

Eetons, an ar of desponden and maase ontnesto hang over the ontr.

Bt whats worse s that the nwngness of the

rng Government to be gded and hed n hek b

aw, even of aepted nterpretatons of the Federa

consttton b the hghest ort n the and, s

threatenng to ast the entre ontr nto a soa-

pota jnge where the strong take what the an and

the weak gve what the mst, aments the report.

The foowng s extrated from the onson

of the report. For the f report, go to the NEcFMaasa webste at www.nef.org.m

Report Card Out

Over the past few ears, thechrstan ommnt nMaasa has been onerned that the

religious space to afrm and practise

ones regon aordng to ones own

persason and was has been severe

affeted and reded. conseqent,regos bert for a regon, and n

partar chrstant, s at stake.

Some have nked ths ase to

the rng Governments isamsaton

agenda and the power ete wthn

pota res. in ths respet, the

observaton b Sabah Ahmad s

pertnent when she sas, f prvegng

isam (and Snn-isam) n Arte

11 of the hapter on fndamenta

bertes s part and pare of isam

as the regon of the Federaton n

Arte 3 to the consttton, t makes

the freedom of regon sor.1

The ontnng ndents of dena

of regos rghts, the isamsaton

efforts b isam athortes and

the postons taken b isam state

proponents hghghted above (n the

report) seem to jstf the fears and

msgvngs that regos freedom smere sor n Maasa.

in PR (Pakatan Rakat)-ontroed

states, there appears to be an attempt

Nt-S-Rs Pictr n Stat f Rigis Fr

to defend and promote regos

freedom and rghts. However, dobts

reman and ndeed qestons have

been asked whether regos spae

has ata been berased, ths

aowng for greater

aeptane or s trea onstrtng.

Severa reasons

sggest wh sh

dobts exst. Frst,

opposton pota

partes st do not have f ontro over

state pb admnstraton mahneres.

Exetve desons made ma not

be arred ot or what s arred ot

ma be ontrar to the ata exetve

desons.

Seond, the efforts to ensre

constttona-garanteed regos

freedoms are often branded as a

betraa of isam and those attemptng

to do so are regarded as n-isam

and rsk osng pota spport among

Msms.

Thrd, opposton partes

themseves are dvded over what ma

or ma not be done n the name ofregos bert, gven the ver strong

regos provtes among them.

indeed, on some ke sses, there

are oser postons between some

members of the opposton wth the

rng part than among opposton

partes.

in short, whe the pota

mate has hanged

onsderab post 8Marh 2008, there

s no rea evdene

that regos (and

raa) tensons have

smmered down. if

anthng, there seems to be an over-

arhng strateg of sodfng majort

spport b adoptng a hardne, non-

aommodatve approah towards

those of other regons and raes.

One reason for ths ma be that

the mnortes spport has shfted to

the opposton and sne an effort

to appease them w be pereved as

a ompromse that w ke nr the

wrath of the domnant ommnt,

t wod be more effetve to empo

a strateg of vgoros regos-

raa ontestaton to onter the

opposton.

Ths wod make sense as theopposton, reant on the mnortes

...religiousfreedom is

merely illusory inMalaysia.

...continued pg 8



spport, wod be pt

into a difcult position

and fored to gve n.

Gven ths senaro, thendatons are that the probems

of regos bert have not and w

not abate despte the pota hange.

Ths pont has to be made emphata

to the varos regos ommntes

so that the are not ed nto a fase

sense of bss and sert.

in the rmstanes, t s of tmost

rgen to ensre that no one regon

s permtted to domnate another.

To aow ths w on brng nto

reat the vew that what s beng

enfored s the vew of an ete of

the rng majort. Abdah An-

Nam warns that ths s a paramont

danger bease the w fore others,

Msm as we as non-Msms, to ve

b the narrow deooga vson of the

ete.2

Wth these observatons, ths

commsson therefore as pon thenatona chrh n Maasa as the

Bod of chrst to onsder and

ndertake the foowng atons:

Continued from pg 7... 1. T Crc ns t

infr. chrstans

annot be effetve nt

the nderstand the sses

of regos bert and ts

mpatons to the wder soetand the naton.

For ths prpose, chrstans

should attend briengs on social-

pota and hman rghts sses.

chrh eaders shod aso organse

taks b beevers who nderstand

these mportant sses so that ther

ongregaton ma be enghtened.

2. T Crc st initiat.

More chrstans shod jon pota

and non-governmenta organsatons

or form vontar assoatons of

ther persona onvton and hoe

towards pb engagements. Nmbers

do not ndate qat bt the shod

not be nderestmated n efforts for

onerted atons.

in ths respet, the chrh shod

ntate steps to re-vst the dea on the

formaton and settng p of an inter-Fath commsson.

