Hi friends,

over the weekend, it will be father’s day. Have you prepared some thing to appreciate your father? Maybe you have been busy, or maybe it is not part of your family ‘culture’ so it is awkward. But everyone deserves an appreciation, even our fathers. They have spend much time to provide for us, care for us, even though it may not be very evident, they do love us. We may have been hurt by some of their words but they too have been hurt by us from our words, maybe even more. But they still love us.

Below is a video of God, our heavenly father’s Love letter to us.

And a video of a daughter’s letter to a dad

Thank God for His love, thank you for dads!

Would you take some time to write a note or letter of appreciation to your dad? Who knows, he might scoff it or even pretend it is nothing much, but deep beneath, I’m sure he will be greatly touch by it and he might look at the letter in privacy. So do take some time to just thank your dad for whatever small thing he has done for you.

Happy Father’s Day!

Day 1 of the Student Evangelism Training (SET) was over last Friday! There were sessions where we learn the importance of evangelism and the main points of the gospel, we also played sports and watched films and clips from movies.

Ready...

Set...

Go!

Our theme for SET is “Ready? SET. Go!” Thus we started our time with our “theme action” and followed by a short time of worship.

The first lesson was on the priority of evangelism, which focused on the importance of evangelism. Evangelism was taught as the call for every christian and we had to think of ways where we can reach our friends to tell them about Jesus. One student commented, ” (From this lesson, i) got a clear picture of what it entails, instead of the blatant outreach campaigns that I always see around.”

The second lesson was on the main points of the gospel, where we learnt the essence of the gospel that we need to share with our friends and the tools we can leverage on the bridge to the gospel. The students had a wonderful time learning from the teachers, quoting from one student, “I learnt the tools to systematically share the gospel.”

After the lunch break we split into two groups, one group attending the ‘Sports Evangelism’ workshop and the other attending the ‘Media Evangelism’. In the Sports Evangelism class, the instructor taught about the priority to do sports ministry with Christ in mind. The key to a sports ministry is about building relationships, and being a light and salt. In the “Media Evangelism” class, students were treated to a variety of films, after which they were asked how they can share Christ using the films of the different topics.

The students all enjoyed the training and brought home precious lessons to think about the next time they want to share Christ to their friends. Below are some comments from them:

“Media evangelism. Highly relevant, real life examples. Thought provoking.”

“the trainings are helpful in giving us confidence in spreading the gospel and the content to do so.”

“Sports evangelism. New approach that I have not been engaged in.”

“Evangelism through media. It made me realize that an ordinary tool like videos and films we watch everyday can be used as a way to lead me to share the gospel.”

Come join us for on 12th June that you may equipped and have the confidence to know what to share with your friends too!

Topics for next training:
- Christian Apologetics
- Conversational Evangelism
- The Man God uses
- Reaching the Postmoderns

The holidays are here! Though some will be ruing that they still have to go back to school for CCAs, project work and leadership training, we do hope you have a wonderful holiday ahead of you. Do spend your time wisely and prioritize your time well so that you can finish your assignments and still enjoy your holidays!

In the month of June, do consider some of the activities that Student Venture has in stored:

1. National Student Evangelism Training (5th June and 12th June)
The 2 day training will walk you through not only the importance of evangelism but also the different ways we can do it. Do contact Johnson @ 90219847 as tickets are limited!

2. Street Evangelism (15th June and 22nd June)
We will be hitting the streets to hear what are people think about God and also what are some of their struggles. Fear of speaking to strangers? No worries! Our staff will lead and you can just listen and learn from them. Do contact Johnson if you are interested.

Alright! Have a nice June holidays!

This year we will be holding an evangelism training in June. The theme for the training is “Ready? SET, GO!” The idea is to question ourselves, are we Ready? to share the good news with our friends, if not, come for our SET (Student Evangelism Training) and you can Go!

As we interact with students over the years, we realized that many of them struggle with evangelism because they do not know how to do so. Although many of them have the heart to share, more often than not, they give up because of fear or rejections. We hope that through our 2 days of training, we can equip students with some useful tools to help them in their evangelism. More importantly, that by coming, they can eliminate any fears or anxieties that have with sharing their faith.

