When Tree of Life Christian Church moved from West Coast to our current premises at Bukit Batok, we were extremely grateful that the Lord has prepared a place like this for us to congregate and further our gospel work. At the beginning of the New Testament, the church inJerusalem was persecuted and the believers were forced to leave. They were scattered. No matter where these believers went, they brought the gospel there too (Acts 8:1-4). Of course, we are not facing the same type of persecution as the churches did in the early days. Since the Lord has placed us in Bukit Batok, it is our responsibility to share the gospel with the residents in this community. In fact, after moving to Bukit Batok, we have distributed tracts in this neighbourhood and invited people to our gospel rally. We did not, however, have much time to interact with the residents. SThus, it is not easy to invite them to church.
If inviting residents to church is difficult, we will need to bring the church to them in order to enter the community. We can start by introducing Tree of Life Christian Church to them and letting the residents know that there is a church in the vicinity of their homes which cares for them. On 31st May this year, we will send groups to two selected HDB blocks which have over 250 units to invite the residents to our church. There is only one simple objective for interacting with the residents this time – to let know them know that there is a church in the vicinity which cares for them. How do we achieve this? What are the things that we should be mindful about when we knock on their doors? What should we say to these residents? To better prepare our brothers and sisters’ minds and hearts for this visitation, we will be organizing a training session on 17th May. We hope that all the Christians who are in our congregation will take part in the training and visitation of the residents as this is gospel work. Let us, people who have enjoyed the fruits of salvation, be brave and share the Good News with the residents in our midst. Please do not think that this work is reserved only for the young and able bodied brothers and sisters. This work involves the entire church. Be it the children attending the Children Sunday School or the brethren attending the Evergreen Cell Group, English Cell Group or Chinese Cell Group, we need everybody’s contribution as the residents that we will be engaging with will be from different backgrounds and age groups.
After the first session with the residents, we will visig them again in the next few months. Besides visiting residents in the different households, the church will also be planning some fun and recreational activities for the residents in these two blocks on special occasions such as Mid Autumn’s Festival and Christmas. In addition, we are also thinking of other ways we can help these residents. For example, holding tuition classes for the students in church especially for subjects such as Mandarin and Mathematics or organizing activities for children during the school holidays. At the same time, we are hoping that through this close interaction, the residents can happily learn more about the Lord. We welcome your suggestions as to what other services we can provide for these residents.
The gospel work that we are doing for the community is a tremendous task. It is, however, also a challenge which can rouse us to action! It is not a one time or two times evangelism process. Rahter, it involves building a long-term relationship with the community. We need to be creative and be committed to this cause. As a small church, we have limited manpower and resources. If, however, we are willing to be used by the Lord, and do what we can, God will accomplish His beautiful plans.