Jan Issue R4

Family FGT NEWSLETTER FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY • January 2009

INSIDE Moving forward in Faith in 2009...................................2 Meeting the Needs................3

CAREmart..............................4

Workers’ Conference............5 True meaning of Christmas... ................................................5

365 Camp...............................6

My Hope.................................7 (Personal Testimonies) Kids Alive: VBS Japanese experience (Responsibility).......................8

Pastor’s Address

By Eu Hong Seng

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any Christians have a flawed underGenesis 6 tells the tragic story of the destanding of faith. They think for God cline of humanity into sin. But God’s grace to answer their prayers they need “great triumphed – He saved Noah (Gen 6:8). faith”. This is not entirely true. The key is In Noah, his faith manifested itself in real the object of our faith, not just how much works. James 2:26 says, “For as the body or little is our faith. A person can have little without the spirit is dead, so faith without faith to walk on thick ice but he is safe; an- works is dead also.” other person can have great faith to walk on thin ice and he still drowns. Noah built an ark beWe must ensure that the cause he believed in God. (Hebrews 11:6) object of our faith is the Every swing of his axe But without faith it is Lord Jesus Christ and His said “faith.” Every felled impossible to please Him, Word, not ourselves. tree declared “faith”. Evfor he who comes to God ery strike of his hammer must believe that He is, In our everyday life you proclaimed “faith”. and that He is a rewarder exercise faith without reof those who diligently alizing it. You get in the Faith will make you seek Him.7 By faith Noah, car and drive on faith. You work today. Faith is not being divinely warned of don’t know if you’re going something for the past; things not yet seen, moved to make it to your destinafor “just trusting” in Jewith godly fear, prepared tion alive or not, but you sus for salvation and not an ark for the saving of his go. You have faith that the trusting Him for anything household, by which he food you buy that is grown else. It means that every condemned the world by strangers is not harmday you continue to trust and became heir of the ful, so you eat it. You have Him and that you continrighteousness which is faith that the doctors you ue to manifest the fruit of according to faith. see are competent, so you your faith: caring, sharput yourself in their hands. ing, witnessing, helping, If you did not have faith, giving, performing good if you did not trust others and act on that works, etc. trust, you wouldn’t be able to drive, eat, or get help in times of sickness. Faith has You cannot dispute that faith is vitally practical expressions. important in the life of the Christian. It is by faith that you are saved; you are justified; Yet, so many believers have so little faith cleansed, and look forward to the return of in God. I say this because I am hard pressed Jesus. Faith is where you please God, and to find evidences of their faith. We see that live your present life in dependence upon faith made Noah work for God. One of the Him. evidences of faith as gleaned from Heb The faith that saved you also requires 11:7 is that faith works for God. you to have manifestations of it by way of (Turn to the next page)

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Moving forward in Faith in 2009

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works (Eph 2:9). Without the expression of real and practical faith, your I would like to ask you these questions: “What has faith spiritual life would be very lethargic - maybe even dead? changed in your life? What are the evidences of faith in Let’s enter 2009 with faith! your life? Is faith growing in your life?”

Moving forward in Faith in 2009 By CHAN SAI CHOK

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o attempt great things for God, we need great faith and must take positive steps to see the plan unfold other than just sitting down to pray. I believe God will give us necessary skills, resources, support network and strategies if we dare to move forward in any faith venture. We require confidence to make big steps forward and this confidence needs to be built up through small steps of success. For example, FGT members who have given RM10K for Jericho land purchase, should now attempt to give 10 times or 100 times more for the EDC or Hebron project. I have

personally experienced how God blesses in return when I increased my giving for various church projects. I have seen how God fulfilled His promises in Malachi 3:10 for my business and personal life when I gave in faith. We know that God is trustworthy. He is absolutely sovereign over every event in the universe, and He exercises that sovereignty in an infinite wise and loving way for our own good. We can trust God. He will never fail us nor forsake us. The question is whether you are trusting Him fully NOW? To grow in our ability to trust God in times of difficulties, we must lay a

solid foundation of a daily personal relationship with Him. As we do it, depending upon the enabling power of His Holy Spirit, we will be able to profess more and more, that “ I CAN TRUST GOD” and am willing to move forward in faith. God cannot work miracles for us if we choose to do nothing. Everyday is a miracle in progress. Malachi 3: 10 : “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, “Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heavens, and pour out for you such blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

FLASHBACK Sunrise Service on 1st Jan 2009

The prayer theme for FGT in 2009 is ‘The Year of Faith’. Many gathered to pray for the church.

