Issue 44

 

Evangelise or Fossilise

 The Church of Jesus Christ began with 12 apostles in the 1^st Century. Through sheer obedience to the Great Commission (Mt. 28: 18-20), come what may, the Church has spread the good news to all continents and is today a third of the world’s population.

As it was then, that gospel advance occurred in the midst of opposition and persecution (Ac. 12: 1-5 ff; Paul’s letter from prison – Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians and 2 Timothy), so it is today in many parts of our world.

We need prayer fellowship. We need Christian solidarity in suffering and persecution. Above all, as is clearly illustrated by the house churches in China today, we need to carry on proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ – whatever the circumstances, if we do not wish to be marginalized.

Evangelise or fossilize!

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God-Centred Evangelism

Adeline Lum from ChristianityMalaysia.com covered the preaching of MAP Founder and President, Ooi Chin Aik, on: “God-centred Evangelism” in FGA Kuala Lumpur, 1 June, 2014. Below are excerpts from the sermon.

Evangelize for the Future of the Church.

Ooi Chin Aik—evangelist, pastor, theologian author, and former Secretary General of NECF—spoke in FGA KL on 1^st of June, on the topic: God-centered evangelism.

“It’s not just about evangelism because when we talk about evangelism, the first thing that comes to mind is the method.”

“Of course, we need some methods. But it’s no use trying to fossilize and hero-worship methods because we are living in a world that is dynamic and changing,” said Pr. Chin Aik.

He shared that the Church must prepare herself against increasing post-modernism, which denies the existence of God and absolutism. This belief is contrary to what the Bible says: “For there is ONE God and ONE mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:5)

The Church needs to have more educated and well-trained teachers, evangelists, and apologists because some people are reached through their minds, while others are reached through their hearts.

In short, there is no one-size-fits-all type of evangelism.

Pr. Chin Aik shared 4 things to keep in mind for God-centred evangelism:

All God-centered Evangelism must be Spirit-Led

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal 5:25)

“For God-centered evangelism, we need to call out to God for help and for wisdom. Prayer, listening to God and acting on His leading are of paramount importance.”

Every one of us is called to share the gospel, beyond our church walls, with the wisdom of God. Besides the church, the place where we spend our time in-be it in the school, office buildings, neighbourhood etc.-should be a platform to reach out to the lost.

All God-centred Evangelism Includes Contending for the Gospel

Pr. Chin Aik called the Church to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. (Jude 3) Our hearts must desire to stay in Malaysia to contend for the faith.

He emphasized that we must continue to pray for God’s wisdom, grace, and mercy to visit this country, especially for wisdom.

“Today, we are living in a society where there’s a lot of knowledge, but perhaps not a lot of wisdom,” shared Pr. Chin Aik.

He reminded the congregation that we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, powers of the dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 6:12) And the word ‘struggle,’ (NIV) in the King James Version is ‘wrestle.’

“In a wrestling match, the one on top has the upper hand. The church, wrestles from the top position. Satan is still alive but Satan is a chained beast, although the chain is rather long,” said Pr. Chin Aik.

“We wrestle on top because victory has already been won in Christ. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col 2:15 NIV) Because of the cross, the church of Jesus Christ today is called to do a mopping-up operation ,”  Pr. Chin Aik said.

The church must never stop wrestling because Satan knows his end is near and is increasing his demonic activities. She must continue to engage all spheres in society as one body in Christ.

All God-centred Evangelism Prioritise Christ’s  Last Command

Jesus’ last command for us is:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, ………..”. (Mt. 28:19-20)

 

Pr. Chin Aik shared how the Nestorian church survived in the East under  persecution, because they never stopped evangelizing and sending missionaries overseas to preach the gospel. Because of their missions emphasis, they survived for over 300 years, long after all the other churches ceased.

He called out to the people especially businessmen who have been blessed with wealth to remember God’s heart in sharing the good news with the unsaved. This is because whatever earthly wealth we earn, cannot be brought to Heaven.

Lastly, All God-centred Evangelism Involves  a Baton-Passing Marathon

In 2 Timothy, Paul’s last letter from prison, we see how the apostle is passing the baton of faith to Timothy and to others. (2 Tim. 2. 1-2)

In 2 Tim. 2:3-7, we see three images Paul is charging Timothy to be, when preaching God’s Word: Soldier, Athlete and Farmer.

Paul charged Timothy to be a good soldier, in fighting the good fight. He must endure hardship and please the commanding officer. As an athlete he has to compete according to the rules – God’s rules (His Word).

As a farmer, Timothy is reminded that there will be seasons he would harvest abundant fruit and also seasons he will harvest nothing. Nevertheless, as a hardworking farmer, he must never stop ploughing the ground to prepare the soil for the seeds sown.

Pr. Chin Aik ended on this note, “This message is more about the future of our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren. It’s about our spiritual future. We want our God to prosper this country.

Think about those who come after you. When we leave this world into the presence of God, will they know the gospel of truth in this country? Don’t stop evangelizing for the sake of our church’s future.”

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Easter Sunday Preaching 2014

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Bible Seminar on: “Final Reward in Paul’s Thoughts”

Over 150 from Full Gospel Assembly (FGA), Kuala Lumpur, attended the School of Christian   Education and Training (SCET) Bible Seminar on 15 February, 2014.

