4 minute read
WE ARE ONE IN GOD’S FAMILY: SERVING TOGETHER AS A TEAM
by Stephen Wee. Feeling like an old man stuck in an 18-year-old boy’s body, Stephen may be young but his body aches attest to the active person that he is. He has been to Timor-Leste five times, and he has decided to return to visit whenever he can. He serves the Lord through playing drums in worship. And, recently, he took up the role of a mission trip leader.
Mission trips have resumed in the new normal after the pandemic. Read the reflections from the team leader of a youth mission team who went to Timor-Leste in June 2023 for a week:
Our mission team consisted of 10 members: six youth from Aldersgate Methodist Church (AMC) and four (2 youth and 2 adults) from Holland Village Methodist Church (HVMC). Even though we were from different churches, we were all going to Timor-Leste with one common purpose: to serve the Lord and serve the people of Timor-Leste together as one family in Christ.
One common purpose: to serve the Lord and serve the people of Timor-Leste together as one family in Christ.
In our weekly team meetings that started in April, besides planning for the trip, we prayed for the missionaries. We also fasted and prayed for the trip as a group.
When we first arrived in Timor-Leste, we were fortunate enough to be able to squeeze in a time for a prayer walk and devotion at the Cristo Rei. It was a time of spiritual preparation as we prayed over the country.
The team spent three days at the Sundermeier Home on the mountain of Gleno. This hostel was managed by Uncle Joseph and Aunty Grace. We were blessed to have the opportunity to have fellowship with the hostelites and to teach them how to play the keyboard, cajón, and guitar. They could use these skills when they worship God during their daily devotions. We also taught simple English and led in devotions. At the Sunday service, the assistant leader of our team, Mark Feijen, shared from the book of Philemon on the importance of forgiveness.
Our team spent an evening with the university students staying at Dunamis House, which was supervised by Pastor See and her husband, Uncle Hoe. We had fellowship over dinner with the students and shared our testimonies. Many of them shared that they were encouraged by the team’s testimonies and had learnt something new about how the young people live out our faith in Singapore.
We spent a day preparing for the Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade (BB/GB) camp before running the actual 2-day camp at St Paul Methodist School (SPMS). The theme verse for the camp was Philippians 2:3-4, focusing on the values of humility and selflessness. We linked these values to the servant leadership that Jesus exemplified, building each student’s leadership skills to become more Christ-like. We led devotions with the students and conducted activities like feet-washing to teach humility and servant leadership. We also had a worship night when the students had an encounter with the Lord. We are thankful that most of us from AMC serve together in the worship ministry, which made leading the worship night less stressful! We ended the camp on a lighter note by playing various station games with the students and learning a dance with them.
Through this mission trip, the team saw how God moved ahead and used us so that the people of Timor-Leste could have an encounter with Him. The mission team also witnessed the goodness of God through the love that the missionaries had for the people. We saw God’s sovereignty and provision for the people in Timor-Leste. The team was blessed to be a small part of reaching out to the people of Timor-Leste and helping them to grow closer to God.
