Come, Follow Me ….
The earliest gospel, Mark, tells us that immediately after Jesus’ preaching of the good news in Mark 1.15, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news,” Jesus followed through with the call to Simon and Andrew to, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
While God’s salvation is free – we cannot earn it, it is not cheap! It costs God the sacrifice of His one and only Son. (Jn. 3.16) Like Jesus the Evangelist, the Church must not lower the standard of Christian discipleship. We are to call men and women to repent and believe the good news, and come, follow Christ.
To follow Christ in a worthy manner is to, “take up one’s cross and follow Him.” (Mt. 10.38) Cross-bearing is the mark of discipleship. It means daily dying to self and putting God first. It involves sacrificial and selfless service. It is Jesus first, others second, and me last. Any teaching or emphasis that moves us away or further from the cross is moving us in the wrong direction.
Given the spirit of post-modernism and its preoccupation with ‘me’ – what is in store for me? what can the church do for me? etc., we, modern Christians, do well to heed the clarion call of the Master, “Come, take up your cross, and follow me.”
It must mean a fresh resolve to place God’s glory, the interests and needs of others – especially the lost, above self. It will involve a more detached attitude to material things, a more simple lifestyle so that more can be given to God’s work, and certainly a more disciplined pursuit of God and His kingdom.
And, Jesus has promised results and rewards for those who carry the cross and follow Him. “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Fruit bearing – evangelistic fruit, is the result of discipleship. Jesus also promised, “I tell you the truth. No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mk. 10.29) No cross now, no crown then.
Let us take up the cross and follow Him more closely!
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In conjunction with the MAP Australia 10th Anniversary, a thanksgiving and fundraising dinner will be held at the Gold Leaf Restaurant on Thursday 18th August, 2011 at 7.00 pm at:
Springvale Shopping Centre,
First Floor, 46-58 Buckingham Avenue,
Springvale, Vic 3171
Tel: (03) 95403933
We look forward to a gathering of friends and supporters of MAP Australia over the past decade, a time of worship, fellowship, and thanksgiving for gospel advance in Asia Pacific. Under God, we seek to ‘do greater things’ in gospel advance for the new decade.
MAP Founder and President, Ps. Ooi Chin Aik, will deliver the keynote address at the Anniversary dinner, and special items will be presented for the occasion. The dinner event is expected to draw hundreds from different churches and denominations in Melbourne, Australia. All guests will receive a MAP 10th Anniversary gift. A collection will be taken at the dinner for the new MAP Building Fund.
Pray for us – that the team will receive encouragement in organising the event, and that one and all will be inspired and blessed by the programme and fellowship at the MAP Australia 10th Anniversary Dinner.
For further details, contact: How Yit Meng, Mobile: 0422 456 812, Email: howyitmeng@gmail.com.
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REAP Priority Fields
In this decade, MAP has prioritised 3 fields in Asia as REAP Priority Fields: Sarawak, China, and ChineseNewVillages in Peninsular Malaysia.
Sarawak has large populations of tribal peoples who are unreached but very responsive to the gospel. A case in point is the Ibans who number over 600,000.
Over 820 million rural people in China need to hear about Jesus and the rural church has many evangelists eager to go and tell. They need to be supported, equipped, and sent.
As for Chinese New Villages in Peninsular Malaysia, there are over 50 with no Christian presence. We will partner with local churches to establish preaching points in each of them. Pray for us and partner with us as we work on the speediest evangelisation of these REAP priority fields in this decade for the glory of God.
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REAP Sarawak
April 26-28, 2011, MAP sent a REAP Missions team to Kuching, Sarawak to train the evangelists. 30 of the 48 supported REAP evangelists came for a time of prayer, fellowship, and teaching. Others in the interior will be trained in town centres nearer to them, like Miri, Sibu, or Bintulu, beginning 2012.
We praise God that one of our REAP evangelists saw 250 in one longhouse coming to Christ! To date, 1724 were evangelised since we launched REAP Sarawak in July 2009. 813 received Christ, 308 were baptized and 15250 gospel tracts were distributed.
We plan to provide 5000 Bahasa Malaysia bibles to the rural converts and believers in 2011/2. Pray for this partnership project with the Bible Society of Malaysia.
Jock Emang, Mission and Evangelism Coordinator for SIB Sarawak, shared on REAP Missions Sarawak:
“From the day I took office for our Mission and Evangelism ministry, I have been seeking the Lord and interceding for our evangelists – for their mission and welfare. And it was not by coincidence that I attended the MAP REAP training in Kuching on 26 April 2011. I believe that was a divine appointment for us to make a good start by providing moral support and prayer for our workers who are in the field, especially in rural Sarawak.”
