MMS LEADERS’ SUMMIT 2022

Woo Li Chun, MMS volunteer since 2018. She is currently the Country Coordinating Officer for Laos. On the side, Li Chun is also a food rescuer with a volunteer group “Divert for 2nd Life”.

MMS celebrated her 30th Anniversary in 2022 and it was opportune for MMS to hold a Leaders’ Summit to review and renew MMS’ vision. 44 key mission leaders including MMS ExCo members, Area and Country Directors, School Board Chairpersons, Finance, Personnel, Training and Education Committee members, and key missionaries from Cambodia, East Asia, Laos, Nepal, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam gathered for a 3-day dialogue held at Changi Cove from 18 to 20 August. Taken from Leviticus 6:12-13, the submit theme was ‘Keep the Fire Burning’.

A novel feature of this summit is that it was conducted in a hybrid mode. Proceedings were screened live via Zoom to six overseas participants in Nepal, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam who could not fly into Singapore due to the high travel cost at that time. They also joined in the breakout room (BOR) discussions with the onsite participants. A scribe was assigned to each BOR session and it was indeed a learning experience for the organisers, facilitators, and scribes to handle the mixed dynamics and technicalities involved in this hybrid format.

Changi Cove’s Incubator Conference Centre at the third level served our purposes well for it was spacious. The different tables that needed to be on Zoom during the BOR sessions could be spaced apart to avoid digital interference.

Rev Dr Andrew Peh, a lecturer in mission at Trinity Theological College, was the Leaders’ Summit keynote speaker. He set our sights forward in his address “Looking Ahead – Global Mission Trends”, pointing out 21 key trends, emphasising that missions must be integral, including the renewal of all things and healing of the brokenness and alienation of all things in heaven and earth. He stressed that the future of missions will be indigenous and polycentric. Though we embrace the use of technology to WIT-ness, it must go hand-in-hand with WITH-ness.

Mr Alvin Tan, Chairman of MMS ExCo, spoke on the challenges associated with presenting MMS as an Agency of Choice to the local churches. (Read more about this topic of Agency of Choice on page 25.) He highlighted the value of partnership, collaboration, sharing of resources, and addressing issues such as governance, accountability, and sustainability.

Both Dr Stanley Ling, Advisor to SIM East Asia, and Rev Benjamin Lee, Pastor-in-charge of Toa Payoh Methodist Church, spoke on the challenges and opportunities for Singapore-based churches to reach out in partnership, recruiting missionaries, as well as motivating and equipping National Leaders to take on greater ownership and driving roles.

A lively panel discussion moderated by Rev Derrick Lau with Dr Ling and Rev Lee, Mr Tan Hua Joo, Chinese Annual Conference Board of Missions Chair, and Col (Ret) Quek Koh Eng, MMS Field Director, gave the audience much food for thought and discussion during the BORs.

Over the three days, overviews of the key challenges in the areas of Training, Education, Finance, and Personnel were given by various MMS and guest speakers. Dr Richard Seow, Mr Eddie Liew, and Mr Michael Khor are our long-serving volunteers in MMS’ Education, Finance, and Personnel Committees respectively.

Active participation in the BORs ensued as participants dwelt into the key challenges and opportunities faced by MMS’ twin-pronged strategy of Church Planting and Community Development. Discussions on issues with regard to growth, sustainability, and capacity building in the fields elicited many suggestions and ideas.

Indeed, nurturing and developing National Leaders, and ensuring financial and operational sustainability are keys towards achieving self-sustainability. The aim is to progress MMS’ ministries from the Pioneering stage to the Parenting stage, to the Partnership stage, and finally to the Participation stage (ref. the 4P’s growth strategy) as MMS hands over the ministries to national leaders or partners.

Establishing Methodist mission schools has long been a legacy and heritage spearheaded by the Methodist Church in Singapore. Participants had a wonderful opportunity to hear first-hand from three MMS School Board (SB) Chairpersons in a panel discussion moderated by Col (Ret) Quek on their experiences. Dr Eileen Aw (Singapore Mission School in Laos), Mr Ong Teong Hoon (Methodist School of Cambodia), and Dr Lionel Lee (Vineyard and Little Candles School in Thailand) gave insightful views on balancing selfsustainability with the mission of reaching out with education to the needy and marginalised. The schools need to fulfil their professional obligation of giving a good education and nurturing upright citizens. However, the greater challenge is to establish the Christian identity of the school (mission-centredness of the school) and to encourage her students to be witnesses and beacons of generosity to the community.

In his daily consolidation of key points for the Summit, Dr Christopher Cheah, Chairman of the 30th Anniversary Organising Committee, said he could “feel the fire burning!” and emphasised the importance of engagement with clear communication and sustainability of ministry multiplication, mobilising of manpower and member care, means and resources.

In his summary address, Rev Derrick Lau, MMS Executive Director, exhorted that MMS together with all her partners will continue ‘BURNING’ for missions:

After the three-day summit, MMS had an intensive period of reviewing the key themes highlighted. These were encapsulated into MMS’ Strategic Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans which will form the basis for the MMS roadmap over the next three to five years, together with an organisational restructure.