The training will be held in a 2 day workshop style. Below is the program and synopsis of the workshops for each day.

Details of NSET
Dates: 5th June 2009, 12th June 2009
Time: 930am-4pm
Venue: Foo Chow Methodist Church
Price for each day: $6 (registered), $7 (walk-in)

5th June 2009
Time Program
0930 – 0950 Settle down
0950 – 1020 Worship
1020 – 1120 Priority of Evangelism
1120 -1135 Break
1135 – 1235 The Main Points of the Gospel
1235 – 1335 Lunch
1335 – 1550 Sports/Video workshop (with break)
1550 – 1600 Worship + announcements

12th June 2009
Time Program
0930 – 0950 Settle down
0950 – 1020 Worship
1020 – 1120 The Person God uses
1120 -1135 Break
1135 – 1235 Reaching the Post-modern Generation
1235 – 1335 Lunch
1335 – 1550 Conversational Evangelism/Apologetics workshop (with break)
1550 – 1600 Worship + announcements

Synopsis of Workshops

5th June 2009
Basic Package I
Priority of Evangelism
You may have heard of the ten commandments, but do you know the Great Commission given by Jesus? Jesus gave his disciples (as well as us) a command to go and make disciples of all nations. However, we often forget the priority of making Christ known in our lives. In this lesson, may we be touched by God’s heart for the lost and be convicted about our God-given mission.

The Main Points of the Gospel
Tried sharing Christ with your friends before, but have no idea where to start or what to say? Don’t be discouraged! Come and learn how you can share the gospel using 4 simple points. There will also be a showcase of some creative platforms that can reach your friends in a connecting and effective way.

Workshops I (Choose one)
Sports Evangelism
Wonder how to turn a soccer session to a meaningful spiritual conversation? How about using sports move to illustrate biblical values? This is a workshop for students who play sports or simply watches them. Learn how to point people to Christ in the midst of having fun and sweating out.

Video Evangelism
Having you ever thought that you can start a spiritual conversation after watching “Spiderman” or “Star Trek”? Yes you can! Come and hear how you can learn to do that! Using creative means to bring the unchanging gospel to the changing generation!

12th June 2009
Basic Package II
The Person that God Uses
Sharing Christ is more than saying the right words. It’s also about being right before God; confessing our sins and allowing Christ to take control. In order to be an effective witness for Christ, we must walk in the Spirit moment by moment. Come and learn how we can be empowered in the Holy Spirit and bear fruits in our witnessing.

Reaching the Post-Moderns
The mindset of the world is changing everyday, but the gospel message remains the same. How do we bring the truth of God to a world that believes in no absolute truth? How do we engage the world that is more convinced by experience than explanation? Learn a ‘ABC’ model that can help you connect to this post-modern generation.

Workshops II (Choose one)
Christian Apologetics
“How do you know the bible is true? How can Jesus be God and Man?” Apologetics has been defined as “the science and art of defending the faith.” Learn how to answer the age-old question of the deity of Jesus Christ and the reliability of the bible through this workshop.

Conversational Evangelism
Most Christians tend to talk first and ask questions later. But listening is persuasive. It opens new door to faith. Come join this workshop to learn how to dialogue with people and discover the conversational approach to evangelism.

We’ve uploaded last 2 weeks topics! You can look through them under “SV Devotions”

The new devotions are:
1. On the Integrity of our Christian character (Part 1) Battling our inconsistencies by grace and grit
2. The Discipline of Grace – Wielding grace and grit in our fight to maintain Christian integrity

Next week will be the last devotion for this semester. Devotions will resume in July.

Hi all! We’ve included some new features to our blog! We’ve included the outlines for the RJC Morning devotions in our blog. So for some reasons if you are unable to come in that morning, you can still read the devotion for that day through our blog. We hope this will keep you updated on what is being preached. Feel free to comment and discuss.

The devotions are kept under the heading “SV Devotions”

We would like to first and foremost thank God for how He has provided for all that we needed for this event and How He saw us through. It was really a fun time for most of us and I am sure for those who had helped out in this event has also benefited from it

We started at about 4pm on that day to prepare the place, pack the welcome pack, practice worship and rehearse the play.