Breakfast served after service

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Jan 2009

Meeting the Needs

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Meeting the Needs of the Hungry By KATHY LIANG

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n 12th October 2008, FGT Manila (the sixth church to be planted within the year), was inaugurated at Las Pinas, a small city located within Metro Manila in the Philippines. The church has been set up to reach out and meet the needs of some of the poorest and marginalized groups of people in the sprawling suburb of Metro Manila. Pastor Noel Dieazmo shares his personal experience pioneering FGT’s outreach program in the Philippines. “It’s been a great privilege to help the church reach out to people who are on the very heart of our Lord Jesus with the Gospel. But when people are hungry and all they can think about is how to feed their hungry families, they can get confused about the love of God that we’re sharing.

Full Gospel Tabernacle Manila at Las Pinas

fed, healed, and rebuked the corrupt leaders of the temple. Jesus was there to meet every need and even correct every sin that could destroy lives. Since FGT began its feeding program in Las Pinas on 25th October, we have had the opportunity to not only feed the children who come from poor homes, but also to share the Gospel with these kids and their parents. We have been able to develop deeper relationships with the community and even do bible studies with these families in their homes. As a result of this outreach, we get more than 70 worshippers showing up for our Sunday services each week! Although we do struggle with budget constraints to do this work, God has somehow touched the hearts of His people to provide the necessary food and school supplies so far. In fact, I find the church members are now more committed and serious in serving. In November, we will embark on another outreach program whereby doctors and nurses will provide free consultation to the poor. I praise God for giving us the privilege of running these outreach programs as I know by doing this, the community in Las Pinas truly will know that God is alive and loves them in real and practical ways!”

sometimes even teach them English. Q: Do you still face problems with the government authorities with regard to your work? C: Since we moved to a new place within the same area, we have not faced any problems with the authorities. However, we still need to be careful and build good rapport with them so that they can understand our Christian work. Q: What’s the greatest challenge faced in Bokale? C: There are a lot of challenges. We reach out to the poor who went through Cyclone Nargis, many of whom have lost their loved ones. We offer listening ears to the survivors, giving words of comfort and hope to them, and try to find practical ways to help them rebuild their lives and homes. For example, by distributing food supplies and installing a water pump to provide fresh water for the people. We help them because God loves them and it has opened the doors for us to share the gospel and faithfulness of God. Q: How can members of FGT support you? C: Firstly, we need your prayer. Secondly, you can consider supporting us financially so that the funds can be used to continue this work in the long term.

Meanwhile, we also caught up with Chin Chin, wife of Pastor Peter Cung to find out more on how the work of God is going at FGT Yangon, Myanmar. How can the God of love let them suffer and be hungry? The church in that kind of situation must respond practically. We cannot ignore it, as Jesus also did not ignore the needs of the people. He did not just preach and teach the Word of God, but He

Q: How many children are you caring for presently? Chin Chin (C): We still have 25 children. They all stay with us in our house and both Peter and I are like parents to them. We try our best to provide them with basic needs and feed them with the word of God, and

The children shelter in FGT Yangon.

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CAREmart

CAREmart By Tan Chin Chin

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s I write this, Caremart has been in operations for 2 months! It has been a very busy time getting the shop stocked up, sourcing for cheaper suppliers, looking for workers, training workers, ironing hitches in the computer system, checking prices from hypermarkets/other mini markets, testing the security system, getting feedback, calling people to take CNY orders, doing stock take etc. Have you visited Caremart? Caremart needs the support of the whole church to be successful. That means you and me. Not just 10 or 20 people. Wouldn’t it be better to just collect money every month and give it to the poor? Pastor just needs to make an announcement every month for the collection. That would be easy. In fact, that would also be more convenient. Faster. More efficient. More flexible. Less troublesome. Less sweat.

