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MINISTERING IN ASIA’S CITIES:
Pray for My Summer Mission 2000
Samuel Ling
This summer, I will be serving in Singapore and in Asia as a short-term missionary from June to September. I look forward to getting deeply involved in the lives of young pastors, seminary students and Christians who want to learn God’s Word in order to witness more effectively. Singapore’s churches are wide awake and alive for Jesus Christ. The Christians there represent 10 to 20% of the population! I go as a servant from North America, to these Asian brothers and sisters. Please support this ministry of teaching and equipping with your prayers!
Why Singapore? I go to serve, and to learn. Also to spread the vision for a strong apologetic for the church. Since February 1986, I have made about seven trips to Singapore and Malaysia. I firmly believe that this is the most strategic region for the global Body of Christ. Christians there are so committed, that every time I go, I come back with lessons that we can learn as Christians in North America. This is true partnership: we give, so that we can receive from those whom we serve. This may be a new concept for some, but it is a very important part of “missions” in the 21st century: serving, together with those who serve overseas. Serving those who serve.
This summer, I will have the opportunity to teach a one-week course in Klang, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, at Malaysia Bible Seminary (June 26-29). The topic is “Theological Issues Facing the Chinese Church.” It is an opportunity to challenge the Malaysian Chinese church on the crucial doctrinal issues which have emerged in China, Hong Kong, and North America. I will also give an evening lecture at a church in Klang on apologetics.
From June 29-July 2, I will travel down south to Johor Bahru for conference ministry and preaching. This strategic city is across the Straits from Singapore. Then on July 2 I will cross the Straits to Singapore, in order to teach a Doctor of Ministry course also entitled “Theological Issues Facing the Chinese Church” at Singapore Bible College, July 3-7. I have many friends among the faculty and students there, having visited the school every time I visited Singapore in the past decade. Students at SBC come from Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Myanmar, Indonesia, and many other countries in Asia, some of which are “closed countries” where missionaries cannot go. SBC graduates go back to all these countries to pastor churches, and often to start new seminaries and churches!
I will return to Los Angeles on July 8, and spend about a week and a half at home and catching up at China Horizon’s office. I will speak in the English worship service at Chinese Bible Church (which is sending me with their prayers to Singapore as a short term missionary) on July 16. I return to Singapore on or about July 19. On July 21-22, I will give an apologetics conference sponsored by The Divine Challengers, an evangelistic organization reaching out to the Chinese in Singapore. It will be held at a major Methodist Church.
From July 24 to September 2, I will take up residence again at Singapore Bible College as a full time lecturer. From Tuesday to Friday for six weeks, I will teach “Apologetics” (4 periods a week) and “Systematic Theology I” (6 periods a week). On Wednesday evenings, I will teach “The Doctrine of Scripture,” which is open to all Christians who want to attend. These are crucial classes to challenge students to have absolute confidence in the Bible as the Word of God.
On four Saturdays, July 22, 29, August 5 and 12, I will also conduct a “Biblical Counseling” course through the Divine Challengers. Singapore’s Chinese-speaking Christians are young and eager to learn! Also on August 18-20, I will fly to Miri, Sarawak, East Malaysia (where I was in October 1999), and give lectures at the Miri Gospel Church. This church has 5 congregations in a city of 200,000 residents; they have a combined attendance of 1,000 people, 16 pastoral staff members, and 14 volunteers who have given 2 years of their lives, full time, to evangelism and learning at the church. The senior pastor and some of the deacons there have actively been involved in creative-access mission work in “closed countries.” A vibrant example for us to learn from!
On September 1, I will fly to Tokyo, and minister to the Tokyo International Church, which has Christians speaking Mandarin, Taiwanese, Japanese, Fukien and English! (I was there in August 1999, and on the last evening, spent 5 hours answering questions from Mainland Chinese students and young adults!) I will also minister to a small congregation in Osaka on September 6, and return to Los Angeles September 7.
The courses I am teaching in Singapore and Malaysia are the major seminary teaching responsibilities I carry for the year 2000. What a privilege to serve and teach among the worlds’ most vibrant pastors!
Asia is a place of teeming cities and crowded streets, where pastors are busy serving the Lord. The churches are vibrant, but the needs are great. All of the world’s major religions are strongly represented in Asia: Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc. I will simply follow the example of these dedicated pastors. Please uphold me in your prayers, so that I will be spiritually alert and sensitive to the needs of the Christians and pastors there. Many will need encouragement. Others may come for guidance. May I effectively represent the Lord Jesus Christ.
San Gabriel, California
April 8, 2000