Today I am a Proud Father

Today is entered as a day in my life as a proud father. I always learn to be a father. All my four children are teenagers now. Though I face strong challenges to disciple and nurture them in the Lord, I always feel proud that Jesus gives them to me.

I want to say I am a very proud father today. Here it goes. My 3 younger teenagers had their inter-house school sports. I was there to cheer for my 2 sons (twins), Tobias and Elliot. Tobias is a school athlete, whom I am proud of. Both were chosen by their teachers for a few events. They finished all the events within today and I was there almost the whole day.

Elliot (Form 2)

He is dyslexia but he has improved so much that his physical coordination is not a problem anymore. For very special reason, his teacher entered him for two difficult events; they were 110m and 200m hurdles. A few days before the sports day, he already said he was not going to compete. He did it last year but he did not do well. My wife and I kept encouraging him to take up the challenge to do the two events. We insisted that he must go and participate. I kept encouraging him with words like, it is a privilege to do it because the others are not selected to represent their house; winning is not important but participation is important; if he cannot jump over the hurdles, he can use his hand to push down the hurdles and just jog slowly to finish the race; and I will be there to support him.

With all these words of encouragement he still felt depressed about it and he kept saying he did not want to do it. However, praise the Lord this morning, he woke up and he went for the sports day! Praise the Lord I remember my promise and I showed up at the sports meet. He still kept saying he won’t go down for the 2 events. He said that his friend had taken over his places. I went to his house sports teacher to confirm it. In my mind I was prepared to accept the decision of Elliot not to contest and allowed another student to do it. He could not stand the stress and I should show understanding. However, upon checking with the 2 sports teachers, they said it was confirmed Elliot was entered for the two events. They did highlight that he was not willing to do it. And the other name was wrongly entered. From then on, I started my uphill task to convince him to do it. This was really a time of father and son talk.

I could feel that he was stressful (because he did not want to get injured) when it was confirmed it was him to contest. I kept telling him, he could just push the hurdles and jogged to finish the race. I gave such advice because it was done before in my school and I saw contestants doing it. After persuading a while, he seemed to say that he could jump over a few hurdles and then pushed the rest. And I said yes. The important thing was to participate. Praise the Lord he was willing to participate. I was feeling happy in my heart for he was willing to contest. Only God knew what was in store for Elliot. He did not practice jumping over the hurdles at all.

And now, he needed to do it during the sports day in front of everybody. I could imagine how he needed to face the awkward position of getting last; pushing the hurdles one by one; having the possibility of injury and the others might tease him for the poor performance. I could see that he wanted to avoid the embarrassment.

To make matter worse, upon checking with a very experienced hurdle runner, to my surprise, my advice to Elliot was wrong. If he pushed with his hand the hurdles, he would be considered as disqualified. It was my negligence not to check the information before I advised Elliot. I was caught in between. Elliot agreed to contest because he could push the hurdles in case he found it difficult to jump over them. Now, he was not to do it. I quickly rushed to him to tell him the truth about the proper way to handle the hurdles. Everything has to use legs! I thought I would get a disagreement to contest from him again. Praise the Lord, he had made up his mind to contest. He said it was not supposed to use hand to push to clear the hurdles (because he already knew it). The race was not designed as such. My heart was so relieved to know he was going to contest. The race was on!

The most nervous moment came. It was the 200 m hurdles in early afternoon after 1.30, under the not so hot sun. My wife, Tobias, Mercy and myself dared not go to the field to cheer him. I myself made a conscious decision not to go near him to embarrass him. My wife confessed to me her heart was beating very fast the more I asked her to see how Elliot was going to perform. The most anxious thing was whether he was able to jump over the hurdles or not. Last year, he failed to do it. Consequently, he was adamant about it. The other four contestants were also lining up for the race. They did warm up and tested the hurdles but Elliot was not bothered at all. I was prepared for the worst!

At this stage, I must not forget to mention that I remember to pray for Elliot before the race. He prayed with me. I actually prayed that Jesus would empower him to jump over the hurdles and finished the race. He believed in the power of prayer. Before, when Tobias ran for the 400m, during the race, he even asked me to pray. I did and I said vocally for Jesus to help Tobias to run well. In the end, Tobias got a silver medal! That might have helped him to trust in Jesus. He (Elliot) is actually the most prayerful child in our family.