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Except that most of us will then be detached from the cause. We will drop our money into the collection bag for ‘whatever it is that the church needs the money for’. We may not remember that there is this family who is not doing well, this person who just got retrenched, that other person who needs 3 jobs to make ends meet. FGT’s vision to do good works is for everyone to take a personal interest, feel the pinch that the poor feels and chip in. “Sikit sikit jadi bukit”. If each person chips in a little bit, we would have more to help the poor. We have also talked about doing relief work during disasters. With a license to purchase controlled goods, we have the capability to purchase more rice than we can from shops. Running Caremart gets us a step closer to our mission of doing relief work in the future. More importantly, with a physical presence, anyone can walk into the shop and we have an opportunity to reach out to the different groups of people right in our neighborhood. So how can you support Caremart? There are so many ways: • Volunteer your time to man the shop. Volunteers help us minimize cost so that more profit is channeled for the poor. • Help distribute flyers in the neighbourhood. • Share and ask your friends to buy from Caremart. • Ask if your office would purchase their supplies from Caremart e.g.

(Photos continued from page 4)

FGT Yangon, Myanmar. 25 children currently live with Pastor Peter and Pastor Chin Chin.

The 1st Water Baptism Ceremony was conducted on 8th Feb 09 with Pastor Peter and Pastor Wah Lok.

Jan 2009

paper, milo, tea, coffee, toilet paper. • Provide feedback through our surveys. • Give Caremart gift vouchers as birthday gifts. • Bless someone in need with Caremart gift vouchers instead of cash. • ‘Lose’ your change i.e. donate your remaining change to Caremart. Finally, the best way to help if you really want to do good works is to CAREmart gift voucher buy ALL your groceries from Caremart. We cannot compete with the hypermarkets when they are having a sale. Hypermarkets sell some products at a loss to attract customers who will buy other items at a higher price. But anyway, here’s the math. If you typically spend $200 a month on groceries, even if you have to pay 10% more, that means $20. Why let $20 hinder you from doing good works? So, pop by Caremart. We are open 8am-6pm daily. On Fridays, we open till 8pm and on Sundays from 12:30pm-6pm. You can also order by phone (8024-3501) and just pick up your goods! For those who are supporting us, thank you so much! Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

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Workers’ Conference

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Strong Ties and Foundations By YAM PHUI YEE Nurturing godly friendships and building a strong devotional life are essential for every Christian. In the Workers Conference on Nov 14, speaker Tan Beng Teong encourages us to develop godly friendships, like Jonathan and David in the Bible. “All God did was bringing Jonathan into David’s life but they have to cultivate the friendship,” says Beng Teong. Godly friendships cannot be built on law but on grace. Still, we must use our words carefully to avoid miscommunications, he adds. Pastor Francis Gnanasekhar from FGT Chennai then speaks on building a strong devotional life. “Our spiritual strength is determined

by the strength of our devotional life,” he reminds us. Many things may hinder our devotional life - even our church ministry and familiarity with the Bible, if we are not careful - but we must build a solid foundation and gain spiritual strength to overcome the demonic and worldly forces that oppose us. Here’s how to do it: 1. Bible Reading: read it with devotion; looking for new manna daily rather than an occasional chunk of ‘cake’; read with a daily goal; asking God to speak to us; read with a plan; and read with an attitude of meditation and prayer. 2. Prayer: set a time, place and list of items to pray. 3. Worship: worshipping God daily changes our personal life.

Pastor Noel Diezmo from FGT Manila and Pastor Peter Ngun Za Cung from FGT Yangon share updates about the outreach work they have been doing in their communities: from running feeding programme to installing a water pump to provide fresh water for the people. Tan Min Ser from the English Ministry in FGT Johor Baru requests for prayer that God will bring an increase to their congregation. In closing, Pastor Hong Seng adds that it is important for us to remember the vision of the church is to plant churches, so it is our duty to pray and encourage those on the field. FGT is exploring the possibility of starting more churches both in and out of Malaysia.