Athogh ths dea was mooted

before and faed opposton, the

benets for coming together and for

onerted atons are obvos.

3. T Crc st invv.

chrstans shod be engaged n efforts

to address and onter the ndermnngand eroson of or pota and ega

order as we as state nstttons.

in ths respet, chrstans shod

partpate n praer meetngs and

praer networks to pra for matters of

regos bert and not jst mtng

themseves to ongregatona onerns

as part of or nteresson before God

and be moved to aton as the lord

eads and dret.

Not a of s have the same abtes

or smar opportntes bt eah

should nd his/her calling and in small

was attempt to make a dfferene n

the preservaton of or regos spae

and freedom.

1 Sabah Ahmad, Maaa: crta Thoghts

on isam, Rghts and Freedom n Maasa.

(Petang Jaa: SiRD, 2007), 213.

2

Abdah A. An-Nam, The isam law onAposta and ts Modern Appabt: A

case from Sdan. Regon Vo. 16: 197-223

ted n Sabah Ahamd, Maaa, 206.

lEE MiNG WAi (rght) reevng

a heqe of RM30,874 for the

nsrane paot on behaf of hs

father, lee Voon Weng, from Patrkcheng, NEcF Maasa Senor

Exetve Seretar.

Voon Weng, who s sfferng

from kdne fare, sgned p for

the NEcF-Great Eastern Grop

Insurance Scheme when it was rst

anhed n 2005. He took p the

RM30,000 po, pang a month

premm of RM30 for the rta

ness sheme spea desgned for

f-tme workers, ther fames andhrh members of NEcF member

hrhes or organsatons.

(However, partpants

mst be beow 55 ears od.)

Sne the sheme was

anhed, Great Eastern haspad ot ose to RM550,000

to 14 persons three for

deaths and the rest for rta

ness.

For a premm of RM30

per month, partpants enjo

the following benets:

crta ness overage ofy

RM30,000;

Death overage of RM30,000;y

Adenta death overage ofy

RM60,000;

Tota permanent dsabt (de toy

Insurance Payout For Kidney Patient

ness) overage of RM30,000;

Tota permanent dsabt (de toy

adent) overage of RM60,000; and

Maturity benets at age 65.y

For more nformaton, ontat

lawrene at 019-338 2687 or 03-4294

7673.



it has been ofcially announced that the Malaysian

eonom s ontratng and we are rnnng nto

tehna reesson. Even thogh goba there hasbeen an pward srge n petroem

and pam o pres, Maasa s on

expeted to reover n md-2010.

Or manfatrng ndstres

have been bad affeted wth ths

nancial meltdown, and have reported

a negatve growth. Apr fator otpt

fe b 13 perent, aordng to a

Reuterspo. Other eonomsts beeved

that ndstra otpt was ke to fa

frther de to weakenng exports.

is the sprta barometer of the Maasan chrh

dtated b the eonom state of the ontr? in

times of uncertainty, how can the unchurched nd

hope throgh s? is God sang somethng n a ths

nternatona mess that we mght not have been abe to

hear n other was?

in hs message at the reent Goba Da of Praer

event at SiB Kl, NEcF Maasa charman Rev. E

Hong Seng qoted Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss

canters a to retrn to smpt when she wasasked to omment on the goba rss.

Srptres as foowers of Jess drng tmes of

rss not to abandon or roe to the ommnt bt to

nd more creative approaches in sharing our resources.

Are You Recession Ready?We have to dg deep nto or nventor of avaabe

resources to convene classes on nancial stewardship

fosng on the bba prnpes of redng debt,bdgetng, gvng and savng. in short,

the hrh shod take the ead n

nancial mentorship.

We are to promote feste hanges

that an save mone and free p fnds

to hep those n seros need. We are

to demonstrate to or oths new

perspetves b enoragng them to

earn abot sstanabe festes from

oder peope n ther ommntes.

in a pb praer, Jehoshaphat speaks frank abot

the effets of the sege, if aamt omes pon s,

whether the sword of jdgment, or page, or famne,

we w stand n or presene before ths tempe that

bears or Name and w r ot to o n or dstress,

and o w hear s and save s.

later n the same praer, he sas, We do not know

what to do, bt or ees are pon o (2 chron. 20:9,

12). Jehoshaphat pras ke a broken man who knows

that Jersaems savaton an ome on throgh dret

deverane from the God of israe.So too the chrh of Maasa mst ome to God

wth a ontrte heart and pra wth onvton that God

w hear and at, awas rememberng that to obe s

better than sacrice.

In short, theChurch shouldtake the lead

in nancial

mentorship.

Wonderng where a the ongsnge adts n or hrhhave gone? if ore the pastor of a

sma- or medm-sze ongregaton,

o ma want to hek the nearest

megahrh*, reports Mnstr Toda,

Jne 12.

