Baptisms

In the last six weeks we have had three baptisms in CERC.  The first two (April 12) were adult baptisms, with the young women's confessions of faith.

Baptism of June Ho, with Elder Wong assisting

Baptism of Angela Ng

Angela and June are presented with their certificates of baptism after the service.

A month later we had our first infant baptism in CERC since we moved to Singapore. Jonam Tan was born last June, three months premature.  After a long stay in the hospital and then a few surgeries on his hips, he was able to be baptized on May 17.

Jonam with his parents, Melvin & Vivian; 

Elder Chan assisting with the baptism

We are thankful that the Lord continues to gather the first and second generation of His people in Singapore.  Right now in our church there are two children in the third generation of God's people here, and two more expected to be born by the end of the year, Lord willing.  May He continue to build His church from us and our children, and all that are afar off, even as many as He shall call (Acts 2:39).

Railway Hike

May 1 was a public holiday (Labour Day), and a group of people from church gathered in the afternoon to hike together.  There used to be a train that went from central Singapore into Malaysia.  That train still runs, but now departs from the border of Singapore and Malaysia instead.  Most of the old tracks up to the border were torn out a few years ago, and the old railway, now called the Green Corridor, was what we hiked on.

We started out near the Rail Mall, with a little time at a playground before the monkeys took over while we were having devotions!

The Rail Mall

Monkeys everywhere!

Starting our walk by heading towards the old railway

We spent the next 2 1/2 hours walking, with one break for snacks, cold drinks, and a group photo.

Megan and Dazzire hadn't seen each other for over a year (Dazzire used to 

come to church with relatives), and they were inseparable for the day.  

Megan sounds like such a little Singaporean when she's with her friends

that I couldn't tell which one was talking when they were right behind me!

Philip and Yuh Bin with Joseph

Snack break

Jason and Yoon Chuan heading down the path

We finished the walk with dinner--claypot rice for most.

India (2)

On drives to and from the conference in Kolkata, as well as at other times, the men from Singapore were able to see some of the sights of India.  As they drove, the road was shared with cars, motorcycles, bikes, other forms of transportation, people walking, wild dogs, and bulls.  The following pictures don't show the amount of traffic, but do show some of the scenes along the streets of India.

Fish market on the side of the road

  

You can see a bull coming near the two cars parked on the left side of the road.

The bull closer up--Bulls are sacred to Hindus.

The Monday of their visit, they went to the Ganges River--also sacred to Hindus. (Emmanuel once said the Hindus have so many gods that they could worship a different one every hour of their lives and never get to them all!!)  

They were also able to visit a college established by William Carey, a Baptist missionary known as "the father of modern missions."  The college was established in 1818 in the city of Serampore.  Next door was Carey Baptist Church, founded in 1809.

The church

My husband, Elder Leong, Emmanuel, and Ishu Mahtani outside the college

On their last day in India they went to the village of Pachua Khali for a Bible study.  The home they met in had just gotten electricity a month or two earlier.  The roofs of the houses there were all made of straw and have to be replaced every year.  The village is located near the habitat of Bengal tigers, which sometimes come into the village and steal livestock.

Driving to the village--rice drying on the road

Some of the village houses

Some straw for the roofs

Outside the home where the Bible study was held

Straw in the yard for roofs, and rice drying on the ground behind it

The Bible study group

After the Bible study the men shared a meal together.

Then it was time to leave, and to me the following picture is the most touching photo of all.  One of the men from the Bible study group is urgently requesting that Emmanuel come back and teach them more.  It is not easy for Emmanuel to get to the village, but the people are so thirsty for the Reformed faith.  They were pleading with him to come back soon.

"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest" (Matt. 9:37-38).

India (1)

Last night my husband gave a presentation, on behalf of Session, of the recent delegation visit to Kolkata, India.  I wish you all could have been there to see and hear about the work in India.  But instead, I will have to do my best over the next couple of blog posts to bring the presentation to you!

The Session of CERC sent a delegation to Kolkata, India, from March 19-25.  Back in December I wrote about Emmanuel Singh and his wife Sonali.  This delegation was sent to them, to see Emmanuel's work in Kolkata and the surrounding villages and determine CERC's future with this work.  The delegation was made up of my husband and Elder Leong Fai Chong.  Another man from church, Ishu Mahtani, joined them (and provided me with all of the following pictures!).

Kolkata and the surrounding area is 78% Hindu and 20% Muslim.  Christians and Buddhists each make up less than 1% of the population there.  Emmanuel and Sonali live on the southern edge of Kolkata.

Emmanuel & Sonali's home

Emmanuel holding a copy of the book that brought him to the Reformed faith

View from Emmanuel's house

Another view from his house

Each Sunday a small group of believers gathers on the top level of Emmanuel & Sonali's home for worship.

The way into the church's meeting room

Inside the meeting room--The chairs were added recently 

so that the people no longer have to sit on the floor.

The main part of the work on this visit was a two-day conference with the theme "Seminar on Bible Doctrines."  The speeches Saturday were on Bible doctrine itself, God's sovereignty, free will vs. God's sovereignty, and God's covenant.  On Sunday there was a sermon on John 3:16 and two additional speeches, those two on God's Church and an introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism.  There was also one question and answer session scheduled--but they ended up with four!  The people are so new to the Reformed faith that they have many, many questions, ranging from the Trinity to God's love to whether we may worship the Virgin Mary.  My husband gave the speeches and preached the sermon, and Elder Leong and Emmanuel joined him for the Q&A sessions.

The visitors from Singapore received the traditional 

Indian greeting of garlands of flowers.

Abhijit, one of the other emerging leaders of 

the group in Kolkata, opening the seminar

Another man from the Kolkata fellowship, Anup, just finished translating 

the Heidelberg Catechism into Bengali, and he and Emmanuel are excited 

to be able share it with the people there.  This is why one of the speeches

was an introduction to the Catechism.

 

Very few of the people spoke English, but Abhijit did a 

great job translating throughout the whole conference.

A break during the conference

Ishu Mahtani (on right) with two of the conference attendees

Mealtime

Sonali (wearing green) with her mother, niece, and sister

Group photo of conference attendees

About 15 of the people in the group photo above are contacts of Emmanuel from Kolkata. About five others are from Moyna, a farming village about three hours away from Kolkata. Another five are from the village of Pachua Khali, about two hours from Kolkata.  More on that town next time.  The remaining few are people who had heard about the conference and decided to come, even though they'd had no previous contact with Emmanuel.  This was the first time all these people had met each other.  They know so few other Christians and were so overjoyed to be with fellow believers that some of the women only slept an hour or two during the two-day conference--they wanted to spend all their time visiting.  

Some of us may have wondered when reading Acts 20 how the Christians in Troas could listen to Paul preaching until midnight.  Surely they would have been tired hours before! My husband says that after seeing the people in India, he understands.  The saints are so thirsty for knowledge and so eager to receive the Word of God and the Reformed faith, that they can sit for hours listening to the Word and asking questions about it.  Please pray for these new Christians, that they may continue to grow in their faith and knowledge of God; and pray for Emmanuel, Abhijit, and Anup as they bring the gospel to these people.