Spurring One Another On

Spurring One Another On

We bring you some of the latest Ministry reports from 2013. Please continue to uphold our ministries in prayer.

Teaching & Equipping Ministry - A Ladies’ Special

“All The King’s Daughters” - A Ladies’ Special with Ellie Lofaro was held on Saturday, 5 October 2013. Unique…Precious…Fulfilled.

What a beautiful reminder and assurance from the Lord to the 160 ladies present at the seminar. Women from all walks of life, young & old gathered in the sanctuary (the youngest at 20 years old and the oldest at 94 years old). Many were blessed by Sister Ellie Lofaro as she shared her powerful message with a blend of plain-spoken truth, common sense practicality and disarming humor.

Foreign Indian Workers Fellowship

The India Independence Day was celebrated on Saturday, 24 August 2013 in our church. Praise God for His abundant blessings on this event.

We had 53 Indian migrant workers who came to grace the event. A 10-member worship team from Seletar Tamil Methodist Church led us in worship. In addition to our Ukelele group, an entertaining performance was presented by Maurice & Charles Koh who rendered catchy songs from yesteryear.

We were blessed with a gifted evangelist & pastor in the person of Dr Reverend Babu who shared a message from Hebrews 2:15 on the freedom from fear of death. At the end of his message, three people indicated that they wanted to receive Christ as their Saviour.

GROW@Noon

As part of our Missions Month program, GROW@ Noon held a carnival on Sunday, 25 August 2013 to raise funds for worthy causes, including support for our sister Deborah Foo for her ministry with the International Justice Mission (IJM).

The carnival ran from 9am to 1pm and comprised various stalls offering a variety of food, refreshments and services. These included hotdogs, salad, pasta, chin-chow, cupcakes, ice cream, fresh lemonade and hot drinks. They were lovingly prepared and served by the youths from GROW@Noon, with help from their group leaders and even some parents. There were also stalls providing shoe polishing and photoscanning services, as well as those selling handmade bracelets/friendship bands and even hugs and massages ($1 per hug)!

All the hard work was not in vain and most of the food and drink (especially the hotdogs!) sold like the proverbial hotcakes. There was no shortage of takers for the shoe polishing service as well. Thanks to the strong support of Frankelites and guests who attended the carnival, a total net amount of S$3,760 was raised.

We thank God for a great carnival and for blessing us so that we can be a blessing to others. Thank you to all who visited our stalls that day to buy something or even just to chat with us!

Social Action Committee

Some committed Frankelites came together to form the Social Action Committee in early 2012, as fruit borne out of the 40 Days of Community campaign.

The Committee strives to build a sustained movement that will continuously spur Frankelites to put their faith into action (James 2:17). During the Social Action month in July 2013 and throughout 2013, the Committee organized church-wide events such as Project Shoebox, Home Improvement Projects, outreach to the elderly at St Luke’s Eldercare, and facilitated various NGOs to engage Frankelites to volunteer with the work they undertook with the disadvantaged. If you’re interested to join us, please get in touch with the Committee at social_action@bfec.org.sg to find out more!

9214 Frankel Lights 3D/2N Retreat at Katerina Hotel, Batu Pahat

42 excited seniors came together for a 3D/2N retreat to Batu Pahat from 19 – 21 October 2013. We stayed at Katerina Hotel, the only 4-star and largest hotel in town.

Our first stop was at a home for those with physical and mental disabilities in Kulai. Within the huge compound was also a home for the elderly. We were indeed privileged to visit the home and minister to its residents. A collection was made prior to the trip as a gift for the home.

We attended Sunday worship service at Gereja Grace (Presbyterian) where we were warmly welcomed by their Elders and members. It was a big church with a seating capacity for 1,000 people and standing on an equally huge plot of 10 acres of land.