Thats bease snges are threetmes as ke to attend a megahrh

and make p one-thrd of those

hrhes ongregatons, aordng to

a std b the Hartford insttte for

Regon Researh that srveed near

25,000 peope at 12 megahrhes

throghot the ontr (uSA). The

report aso dsovered that two-thrds

of megahrh regars are nder the

age of 45, wth the average person

beng 40 ears od. When omparedto the tpa Protestant hrh, at

whh the average age s 53, ts ear

that megahrhes ontne to attrat

a onger rowd.

What there aso drawng, however,

s an entertan me mndset. The

Hartford std fond that near

45 perent of those who attend a

megahrh never vonteer at the

hrh, whe 32 perent gve tte or

no mone.The ethos of the megahrh s to

A US surey reeals the mentality of churchgoers there. Could it be areection of the Malaysian Church scene?

The Good, Badand Ugly of Megachurches

...continued on pg 13



IN youR oPINIoN, why ARe So Few

ChRISTIANS eNTeRING Full-TIme

mINISTRy NowAdAyS (12 ars ag!)?

ha yng:

i wod ke to sa that t s not on nowadas. Overthe ast 2,000 ears, there have not been man chrstans

enterng f-tme mnstr. it s on n spea tmes of

revva and n spea statons when man peope have

moved nto f-tme mnstr for exampe, n the Korean

chrh over the ast generaton and aso toda, a ot of

highly-qualied people have entered the full-time ministry.

That s an exepton rather than the norm. Throghot

history, it has always been difcult to get the right people

to go nto the mnstr. in the Maasan ontext there are

three man reasons.

The rst reason is that going into the ministry always

involves an element of sacrice. Thats always the tough

part. If you look at the Malaysian Church, you will nd

that before 1970, there were ver few nverst gradates

movng nto the mnstr. Thankf, the ptre has

hanged over the 70s and 80s and peope are omng to

terms with (this) matter of sacrice. But there remains a

bg sse. Wh go nto the mnstr and have nreasonabe

eders/board members workng over o when o orsef

an beome a monare at 30 ears od? Wh go nto

mnstr when o are not sre whether o an send orhdren for nverst edaton? Wh go nto the mnstr

when o ma not even have a hose to sta n? These are

real questions involving sacrice that people going into the

mnstr have to grappe wth.

The seond reason s the wrong noton that the f-tme

mnstr s on for the drop-ots and non-performers. i st

remember one ndent when a partar bshop was sttng

wth a grop of frends and one of them ompaned abotths son who was aadema qte weak, as ompared

to the rst daughter and second son who were doing well

n ther respetve areers. He jst ddnt know what to do

wth hm. Perhaps i w send hm to Trnt Theooga

coege, he sad. Of orse he apoogsed profse when

he reased that the bshop was there. That nfortnate

has been the mage a ot of peope have abot the f-tme

mnstr:

The thrd reason s the negatve mage of the mnstr

reated b those of s who are n the mnstr. Mnsters

have faed to phod the dgnt and mage of the mnstr

and aowed themseves to be orrpted b mone, sex and

power. Ths probem an on be resoved b those of s

n f-tme work. We have to show to or hrh members

that the ang to f-tme mnstr s somethng that we

thank God for and somethng we deep vae. When

peope are tohed b or fes exampe and aso b or

mnstr, the too w want to enter the mnstr.

Kk K:

in m denomnaton some 20 ears ago(1970s), there was a hgh perentage of peope

Thesheepare plentiful,buttheshepherdsare few


Time and again, NECF Malaysia hasbeen asked to recommend people toll up pastoral vacancies in churches. It

seems there is an acute shortage of pastors,especially youth and childrens pastors, inthe Malaysian Church,

Twele years ago, NECFbrought to-gether theheads of three local bibleseminaries Seminary

Theology Malaysia, MalaysiaBible Seminary (MBS) and Bible

College Malaysia (BCM) todiscuss why Christians are shunning

the pastoral ministry and seek possiblesolutions to meet the demand for pastoralworkers.

Since then, REv. BISHOP DR HWA YUNGhas gone on to become the bishop of theMethodist Church while REv. DR TAN KIM SAIAND REv. NG KOK KEE are still heading MBSand BCM respectiely.

Though the interiew took place long ago,the interviewees response reects todays

scenario. We reprint below extracts fromthe interview for your reection and invite

you to gie your comments on www.necc.

blogspot.com



who were wng to go nto f-tme mnstr. Bt i thnk

materasm has affeted the hrh somewhat over the ast

10 or 15 years and people are nding it harder to make that

kind of sacrice. A lot of my friends have become executives,

driving imported cars and making their rst million ringgit

before the are 30. Gong nto the f-tme mnstr meansthat they have to sacrice all these and people are nding

t ver hard to do so even thogh the sa that the

ove God.

