We know good works cannot contribute to our salvation as we are live under grace. But good works is an outcome of salvation through the transforming power of God in our lives. What then is “good works” to the normal worshippers of Jesus Christ? Coming faithfully every Sunday and listening to a stirring sermon? Maybe embark in a fellowship group or entity and have a congenial time with one another? Occasionally join a bible study class to render ourselves another spiritual boost? The Greek words “agathois”, translated as good also means “useful / helpful “. God has saved us and set us on the path filled with opportunities extending that help to others, useful in accomplishing His own purposes. Again we sense a gap between what God wants us to be and what we aspire to be; corrupted by sin; we could do nothing for God, for ourselves or for others. But now we have been forgiven of our iniquities and made alive in God through Christ for the purpose of making Him known beyond reasonable doubt. How then can others know who Christ is unless we are willing to move out of our psychological four walls? We’re called most High to be set aside for His use as joint heirs. Are we then willing to come out of our comfort zone or assume to be “Busy for God”? What God wants of us believers is to get “Busy with God”, drawing closer every day and be susceptible to His heartbeat and witness what He is doing around us hence compound His good work / commission. What He wants is for us to experience Him in a fresh, new way by involving in what He is doing around us presently.

Leo Tolstoy, who did not shy away from adding a moral lesson in his stories, ended his short story “Three Questions” this way: Remember then, there is only one time that is important — Now!

It’s the most important time because it’s the only time when we have any power. The past is unchangeable, future unpredictable and faithfulness in the past combined with hope for a better future of the former end is to equip us for the present. As Tolstoy said, we have control over no other time and like all faithful Christians pray ” Thy Will be done in earth as it is in Heaven ” thus proceed to enact God’s will through — love, justice, peace, mercy, forgiveness in the present earth.

(Certain part is extracted from “Reaching the Invisible God” Philip Yancey).

Andrew Ng

When approached by the Migrant ministry partners if they would consider serving the migrants workers here, they offer many different reasons for not wanting to be involved.

Reasons such as ”we’re already very busy with all our own church activities”;”they will not be permanent with us, so why bother”;”they don’t speak our language”;”is it legal to share the Gospel with the migrants” and all host of other excuses.

Over time we’ve indeed proven to be too preoccupied with “Churchtianity” where activities are purely confined to the four walls of the church building where members are available at all times though they may be busy or fully occupied with their church’s weekly programs.

True, at certain times various churches will organize short exposure mission trips and visits and deem it mission work. This is not wrong by itself especially if it’s properly taken as an educational platform to explore the possibility of longer term commitment in the migrant ministry programme.

The snag is, as one missionary commented “it’s more like going for sanctified tourism than a preparation for migrant ministry involvement. And let’s not talk about going overseas to minister, have we ever considered serving the mission needs that are currently right at our door steps? Right here in Malaysia, where many of the economically deprived “nations” arrive in droves seeking new ways to earn a living legally or to relocate for a better future?

Previously, we deem serving in mission as requiring us to leave our home country and crossing geographical boundaries into a more challenging country to present the Gospel. However if we are to understand the word “Nations” as stipulated in the Bible( Matt 28:18-20), it is translated as ethane, meaning ethnic groups rather than geographical states as we understand today.

Ethnos is defined as a group of people with a common cultural and ancestry ties that bind them together. This identity is expressed in their world view, common values, beliefs and behavior. We need to understand it from a social/cultural/ethical setting and that it is not in any way a geographical setting.

What’s more, the world we now live in is growing exponentially, its population exploding in an unprecedented way. Currently we have about 6.7-6.9 billion inhabitants and 15 years down the road another 1 billion will be added. Taking this into consideration should our Lord tarry in coming, by the year 2050, earth’s population will balloon to 9.5 billion. (source from “Issue facing Christians today” by John Stott 4th edition). Globalization has turned our planet into a virtual global village where people move from one place to another. Regardless of walls and boundaries, checks and restrictions people continue to cross borders easily. The Internet which offers free information at a click and transportation advances enabling what Air Asia’s slogan said” Now everyone can fly” makes human migration to greener pastures inevitable.

The winds of changes are now pushing churches to view mission from a different perspective. We’re now coming to the 3rd era of our mission movement( notes taken from Perspective for world mission), where Cameron Townsend and Donald Mc Graven helped us to look into the Unreached People Group( UPG) or Least Reached People Group( LPG) not only in their own countries alone.

Globalization has caused these people groups to places where they maybe just a short hop from where we stay. These could be the voiceless/ non visible group where unless we search deeper, they could be practically at our door step.

