_____________________Wednesday, January 31, 2007__________________
Wednesday~~
Thailand - Thai Christian Students Association (TCS)
www.tcs.or.th
Country Profile
Population : 64. 9 million
Capital : Bangkok
Area : 513 115 sq km
No. of people groups : 108 (Dominated by ethnic Thai and Lao)
No. of unreached people groups : 71
Primary national language : Thai
Major religions : Buddhism – 94%
Muslim – 4%
Christian – 1%
Some news about Thailand:
Five people were shot dead and another person was injured in attacks by suspected Islamic militants in Thailand ’s insurgency-torn southern provinces, according to police. More than 1,800 people have been killed in three years of unrest in this region.
(http://www.channeln ewsasia.com/ cna/cgi-bin/ search/search_ 7days.pl? status=&search=thailand&id=255336)
About TCS:
Student ministry in Thailand under TCS includes both secondary school and university student work. We work with around 1,000 students. Secondary school ministry is mainly in Bangkok . There are 11 schools with Bible study groups. There are currently 4 secondary school staff workers. We work with around 20 universities all over Thailand . We currently have 8 university staff. Their work is mainly to build up leadership among students.
Activities:
· Bible study groups during term time.
· Training camps during holidays
o Secondary Schools have two training camps; one in April, one in October
o University
§ Annual Training Camp in during 19th-24th March ’07 . It is aimed to train students to carry out their ministry on campus. This is so that they can in turn disciple their fellow members in their ministry.
§ October Training Camp. The focus last year was on Malachi. The students were trained in godly living in various areas with deeper outlooks such as true worship, being a priest, offering and relationship among themselves. All these are linked to the contexts of student life for application.
§ Training camp for graduating students in December. This camp is aimed in preparing the graduating students to be the salt and light of the earth in their workplace when they step out, as well as to stand firm in their faith in the marketplace.
o We actually do not have as many camps this year. This is because we want to go back to focusing strongly and deeply on the vision of the students being the salt and the light in the university.
Thanksgiving:
1) Thank God for giving the students the initiative to do many things on their own; they have a strong sense of ownership of the ministries they run in their schools and universities.
2) Thank God for sending us student leaders to us for training every year. There will not be a lack of church leaders in the future.
3) The students enjoyed the Bible camps. They love the Word of God! Thank God for the fire and passion that is spreading voraciously among the students!
Prayer points:
1) Many of our student groups are already very strong in fellowship and discipleship among themselves. Please pray that they will begin to be more active in evangelism as well.
2) There are many secondary schools and university that still do not have Bible study groups. The students are trying to start something in their schools. Please pray for the Lord’s hand in guiding them and making it happen!
3) We are currently short of staff, and need about 2-3 more staff workers. Please pray that God will provide people who are willing to serve in our ministry.
4) Please pray also, that we will be financially able to carry out all the things we hope to do.
Mongolia - Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS)
Sain Bainuu! (Hello!)
Mongolia is sandwiched between China and Russia. It is surrounded by mountain ranges and barren land.
Religions in Mongolia:
Shamanism: 32%
Tibetan Buddhism: 25%
Islam: 4%
Christianity: 0.7%
However, most of the people in younger generation are not
strong believers of Buddhism or Shamanism.
They simply follow the traditions and culture of their families.
Christianity in Mongolia:
- Christianity is not entirely new in Mongolia. Back in 0- 1600 AD, Chinggis Khan (known to us as Genghis Khan) invited several Christian missionaries into the country.
- However, the take-over by the Chinese and the Communist influence eliminated Christianity.
- Only 16 years ago did the country break free from Communism and turned democratic.
- In this short period of time, the number of Christians grew from 0 to 35,000.
However, as the Mongolians are of nomadic background, they are generally non-committal and enjoy trying out new things. Many who profess to be Christians do not stay in the faith for a long time.