The more afuent you are, the harder it is for you

to gve p. An exampe that awas ntrge me s that

when o earn $100, t s eas to gve $10. if o earn

$1000, to gve $100 awa s not so bad; bt f o earn

$100,000 to gve $10,000 an be rea strgge. i thnk

the afuence over the last few years has badly affected

the hrh and man of or peope are not wng tomake the sacrice.

Ki Sai:

A the fators and eements that have been

mentoned are ver rea that made man that have

been called not willing to give up. But I like to afrm

what Hwa yng has sad earer that one of the

reasons wh not man are wng to take p the haenge s

the many problems, squabbles and ghts that exist among

the hrh eadershp. if o were to ask arond, man of

those who are now servng n the mnstr most probab

ome from non-chrstan bakgronds, not knowng theman probems that the have n hrh!

The were haenged b the gospe and Gods a

and most nnoent and zeaos took p the haenge.

Bt f we were to do a srve among the seond or thrd

generaton chrstans n the hrh, the nmber of them

gong nto f-tme mnstr wod most probab be ver

sma ness t s the ver spea work of the lord.

in the fae of so mh hrh pots, probems and

the ak of ntegrt and dgnt on the part of pastors and

hrh eaders, t s not srprsng wh seond and thrd

generaton chrstans are refranng from gong f-tme.

To reverse ths trend, we as pastors and hrh eaders

mst snere serve the lord n a that we do and be hepf

to peope n genera. We need sh god roe modes n or

hrh toda to be the motvatona fore for more peope

to enter the f-tme mnstr.

whAT CAN be doNe To ARReST The

deClINe oF ChRISTIANS GoING INTo Full-

TIme mINISTRy?

ha yng:From the manne hrhs pont of vew, i wont sa

that there s a dene n chrstans gong nto the f-tme

mnstr bease the nmber has never been ver hgh n the

rst place. From our observation, the quality of people who

have ome to or semnar has grada rsen. Genera

speakng, more matre peope and some wth nverst

or other professona bakgronds have entered f-tme

mnstr. i wod aso ke to pont ot somethng that Kok

Kee has broght ot earer, that s rght or wrong, some

hrhes pereve that semnar tranng s not ver sef.

The thnk that stdng theoog s a waste of tme.

Bt the qat of preahng and messages n or hrhes

toda s genera ver poor bease f-tme workers and

even pastors dont have a sod nderstandng of the Bbe,

hrh hstor and theoog.

On the other hand, the semnares have themseves to

bame bease we have oked orseves too mh nto the

Western mode of tranng whh s basa ver aadem.

We are st wrestng wth ths probem and sow gettng

orseves ot of t bease t s not an eas task.For exampe, there s not a snge textbook on Sstemat

Theoog whh reates to Asan soet, tre and the

needs of or soet. Most books are nether wrtten n the

Asan ontext nor pastora-orentated. Hene,

we hear ompants from hrh eaders who

sa that there are workers who have been

to semnar for for ears who annot even

ondt a proper Bbe std. i am not sang that

semnares have not done ther jobs bt that the

are dong ther best wthn ther mted resores

bease most of the text-books are from the West.

Ki Sai:

So n ths regard, there s a need not on for god roe

modes, that s, pastors and preahers who have mmedate

inuence over the potential people who may be called to

serve the lord f-tme, bt aso the need for roe modes of

theooga edators and shoars to mprove the staton.

Kk K:

i ke to emphasse that roe modes are ver mportant.

The roe mode ma not neessar be a dnam preaher,

great admnstrator or the person who s awas p front,

bt one who makes an mpat on the hrh members

ves the god pastor. He s the one whose fe the hrh

members want to emate.

ha yng:

in ths regard, i thnk of Rev. Peter Hseh.

Everwhere that he has gone and pastored, man

peope have gone nto f-tme mnstr. The

Ar itam Methodst chrh n Penang aone hasproded qte a nmber of pastors bease of

Continued from previous page...




Continued from previous page...

Aow Bbe Knowedge to repae

Penddkan Mora (Mora Edaton)

n msson shoos to hep arrest

the deteroraton of mora standard

among or oths. Ths s among the

resotons passed at the conferene

of chrstan Msson Shoos on Jne

26 and 27 n Kaa lmpr.

The onferene aknowedged that,

whe the teahng of Mora Edaton

n shoos for non-Msm stdents

has the vrtos am of natng

good mora vaes to mprove therharater and ondt, t does not pae

emphass on God. And, when God s

absent, oths are not gded b ther

onsene, the fear of God and the

after fe.