Now, we had to face Elliot’s 200m hurdles race. Will he fall down? Will he be injured? Will he have to face the embarrassment of falling hurdles? Will he… Then, a miracle happened before our eyes. We almost could not believe it. After he jumped over the first hurdle, he almost lost his balance and fell down but he did not! Praise the Lord, from then on; he cleared all the hurdles by jumping over. Though he was behind the other four but he was just about one meter away from the fourth position. He actually tried to chase up. I told him about it. My wife was very happy that he could clear all the hurdles. It was a miracle. We could not believe it. From the grand stand, I went down and I walked over to the finishing point to congratulate him for successfully completing the race. Praise the Lord, he gave me a smile. Returning to the grand stand, even his sports teacher said he could do it. And I agreed with the teacher and I even said before the teacher he did quite well. My wife was so happy that she hugged him. Mercy was also very happy for Elliot.

I believe that miracle helped Elliot to be more confident now to take on the next event, 110m hurdles. I was less anxious then. Now, I dared to go near the 110m hurdle track and prepared to cheer for Elliot. But still, I was not hoping for him to get any medal. He was facing the same two boys who defeated him in the 200m.

As the whistle was blown to get the four contestants ready, and this is in the final, Elliot confidently went to the starting point and put himself in a ready position to speed off. After the pistol went off, he really dashed out. He was going for a miracle of obtaining a medal. He was smooth and fast but he was still the last runner after the 50m. Meanwhile, right from the beginning, after he dashed off, I never stopped cheering by calling his name and telling to keep dashing forward. I was at the top of my voice and I was the only father doing it. My wife, Julia, Mercy and Tobias were seeing from the grand stand. I was very proud that I was there at the track to cheer for him for his first athletic medal in his life.

After running for 50m, a wonderful thing happened and I was so touched that I almost cried, as I kept shouting and cheering at the top of my voice. He overtook the third position runner with strength, confidence, speed and steadiness. He was leading in the third position from then on until the finishing point. There was not a single hurdle from his track falling down. He defeated the fourth place at least by one and a half meter! I was almost ecstatic about the winning of the bronze medal! I kept congratulating Elliot and this time I could see in his face, he was not only very happy but also satisfied. I could also sense that he was very excited and surprised by his achievement.

Upon arrival at the grand stand, after the race, Elliot’s sports teachers greeted him and said his effort had not gone to waste. I could see that they were very happy for us, father and son. Then, my wife congratulated him and hugged him. She was so full of smile and happiness with surprise. Tobias and Mercy were also very happy and we really shared the happiness as a family. We agreed among ourselves to celebrate it later.

Tobias (Form 2)

I am very proud of Tobias in his performance of all the events he took in 400m, 800m, 400x4m, and 100x4m. Probably after this, I am not able to see my children running again as I will be very busy next year doing ministry. This is my sabbatical year, praise the Lord, I was there to see them running and witnessed their achievement.

Before the start of the event, we prayed together. I actually did not think about whether he would get a medal or not. Tobias did say he might get third position. I prayed that Jesus protected Tobias from injury; the Holy Spirit filled him with strength and power to do his best. I saw how Tobias tried very hard during the 400m run. I saw him running consistently with speed from beginning till the end. He was putting in all the energy to beat his opponents. Towards the last hundred meters, he did not seem to slow down. He was behind the first position, a very good school athlete, by about 5 meters. He managed second position among Form 2 boys (15 years). I ran over to the finishing point to congratulate him. I was so happy for him and he was very happy with the achievement also. He was all smiles. I really appreciated his steadiness, confidence, speed, endurance, and strength. I am so proud of him. I told him how he really tried hard to beat others. I was full of praise and encouragement for him as we walk back to the grand stand. Upon reaching, his mother was so happy and full of smiles to congratulate him and hug him. Elliot and Mercy were also very happy for their brother.

Then, after about one hour, he needed to run 800m. We never talked about whether he would get a medal or not. As usual I prayed for strength, power, and protection. I could understand why he did not put in all the energy. It was too tiring for him. Therefore, right from the beginning, he just ran at his own comfortable pace as he had not really recovered his energy from the last race. His strategy was to save his energy for the 100m relay. He completed the 800m and I told him his strategy was right. Though he did not get any medal for this event, he finished the race and he successfully represented his house. He was committed to his house. I still encouraged him for it. I told him, if I were to run, I might not perform at all as it was very tiring to run under the hot sun.

Another hour plus later, he was scheduled to run for 100m relay! I prayed the usual prayer. It was a real challenge because I was not sure whether he had regained his energy. Praise the Lord he looked fine. He was positioned as the third runner out of four runners. All four of them maintained their second position from the beginning till the end. I was both excited and anxious about this event. I was excited because it was really my privilege to see my son being elected to compete with other teams. Seeing the best four teams competing in the final with my son present was so meaningful. I was anxious because I did not know whether they would make mistakes like dropping the relay button, falling down or any kind of disqualification. Praise the Lord for the efficiency of the teachers and students. On the track, they took time to explain to every relay runner how they should accept the button within a limited distance in their own track. Tobias and the team were fast and each member worked out well to finish second. I could see their team work and they all wanted to win and ran fast. They deserved to get a medal. By the look of all the teams, I did expect they might get second or third position. I was really very happy about the second position result. I rushed to the finishing line to congratulate my son and his team members. By doing so, I actually became their friend.