As a Chinese proverb states, “we can build walls to prevent the winds from blowing against us or we can build a windmill to churn the winds that God has sent our way. The churches therefore need to view the changing trends of world mission. In the past the churches’ understanding of mission was to be in the field where these people groups are located. Now we need a major shift of view point from sending our workers into foreign lands to working with the millions of migrants that are now flocking into our land in search of a better livelihood.

Like Abraham of old (Gen12:1-3), when God asked him to leave his home land, God had him leave his country, his people and his family. When these three comfort zone circles are taken away from a person, he will feel vulnerable, and rely on the goodwill of the host country. God then has created a fertile soil in the hungry souls of migrants to receive the Gospel seeds without hesitation. In their own country, culture and family members may reject or ostracize them should they know of their affiliation to the Children of Light. Here, in a foreign land where language and cultures are so diverse, the culture shock alone is traumatic for some but they naturally turn to God because they believe that only the Shalom of God can give them the eternal peace.

I recall several years back the Mission Frontier Magazine published an article of a survey conducted on mission trends over the past 50 years. There were less career missionaries venturing into the cross cultural mission fields, instead there was a gr owning trend of short timers where many stays were as short as couple of weeks to less than two years. Statistics from front line mission work surveys show, this will not create the impact sought, one should instead stay on for a couple of years, as the initial years are used to master the language/adapting to their culture and understanding their way of life.

Another interesting discovery is that there is a growing trend of people movement from the majority world to the developed /developing world. Operation World(2001 issue) states that about 10% of the world population does not stay in their country of origin. Many leave due to one of three reasons – racial/religious reasons; different political allegiances or social/economical reasons/ and to some extent the movement is prompted by the devastating effects of natural disasters such as earthquake/ Tsunami/famines due to drought. Some 80% are economic migrants as resources become scarce -hungry people tend to migrate to areas where they can find relief from their sufferings.

The population shift from rural to urban or developing to developed countries has placed enormous pressures on the urban setting where space limitation and scarcity of basic amenties generates tension in the host countries. A sudden influx of people may cause a dislocation of the family members where the adult may need to find the means to survive and their kids are left to their own devices. According to a seasonal missionary who served for many years in the most populated country in the world, during the festive seasons, there are roughly 300 million moving around from urban to rural settings vice versa. Let’s not forget the plight of the internally displace people due to civil wars/ drought or man made disasters where the rich ruling party continues to plunder the country’s wealth while their people live in abject poverty and are displaced within their country such as Somalia, Iraq and Myanmar.

On our part, we need to see what the Bible has to say of these groups of migrants/aliens or sojourners (depending which Bible translation is being used). In the Old Testament period God has to constantly remind the Israelites to care for the poor, the downtrodden and the deprived including the orphans/widows/fatherless and interestingly the migrants within their midst.( Lev 18:33-34;Deut 24:17-22;Mal 3:5;Zech 7:9-10). Other than personal holiness the Israelites are urged to care for the needs of the less fortunate. This comes as a timely reminder for us of the New Testament era since we’re also reminded to be actively engaged with people in need as well( Matt 23:23-24) primarily because the God we worship is a Gracious and Compassionate God.( Exo 34:6-7;Num14:18;Neh 9:17;Jonah 4:2;Psm 86:15; 145:8; Joel 12:13).

It’s equally interesting to note that during the OT period, the patriarch at one time or another lived like migrants in some foreign land, for instance Abraham in Cannan( Gen 17:8) Moses in Midean (Exo 2:22) Jacob in Ham(psm 106:23); Joseph who was sold as a slave and later rose to high office in Egypt ( Gen 37:28), not forgetting the likes of Daniel/ Ruth and Naomi and a host of others. Even during the NT period, the baby Jesus was taken with his earthly parents Joseph and Mary to Egypt to stay for a while and, similarly during the time of Acts during the time of persecution, the disciples were scattered all over Judea/ Samaria and some even to the end of the known world.

Still, over the past four years we do want to give God the praise and glory that on average there is always one single soul that will make a profession of faith to Christ, at least one per day while every three days one new convert will take the step of faith to undergo water baptism. Sad to say however, when we compare the number of those who leave and those who have just arrived, our efforts at evangelising are but a mere  drop of water in the ocean of spiritual needs.

The figures indicate the bleakness of this situation. On average. some 15-20 % of the migrants will fulfil their 3-4 year employment contract and return home while another 15-20% fresh new migrants will replace them. Taking into account the present population size of some 2 million of registered migrant workers in Malaysia, it’s obvious that about 300,000-400,000 of them will leave Malaysia without anyone telling them of God’s love for them. These don’t include the two million migrants who arrive here without the proper documentation and are deemed illegal.

