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

当我们接触一些会友并提及他们是否乐意在宣教方面协助外来移民时，他们通常都会给于不同的原因来拒绝我们，其中包括了：“我们在教会已经够忙的啦! ”“他们不是永久在这里，为什么要管？”“他们不会听我们的语言。”“与外来移民分享福音是合法的吗？”。。。。。。以及其他各种的借口。

我们的时间被太多“教会化”的活动限制了。“教会化”的活动是指限制在教堂内进行的活动，而教友通常在这一方面都乐于配合，虽然某些时候，他们的时间已经被教会一系列的活动填得满满的。

当然在某些时候，各教会也会举办短宣活动或探访，并认为这就是宣教的工作，这当然没错，如果这类活动能成为教育平台，并加于宣传，让这些活动能帮助外来移民事工,使它成为长期外来移民事工宣教的活动。

但有些时候，这类的活动只能看成是圣洁的旅游活动，而不能成为外来移民宣教的装备。我们暂且不谈国外宣教的工作，在我们的脑海里，我们是否曾考虑到，在我们的眼前推动宣教活动？在马来西亚，有许多外来移民因经济问题而来这里寻找新生活，希望能在这片土地三上开拓更美好的未来。

在这之前，我们总认为，宣教工作必须要离开祖国，越过地域界限，进入另一个更具挑战的国家，才能传扬福音。但如果我们从圣经(马太福音28:18-20)去了解“国家”这个词语，在圣经里它就被解释为“种族”，也就是拥有文化和祖先的连带关系，而不是地理环境。而这也充分地表现在他们的世界观、信念和行为上。我们若从社群活动、文化及道德观去看待，那我们就会了解，这跟地理环境是毫无相干的。更何况，世界人口的成长率是前所未有的激增，目前我们约有6.7-6.9亿人口，再过15年，又增多1亿以上，那到了2050年，地球人口将激增到9.5亿人。（资料摘自“Issue facing Christians today” –John Scott）全球化现象已使到地球成了一个虚拟的地球村，人类可以从一个地方移动到另一个地方，虽然到处有墙壁、检察或限制，人类还是可以轻而易举地过界。互联网提供免费资讯，现代交通也如此发达，而亚航提倡“现在人人都能飞”的口号，使人类“择木而栖”的心态更是无可避免的。

改革之风导致各教会必须从不同角度去看待宣教的工作。我们现在已来到第三时代的宣教使命，而Cameron Tonwsend 和Donald Mc Graven已看见这群“无法接触或少接触的群众”的需要。

全球化现象导致这一群人就出现在我们的四周围，他们可能是无声无影的，所以我们必须更深入地探索或寻找他们的踪影。
有句中国谚语者们说：“我们可以建堵围墙来防止防风袭，我们也可以建座风车来改变风向。”因此，教会是否需要更深一层地检讨这些改变之风呢？在过去，教会认为宣教工作就是把宣教士送到群众里，但今天，因为有成千上万的外来移民因寻求更美好的人生而涌入我们的国土。

就如亚伯拉罕（创世纪12:1-3）,上帝要亚伯拉罕离开他的国家、子民和家人，当一个人离开这三个舒适的生活环境时，他必定感到很脆弱、无助。在这事件上，我们看到上帝为饥渴的灵魂提供了肥沃的沙土，那就是接受福音的种子。

一旦离开自己的国家，他们的文化和家庭背景会被拒绝或受到排斥。在一个文化和语言截然不同的国土上，他们会面对文化的冲击和创伤，而这就是导致他们归向主的因素。因为他们，让我们更加确定，上帝是赐永恒与和平的主。

回顾几年前，有一本宣教杂志刊登了一则短文，报导了近五十年来宣教的形式和趋向。只有少数的宣教士愿意接受跨越文化冲击的挑战，而短期宣教（从几个星期到两年）反而有增长的趋向。

前线工作团队给于德数据显示，这种宣教形式并不会带来影响力，取而代之的，应该是1-2年的宣教，并由初步掌握语言，到适应文化和了解他们的生活方式。

另一个有趣的发现，那就是从祖国移居到发展国或发展中国家的人数有增加的迹象。《世界行动》（2001号）指出，约有10%的人并不住在他们的祖国 ，而他们离开祖国的原因大约有三个：种族/宗教、政治信仰和文化/经济。一些人更因天灾如：地震、海啸/饥荒的破坏而延长了他们移居的时间。80%的移民因缺乏粮食导致饥饿，必须移居之其它地方，希望在那儿可以释放他们的痛苦，得到经济的支柱。

当人群从农村移居至城市，或从发展中国家移居至发达国家时，这无形中s是城市的子民产生巨大的压力造成生活设施的缺乏而带来强大的紧张气氛。

人群突然涌入会导致一些家庭陷入混乱的状态。成人可能需要寻找生存的方法，而孩子就因此而被忽略了。一位服侍多年的宣教士报导，人口稠密的国家在佳节期间，约有3亿人口在城市与乡村间流动，这还不包括在内战、干旱、人为天灾或执政领袖掠夺国家财富，导致人民活在赤贫之中，如；索马里、伊拉克和缅甸。。而我们的任务，就是必须从圣经中了解“外来移民”的看法。（取决于圣经的译本）

在旧约中，神不断提醒以色列人要照顾穷人、受压迫和被剥削的，包括孤儿、寡妇。有趣的是，外来移民而被列在内。（利未纪18：33-34，申命纪24：17-22，玛拉基书3：5，撒加力亚7：9-10）除了个人圣洁的因素，以色列人也被定时提醒要照顾那些不幸的一群。在新约中，我们也被提醒要积极帮助有需要的人（马太23：23-24），因为我们所敬拜的是有恩典和怜悯的上帝。（出埃及记34：6-7，民数记14：18，尼希米记9:17,约拿书4:2,诗篇86：15，约珥12：13）