Some news about Mongolia:
1) Post-communist struggle for Mongolia: Sixteen years ago, thousands of Mongolians gathered to demand an end to decades of communist rule. However, democracy has not brought the better life that many people hoped for. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6252741.stm)
2) Dalai Lama welcomed in Mongolia: Thousands of people have turned out to greet the Dalai Lama on his first visit to Mongolia since 2002, despite Chinese government protests. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5275590.stm)
Haadin Haanig bahdan magtya (Let’s praise the King of Glory)
About FCS (Fellowship of Christian Students – is the IFES student movement in Mongolia):
- Started in 1999 at Ulanbaatar College by a Korean Missionary. By 2002 it grew to about 20 students.
- Today, there are about 60 students who are committed members in 3 different chapters, focusing on three different schools.
- There are about another 20-30 non-Christians involved.
- Currently, there are 7 Mongolian Campus Staff and 1 Campus Coordinator. There are also 4 missionary campus staff (Korean & American) and 1 missionary Director (Korean).
Facilities:
- Each chapter has an office/student center located nearby the target university.
- The office is where most formal ministry takes place.
- Here students can come any time during the day to meet with staff, fellowship with their friends, play games, etc.
Evangelism:
- Evangelism takes place in multiple forms: Spreading the gospel in front of the universities, inviting students to weekly large group, 'Open Large Group' where the gospel is shared, picnics, etc.
- The goal is to get students to sign up for an Evangelical Bible Study, where they will study basic Bible truths 1:1 with another student and staff for a semester.
- If one becomes a believer, they will join a "growth" group where they will learn basics of following Christ.
- If they continue on, they will eventually join a cell group where they will study the Bible inductively with others.
Other activities:
- We have prayer nights, visit orphanages, play sports together, do occasional special training sessions in specific areas, summer mission trips to the countryside, etc.
- There is also a developing book ministry where books and other materials are translated from English or Korean to Mongolian.
Magtan duulya, magtan duulya! (Let’s praise, let’s praise!)
Praises:
1) Praise God for the 2 years of fruitful ministry of short term
Korean missionary, Yu Seung-Jin, who returned to Korea
in early January.
2) Praise God for the recent hiring of a new Mongolian staff,
Munhoo. Munhoo is the second male Mongolian staff.
He will work with the FCS 2 chapter.
3) Praise God for His work in students’ lives at our annual
Leadership Training Conference. Many students attended
and were trained for leadership in the coming semester.
Prayer requests:
1) Our FCS 1 chapter has recently moved to a different part of the city and will be shifting its focus to the National University of Mongolia (NUM). Pray for this transition, that God would be sewing seeds in students at NUM, and for the students and staff of FCS 1 as they seek to reach out to this new school.
2) Korean missionary, David Lee and his family will leave for a 1 year sabbatical in February. Also, a new Korean missionary couple, Barnabus and Sophia Lee are coming as the new country directors for the movement. Pray for this transition of leadership and for them to have a good adjustment to the culture and a quick learning of the language.
3) Please pray for a restful couple of weeks for staff during the Lunar New Year, after a busy few months. Pray for a unified and renewed staff team as we go into the new semester starting in March.
4) Please pray for good leadership in the Mongolian government for they are a young democratic nation. Pray for wisdom for the leaders and for Christians to not be afraid to step up and help in shaping the country.
5) Also pray for God to continue to work in Mongolia, to break the strongholds of Buddhism and for active evangelism. Pray that in times of need and burden faced by many of the Mongolians that they will turn to God and realize that He is their God and Saviour.
Missionaries’ sites:
- Chris Loose: Current staffworker at FCS - http://ivcf_sc.typepad.com/the_land_of_blue_skiesTom and Nancy: Ex-staffworkers at FCS - http://www.tomandnancylin.com
Finally managed to get onto our blog. anyway, lets pray for Hong Kong...