Our evangelising methods remain conventional. We have always relied on a full time migrant evangelist to do all the preaching and pastoring of the alien sheep and certainly there is only so much a lone person can do. The teeming masses of foreign workers to reach out to, pose a strong challenge for us and our miniscule efforts, well meaning as they are, hardly make any dent on the massively fluid migrant population in Malaysia. For us, it’s akin to putting new wine into old vine skins, stifled as we are by our traditional ways of reaching the unreached. Something’s got to give if no new ways are devised.

Well, beginning this year, we opted to decentralise our meeting places, now we encourage the new believers to set up their own fellowship near or at where they are living so they no longer need to go to a central location for their Christian worship and weekly gatherings. Instead we sent up multiple worship times and places that offer easy access for the different groups, reminding them in the process that so long as they meet in their respective strategic locations and the Bible is read, shared and discussed, they are a church and should rely wholly on the prompting of the Holy Spirit to lead them in their walk with Christ.

We believe that by taking this more prayerfully smart and direct access to the various migrant communities, we will raise more active worshippers to assume a more dynamic leadership role in their respective places of work and areas of popular congregation.

Now, instead of only a few gifted leaders, we are able to raise up many more potential “Peters of great calibre” who are capable of engaging actively among their migrant peers.

Now, instead of generating more passive listeners and bored bench warmers, we have now galvanised them towards a more active participation within their own places of worship and warm fellowships.  Now, instead of being mere receivers they are learning to give of themselves for the blessings of other migrants who have yet to receive God’s blessings.

In effect, we’re emulating what  Jesus said and did ( John 14:12) ……that anyone who believe in Him would do the same works as He did and greater works he will do……..

So will you walk with us along this new path of faith, to reach out to the migrant population and bless them with your time, your resources while increasing your faith in the process?

Please see the web link of “Crushing Dreams of Refugee” reported by CNN News and we urgent all our Partnering Churches to unite with us in prayer for all refugees in Malaysia.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/01/26/coren.rohingya.refugees.cnn

Andrew Ng

From time to time we need to remind ourselves why we have missionaries. It is because of a commandment from the Lord, who said:

“Go into all  the world and preach the gospel to every creature. –Mark16:15

This commandment is one of many that have been renewed because the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fullness. Missionaries serve now just as they did in New Testament times. The book of Acts describes early missionary labours of the Apostles and other disciples following the Lord’s ministry. The missionaries’ responsibility is to “ lead others to come unto Christ receiving the gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.”

Many people going out the country to preach the gospel. But  we are not aware that years after another, our country has been flooded with foreigners from all over the world. Aren’t  this an open door, waiting for us to invite them into the heaven’s door?

When I was  called  to serve in this Cambodian ministry, not knowing that how many souls will be save, but to serve and obey Him who is above all, I’m glad. By faith believing that at the right time the  harvest will be multiply and His Kingdom will extend in His mighty hand. He call His servants to serve and to love others. And so I have decided to follow Him knowing that He is the potter and I am the clay. Bible says :

The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; therefore pray the Lord of

the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest. – Luke 10:2

And remembering that He will provide! He is our ‘Jehovah Jireh’ In the very beginning, to start up the Cambodian ministry is indeed a challenge having the problems to build the relationship, trust & language. But God is good, He provide a translator helping  to break the wall. As time goes by, the  Cambodians come and go and it doesn’t seem to grow. God provide2 Christians sisters who sincerely willing to serve the Lord. Day after another, never give up inviting their friends. We gather together and pray that God will show us the path. And later we decided to have our fellowship at their home.

We organized a trip with the pastor from Cambodia. Here we see how our Lord do His miracle, started to open their heart & the relationship were build. Today, we have build a small fellowship group consist of average 20 to 30 of them. We can see the changes in them, become more cheerful and always thirst of His Words and seek for the truth. We are in the mist of building and training leader, so that they can handle their own home church when they are back to their country. Today there maybe only 6 of them who are truly preparing for baptism, but tomorrow only God knows.

Seeds has been sown, God will multiply in His right timing.

We will continue this journey preparing the road for His coming…

Written by : Daphne Tan

By Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you,” for Heron is going to search for the child to kill him.

In Matthew 2:13-18,, let us consider the hardship, danger and humiliation that  were experienced by Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, beyond the fact that they had to flee their country and live in a foreign land for years until Herod died. For one, their flight to Egypt was sudden, in the night. They were not prepared to go into exile. Instead, they had prepared to go to Bethlehem for the census, taking what was needed, and no more. At the same time, the road to Egypt was long and dangerous one. Joseph and his family must have felt very alone, not knowing where to find food, rest or shelter, and fearful of Herod’s men. It would also have been physically demanding for Mary to look after a new born baby. Upon reaching Egypt, they would find themselves in a strange land that had never been favourable to Israel, among people who did not speak their language. It is there that Joseph would need to find shelter and means to support his family while waiting for the right time to return home.