After the Sunday service, we visited Malacca town and enjoyed a hearty meal of the best nonya food in town at Restoran Atlantic 1. There was food galore in the meals at the various restaurants on our itinerary. We had a total of three inspiring devotional messages given by Brother Kenneth Wong on the theme of “New Every Morning – Feeling New While Growing Old”. His messages spoke to many of our hearts as we were fed the living Word of God. On our last day, we visited the biggest pasar malam in JB near KSL Resort.

Our thanks to the many helpers including Waileen, Indra, Philip, our musician Maurice, and many others who made the trip memorable. Not forgetting Aishah our tour guide who spoke impeccable English and was a repository of knowledge and many interesting stories. To God, we offer our tribute of praise and thanks!

Kindergarten Sunday School (KSS)

KSS celebrated Children’s Day on Sunday, 6 October 2013 and the highlight of the celebration was a magic show.

KSS Children’s Day celebration is also a Bring Your Friend Day where the children were asked to invite their friends to join them in this celebration. By God’s grace, more than 10 invited children joined the Children’s Day Celebration.

Teachers came in on Saturday to decorate the AVA room with more than 200 balloons and little “steps” were pasted on the ground and 2nd floor to guide the children to the celebration venue. As the children arrived, they were welcomed with party hats.

The Children’s Day celebration started with worship led by Aunty Janis and her team of helpers. Songs such as “Bible Song” and “Jesus Loves Me” were sung.

After the worship, the children were wowed by the magic tricks by Uncle Derek. Throughout the magic show, Uncle Derek taught the children several Biblical truths such as “magic is only an optical illusion and not a real miracle; only God and God alone can perform miracles”, and “Through God, we can do anything.”

After the magic show, the balloons in the net above the children were released so that they could bring back the balloons that they “caught”.

The Children’s Day Celebration ended with a treat of ice cream and cotton candy prepared by Uncle Raymond and Aunty Elaine. The children invited by the KSS children were each given a goody bag which included an invitation card for them to join KSS on Sundays.

6th Bible Distribution Trip to Harbin and Qiqihar (Heilong Jiang Province China from 26 October to 4 November 2013)

Praise and thank God that 29 BFEC members and one non-member embarked on a 10 day trip to meet the Christian leaders and believers from the Three Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches (TSPM ) in China under the auspices of the United Bible Societies (UBS). We contributed 2000 copies of Bibles, 600 pairs of reading glasses for the elderly people and 300 sets of study books for the Seminary students.

By meeting the leaders of the Christian Council and visiting both city and rural churches, we were able to have a better understanding of the relationship between the church and the state. Hence, many of the misconceptions about churches in China were cleared.

We personally handed a copy of the Bible to believers who have never owned a Bible of their own, helped out in the Medical work of the church and had fellowship

with them. At Mount Olive Seminary, besides handing out Study Books and Bible Reference Books to a fresh group of 300 seminary students, we shared God’s word, conducted leadership workshops and fellowshipped with them. We also had the privilege to attend a unique worship service with a group of deaf and mute believers known as the Ephphatha Fellowship Group. Thereafter, we hosted a dinner for them.

It is an honor and a joy to be involved in what God is doing in China especially in the area of Christianity’s growth and the printing of millions of copies of Bibles. We are indeed thankful for all the prayers and support given by the BFEC Council, Missions Board and many BFEC brothers and sisters in Christ. We went on this trip with the theme verses in Isaiah 55:10 - 11 and firmly believed that the word of God will not return empty but will accomplish and achieve the purpose for which HE sent us.

Missions: Japan

In May 2013, a team of 8 Frankelites (Aloysius Ho, Deborah Quek, Dorea Quek, Ian Lim, Kuah Leck Ping, Michelle Ng, Sylvianne Devajothi & Daniel Lau) embarked on a 9-day mission trip to Japan. The purpose of the mission trip was to spread love and joy to the Japanese people. The team visited churches and helped in the homeless ministry in Tokyo, and then traveled to the tsunami-affected town of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture to conduct tea sessions and after-school programs in temporary housing centers. Three years after the 2010 tsunami, residents in the affected regions are still trying to cope with the loss of their homes, jobs and loved ones. Please continue to pray for the people of Japan.