Ps Paul Cheng
~4 min read
Dear Bethelites,
By the grace of God, I have just returned from a trip to Singapore and Penang (Malaysia). I was invited to preach at True Life Bible Presbyterian Church Camp in Penang from the 10th to 14th June 2024.
Prior to the Church Camp, I was scheduled to preach at True Life’s worship service at RELC hotel. I preached on the topic, “This One Thing I Do,” based on Philippians 3:12-14, focusing on what the believer ought to do to pursue after Christ, live for Him, serve Him and be more and more like Him. And the way he can do that is to (1) forget those things that are behind, (2) reaching forth unto those things which are before, and (3) pressing toward the mark.
The next morning at 9.00 am, I boarded the Scoot flight to Penang. It was an uneventful flight, and upon arrival, I took a taxi to Royale Chulan Hotel where the Church Camp was held. It was a heritage hotel, built according to those old Victorian-styled buildings. Penang is located on the northwest coast of Peninsula Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca with a population of about 1.74 million residents which includes Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, Siamese and expatriates. Interestingly, Captain Francis Light, a British explorer, founded the British colony and its capital city of George Town in 1786, and his son William Light was also the one who founded the city of Adelaide in South Australia. That is an interesting connection between Penang and Australia. To me, this rustic city was reminiscent of Singapore in the 70s, thus bringing back many sweet memories.
There were more than 200 participants in the Church Camp which were made up of True Lifers, visitors from other churches, representatives from their missions and joint-missions churches in Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Kemaman (Malaysia), the Philippines, Kenya, Brisbane and Perth. Amongst the participants were two principals, Rev Dr Jeffry, pastor of True Life and principal of the Far Eastern Bible College, Rev Dr Mark Kim, principal of the Bible College of East Africa and Rwanda, several lecturers of FEBC, as well as ministers and preachers from other churches. It was quite a daunting experience to preach before my former pastor, Bible College principals and lecturers, and other senior ministers. Nevertheless, God had strengthened, sustained and given me the words to exhort. All glory to God!
The church camp’s theme was “The God of all Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).” I preached to the English participants, while Rev Lee Kim Shong (Calvary Jaya B-P Church) preached to the Chinese participants. I chose selected scripture passages from the Old and New Testaments about believers who had experienced the comfort of God in the different phases of life; drawing spiritual lessons from Elijah, David, Paul, Peter, James and the disciples of Christ.
Altogether there were seven sermons, and they were as follows:
- Lesson from Paul - Introduction to the God of all Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:1-7)
- Lesson from Elijah - Having victory in times of trials (1 Kings 17-18)
- Lesson from David - Having confidence in times of trials (Psalm 3)
- Lesson from Peter - Understanding God’s purpose in trials (1 Peter 1:6-7)
- Lesson from James I - Enduring trials and the reward (James 1:1-12)
- Lesson from James II - Understanding who God is and who we are in times of trials (James 1:13-18)
- Lesson from the Disciples - Clinging onto God’s promise in times of trials (John 14:1-6)
The fellowship was loving and warm, and during meal time, we would share with one another about the trials we had faced and how we had experienced the comfort of God. Representatives from the mission churches were allotted time to share reports of their work which was most encouraging as we were given insights into the blessings, struggles and challenges they faced in the ministry which enabled us to pray for them more relevantly.
Penang is arguably the Malaysian state that produces the best durians, and so, a “durian party” was organised on the last night at the hotel carpark (obviously durians were not allowed in the hotel premise), and everyone (except a few who did not like durians) was able to savour the “King of Fruits.” The camp ended with a time of thanksgiving and testimonies when the participants shared their own personal experiences with trials and God’s strengthening comfort, and lessons they had learnt through the messages. There was a question-and-answer segment toward the very end, but time was so limited that I was only able to answer six questions before the campers had to break camp and check out of the hotel. Indeed, God is good and He has blessed us with a wonderful camp, to feast upon His Word and have sweet fellowship with one another.
Upon my return to Singapore, I was invited to preach at the Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church worship service on the Lord’s Day on the 16 th June. I was able to meet up with Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy and fellow Gethsemaneans, as well as their missionaries. Coincidentally, Gethsemane had her missionary conference in Kuala Lumpur at the same time True Life was having their church camp at Penang. That was the reason why those missionaries from Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippians and India, were present at the worship service. Once again, I was blessed with a brief but most edifying fellowship with people whom I knew and had not met for years, before catching the flight in the evening bound for Melbourne.
Before and after the church camp, and in-between those days when I was not scheduled to preach, I was also able to spend some time with my elderly parents. Each time I visited them, I could see how they had aged tremendously, and with the ageing came all the aches, pains, sicknesses and mobility restrictions. But praise be to God for the time well-spent, and the opportunity to minister to them.
I went to Singapore and Penang to minister and be a blessing to the people, but in reality, I was being ministered and blessed so abundantly. Truly, For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations (Psalm 100:5).
With love in Christ
Pastor Paul
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