True Meaning of Christmas By KATHY LIANG FGT’s annual Christmas Dinner welcomed hundreds of families for a special night of music and worship on a wet Saturday night on December 20. Yet again, it was an event that was enjoyed by all as there was plenty of good food, music, warm fellowship and even the Word of God. Here’s what some FGTians and their guests who attended the dinner had to say: Tan Meng Yoe: The performances this year by Juwito and Patrick were wonderful, and the kids danced admiMeng Yoe rably to the huge crowd, and the Hawaiian theme certainly added a party atmosphere to the whole day. I mean, how often do you see our

pastors in bright green with flowers round their neck? Most of all, I enjoyed dinner time with my friends and guests because you know, it’s just like one giant family dinner at the ‘Church you can call Home! Yap Chin Fui: I was really quite eager as this was the first time my mother accepted my invitation. I’m so glad I invited her as Chin Fui it opened the opportunity for her to mingle with my Christians friends such as Mrs. Cheng, and my cell leader’s family. The Christmas Dinner was great as it helped my mother who is a non-believer to recognize that the true meaning of Christmas is about “God” showing good will toward

man. He did this through the singular act of sending His Son to us as the Savior of the world. Who knows! The Holy Spirit may bless me with the greatest Christmas gift of all -- the salvation of my parents. Mr Chong Ah Loon (Huai Yaw’s Dad, non-believer): It was a great night and the presentation was good with fabulous food especially the roast pork!

Huai Yaw’s Parents and Kids.

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365 Camp

FAMILY Jan 2009

365 Camp : A Place of Change By CHIN CAE ME 365 Camp 2008, God is Able: Survive, Thrive or Revive, was not just another camp, another gathering of teenagers excited at the prospect of being away for four days in Port Dickson. We had come, excited and curious, to the Place of Change. The campsite was different. The people were different. Our dorm-mates were different. But in the end, we realized that The Place of Change wasn’t about the campsite or the people after all – it simply was the place where God was bringing us to, individually and as a 365 Student Ministry, to believe that God is indeed Able to use us to change the world. Our camp speaker, Ps. Terry Appel came with a message to challenge, inspire and encourage. He asked us on the first day: “Is Jesus enough for you?” a phrase we will not easily forget. It was a hard-hitting reminder that Jesus is all we could ever need. Ps. Terry helped us to come to accept ourselves for who we are, “be comfortable in our own skins,” in his words, because God loves and accepts us – warts and all. Then he challenged us to believe that “God is Able” to work powerfully in us and through us. For some, the altar calls became a time

to find God, reconnecting with Him while for others, it became simply a moment to learn to love ourselves for the first time. In the midst of fun, food and fellowship during the four days, there were also the still and quiet moments where many of us opened our hearts and minds to the Word of God. When it was first announced that there would be (optional) morning prayer everyday at 6 a.m.(!), laughs and gasps echoed through hall, but at our first morning prayer, there were about 60 people and as each day progressed, more and more came! It was amazing to see youths, from the sleepy-eyed to the wide-awake, rising before it was light to pray. From the young to the (err) old, we brought our prayers before God, united. After this sojourn to the Place of Change , we look forward to the great transformation and great things that God will do in and through us in the year to come!

FLASHBACK FGT 28th Anniversary celebration on 4th Jan 2009

Cell leaders Lay Keng, Peng Lum, Raymond and Abel step up to pray.

FGT Choir “The Voices”.

Ps. Hock Huat leading prayer and worship.

Hebron collection for 2009, a good year ahead.