Fort-one representatves from

425 msson shoos from both

East and West Maaa attended ths

onferene, made hstor bease t

was the rst time the East Malaysia side

partpated.Msson shoos have awas had the

reptaton of beng the best shoos

n terms of harater bdng, hgh

aadem standards as we as extra-

rrar atvtes. The onferene

was therefore a tme opportnt to

encourage, afrm and unite the schools

ommon onern n mprovng ther

rrent hgh standards and provdng

the best opportntes for ther

stdents.

in vew of the szeabe nmber of

msson shoos n the ontr, the

onferene aso passed a resoton

askng the Government to estabsh

a spea nt wthn the Edaton

Mnstr to dea wth matters whh

are nqe to msson shoos. Ths

nt wod enhane ommnaton

and effetve mpementaton of

poes between the shoos and the

Mnstr as t w rede the rrentak of nderstandng among mnstr

ofcials.

in addton, the nt shod be

staffed with ofcers who understand

and appreate the hstor, tre

and ethos of msson shoos, and are

senstve to the dstntve operatona

harater and needs of msson

shoos.

went throgh as a pastor and i tod msef that i w never

beome a pastor. i thnk t s part the hrhs fat for we

have not rea taken are of those who are n the mnstr.

it s aso part or fat we have not shown orseves to

be god roe modes.

Kk K:

One wa to ompensate for ths ak of god roe

modes s to haenge or peope to read bographes

of otstandng men and women of God and nderstand

some of the sacrices that they have made in servingGod as mssonares and so on. Or peope

are readng too mh jnk n the form of

a these bess me stff.

his inuence. In the West, we can think of the Guinness

and Hdson Taors fames where sessve generatons

of them have gone into mission elds. I think one test as

to whether the person has a rea ang to f-tme mnstr

s whether he rea desres and pras for hs own hdren

to go nto the f-tme mnstr too. We need to bd p

sh tradtons n or ontr.

Some of the reasons we dsssed earer

on wh peope are not gong nto f-tme mnstr are the same reasons wh

we dont have sh tradtons n Maasa.

i have peope who sa to me, i saw what m father

As for the sse of mtng

SPM anddates to 10 sbjets, the

onferene was of the opnon that

ths wod restrt the sope of more

taented stdents and prevent the

shoos from offerng a more host

range of sbjets. Frthermore, a wder

range of sbjets w gve stdents the

opportnt to hoose ther areers.

The Pps Own langage (POl),

Engsh lteratre and Bbe Knowedge

(BK) are sbjets not norma taght

n shoo. The are, however, what

provde for a we-ronded edaton

and prepare the stdent for adt fe.

Hene, mtng the stdents to 10

sbjets w rta the more apabesene stdents to be we ronded n

both the Arts and Senes.

Another deep onern s that the

10-sbjet mt w ead to the death

of man mnor sbjets, ndng BK,

and mt the reatvt, nnovatveness

and knowedge of ftre Maasans.

The onferene then proposed that

the mt be rased to 12 sbjets.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (seated middle) and Minister in the Prime

Mini sters Department Tan Sri Ber nard Dompok (on the PMs ri ght) wer e the specialgues ts. The PM, who attended a mission school in h is youth, acknowledged the invaluable

contributions of mission schools during his speech.

Let BK replace MoralWill arrest moral decline among youths, say Mission Schools



Ths ears Merdeka Praer Ra w be

a ombned affar between the Engsh-

and chnese-speakng ongregatons. Theorgansers NEcF Maasa and partpatng

hrhes are expetng a hge trnot of

chrstans at the vene, FGA Kl, on Ag 30

at 7.00p.m.

The speaker s Php Mantofa from

Srabaa, indonesa. As Senor Pastor of

Rose of Sharon chrh, hs mnstr overs

51 hrhes wth over 30,000 dspes.

Php s marred wth three hdren. He

is uent is English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Merdeka Prayer RallyCombined English- and Chinese-speaking churches

30August7.00p.m.FGAKL

Join ChristiAns throuGhout

e cy yealy jey

of contemplaon and intercession

for the naon.

te eme yea Lve

o negb A sg Lg

to the Naons. This is a call to

churches and Chrisans to love

our neighbours in praccal ways.

Organised by NECF Malaysia,

paye jey clmae a

the Merdeka Prayer Rally (more

f e g).

40-DAYFASTANDPRAYER

NECF Foundation StudyLoan Frozen

The NECF Foundation has approed

19 study loans totalling RM 299,787 since

its inception in 2004.

Unfortunately, repayments for the

loans hae been discouraging.

The Foundation Board has therefore

decided to freeze all study loan

applications until the borrowers replenish

the reoling fund.