Today, the world is increasingly “on the move” as the security of many people becomes precarious.  Many are fleeing their countries because of war, famine, persecution, disease and other major natural or human disasters. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees categorized them as the “refugees, returnees, asylum-seekers internally displaced, stateless persons.”The Bible calls them “strangers, foreigners, sojourners, aliens” Deuteronomy 10:17-19 says “for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”

What is our attitude toward strangers and refugees in Malaysia, among whom Jesus himself stands? Surely, to live the faithful Christian life is to express and demonstrate concern for justice for all people, including “the strangers, widows and orphans.”As we celebrate Christmas this year, let us pause and reflect on this significant fact that the Savoir of the world, born as a helpless babe in a manger, was none other than a displaced person, a refugee, whose parents fled for their lives because of persecution.

Taken from CCM News  Bulletin

The Kingdom of God is advancing in Klang city. More and more migrant workers of various nationalities are confessing Jesus as their Savior and King.  Migrant Ministry Klang (MMK) has been diligently at this task of reaching the migrant workers with the Gospel for the past eight years. With the network and partnership of all the churches in Klang, they are breaking forth into new paradigm and dimension of ministry. MMK’s Migrant Pastors of various nationalities (Vietnam, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia and India) have been the pertinent force behind the bountiful harvest MMK enjoy every year.

‘Ekklesia’ is the Greek word for Church. In the New Testament it is used in two different ways. It is used sometimes to describe the people of God when they are gathered together for worship. It is also used other times to describe the people of God when they are scattered out there in the workplace or marketplace. One day in a week you will find the ‘Ekklesia’ gathered in a place. But six days a week you will find the ‘Ekklesia’ of Christ, the people of God dispersed in the workplace.

When you talk about workplace today, what comes to your mind in the hundreds of thousands of migrants of various nationalities as a pertinent workforce in Malaysia. It is among this groups of people, MMK and other migrant ministries are successfully building the ‘Ekklesia’ of God.

In John 10:16, Christ claimed that there are other sheep, not of this fold, that must be saved also. Today these ‘other sheep’ are responding positively to the voice of God. MMK has been the ‘prophetic voice’ of God in the marketplace ushering these sheep into the fold of Christ. Hebron Mission Center Klang pledges its support to MMK in this endeavor.

May God continue to empower MMK to continually advance in the Kingdom Purposes!

Rev. Elanko Kannan
(MMK Pastoral Care)

I bought a copy and later found out that the company who offered this package has been in children computer education business for a very long time. I knew this company when I just started my working career; what a small world. To make it better, my wife’s ex-school mate is the current Assistant General Manager for this company. Now, that ’s a big WOW since l first heard about the license!

When I got a hold of the package for myself, I knew at the back of my mind that there are many people out there who will grab this package if they became aware of this offer. As what we have learned and heard but not many practice it, the value of sharing with others when we find something good and beneficial.

With this in mind, I decided to take a proactive step and go beyond my own selfish needs to find out more details on this license of this package from this company in order to be a blessing to others. I used this opportunity to begin fund raising program and at the same time to create awareness about Migrant Ministry Klang (MMK). I shared this with my wife and she was very encouraged and enthusiastic about this idea. She immediately connected me to her friend, the Assistant General Manager of that company. It worked out well as the arrangement with the company was that for every copy that I sold, the company would contribute RM10 for MMK.

And so I began to plan and started selling in April 2010. It took some trouble but l managed the network with 14 churches in Klang Valley and other individuals who then connected me to his/her network of friends to share about this little fund raising project.

I want to really THANK all these individuals who have purchased a copy of the package. Total no of individuals who have purchased the Office package as at end of December 2010 was 147 and the total amount raised RM 1, 470. Praise the Lord! Although these days, RM 10 doesn’t mean a lot but your little contribution will be used wisely in touching lives of people. MMK’s existence and vision is focusing to make a difference by touching the nations that are right here in our country.

Many THANKS for your generous supports for MMK!

For HIM,

Brother Jesse Teh

We had an X-mas Program at the FGA Church and more then 60 Bangladeshi friends attended. We had a good time with fun and fellowship, dinner was also provided.

Continue to pray for them that God will touch their hearts.

Thank you and God Bless

Pastor Newton Sarkar

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