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MY HOPE

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What does “MY HOPE” mean to me? By JULIE TEOH FGT once again held the My Hope Christmas Outreach Program during the Christmas season. This year, we had 48 homes participating from the English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia, and Tamil works, with almost 300 people hearing the gospel message. In total, 67 committed their lives to the Lord during this outreach season, 27 of which were directly as a result of My Hope Program. Let’s see what ‘My Hope’ means to some of our fellow FGT’ians: Esther Tan: “It’s a good opportunity to invite people to hear the gospel during Christmas time... in a more relaxed, informal, and cozy family environment... especially for nonChristian friends who may not be as open to attending church directly yet.” Bernard Tan: “The video shown for this year’s My Hope program offers a good and meaningful story and testimony. The localized content is more effective because people will be able to identify with it more easily.

participate and be a part of it. It’s a ‘family thing’. It is also more effective because some non-Christians may not be so comfortable in a crowd, but they may be more open in a home setting.” (This is Bernard & Esther’s second time participating in the My Hope Program, the first time last year as hosts, and the second time this year in helping at the event hosted by one of their cell members.) Sarah Tan: “We ordered pizza in and after a time of ice-breaker games and watching the DVD, Ps Jenny shared a testimony and gave an informal altar call. It’s a good program to have because the movie is easy to follow and helps people understand why it’s great to be a Christian.” (This is Sarah’s first time participating in the Children’s My Hope Program, hosted at Thomas & Christina’s home, and overseen by Ps Jenny and Sis Tyan Min.) Yuen Yoke Ping: “The My Hope program is a good start for nonbelievers. It’s about practical life. There’s a movie that portrays similar experiences that all of us may go through... ie the difficulties of life... and our own hard-heartedness, and how God uses His power to soften the hearts of people to come to know him.”

From left : Judith and Piao

Judith Chan: “Bringing friends together during Christmas is a good idea. It’s a blessing to be host, to open our home, and bless others.” Khoo Hsien Piao: “Sharing my testimony during the My Hope program reminds me of where we’ve come from and brings us back to the true meaning of Christmas.” (This young couple has participated in the My Hope program four times, twice as hosts last year, attending one held at another church member’s home, and as hosts again this year.)

Piao sharing his testimony at his home during My Hope From left : Esther Tan, Sarah Tan and Bernard Tan.

The My Hope program enables the entire church, and every church member, not just the leaders, to participate together as a family in reaching out to the lost and also in helping to hosting the event. It’s not just the leaders but everyone can

Yoke Ping - first time participating in My Hope

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Kids Alive!

FAMILY Jan 2009

VBS: The Japanese Experience By CHEN CHEE HOONG A total of 170 students from Subang Jaya, Puchong, Bukit Kemuning, Petaling Jaya, Damansara and Kuala Lumpur gathered in Wisma Eagles from the 1-3 December 2008 for the annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) programme which caters to students from 5 to 12 years old. Many of our children brought their friends from school for VBS. This year’s theme was on “Responsibility” and as it featured Japan and its unique culture, we saw by far, the largest intake of students for VBS in the history of FGT. When the students arrived on the first day, they were greeted with chimes of “Ohayo!” by demurely clad teachers and helpers, all charmingly donned in summery yukata costumes. Next, as they walked up the stairs, their eyes were drawn to the many pink blossoms, cartoon characters and cute origami that were placed along the pathways. Here and there were placed traditional Japanese toys and colourful parasols for the students to admire.

Our daily programme comprised of live worship sessions by the Kids Alive! band, audiovideo presentations and quiz times by our delightful Pilot Jenny as well as sharing sessions with Samurai-“teachers” in the classrooms. In addition, once a day, the students were treated to a humorous sketch by Mr. Terriyaki and the flabbergasted Tour Guide. Many of their antics on stage sent the students laughing in stitches. In addition on Day 2, all the students and teachers were whisked away to Sushi King in Sunway Pyramid for an exclusive half-day hand-on sushi-making (and eating!) session. The FGT Vacation Bible School programme is an extremely exciting event for both the students and helpers. However, all these would not have been possible if not, for the ninja-“army” of volunteers comprising of the youths, young adults and many mothers who sacrificed their time and effort to make sure everything runs like clockwork. Thank you so much to everyone for a truly unforgettable VBS in 2008!

Merry Christmas to our Prime Minister

On 25th December 2008, the children’s church were given the honour to perform a song item to our country’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi and his wife, Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah. After waiting patiently for the arrival of the Prime Minister, the children sang two songs, namely Gospel in a Nutshell and Feliz Navidad with great excitement.