Northern Region Tamil Pastors

Gathering (Perak, Penang, Kedah & Perlis)

sa yo ant jst st there and spetate,

thats not enogh, ove got to do ths

or do that, sad std o-dretor

Sott Thmma. Bt a ot of peope

sad im perfet happ omng here

and dong that.

Dont assme thats bease

megahrhes attrat more new

chrstans or those who havent been

to hrh for a whe both of whh

od possb add to the spetator

mndset.Aordng to the std, on a qarter

of those attendng a megahrh had

stopped gong to hrh for a ong

tme pror to omng. And n terms

of drawng new beevers, the srve

fond hard an dfferene among

megahrhes and non-megahrhes.

The bggest dfferene between

the two, however, s attratng new

peope. Two-thrds of those attendng

a megachurch have been there ve

ears or ess ompared to 40 perent

n hrhes of a szes. (interestng

enogh, ths rato remans the same

even when o dont onsder newer

hrhes that began wthn the past

deade.)When anasng what attrats

peope to megahrhes, the report

fond the top three fators (n order)

to be worshp ste, senor pastor and

the hrhs reptaton.

Leaders will also nd it interesting

that the top reason rst-time visitors

of a megahrh retrn s the senor

pastor.

Ths s the trn of events n the

US. Does it reect the state of the

Maasan Protestant chrh? let s

know or thoghts. Wrte to edtor@

nef.org.m

*The term megahrh genera

refers to an Protestant ongregatonwth a sstaned average week

attendane of 2,000 persons or more

n ts worshp serves.

Continued from pg 9...

iN response to nmeros reqests b pastors from

the regon, the NEcF Maasa Tam commsson s

organsng ths one-da gatherng for networkng and

sprta nspraton.

dat : 29t oct 2009 (Trsa)

Ti : 10.00a 4.00p

Pac : ean Cristian Ass, Taiping

look ot for more detas n the next sse.



Coming Up

Aug. 2527 at FGA, Kuala Lumpur

THEME: Transformation Leading with Creatiityand Coniction in Crisis

SPEAKERS: Re. Barry Boucher and Paul De Jong

REGISTRATION FEE: RM100

THE presene of a hrh s fet n ts ommnt when t

goes ot to serve the neghborhood n areas where hep

s sore needed. Man hrhes have sessf started

and rn ommnt programmes that have mpated ther

neghborhood.

in ne wth ths, NEcF Maasa s organsng ths

onferene to spr hrhes to move ot of ther doors

nto ther ommntes. The onferene w featre some

sessf ommnt programmes, sh as dass entres,

hdrens homes, dsaster reef work, drg rehabtaton

entres and two groer-reated mnstres that se essenta

goods at ether sbsdsed pres or free-of-harge to the

need. chrhes and para-hrh organsatons rnnng

these programmes w share ther stores.

Pastors, eaders and a chrstans who desre to make adfferent n ther ommntes are strong enoraged to

attend the onferene to be nspred and aso to network.

Rev. Barry Boucher s one of the three fonders of The

lfe centre, Ottawa (canada). He has been deep ommtted

to twde mnstr and has been atve nvoved n the

Ottawa Pastors Praer Feowshp. Wth

hs weath of experene, Barr w besharng on the mportane of Sprta

Fathers and fatherhood to nrtre

and eqp the onger generaton.

Barr w aso share was how

we an redsover or ang, not so

mh as a voaton, bt to ead the hrh to mpat the

ommnt, that w transform the naton throgh the oa

hrh.

Two partar themes he w be addressng are 1)

Transformatona Praer 2)Athent Reatonshps.

Paul De Jong New Zeaand has a chrstan hertage;

however, t s beseged b a host of soa

s and ranks among the ontres wth

the hghest teenage pregnan, aoho

abuse and suicide rate. This diversied

ethn and tra bakdrop wth a

mrad of soa probems s smar to

Maasa. Pa, senor pastor of liFE,

one of the fastest growng hrhes n Akand, w share

hs hrh and eadershp modes whh have paed aninuential role in TRANSFORMING the mt-ethn t

of Akand and tre for Jess!

National Church Conference

October 10, 5.00a.m. to 12p.m.

cHRiSTiANS, espea chrstan

oths, throghot Maasa who wsh

to experene the thr of rnnng and

prang at the same tme for ther tes

are rged to sgn p for RnNat (Rn

for the Naton).

it ma not ome ose to extreme

sports, bt RnNat s nevertheess a

haengng event as the rnners w

have to focus on their ve km-run

whe takng trns to pra aod.

The vson of the natona rn s

smp to nspre or oths to have

a praerf heart for the naton; the

spover effet s that chrstans aross

denomnatons w be nted n praer

for the naton.

And so on Otober 10, rnners n

a the state aptas of Maasa w ht

the tra at 5.00a.m. for ther rn past

homes, schools, ofces, government

bdngs and regos stes.