We started the event at about 7.30pm with a time of worship, led by pei ling. Followed by a play about expectations, featuring theodore, daryl, max, keith and darius and guest starring Cove Red. Sharon chan shared her testimony n how she came to know Christ and how God has changed her life. A pastor also gave a devotion. We ended the time with a powerful song by hannah and ruo ting. And not forgetting our wonderful emcees jingyi and cheriel.

Honestly, this event was put together quite last minute. The play was only rehearsed on that day itself. We had a last minute change of location. But in the end, we saw how God had helped us put everything together. How the play went well with the band, even though there was not a prior rehearsal with the band.

Below it is a testimony from darius, who is the main person who helped to put the event together:
“One of my greatest takeaway from this experience is to put all my trust in God and let Him direct my way. During the course of preparing this event, we were faced with many setbacks (e.g. couldn’t secure previous location, emcee couldn’t make it, main character for drama dropped out). I was very dejected each time a problem occurred, questioning God why He has to make the path so difficult even when what we were doing was for His ministry, according to His commands. However, looking back, I have learnt that it is God places road-blocks so that we will follow the direction He wants us to take. More importantly and amazingly, whenever God closes one door, he will open another that is even better. When the previous location could not be booked, Johnson managed to get the location at Zion BP which was nearer to our school. When we couldn’t find an emcee, Wai Ian got us the bubbly pair – Jingyi and Cheriel – who did such a great job, even though they only received the program outline on Wednesday night. When the original main character informed me that couldn’t commit to the drama, Theodore msged me less than an hour later to see if there was anyway he could helped out Without Theo’s experience and imba TSD skills, the drama wouldn’t have turned out the way it did. Really hope that this sharing would encourage all to put your trust in Him no matter what happens, for He was, He is and He will be faithful forever ”

We are really thankful for the success of this event. This is the first time in these few years that SV saw so many people attending 1 event.

We would really thank those who had helped out, not in order of merit:
Worship Team: Peiling, Keith, Emma, Samuel, Jon
Drama Team: Theodore, Max, Keith, Daryl
Hospitality Team: Sharon, Wai Ian
Song Presentation: Ruo Ting, Hannah
Emcees: Jingyi, Cheriel
Technical Team: Aaron, Sean, Nigel, Tim, James
And not forgetting those who had helped out who are not named. Thank you!!!

Of course, for such a memorable event we must take a group photo to remember this day!!!

Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009
Time: 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Location: Zion Bible-Presbyterian (Bishan) *the location has been changed, it is no longer at ‘The Riverwalk’
Street: 4 Bishan Street 13

Ever thought what’s so good about Good Friday?? o.0
Well……..It’s a public holiday…….and you can join in a time of song, dance and fun at the Life Concert this thursday evening before good friday!

Come find out how Love Is ForEver at the LIFE Concert, an outreach event planned for you(ths)! There will be youths performing in a mini-musical, playing in a band, and sharing with you about their LIFE

The event starts at 7.00 pm, at Zion B-P (Bishan).
Details on how to get there are at the end of this message. If you are unsure how to get there, you can meet at 6.30pm at either Bishan Interchange or Bus-stop opposite RIJC, where there’ll be guides to bring you there.

Hope to see you there

P.S.
Getting there:
From bus stop opposite RJC – Take Bus 410 (White), alight four stops later
From Bishan Interchange – Take 410(Green) or 54, alight two stops later

P.P.S.
This event is open to all! (: (: Whether they’re from RJ or not! (: Please DO bring your friends along! (: (: It’s also open to nonchristians so don’t let anything stop you from coming ! (:

Our 1st gathering this year was held in the Botanic gardens. At about 930am, we gathered at the Swan lake, we waited a while for everyone to come because some of us got lost. Botanic gardens is not that small!

This gathering was organized by the J1 students (Sharon George and Chan, Pei ling and Wai Ian), they planned the singspiration, games and invited their friends to come. There were 10 students who came.