同样有趣的是，在旧约的时候，有些长者在一些期间就如外来移民，居住在别人的国土上，如：亚伯拉罕在迦南地，（创世纪17：19），摩西在米甸，雅各在含地（诗篇106：22），约瑟被卖到当奴隶，后来升为埃及的首相。（创世纪27：28）别忘了还有旦以理、路得和拿俄米记其他类似的例子。甚至在新约期间，婴儿时期的耶稣被他在世父母（约瑟和玛丽亚）被带到埃及，并在那儿居住了一段日子。同样的，在使徒被逼迫的时代，门徒因受到逼迫而分散到犹大/撒玛利亚和其他的地方，甚至到了世界的尽头。

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

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 new phone line has been installed in the new office and may now be contacted at

03 3325 7363

================
Please note that MMK has relocated to a new office located at

86B & C
Jalan Batu Unjur 1
Taman Bayu Perdana
41200 Klang
Selangor

We are in the midst of getting the phone lines connected. Should you need to contact us, kindly call bro Andrew Ng’s mobile number.

Thank you for your patience

God Bless

Have you ever felt so disappointed with the responses received from our own Christian friends or church fellow members whenever you are trying to introduce and recommend some great Christian seminars, books and courses…? I know exactly how you feel…

My friend, you are not alone, but I thank our dear Lord for YOU as you are reading this MMK news letter, and this shows that you are still having the passion of knowing what our dear Lord is doing!

Deuteronomy 6:5 says this “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength…”.

The word “Love” is one of the missing elements in THOSE I mentioned above. Their “Love” for our Lord is fading… The word “Love” is amazing; you can put thousands of words right after it and you will get different meanings out of it. And from the word “Love”, we will be able to discover the word “Passion”! Like the word “Love”, you can put thousands of word or sentences right after it and you will get different feelings out of it.

Question to all of us is, how to re-input the “Love and Passion” for our dear Lord into the hearts of THOSE I mentioned? How to RE-IGNITE the “Love and Passion” for our Lord again for THOSE? I believe each of us has a different view and opinion to this question. As for me, the answer is “re-discover, knowing the main thing of the main thing and then recapturing and keeping it!” For that is what I strongly believe will help to drive Christians and churches forward to re-ignite to “Love and Passion for our dear Lord and His purpose and plan for all of us !

So “what is the main thing of the main thing..?”, Well my dear friend, that you will have to find it out by yourself through the Kairos Course. Allow me to introduce it very briefly to you:

PURPOSE OF KAIROS COURSE

“…is to lay a FOUNDATION for meaningful involvement of Christians and local churches to GOD’s world-wide mission of mercy to the nations of the world!”

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

The Kairos Course is a nine-session, interactive course on world Christian mission, designed to educate, inspire and challenge Christians to active and meaningful participation. It is ideally suited to be conducted in local churches, organizations or with special interest groups such as Christian business people.

The Kairos Course utilizes a variety of adult learning styles including group discussions, short lecture introduction, devotions, video teaching and student participation in specially designed activities. Kairos looks at the four main areas of mission concern which are the Biblical, Historical, Strategic and Cultural dimensions of mission.

Hear what others are saying after attending the Kairos:

“The Kairos Course, covers the essentials of world missions from its conception to the 21st Century. It is biblical, concise, easy to grasp and motivationally engaging. Many of the members of St. Barnabas who attended the course were truly inspired and challenged to see missions in a new light and to make a personal response towards it…”

Rev. Viji Daniel
(St. Barnabas Church, Klang)

” …

• Envisions me to see mission in its proper perspective and context.
• Encourages me to think big and think Kingdom; not the usual “my little church” mentality.
• Empowers the Christians (meaning church) to do what we exist to do.

Before asking us to make disciples in the Great Commission, Jesus our Lord empowers us with his authority and power, and his presence! He means business.

• Enlightens me with clear and concise lessons with fun too.
• Enforces me to revive our mission focus in and through the church.“

Pastor Jerry S.H. Eng
(Klang Baptish Church)

“I attended the Kairos course to know more about mission. I was more than impressed with it. It gave me much more than just knowledge and understanding of mission – it stirred up my inner-man to the need of reaching out to all nations. It opened my spiritual eyes to look beyond my “I, me and myself and God bless me” mentality; spoke to my spiritual ears to reach out to the unreached. It impacted me to ‘catch the vision’ in mission work…”

Bro. Lim Jit Ling
(Wesley Methodist Church, Klang)

“At the Kairos course, I understood how every Christian could get involved in missions, in large ways and in small ways. Perhaps the most that I got out of the course was the vision to bring the glory of God to the unreached people groups. Previously, I was a little sceptical about how this could be done, given the magnitude of the task because of the socio-political scenario and the sometimes violent reaction to such endeavours. But this Kairos course reinforces that it is possible when man choose to partner with God.”

Sis. Margaret Tan
(Glad Tidings Klang)

It is my prayer that the above testimonies will give you a sense of encouragement and perhaps challenge you to come and experience for yourself what is our dear God’s Plan and Purpose for all of us.

Take this step to re-discover Him… For more information about Kairos seminars and courses, please do not hesitate to contact me. In Him and for Him we are all called to serve and glorify!

Blessing,
BRO. JESSE TEH
Chairman,
MMK’s Kairos Committe