In teams of three to ve, they will

pra for the peope n the bdngs as

the pond the streets. And nstead of

arrng torhes, the w arr praer

ards whh the w pass to the nextteam at the end of their ve kilometre-

rote.

The rn s organsed b Sports

Partnershp Maasa, spported b

NEcF Maasa and overed b the

GDOP (Goba Da of Praer) Kaa

lmpr ommttee.

On Ma 23, 2010, RnNat w

partner GDOP Maasa for a 10-da

Omp-tpe praer rn where the

ast team of rnners w enter the

Meawat Stadm n Shah Aam and

rn arond the trak to kk off the

GDOP conert.

This prayer run was rst held on

Ot. 5, 2007 where 105 chrstans n

varos teams ran a tota of 160 km

wthn the Kang Vae.

For frther detas and to regster as a

rnner, vst www.rnforthenaton.om

or ema [email protected] or organsng harman Vtor

cha at 019-2246886 or vtor@

rnforthenaton.om

RunNat 09

RunNat a

fusion ofphysical and

spiritual

exercise.



Coming Up

ORDINARY MEMBERS

Jubilee Sdn Bhd, Bentong, Pahang, represented by Ann Wan Kuan; Bethany Chapel, Klang,

rep. by Gan Tian Eng; KK Harvest Church, Kota Kinabalu,pastored by Chong Su Kong;

Rhema Blessed Church Kajang,pastored by Paulus Joseph; Life Empowerment Bhd, Kota

Kinabalu,pastored by Ng Weng Kong; and Grace Community Johor Bahru,pastored by Dr

Charmiane Choong Poh Lee

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Elder Goh Kim Moi; Ms Chen Mee Foong; Pr Petrik Andrews; Madam Wong Ming Yook;

and Pr Charmiane Choong Poh Lee

NECF MALAYSIA WELCOMES

N E W M E M B E R S

THE ftre of or naton rests on or

oths. The chrh therefore needs

to proatve and passonate prse

mnstres that reah ot to them,

espea the teens n shoos.

Ths prst s a the more rgent

onsderng the onstant-hangngedaton poes, and the fat that the

poes and shoo athortes dtate

how shoos are rn and how or

hdrens mndset s shaped.

However, reahng ot to oths n

or shoos annot be done n soaton

b the onerned partes (teahers,

parents or hrhes). To aheve far-

reahng mpat for or naton and

hrhes, effetve Stdents and

Shoos Mnstr (SSM) reqres the

snerg partnershp of a teahers,

parents, hrhes, and onerned para-

hrh mnsteres.

in ght of ths, NEcF Maasa,

throgh the NEcF yothNet, and

Students Ministry ForumSept. 7 at Canning Garden Methodist

Church, Ipoh

THEME:Students & Schools Ministry

A Partnership between Parents,

Teachers and Churches

severa organsatons w be jont

hodng a spea form to branstorm

was to effetve mpat stdents.

The organsatons nde the Maaan

chrstan Shoos con (McSc),

Teahers chrstan Feowshp (TcF)

and Srptre unon (Su).The form ams to:

Re-look at schools as an important

mission-eld and chart long-term

strateg towards deveopng or oths

as naton-bders of tomorrow;

Bring together parents, teachers

and hrhes to snergse ther roes as

agents of transformaton, for exampe

throgh parent-teaher assoaton and

shoos chrstan Feowshps; and

Brainstorm how to make SSM

effetve and mpatf.

Parents, teahers, oth workers

(ndng nformed bodes), senor

pastors, hrh eaders and oths are

strong rged to attend.

SiNGlE women who are servng

f-tme n chrstan mnstres are

nvted to a retreat for a tme of rest,

rereaton and networkng.

Organsed b the NEcF Maasa

Womens organsaton, the retreat

s f sponsored b appreatve

chrstans who wsh to honor these

snge ades who have devoted ther

ves to the serve of God.Two speakers snge ades

themseves who have been n

mnstr for a ong tme w be

sharng ther experenes.

The are Dr Teresa cha, rrent

the Presdent of Apha Omega

internatona coege and aso

Msson Pastor of Grae Assemb,

Petang Jaa; and Nesam Ebenezer

who had served n Maasan care

n varos arng mnstres for 20ears. Present, she s a a pastor at

St Pas chrh, Petang Jaa.

Athogh snge women, ke the

Aposte Pa, have man advantages

over ther marred oeages, the

fae nqe haenges n ther

work.

Hene, the retreat provdes

a good opportnt for them to

nvgorate ther sprts n a tme of

mnsterng and bondng wth other

ke-mnded servants.

