Speeding On The Gospel
Christian Commitment is expressed in terms of devotion – focused attention on things that matter. For God and the world, the gospel of Christ matters, as it is the only way of restoring a broken relationship with the Almighty, and moving away from eternal death to eternal life. (Jn. 14:6; Rom. 3:23, 6:23; Jn. 3:16)
With so many things each day that clamour for our attention – job matters, family matters, future matters etc., it is all too easy to lose focus on that which matters for eternity – God, the souls of men and women, the Word of God and His Church. That Christ has come, Christ has died, Christ has risen, and that Christ will be coming again to judge the world and usher in the eternal state, deserves our focused attention.
We are to warn, plead and persuade peoples everywhere to be reconciled to God by repenting and believing in the gospel of Christ, for the forgiveness of sins and the free gift of the Holy Spirit. (Ac. 2.38) There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun! The Christian Church is entrusted with this gospel of hope and reconciliation. Through focused attention in speeding on the good news, the Church will rediscover her raison d’etre (reason for existence) and in turn speed on Christ’s return. (2 Pet. 3:12)
This Advent Season, let us remind ourselves and provoke each other to speed on the gospel of Christ. Let us give the task of reaching the lost millions in Asia and beyond our devotion-focused attention.
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REAP in Many Many Lands (RMML) Today
This year, MAP enters into her 15th year of gospel ministry in Asia-Pacific and beyond. We pause to give thanks to God Almighty and all that has been achieved as we partner for gospel advance:
428 REAP evangelists in 11 countries of Asia,
Over 76,000 conversions to Christ,
Over 2.7 million gospel tracts distributed,
and 22,000 Bibles sent to new converts for the work of discipleship.
We give God the glory and we thank you for prayers and practical partnership. We need to press on. If we don’t, others will, especially so amongst tribals of Malaysia and rural China. Much remains to be done. We need more to join hands in sowing and reaping. (2 Cor. 9. 6) We aim to reach 1000 REAP evangelists for Asia by 2020. Pray for us. Partner with us.
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Gospel Advance in REAP Priority Fields
REAP Sabah and Sarawak, together, has seen over 18,000 conversions to Christ with 3700 bibles given to new believers in the villages (3100 Bahasa Indonesia bibles , and 600 Bahasa Iban bibles), and 34 sets of ‘Proclaimer’ – audio New Testament reading of the Bible, given for gospel outreach to oral folks in the villages.
At the recently concluded REAP Sabah Missions in Kota Kinabalu, 14 new REAP evangelists in Sabah were trained from 1-3 October, 2015, and sent out to join the harvest force. Team members include: Ooi Chin Aik, Albert Tang, and Colin Wong. Training sessions touched on: 1)”Gospel Advance in Challenging Times”, 2) “Christian Apologetics”, and 3) “Evangelistic Methods and Challenges in Rural Villages.”
Sabah has 32 REAP supporters and Sarawak has 108 REAP supporters. We need more speed in getting the gospel to the longhouses and villages because of competing forces. Keen to help support and send more evangelists in Sarawak, Sabah and other countries? See attached ‘REAP Response’ form.
One of the new REAP Indonesia evangelists, Nikolaos, commented:
“Through our time together in prayer and encouraging one another with God’s Word, we continue to commit ourselves to the work of evangelism. That’s how I was encouraged and strengthened!”
Indonesia is a large field with much potential for partnership in the work of evangelism. We hope more will come on board the REAP program to achieve the speediest gospel advance among the rural unreached of Indonesia.
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Gospel Missions Beyond Asia
MAP is thankful for the prayers and partnership of churches beyond Asia as we seek the speediest evangelization of Asia. 2015 saw new doors for such fellowship in the gospel.
- International Brethren Conference in Mission 6 (IBCM6), Pomezia, Italy
MAP Founder and President, Ooi Chin Aik, had the privilege of being a plenary speaker on: “The Church Under Pressure in the Majority World” to over 700 missionary leaders from over 100 countries at IBCM6 in Pomezia, Italy from 22-26 June, 2015. Two separate workshops entitled: “Contemporary Missions Challenges in Asia”, and “Learning from Growth Amongst Others” were also conducted.
In the leading of the Lord, invitations to conduct Missions Conferences in Romania, Argentina, Ethiopia, Fiji, Slovenia etc. will be taken to further the cause of the gospel worldwide. Pray for wisdom in responding to invitations from afar.
- London Ministries, United Kingdom
We give thanks for the opportunity to minister God’s Word and press home the urgency of evangelism in the context of end times in Europe. Thank you Rev. Ong Siew Huat, Senior Pastor of the Chinese Church in London (CCIL) and Senior Pastor Peter Loo, of Emmanuel Evangelical Church, London for hosting me and for practical fellowship in the gospel.
- MAP Ministries in Australia and New Zealand
Australia which houses the Pacific MAP Office “MAP Partners (Aust.) Inc” since 2001 has churches and individuals that have supported MAP in gospel advance since day one. We give thanks to God for the practical fellowship in 45 REAP supporters, MAP Council of Reference in Melbourne and for the volunteers.
In the years ahead, MAP Australia will expand her wings to Perth, Canberra, and Brisbane etc. Pray for favour and acceptance of MAP ministry in Australia.
Two itinerant ministry trips to New Zealand in 2014 and 2015 at the invitation of Global Connections 3 (GC3) New Zealand have yielded an impressive 22 REAP supporters from churches and organisations like BrightHope World in Christchurch, Auckland, Palmerston North, Masterton and Wanganui. Thank you Russell Thorp, Sefton Marshall, and Heather for GC3 office support and practical fellowship in the gospel. Thank you, Pastor Russell Embling of Masterton and John and Annette Dalman of Wanganui, and others (too many to mention!) for hosting us in the different cities in New Zealand and opening up your churches and homes to Lydia and I.
Annual itinerant ministry trips are expected in the near future to include churches in the South Island. Pray for greater gospel partnerships to the glory of God.
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For contributions please download and fill up the Response Form and post it to us.
Please click on the boxes below to download the Response Form.