PT News for Jan 2023

FEED 5,000: EVANGELISM IN AFRICA

1. A) EHC Dem. Rep. Of The Congo: The nation is continuing to struggle with major issues as a society, including difficulties finding gas, rising inflation, and food insecurity. Pray that the EHC team will know how to evangelize amid the suffering and strife and remain focused on winning souls to Jesus.
2. B) EHC Uganda: “Continue to pray for Karamoja, a region devastated by famine and hunger. People are literally starving to death every day,” the team reports. “There is little government intervention in this plight. We know that the Lord can turn around this situation and would appreciate prayers to this end.”
3. C) EHC Ethiopia: Pagans in the city of Dire Dawa bought over the premises of impoverished churches and converted them into pagan places of worship in an attempt to force churches out from the community. Their opposition had hindered gospel outreach. To counter this scheme of the evil one, churches would need to build better financial resources and join hands with the local EHC team.
4. D) EHC Cape Verde: Because of a recent wave of urban crime, a lot of people live in fear. This affects the EHC team’s ability to conduct door-to-door evangelism because people are hesitant to receive people due to security issues. Pray for this situation, that people will hear about Christ in a safe manner. (Revelation 17–19)

CCIS 2022 REFLECTION AND VISION FOR THE FUTURE

Even though CCIS could not run a full-scale event at Orchard Road in 2022, the online programme on 18 December was a success in declaring the birth of Christ and the Good News of Christmas to every nation, people, place, and race on earth. The programme included performances from local and overseas partners and a “Drums of Christmas” video specially filmed in South Africa. The interactive booths run at Orchard Road by our partner, Youth For Christ from 16 to 22 December and the outreach of love to needy families with gifts of food and groceries also touched many hearts amongst non-believers and spread the message of the Gospel. CCIS gives thanks to God for the involvement of churches and brethren in this year’s event, including intercessors, donors and sponsors, volunteers who distributed the “For You At Christmas” tracts, and publicity ambassadors. The Gospel’s harvest fields are vast and there is much work left to be done for the Great Commission. The funds raised for the 2022 events were still insufficient to cover the costs and the committee must continue to bear the burden to fulfill these obligations. We pray that we would be able to take on the challenges in the new year by God’s grace and win over more brethren and churches to uphold this ministry. Apart from prayers, we hope more brethren would also give generously to support the significant funds needed for the ministry’s budget.

EVANGELISM PARTNERS OPEN UP NEW HARVEST FIELDS IN SOUTH INDIA

In the villages nested amongst the poor and remote mountainous regions, thousands of households live in dilapidated homes and have never heard of the Gospel their entire lives. Bringing cartons of bread and tracts with him, Rev. Raghu enters their midst and distributes the food and gospel message to each villager. The locals were grateful for the bread and also readily accepted the salvation of Christ. The volunteer team then followed up with spiritual nurturing classes for the new believers. God has thrown open the doors of the Gospel and evangelism is taking place at an intensive pace, with door-to-door outreach, open-air gospel movies, and other channels of outreach leading countless villagers to know Christ. Rev. Raghu also celebrated Christmas with the villagers who never knew what Christmas was and gave out food items and copies of the Christmas tract “Glad Tidings of Great Joy” to them. Pray for the Lord to use Rev. Raghu and team to bring many out of the darkness and into God’s kingdom of light to receive His amazing grace. We are most thankful to the God-loving church elder couple for sponsoring the printing of 100K tracts. May God repay them with boundless grace.

“GONG XI FA CAI” GOSPEL TRACT: A FAR GREATER BLESSING THAN WEALTH

This Chinese New Year tract “Gong Xi Fa Cai” reflected that many in the world are striving so hard to accumulate wealth, regarding it as their source of hope. It also pointed out that while money is useful, it does not guarantee you richness in spirit and soul. Striving desperately to earn more money often results in burn-out, poor health and unhappiness.  True wealth comes from trusting in the true God who gives us all things to enjoy; in giving and helping others, and living peaceful lives (1 Timothy 6:17-18). Brothers and sisters in-Christ can use this tract to lead unbelievers into the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ – a blessing that is far greater than wealth and our only reliable hope of eternal life.

PRAY FOR AND SUPPORT SEHC

Between September and December 2022, SEHC gave away 7,093 complimentary books to churches and brethren. These are: the Christmas booklet Emmanuel (3,985), the Gospel comic The Choice (1,293), Take Flight on Your Wings (460), The Best Gift (226), The Best Blessing (Japanese Edition) (200), The World’s Most Amazing Story (175), Our Daily Focus (174), The Perfect Plan (134), World Prayer Map (35), and 411 copies of various other titles. Reading is beneficial to our spiritual development and we hope the brethren would dig into more books that help them grow in their faith and knowledge of the Lord. All are welcome to pick up copies of books from our bookroom. Please also introduce others to this service that we offer.

“LEAVING IN 3 STEPS” AND “PANORAMA OF ACTS” – HELPING YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE

Bro. Musheng is the author of the first book, which has 3 main topics: leaving the place of idol worship, leaving the secular life in Egypt, and leaving the self-centred old self. The author emphasizes on the importance of sanctification. Christians who lead sanctified lives can be sure of God’s blessings upon them. The second book by Rev. Liu Daoshun brings the reader on a journey to witness the past, present, and future through the book of Acts. The author explains the essence of Acts with simple language and provides readers with a summary at the end of each chapter. Both books are ideal gifts for brethren in Christ. Pray for the Lord’s use of them.

“THE CHRISTIAN LIFE” AND “FOOTSTEPS OF A MISSIONARY” – A GUIDE TO LIFE

The late Rev. Ye En Han wrote the first book focusing on the Christian life through 6 topics arranged in sermon-style chapters. Each topic is closely intertwined with the common situations faced by every Christian. The author further discusses the problems of life from the perspectives of the Bible, personal experience, and the world around us. The second book was written by the late Rev. Hsueh Yu Kwong and is a guide for carving out new harvest fields for evangelism. The author compiled his many years of evangelistic experience into this book - his entire life was committed to spreading the word of God and it is hoped that the messages in it will encourage more people to participate in and commit themselves to intercession, ministry, and evangelism. Pray for these books to be well-used in God’s work.

“DAILY STREAMS” AND “PANORAMA OF ISAIAH VOL.2” – KNOWING BIBLICAL CONCEPTS

Elder Samuel Ching wrote the first book which includes content covering the NT and the first 105 psalms and is aimed at helping readers build their devotional practice. Each chapter of the book revolves around a key verse and a short message, and there are 365 in total, sufficient for a year’s devotional reference. The latter book by Rev. Liu Daoshun continues where the first volume left off. In each chapter, the author explains the scripture to readers in easily understood language. This is a book that was written to bear witness for the Lord and His Gospel. Please pray for these books to be used by the Lord.

“7 QUESTIONS OF LIFE” AND “GOSPEL EXPRESS” – ANSWERING LIFE’S QUESTIONS

The first booklet was written by Ford of Jabbock and aims to answer readers’ doubts and questions about life through the lens of the Christian faith. In the 7 chapters, the author explores common questions such as “Why am I not successful?”, “Why is life so unfair?”, and “What should I believe in life?”. The latter booklet describes God’s act of creation and explains that He is love and light. Those caught in the web of sin do not know God and are unaware that they were in fact suffering. Thus, Jesus came to our world to bring us the Gospel of heaven, and only through accepting His grace can we find real peace and joy. The booklet is illustrated with lively pictures to help readers better grasp biblical concepts. Pray for the books to be widely used in God’s work.