3 SEP AODO WITH WKS NPC ALUMNUS WKS was with me in the early days in the SP and then military ministry before he got involved with the NPC ministry. He took an early retirement and with his wife, relocated to Vietnam to heed the Lord’s call to advance the gospel into the nations. Today he leads and shepherds a small assembly of believers who meet together for their weekly worship and follow-up with WKS and his wife. It is always with great pleasure that we interact with him from the Word whenever he is back and in Sep, we had the privilege of hearing him share a devotional with the alumni.

WKS sharing from book of Amos

A lady from the ladies AODO group, Siew Peng, shared of her three months attachment in Cambodia which opened her eyes to the great need for the gospel in that land.

Slide-show by Siew Peng

So happy to have you back!

November  2011  

1 OCT FOCUSED FORUM ON DISCIPLEMAKING

Mr HOT -UNcompromising, UNadulterated, UNrelenting We sometimes call him HOT as his surname spells that when read from back to front. But he has been the hot button person at our recent Oct 1 Forum Discussion held at the Navigator Office on that Saturday from 2.30-5-30pm. First of all, the Nav HQ is undergoing renovations as we are putting up a new facade and the front of the building resembles a war zone with the entire car park flooded with building activities. To access the building, you need to creep in through a side entrance. But the almost 100 invitees who came to that session were privileged to hear in person, from two of our

veteran Navigators, Dr Florence Tan and Mr HOT, who shared their views on discipling and disciplemaking. In some countries, they treat their experts with respect and accord them 'national treasures' status. I think that in the Navigators, these two dear people are like 'treasures'. They have been at it for a long time, they are still at it and they are walking their talks. Mr HOT as the sub-title says it, was "uncompromising, unadulterated, unrelenting" in his views and take on discipling and disciplemaking. Hearing Florence was a sweet complement as she shared her life long journey in discipleship through a poem that she penned herself.

Flo in her stride

One advantage that the organizers had was that we had heard them both earlier in the year. Florence, together with a few others, was our special invited speaker at the Alongsider Retreat in March at Pulai Springs. Then she spoke on a series of 'B's describing various aspects of discipling and disciplemaking including 'Branding,...Branching'. It was well received by those present. Mr HOT was sharing a short report at a gathering of fellow laborers in East Asia in May but the follow-through by various ones asking and probing and seeking his views caught our attention. Ardent laborers who had been there laboring for many years were earnestly questioning him. The thought that went through my mind was "and yet we do not treasure this kind of expertise we have in our midst".

The Dynamic Duo

Hence it was with a prayerful heart that we went about organizing this Oct 1 gathering for these two people to be the focus of our Forum Discussion and we fitted it so that their schedules allowed for their presence with us.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOLLOW UP AND DISCIPLING Mr HOT made a strong impression on all present with his unchanging views of how everyone can be involved in discipling in fulfilling the Great Commission. He did not let up even in the Q&A session when questions were raised about the busyness and difficulties of present day lifestyle that do not seem to allow for time to make disciples. His reply was, "At least one. You can’t have zero." He made a distinction between following those whom we are responsible for as we lead them in their initial days of their walk with God, as follow-up, i.e "on their terms" and that from "discipling - on our terms". We were fascinated when we listened to him as he was

unrelenting in his views of the simple and yet uncompromising call to total obedience in following Christ. Over and over again, he repeated that discipling can be done, in obedience and love to the call of Christ. But it requires all, and not partial obedience. It was not new to the ears of those present but it brought about a fresh stirring of renewed commitment to what we had known all along. Today's busyness and lifestyle is no excuse or substitute for what Christ has called us to do - laboring in His harvest, making disciples who would in turn do the same. LEV 26:8 FIVE SHALL CHASE A HUNDRED In 2010 we re-started the Alumni Ministry with Lev 26:8 in mind. The aim is that in two years we will have 100 alumni laboring again. As 2011 draws to a close soon, we thank the Lord for giving us at least 100 alumni who re-engaged with us in various levels of involvement, with many doing the AODO study - 'The Adventures Of Discipling Others' and seeking to disciple others in their lives. There are currently eight AODO groups comprising professionals in their 20s to 50s. Besides those shown here, we have other groups consisting of Doug and San Wee both co-leaders of a group of HalfTime participants,

American 20s-30s connection

Two ladies groups

Military couples group

Ming Hock and his NUS alumni, Supra with SP alumni and I have another study group with two TNT alumni. Royston is also in the process of starting another alumni ministry stream consisting of NPCers. There are still others who are in a mentoring relationship and seeking to walk alongside others in their faith journey. 5 NOV CELEBRATION AND REFLECTION FOR YEAR END It was with a great sense of joy and thanksgiving that we had a celebration and reflection on 5 Nov in the Navigator headquarters for all that the Lord had been doing in our midst. A team of enthusiastic and willing ladies helped prepare the dinner. This was followed by a delightful time of worship before various ones took on the stage to share of their faith journey in being an alongsider and a laborer in the disciple making. Below are some of their stories - Florence Lim rejoined the work force having set aside time to tend to the family. As a receptionist at a MNC, she asked the Lord to show her how to live out her Christian faith at a workplace. With her winning and willing disposition, she made friends easily and served others with joy. Soon she began to pray for those ladies who stopped by her counter and listened to their stories.

Florence and Wing Kong Over time she led three ladies to the Lord and is now doing follow up with each of them using the SCL studies. She meets with them weekly during her lunch to help them grow in the faith. Her life and example is contagious and a great model to follow.

Serene walking alongside others Serene Goh asked the Lord to give her somebody whom she can walk alongside with. And He did. As a real estate agent, she had the privilege of sharing the gospel with her clients and walking alongside others in their faith journey. One suicidal lady was delivered out of her depression.

After attending the Alumni Lunch at Hilton Hotel, Lim Hock Chuan got hold of 20 AODO books and started a class. More than 20 were invited and eventually 14 people turned up regularly for the studies including the Chinese pastor. For most of them, the concept of discipling others, alongsider, life to life relationship are new. But today, most of the 14 of them are now discipling someone. They are also now working on starting small groups where they will meet monthly just to share lives in an accountable relationship.

Soon Lee and Jonathan And then there was a father and son team. Soon Lee shared of how he discipled his son by his ‘walk and talk ‘ every day just to keep in touch with his son and sharing with him the lessons he had learnt from his AODO studies. Being convicted about the value of one-on-one discipleship, he got hold of another Navigator laborer to disciple his son. Jonathan in turn shared of his appreciation of his father’s priorities in putting God

first and family and work. One can detect the intimacy of relationship between father and son and the common bond they both share in Christ. We are indeed excited to see a fresh wave of 3 Es taking place – evangelizing, establishing and equipping among these different alumni streams. More stories were shared and as we left the meeting, I had various ones also coming up to me and thanking me for the short devotional that I gave prior to the meeting. The passage was taken from 2 Kings 3:9,15-20 and in particular, 3:18 ‘This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord’ Our second son Caleb led in the worship that night and when he reached home, he wrote in his blog his reflection after hearing from the alumni and my sharing from 2 Kings. His closing thoughts were – “The kingdom of Jesus Christ, established in the hearts of men and women faithfully laboring for His renown. Dig ditches, faithfully dig. God fills them with water.” How true, our job is to be faithful to the call to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the nations through spiritual generations living and discipling among the lost. Let’s keep on digging, keep on laboring. God will honor the work of our hands! Yap Kim Meng Alumni Team Leader