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So that you might fully understand and pray for the vision that God has laid before us, we’d like to reaffirm what we see our mission in Singapore to be. Although our primary role will be one that is first an administrative and “school-oriented” one, we will be focused on disciple making, the mentoring of students, and working with a number of churches and church leaders through Southeast Asia. We have plans and an open invitation to work with the local congregation (the Pasir Panjang Church that we told you about in our last newsletter), both the English and Chinese portions of that Body. We will be traveling and working with Christians and non-Christians alike, in countries all around Singapore and Southeast Asia. As we work with students and church leadership, we will be working in several areas of preaching, teaching, ‘foreign’ missions, and community outreach, all of it in an evangelistic and soul-winning frame of reference. Our goal will be to raise up men and women willing and able to plant and water the seed of the Gospel within their own cultures and languages. We, along with all of you who partner with us, will be blessed to partake in the fruit as our students and interns plant churches in the region of Southeast Asia. We also hope to mentor a local leader or two who can step into the role of directing and facilitating the future growth of SIBI-Singapore, allowing us at some point to move into even further roles of Kingdom outreach and growth.
This vision belongs to our God and we are so honored to be called to be an instrument in His hand. We covet your prayers as we strive to see this vision become a reality and as we seek his direction daily in doing so. Because He Said “GO”! ~ Brandi and Penny no comments Dan Bouchelle is the executive director of Missions Resource Network — a global church planting ministry. Missions Resource Network is a wonderful resource for both missionaries going to foreign fields and to churches seeking to send them. Thank you, Dan, for sharing this challenging article “The Crippling Lie of Zero Sum Math” on how important it is for the growth of our churches to be involved in global outreach. ______________________________________________
Anyone who has worked for global missions has run into this kind of thinking. It is based on the lie of zero sum math. To wit, there is a finite amount of money (time, energy, concern) available in a congregation. If one ministry gets it, another won’t. This view operates from a world view of scarcity. God has only given us so much and we can only allot it. There is no way to get more. The problem is that this just is not true. We live in a world of abundance where God creates new resources for us all of the time. A church’s resources, like a national economy, can grow or shrink. A Church’s capacities for work, like a body, can grow stronger or weaker depending on beliefs, values, attitudes, diet and exercise. Churches that believe in an active God who still multiplies loaves and fishes and who have a world view of abundance, rooted in an active creator God, can grow in their capacity to engage the mission of God in many ways. Churches that capture a vision of God’s mission for global redemption and restoration and who cast that vision before their people in a steady diet of healthy teaching–who stretch their people , or make them exercise their faith muscles–grow stronger. All the sudden, time, energy, people, and money are unleashed to do far more than the church ever imagined before. When people feel connected to God’s global mission to make all things right and rescue people from despair and death, they scale back on their love of self-serving petty consumer trinkets and release funds for things that matter. They grow healthier in the process and more willing to live on mission at home. This enables them to grow in number which also increases their capacity. I believe that there are untold millions of dollars in almost every congregation that are being wasted by the members, or held back, or given to other organizations, just waiting on a vision big enough to capture their hearts and inspire them to live up to their God given potential. What I see in my work with many churches is that the churches which are healthy and thriving all have large global visions and are focused on serving people who are outside their current membership. They don’t see a distinction between ministry at home and mission abroad. It’s all the mission of God. They are missionaries in their own city and work for God’s mission beyond their city. Churches who do not understand that they are both a sent and sending people grow sick and weak in their preoccupation with themselves. At MRN we try to convince church leaders that missions is not a parasite on the body that reduces its life blood. Rather mission is the bone marrow that creates their life blood. If churches operate out of a faith-less theology of scarcity and continue to think in terms of zero sum math and focus on themselves first, they are choosing a future of decline. If they empty themselves out in service of God’s global mission, in their own neighborhood and around the world, they are choosing a future of health and blessing. Jesus meant what he said. “If you seek to save your self, you will lose it. If you will lose your self for my sake and the gospel, you will find it.” Churches that are willing to think beyond themselves will find a better and stronger self emerges. Churches that obsess about saving themselves are drinking the deadly toxin of self-preoccupation. We really do have more available to us that what we are holding in our hands. It’s all a matter of faith and choices. ~ by Dan Bouchelle ~ www.danbouchelle.blogspot.com
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  In our previous mission fields of Russia and Estonia, we initially found ourselves unable to do the simplest things without the aid of an interpreter. We listened to language tapes, enrolled in language classes, wrote vocabulary words on 3×5 flash cards, practiced verb tenses and made numerous embarrassing mistakes when speaking to our neighbors and trying to buy foods in the open markets. Over time, we learned vital words and phrases that helped us be more productive in the city and helped us relate to those we desired to serve. Finding ourselves less independent than we wanted to be, motivated us to work hard to overcome the barrier that a different language creates but the blessings we received when the world between us opened up was well worth the trouble. So … as we enter Singapore, what language will these old brains have to learn in order to buy groceries and to pay for our bus ticket? NONE … none … none Singapore was once a British colony so the official language of the country is … drum-roll … ENGLISH !! YAY !! Because the country’s language is English, we will be able to move about, do business, communicate and conduct our SIBI classes without the difficulties that we usually face when entering a new mission field. Can we tell you how excited we are about that ? However … because the country also has a deep heritage of other Asian cultures, there are about 30% of the country’s residents who do NOT speak English, at all. These people communicate primarily in the Chinese Mandarin language. The Pasir Panjang Church that we will be working with, even conducts a separate service in Chinese for the benefit of those non-English speaking people. For this reason and so that our ministry may be more broad among the people of Singapore, we will do our best to learn the Chinese Mandarin language, as well. We’ve already purchased the “Rosetta Stone” Chinese Mandarin language program, along with a couple of other language helps and are once again listening to learning tapes and flashing vocabulary words (but this time on our iPhones). Brandi is the language aficionado of the family so he’s learning much quicker than me … I have decided I may just be too old to learn Chinese (or any other new language for that matter) but I am really going to try. Please be praying for our territories to be expanded as we attempt to communicate in this new language … and please pray for me ~ I’ll be the one working on her Chinese vocabulary words while trying to learn how to pick up peanuts with chopsticks! penny no comments
 The Pasir Panjang Church of Christ in Singapore is a thriving and active body of about 400 people, with their worship including (2) English speaking services and (1) Chinese speaking service. This precious group of God’s people are guided by an amazing array of God-focused, service-oriented, and loving leaders. The congregation, as a whole, has an incredible vision for touching the people of Southeast Asia and we {SIBI-Singapore} are thrilled to partner with them in this vision. The Pasir Panjang Church has invested many resources, both financially and spiritually, to make SIBI-Singapore successful in reaching out to those in Southeast Asia for the purpose of training ministers and leaders to go back into their own countries. Several of the congregation’s members make up the Pasir Panjang/SIBI School Board and together they direct the church’s involvement in the every day workings of the school . Pasir Panjang provides the facility for SIBI classes, room/board scholarships for full-time students, and hosts teachers and faculty who come from the States to teach. Church members offer consistent and loving hospitality to students attending and are deeply involved in recruiting students, by way of “interest teams” connected to countries all over Southeast Asia. We are looking forward to not only being in Singapore as SIBI representatives but also to being a part of this amazing family of God’s people. Because He Said “GO”! ~ Brandi and Penny no comments |
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