Retreat forFull-time SingleWomens Workers

Malaysian Youth Missions Conference 2009Sept. 20 - 23. at DVillage Resort, Melaka

THE onferene kks off the vson

to start a Maasan oth mssons

movement to str Maasan oths

to take p the a of the Great

commsson. it s ntated b the

yoth Trak of Maasan centre for

Goba Mssons n partnershp wth

others ndng NEcF yothNet.

There w be over 20 workshops

hghghtng the varos aspets of

mssons nvovement, Mssons Far,

testmones from ong Maasanmssonares and tentmakers servng

n varos natons and ctra Tent

experenes.

Regstraton fee s RM270 b 1st

Agst and RM290 thereafter.

contat [email protected] or

vst www.thepan09.weeb.om for

more nformaton.

Sept. 10 12 at Port Dickson


16/16

IranOn Jne 12 after an nsa

btter ampagn, voters went to thepos to hoose a new presdent. less

than two hors after the ast of some

40 mon paper baots were ast, the

athortes annoned that Presdent

Mahmod Ahmadnejad had been re-

eeted wth more than 60 perent of

the vote. Ths prompted mass protests

b demonstrators who amed that he

had stoen the eeton.

Ahdmadnejads man haenger,Mr Hssen Mossav, a former

prme mnster wth a reptaton for

honest and ompetene, aed on

supporters and fellow clerics to ght

the eeton rests.

Protesters pored nto the streets

for the argest demonstraton sne

the fa of the Shah. Bt after a few

gestres toward ompromse, the

ontrs spreme rer, AatoahA Khamene, harsh denoned the

demonstratons and trned oose the

poe.

Das of street battes foowed,

n whh at east 17 peope were

ked, ndng a ong woman,

Neda Agha-Sotan, whose death was

aptred on vdeo and beame a

wordwde rang pont. Hndreds

of opponents were jaed, and theprotests dwnded. The eeton

was certied by the countrys

Gardan con and prased b Mr

Ahmadnejad as the freest n the

word. (Extrated from The New York

Times, 13 June, aessed on 14 J at

http://tops.ntmes.om/top/news/

nternatona/ontresandterrtores/

ran/ndex.htm)

Pra for wsdom and prdene for

the protestors and ther eaders who

mst dede ther orse of aton, for

the chrh and ts eadershp whhmst endre ths tme of trmo.

Pra for the lord to revea

Hmsef to the sprta hngr

iranans as the on tre sore of

hope, for a sprta awakenng among

them. Pra for chrstan eaders,

evangests and broadasters for

wsdom on how best to reah the

varos regons and ommntes,

and for ther ontned orage andperseverane. Pra the iranan peope

w agan have a rer ke crs of

the Od Testament who aknowedged

the God of israe as the on tre

Kng.

Pra espea for the iranan

women, that the w experene tre

bert that on chrst an brng.

Pra for those sfferng domest

voene and abse, and pra forfemae chrstan workers for wsdom

on how to ntrode the Gospe to

these women.

Ma the Gospe ontne to spread

throgh the ontr throgh fam

network.

North SudanEnabngchrstans to spport themseves

n ontexts where the faedsrmnaton or hostt s an

mportant part of the work of

Barnabas, a mnstr to the Perseted

chrh. One wa to do ths s to

eqp them wth sks the an se

for nome-generaton. A grant of

5,000 ponds to a chrstan mnstr

n North Sdan ontrbted to

the costs of a ve-month training

programme for 100 women to teah

them taorng. Eah woman was aso

gven her own sewng mahne. Ths

s the seventh sh orse, and thosewho have aread been traned testf

to how ther new sks have hanged

ther ves. Man are pastors wves,

and the nrease n the fam nome

from the sewng frees ther hsbands

to gve more tme to servng the lord.

The sks earned and the sewng

mahnes gven are espea vta

for wdows who have no one ese to

provde for them or ther hdren.Man have aso been great bessed

b the Bbe stdes hed before eah

sewng ass and have had ther fath

renewed and strengthened, gvng

them peae n the mdst of a the

difculties they face. (From barnabas

aid, July/August 2009.)

Prase be to God for ths mnstr

of Barnabas to empower the need

for sef-reane. Pra that the fndsneeded to rn the mnstr w awas

overow from the generosity of His

nancially-able children.

contne to pra for or ssters n

North Sdan that God w grant them

spea strength as the jgge ther

many challenges. May they reect the

beat of Gods grae and honess.

H1N1On J 13, the WordHealth Organisation said the new u

vrs was nstoppabe and prompt

gave drg makers a f go-ahead

to manfatre vanes aganst the

pandemic inuenza strain. Countries

everwhere are now srambng to get

hod of the vanes. As the pandem

ontnes to spread, pra that ths w

provde an oason for the Gospe to

aso go forth throgh a the orners

of the earth.

Berita NECF - July-August 2009

Documents

Transcript of Berita NECF - July-August 2009