Jeffrey Agong, MAP Coordinator for Sarawak and Indonesia, expressed his gratitude:
“Thank you for the great time in Kuching. The evangelists were blessed and recharged with new zeal from the Lord to move forward. This time not all of the REAP evangelists can make it. However the 30 evangelists were blessed. Though the time was short, it was very empowering.”
REAP Sarawak Team:
Left to Right – Jeffrey Agong, Tram Epoi, Ooi Chin Aik, Philip Soh and Jock Emang.
We are poised for greater impact with a dedicated team and strong partnership between SIB Sarawak and MAP: Jock Emang (Mission and Evangelism Coordinator, Sarawak), Tram Epoi (Senior Pastor of SIB, Taman Sri Muhibbah, Kuching), Jeffrey Agong (MAP Coordinator for Sarawak andIndonesia), and MAP team: Ooi Chin Aik, Philip Soh, and Foo Kai Seong.
[Please click to enlarge]
The REAP Sarawak evangelists who came for a time of prayer, sharing, worship, and equipping before launching out again.
Evangelists Philip Soh and Ooi Chin Aik in one of the equipping sessions.
Praying for the headman of a longhouse near Kuching.
Praying for the headman of a longhouse near Kuching.
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REAP Chinese New Villages (CNV)
MAP launched REAP Chinese New Villages on July 2010.
The labour of the first 4 evangelists from July – December 2010, yielded the following:
Number of tracts distributed: 4060
Number evangelised: 190
Number of conversions: 21
Number baptised: 6
Rev. Albert Tang and team visited Coldstreams CNV, Bidor, Perak, on 20 May 2011. Eight of them distributed 150 gospel tracts, shared the gospel to 15 people and 3 accepted Christ.
Evangelist Yue (REAP Evangelist, Coldstreams CNV) reported:
“ For us, it is a miracle to see souls saved as this is a hard ground. I believe God is beginning to move here. Do come again. ”
Sister Chin (Kepong EFC) shares:
“ It is a very good experience for us. After joining the mission trip, I feel more encouraged to share my life testimony and the gospel. Please let me know when is the next trip. I will come again. ”
Sharing the gospel with a fruit-trading owner in Coldstreams CNV.
A strong Buddhist lady accepted Christ.
The elderly man began saying: “ The gospel is fake.” But, finally, he devoted himself to God. Praise the Lord!
Partner With Us For CNV Outreach
(Left to Right-Front Row: Yue See, En Yue, Yu Le, and Chuan Yang. Back Row: Persis, Albert and Chin Aik)
Rev. Albert Tang, MAP Chinese Associate Evangelist, graduated with a Master of Ministry from Malaysia Bible Seminary on 13 November, 2010. Congratulations! And God-speed in your gospel ministry to the Chinese peoples especially in the Chinese New Villages of Peninsular Malaysia.
Rev. Albert Tang shares the needs and challenges in the Chinese New Villages and asks for your prayers and partnership.
1. Share with us the status of REAP CNV work in Peninsular Malaysia.
Effective July, 2010, MAP launched REAP Chinese New Villages (CNV) with 2 evangelists. To date, we have 8 evangelists in 6 field locations. MAP aims to support at least 15 REAP CNV evangelists by 2011. Pray for the ongoing challenge to send evangelists to the over 50 unreached Chinese New Villages by 2020.
We have three evangelists on our waiting list for support.
2. What are the main challenges you encounter in the ministry amongst the Chinese
New Villages?
Some pressing needs and challenges we face are:
- Leadership development and training.
- Training of rural believers for effective ministry.
- More job opportunities for the people.
- Lots of social problems like drug addiction, gambling, drunkenness etc. Need trained and focused ministries.
3. What are the key prayer items for REAP CNV?
Please pray for:
- Spiritual covering for the evangelists and their families.
- Breaking of spiritual strongholds in the CNV.
- More evangelists to be sent to rural areas.
- More Christian civil servants to be sent there to help in witnessing.
- Growth in spiritual maturity among the rural Christians.
4. How can churches and Christians partner in the ministry to the CNV?
The CNV need:
- Visits and encouragement. Join a MAP missions team to minister to them.
- Evangelism and Sunday School tools. Churches can help provide the tools like testimony CDs, gospel tracts and Sunday School materials.
- Help to do evangelism work like distributing gospel tracts, personal evangelism, prayer visitations etc.
- Regular prayer support.
- Evangelists. Support a REAP CNV evangelist.
Cost: RM200 per month or Rm2400 per year.
Keen to follow us to the mission field in CNV, or support a REAP Evangelist in the Chinese New Villages?
Email Rev. Albert Tang at revalbertang@gmail.com or contact him at the MAP office: 03-62767510, email: map@pd.jaring.my.