Church Growth

The 2016 pre-confession class met on Sunday afternoons with a large group of people. From November through today, several of the members of that class joined CERC either through confession of faith or adult baptism.  (Thanks to Daniel Tang for all the photos once again!)

First was four confessions of faith:  a man with a Pentecostal background who came to CERC through some friends, along with a mother and her two daughters.  The sermon was taken from Colossians 2:6-7:  "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him..."

Grace, Rachel, Jemima Joy, and Stephen answering the confession of faith questions

The following week four young adults received adult baptism.  Three came to CERC through friends, and one through a brother who had joined our church earlier.  They came either straight out of idolatry or from atheism, and all had unbelieving family members in church to witness their baptisms.  The sermon text was Philippians 1:6:  "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Zhi Leng

Jia Chin

Millie

Celina

Two weeks later, one more young adult was baptized.  She also came to CERC through a friend.  The sermon that morning was on Psalm 63:7:  "Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice."

Meryl

The following week we had three more confessions of faith.  One was a girl who had grown up in CERC, and we are thankful that God not only brings in those from outside, but saves His people in the lines of generations.  Another was a former minister and his wife.  Lap Meng served in a Pentecostal church for years but became convinced of the Reformed faith. After the officebearers of that church worked with Pastor Lau and then my husband for some time, the church eventually disbanded, and the pastor and his wife came to CERC. Psalm 31:15a was the text for their confession of faith:  "My times are in thy hand."

Lap Meng, Mui Tiang, and Joy

Each member receives a certificate of baptism or of confession of faith.

Today was the final group:  the Lehnert family.  Curtis, an American, met his wife Esther in Hong Kong while they were working there.  They moved back to her homeland of Singapore when she was expecting their first child, and they began worshiping with us.  That was a couple of years ago, and today Curtis made confession of faith, Esther received the sacrament of adult baptism, and their two children, Gabriella and Roman, were baptized. The text was Psalm 128, "The Blessed Covenant Family."

Esther

Gabriella

Roman

We are blessed to see God's guiding hand in bringing each of His children to Himself, from all different ways of life and religious backgrounds.  To Him be all the glory!

Visit from Lentings

At the end of December and into January, Mark & Bethanne Lenting and their daughter Nicole from Crete PRC came to visit Singapore.

Early in their stay here they spent a day at the zoo and river safari with a few people from church.

The Lentings with Elisa, Nicole, Yang Zhi, and Emily

Emily and Nicole

Another day was spent at Adventure Cove Waterpark with several of the youth.

Our family went with them to the Jurong Bird Park.

The girls

Jason and Nicole feeding a bird

Walking through the park

On the tram

They spent an afternoon in Chinatown.

Nicole and Megan

On the Lentings' last Sunday here, there was a farewell dinner for them.

Brain teasers and Bible trivia before dinner

Interview of Mark & Bethanne by Eric (questions written by Ivan)

Bethanne, Joanne, Megan, and Nicole

Group photo

Ladies only

Emily, Nicole, and Megan

It has been said many times since we moved here:  the sister-church relationship between the PRC and CERC is not just an "on paper" relationship.  It is a real bond that is very clearly displayed when members of our churches visit with each other.  We are thankful for the time that all of us in Singapore could spend with the Lentings, and we are looking forward to many more PRC visitors over the next month or two.  May God continue to bless the bond between sister churches!

Youth Camp (2): Outing and Dinner

This year's youth camp outing was to the island of Pulau Ubin.  The youth took a bus to Changi Village, where they bought lunch in the local food stalls before taking boats to Pulau Ubin.

Getting off the bus at Changi Village

The ten-minute boat ride was followed by a few hours of hiking on the island, including the Chek Jawa Wetlands.

Cheryl and Grace Huizenga by a heliconia plant

Given and Eric down by the water

Jessica at Chek Jawa

Looking down from a tower near Chek Jawa

They ran into a lot of monkeys on the last half of their hike!

Group photo

The last night of the camp, a Friday night, the congregation was invited to join the youth for dinner.  As they did last year, there was a cook-off between two teams, with three judges voting for their favorite dish, best presentation, etc.  The congregation was also allowed to vote for their favorite dishes.  Foods included fried bee hoon, deviled eggs (thanks to the U.S. girls!), puto (described as "soft and tender Filipino steamed rice cake"), Thai papaya salad, and wonton mee--a favorite of my husband and Emily for as long as we have lived in Singapore.  There was one more dessert not pictured below, which was served with durian ice cream.

The judges' table

Preparing the meal

The winning team

Second-place team

There was time throughout the night for fellowship, and after dinner there were games.

Jee Fung, Jean, and Foong Ngee

Aaron, Meng Hsien, and Seow Thong

Trying a Chinese tongue twister :-)

Competition between Marcus and Max (above, getting ready) and my husband and Gim Theng (below)--Swing the marshmallow into the teammate's mouth so they could eat it.

Water gun battle between Eric and Given

A big thank you to the committee who planned this year's camp, and we pray that God will continue to bless the youth of CERC and give them a love for "the old paths" (Jer. 6:16, the camp theme).