Hong Kong- Inter-College Christian Fellowship (ICCF)
www.fes.org.hk Country ProfileRegion : Northeas Asia
Population : 7 053 000
No. of people groups : 10
No. of unreached people groups : 4 (40% of all groups)
Primary national language : Mandarin
Major religions : Buddhism 28.9%
Christianity -10.0%
(Evangelical – 5.1%)
Hinduism – 0.3%
Islam – 1.5%
Ethnic religions- 38.0%
Non-religious – 18.2% Other – 2.9%
Some news about Hong Kong:Two dead birds found in Hong Kong last week carried the fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu, taking to seven the number of birds found with the virus this year, authorities said on Monday. (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/255360/1/.html)
About ICCFThe Special Administrative Region is 1.5 times of Singapore in size, inhabiting 7 million people (compared to 4.5m in Singapore). Hong Kong has 9 major universities, including the latest Shue Yan University （香港树仁大学）. Like Singapore, there are Christian fellowship meetings in individual campuses.
Inter-College Christian Fellowship (ICCF) affiliated with FES (HK) is formed by representatives from different campus fellowships, providing a platform for corporate witness among other activities, such as annual Bible camp, mission camp, etc.
Prayer Requests
1) Pray for the follow-up work in January after the Bible camp as we study the book of Exodus, there will be 3 talks about how the themes in Exodus can relate to present day issues.
2) There are also different social response groups formed by students about issues on “Star Ferry” and “suicide of University of Science and Technology students”. Pray that these groups can deepen their Christian faith to respond to the reality. (Star Ferry Pier issue: For over 100 years, the Star Ferry Pier has served commuters and visitors between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island - the CBD of HK. The government has recently dismentled the Star Ferry Pier in favor of yet more reclamation of Victoria Habour, a world renowned natural port. Not only does it cause environmental degradation by reclaiming the harbour and building more highways, the dismantling of the Pier also destroyed one of the most significant landmarks of HK, (image Merlion being pulled down), a cultural icon of HK. It caused a public outcry, thousands of citizens signed petitions, yet the government went ahead with the plan.
These response groups would raise awareness among the student community, and challenge Christian students to think of creative ways they could get involved in making positive changes.)
3) Between 15th June and 19th June, there will be FES mission camp in response to our 50th anniversary. 100 college students are expected and our theme is “City/Urban Mission ". Do pray for the preparation work. And for the adjustments that have to be made for our annual missions camp, Summer with a mission (SWAM).
_____________________Monday, January 22, 2007__________________
Hi, hope u had a good week praying for Sarawak. Shall we pray for Sarawak's "sister", Sabah, this week?
Sabah
Buddhism, and other traditional Chinese religions are overshadowed in Sabah by a majority Muslim population and a dynamic Christian community. Rapid church growth has taken place among the indigenour tribal peoples, but also among the Chinese. Sovereign works of revival have taken place among the interior tribal peoples, and the charismatic movement has deeply affected nearly every denomination, but especially the Anglican community.
Prayer points:
- Pray for the ministry of the Anglican Church in Sabah, especially under it's Chinese Bishop
leadership
-Pray also for the Basel Mission, the Chinese Methodist churches, and the Borneo Evangelical
Church, in gathering harvest among the Chinese still hanging on to their Buddhist or traditional
beliefs
Have a fruitful week ahead...
_____________________Thursday, January 18, 2007__________________
Morning Devotion is back!!!
All are welcome to join us as we start our day together with our heavenly Father...
Venue: B2 tables opposite the kitchen (outside Shu yi's room)
Time: 6.30am (you may choose to have breakfast with the CG after devotion or get back to
sleep)
What are we going to do???
- Gather together and have QT together. after which whoever wants to share his or her
reflection can have a chance to do so, and we will pray for one another.
Materials: Read Pray Grow (Jan-Mar 07)
-Feel free to get a copy from me (while stocks lasts =P)
-Or if you want to use your own materials its also ok...
So what are you waiting for? See you in B2!!!
hi Ecfers...below is an extract from the E&M world prayer request:
Zichun:
Hi,The contact I found from Thailand, Miss Supaporn has replied. Here it is:
It seems that this year we don't have as many camps as before. This isbecause we turn back to emphasize the passing on of the vision ofbeing the salt and the light in the university in a clearer and deepersense for the students. We thank the Lord for we starting to see thatstudents in many universities envision the picture and share thisvision. They realize more that they are the owners of this ministry.Moreover, many institutes that do not have cell group yet start togather together and witness to their friends.There will be only three camps:
1. Training camp: The focus was on Malachi. It was in last October.The students were trained in godly living in various areas with deeperoutlooks such as, the true worship, being a priest, offering andrelationship among themselves. All these are linked to the contexts ofstudent life.