The author of “Final Reward in Paul’s Thoughts”, Pr. Ooi Chin Aik, took the participants through the 3-hour seminar with lots of practical applications on themes of the book and handled questions from the audience.

Pr. Lim Kia Sing, leader of SCET, commented:

“As the first seminar of the year, it is good to have the topic of “Final Reward” at a deeper level for our members – a topic FGA KL has not preached on or studied at all.

It is interesting, practical and caused participants to think and serve with the end in mind. It causes them to examine motives and motivation in serving the Lord.”

Churches interested in the above bible seminar can contact the MAP office at:03-62767510 or Pr. Ooi Chin Aik at mobile: 017-6011089.

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“Embrace the Ends of the Earth”

GC3 Mission Summits, New Zealand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global Connections 3 (GC3), convened 3 regional mission summits under the theme: “Embracing the Ends of the Earth” in Christchurch, Palmerston North and Hamilton on 15 March, 22 March, and 29 March, 2014 respectively.

Plenary speakers include: Mark Grace from Fielding Bible Chapel who spoke on “Embracing the Gospel in New Zealand”, and Ooi Chin Aik from MAP Malaysia and Australia, who spoke on “Embracing those of other faiths,” and “Embracing ‘ends of the earth’ in South-East Asia.”

Missions Agencies that participated in Elective Workshops include: MAF, Wycliffe, International Teams, Barnabas Fund, GC3, ISM, Congo, CMCT, and Bright Hope World.

Altogether over 320 from over 36 different churches participated in the Mission Summits in the 3 cities of New Zealand.

We give thanks for the Mission Summits and pray for lasting fruit to come forth from the efforts of GC3. An immediate fruit for MAP is the partnership of Bright Hope World, New Zealand, in supporting 5 REAP China evangelists and 5 REAP East Malaysia evangelists. More enquiries for partnership in the gospel with MAP is on the pipeline for Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Myanmar and other lands. Praise the Lord!

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REAP Sabah and Sarawak ~ On the Move

15 new evangelists were trained and sent to the tribal peoples in Sabah at the recently concluded REAP Missions on 15-18 May, 2014.

The total number of REAP evangelists in Sabah now stands at 30. Sarawak has 78 REAP evangelists, bringing the total to 118 REAP evangelists for speedy outreach in East Malaysia. We thank enthusiastic supporters in these challenging times and we ask for your prayers and continued partnership as we stretch to send at least 250 evangelists by 2016.

The training team for REAP Sabah Missions include: Ooi Chin Aik (theme talk on: “Missions Challenges and Opportunities in Malaysia.”), Albert Tang (“What is REAP?” and “Principles of Evangelism”), and Naimin (“Pembangunan Pendapatan Para Penginjil”).

2300 copies of gospel tracts – the ‘Four Spiritual laws’ (in Bahasa Malaysia)  together with 8 sets of the ‘Proclaimer’ – audio bible in Bahasa Indonesia were given. In addition, 26 copies of each of the following titles were presented to the evangelists:

‘Pembelaan’ (‘In Defence of’),

‘The Master Plan of Evangelism’ (in Bahasa Malaysia),

and ‘Turning Faces Towards Heaven.’

Evangelist Kilon gave his feedback on the training:

“Thank you MAP for all of the support. I am very touched by MAP’s caring ministry for the rural evangelists. It really helps us a lot.”

 

Evangelist Norlisah added:

“The training is very relevant to the present situation. It is very practical and useful in my field. This training also helps me to know MAP better.”

We are gratified to see the evangelists encouraged and energized for further  gospel work as they return to their respective fields in Sabah. To God be the glory!

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2^nd REAP Chinese Modular Training (RCMT)

 May 27-30 , 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd RCMT trainining at the MAP Evangelism Leadership Institute saw 10 Chinese evangelists (8 from Malaysia and 2 from China) coming for further equipping under a team of teachers comprising Ooi Chin Aik, Albert Tang, Christopher Leong and Lai Yik Meng.Topics covered include:

1. “Missions Challenges and Opportunities”, and “Goal Setting”  by Ooi Chin Aik,
2. “Evangelism and Spiritual Warfare” by Albert Tang,
3. “Building a Strong Christian Family” by Christopher Leong, and
4. “How to Write a Good Field Report” by Lai Yik Meng.

 

As part of resourcing the evangelists for effective gospel ministry, they were given:

1. 10,000 gospel tracts in Chinese for distribution,
2. 100 bibles for new believers in the Chinese New Villages,
3. A copy each of “A Call to Awaken the Laity” (in Chinese) by Wang Han Qin, and
4. 3 sets of the ‘Proclaimer’ – a solar powered audio bible in Hokkien, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Feedback from the evangelists include:

“Rural workers are few and often poorly funded. Thank you MAP for helping in the rural harvest work through gospel tracts, bibles, training, teaching, and hospitality. Glory be to God!”

Evangelist Ling Lee,

Pantai Revival Centre,

Pantai Remis, Perak.

 

“Thank you MAP for the good food and accommodation. All of the courses are very relevant to us and very clear. I was so blessed.”

Evangelist Yong Pit Ling

PraiseBaptistChurch,

Kaki Bukit, Perlis.

 

“I am grateful for the opportunity of training in Malaysia. It is a time of refreshing and empowering. Thank you MAP for the love, preparation and fellowship. The Lord continue to use MAP for His glory.”

Evangelist H, China.

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