We started our time with singspiration which was lead by Peiling and Wai Ian played the guitar. It was a great time of fellowship. And of course when there is fellowship there is food!!! It was potluck, so each of us brought some food to share with each other. Not forgetting the fun and games we had When we got to know one another more through games. We splitted into 2 groups, 1 group played Bang! and the other played Chez Geek.

All in all, we had fun and it was really an enjoyable time. Although we got a little burnt sitting under the sun ;p

re. the My Hope Singapore Project.

The national coordinator for this Project has invited friends to his house alr. Below is a recollection of his account

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

I share this primarily to give encouragement to everyone involve in the My Hope Singapore project and to give all glory to God for his goodness and faithfulness.

I was to be away for a men’s retreat from 21st to 23rd Nov. But before I left, my wife told me that she had arranged for 4 of her Filipina ex-colleagues from a music school to come by to our home on the 23rd evening for dinner. She would like to show the Tagalog prog and run a My Hope party because one of the Filipina friend was going to go back to the Philippines on 1 Dec and so we cannot wait for the launch date. I agreed and made sure that my wife filled up the prayer card for me to bring along so I can pray for them while I was on my retreat. I had only met one of the 4 friends before.

I reached home on the 23rd evening and was told by my wife that one of the Filipina couldn’t make it but another Chinese lady was coming instead. I was a little bit concerned whether I should still screen the Tagalog prog. During the dinner, I found out that 1 of the Filipina lady was already a believer and her church was also involved in My Hope.

Because, they were all ladies and English speaking, I finally decided instead to screen the “True Prosperity” English prog (Olivia Tay’s testimony – sample copy only with sound not smoothened out yet). After they watched it, I started to share my short testimony (like we were taught) and at the end I invited them to receive Jesus. There was silence and no reaction from anyone. As I sat there looking at them, I could sense something stirring in my heart that gave me a prompting that I must try again. I press on and took out the “My Decision” brochure. I gave a brochure to each of them and then explain how God created us perfect but because of sin we are separated from Him and how Jesus is the only way to be reconciled to God.

I ended by saying that we only need to pray a simple prayer to receive Jesus into our lives and asked if thay would like to pray this prayer. One of them raised up her hand immediately. I turn to look at another girl and she nodded her head. I then turned to the Chinese lady and she said “I think I would like to give it a try” and she nodded her head. I then ask them to repeat the sinners prayer with me and while they were praying 2 of them cried. I was trying very hard to hold back my own emotions….

Friends, let me confess that even though I am the so-called “National Coordinator” of the My Hope Singapore project, I am no less immuned to doubts and fears that assailed us all and I too worry about what is going to happen when I host such parties. But praise be to God, just by being obedient to act in faith, I was privileged to lead 3 sisters to the Lord Jesus Christ. In my 20 years as a Christian I have only led 1 brother to Chirst. My score has improved 300% in one night. Hallelujah.. ……… All glory to God indeed.

Mrs Matthew’s testimony (from my wife Eileen)
- No need to be overly concerned about food – Select dishes which can be prepared beforehand, so as to have time for other things and prayer.
- The house need not be in perfect tidiness – It was one of my busiest weekend with Chee Onn’s absence. So I did not have much time to tidy up the house.
- No need to be too concerned about the DVD and story details – The Holy Spirit works in miraculous ways in convicting the hearts even when the program is not perfect.
- Be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading – we decided to switch to an English DVD instead of the intended Tagalog show when the unexpected Chinese guest showed up.
- Rally for prayer support for the party – Our BGEA colleagues and my pastor were praying for the party.
- When inviting guests to receive Christ, stating that they only need to say a simple prayer to receive Him helps pre-believers understand better what is expected of them.

Friends, you can still be a part of My Hope Singapore. Just obey the call to rise up and trust God for the outcome. There is a harvest that God has prepared. Without the workers they may not be brought into the Kingdom. Don’t hesitate anymore. Together we can make a difference and bring in the harvest….. .

Yours humbly
Chee Onn

You can go to this website to find out more about the MyHope Singapore project:

http://www.myhope.com.sg/myhopesg/index2.html