2. Training camp for the senior students last December. This aimed toprepare the graduates- to- be in stepping out to be the light of theirworkplace and stand firm in their faith in the marketplace. We thankthe Lord to see graduates who came back to support the studentministry by passing on their experience and outlooks in varioustopics, applying the teaching of the Bible.
3. The annual training camp. This is going to be during 19-24 March2007. It is the training camp on how to do the ministry in theuniversity. We aim to train the leaders to go back to their campusesand pass on the vision and the skills learned to their members. Theywill learn how to pass on the vision, skills in leading Bible studygroup, how to proclaim the good news and witness, how to study theBible in their daily devotion.
Please pray for:
• The preparation for the teaching and learning in the training campsfor the staff and the students. May God enable the student leaders topass on what they have learned.
• The vision of the university ministry is more deeply and firmlyembedded in the students' heart.
• Thai students to come to Christ for the salvation through theirChristian friends.Thank you very much indeed for your concerns and prayers. We will alsopray for you as well. Please let us know what you want us to pray for.
Apart from this detailed reply, she's also sent 2 pictures of thestudents in their activities, so as to put a face on the people we arepraying for. I'll upload them for everyone to see...
zichun
_____________________Monday, January 15, 2007__________________
Hi ECFers...hope you had a great holiday...
Lets continue praying for Malaysia, as we all heard about the flood there. We can refer to some prayer points for Malaysia in our blog several months ago. For this week, i shall upload a little more about Malaysia, especially Sabah... =)
One of the most fascinationg stories of Chinese emigration to Borneo involves the Reverend Wong Nai Siong leading several groups of Foochow Chinese Christian believers to settle in Sibu,central Sarawak, in 1901. They were fleeing persecution during the Boxer Rebellion. These Foochow established a dynamic Christian community in the heart of what was quite inhospitable terrain, and still today their influence throughout the state of Sarawak is immense.
Unfortunately, such communitites are not as Christian as they were when initially established. Over the years there has been a growing presence and influence of traditional Chinese religions and Buddhism. While half of Sarawak's Chinese population profess to be Christian today, there has been a resurgence of Buddhism and traditional Chinese religions. As you travel the rivers of Sarawak, the landscape is dotted with newly rebuilt, larger than ever, colourfully painted temples.
Prayer points:
-Pray for fresh revival to impact the Chinese Christian community of Sarawak, as it did during
John Sung's ministry in 1936 with consequent hundreds of conversions
-Pray for a new, and Holy Spirit-energized outreach to reach every Chinese with the Gospel
-Pray for a breaking of the enemy's strong control over the lives of these who have been
impacted by the enemy's strong control over the lives of these who have been impacted by the
intricate, binding, permeating influence of Buddhism and Chinese religions.
Have a fruitful week ahead as we number our days and live for the one who reigns forever...
_____________________Sunday, January 07, 2007__________________
Collection of Pledges
Hi! It's the time of the month again! First of all, I would like to apologize for my incompetence as a treasurer in getting you guys to submit your pledges. I'm sorry that you guys now have to fork out a formidable sum from your limited allowance! Well, the good news is that I only need to collect the pledges that are outstanding till Dec 06. I will have to hand them over to the VCF Treasurer by next week so I will need you guys to pass me the money by the end of this week (14 Jan 07), ok? If I don't see any of you guys around, be sure that I'll come knocking on your door by the end of the week. Check out the list below for the amount of money that you need to ready:
Chien Huah: Nov & Dec = $30
Shuyi: Dec = $15
Ian: Nov & Dec = $30
Tingyu: Nov & Dec = $30
Rachel: Nov & Dec = $20
Lester: Nov & Dec = $20
Joshua: Dec = $15
If you guys are feeling rich, please do not hesitate to submit your pledges for the month of Jan as well. Heh.
Have a blessed new year and school term!
Luv,
Mel