Julia, Mercy and Elliot were at the grand stand to receive Tobias who finished in the second position. Again we were all very happy for him, congratulated him and hugged him. Relay event was team effort, and we thank God for the good team work. They actually did not practice to do the relay. They just communicated among themselves on how to pass the button. It turned out fine. The button did not drop.

Not long after the 100m relay, then, came the 400m relay. I looked forward to it and as usual, I prayed the same prayer with Tobias. This time there were only three teams competing. My son was the second runner as instructed by the sports teacher. My son’s team was at first in the second position. But he was been chased up by another good school athlete. Despite the setback in the process, my son kept his steadiness to run with speed till the finishing line. Their last runner actually tried to chase up but his leg muscle was in pain and he almost could not continue. He struggled to cross the finishing line. Praise the Lord he still finished the race. I still encouraged him by telling him that he had done a good job. The team still got third position despite the setback.

We were still happy for Tobias and his team. We still congratulate him. All of us in the family were so proud of both of them that day. We decided to celebrate at MacDonald. Before eating, as I said the grace for the meal, I thank God for our children having the opportunity to participate in the school inter house sports; for no injury; for the achievement; and our opportunity to see our children running. Also, I prayed that they would work hard in studies like they tried hard in sports. We were all hungry after the sports’ meet, we ate happily and thankfully.

What a joy to see my two sons running on the track though it was just the school level competition. I just felt, even then, the teachers had to select them based on some criteria and my sons were qualified. Not all students got to run and participate. They are the privileged twenty percent who were chosen. I was so proud of them that day.

Prayer points:

1. Praise the Lord I am able to write 25,000 words (4 chapters) for my book. Do pray that I will finish another 9 chapters.

2. Pray for Grace (doing A level at KL Methodist College) that she can cope with all the English terms for all her subjects (Economics, Law and Accounting).

3. Pray that I have good health to do mission and preaching among churches and long houses.

A faithful disciple of Jesus,

Pastor Law Hui Seng

(Miri, 24th -27th June, 2013)

Posted By Teresa Han

Subis Teachers Called to Be a Disciple of Jesus

19th June, 2013

John 15:1-18; Galatians 5:22-26

Main Idea: Be a disciple of Jesus

Objective: To challenge the Christian teachers to respond to the calling to bear the fruit of the Spirit and become a disciple of Jesus.

A. Introduction

- All the teachers, are you proud that you are a teacher? Do you feel called by Jesus to be teachers? That means do you believe that Jesus put you in the present profession. Or, you just regard the present job as some making a living. You need a salary, so you become a teacher.

- In Jesus’ teaching, first and foremost, He called Christians to be His disciples.

- The gospel of John has this very clear mandate in the mind of the author.

B. Mandate of the Gospel of John Writer

- The gospel writer portrayed Jesus as a radical savior who desired to bring His disciples before God as born again persons. In John 3, when Jesus was asked by a Pharisee, Nicodemus, on how to enter the kingdom of God, He answered that unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (3:4 Yesus menjawab, ‘Percayalah, tidak seorang pun dapat menikmati pemerintahan Allah kecuali dia dilahirkan semula.’)

- You can see that Jesus challenged the Pharisees and Sadducees in the background whom He addressed to make a stand and convert to Him, the Messiah, sent by God. They need to be born again if they want to see the kingdom of God. They were challenged to follow Him as His disciples. They could not be Pharisees and Sadducees anymore. They need to accept Jesus as savior and follow Him as His disciples.

- That is why Jesus taught passage like John 15:1-8, where He emphasized in verse 5, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.’ ‘Akulah pokok anggur dan kamu carang-carangnya. Sesiapa yang tetap bersatu dengan Aku. Carang sendiri tidak dapat berbuah, kecuali tetap pada pokoknya. Demikian juga kamu;kamu hanya dapat berbuah, jika kamu tetap bersatu dengan Aku.’

- How can you remain in Christ so that you can bear the fruit? Jesus’ answer is found in verse 7, where we remain in His word, and verse 3, Jesus said, ‘You are clean because of the word I have spoken to you.’

- The word of God that becomes part of our life is so crucial for fruit bearing. How can God’s word make you clean? It is when you obey God to live a holy life.

- Jesus justified Himself to be worth our obedience because He is our saviour who laid down His life for us; He is the redemption for our sin.

C. Application: Called to be disciples of Jesus

- When you obey God in bearing fruit, in verse 8, you prove yourself to be a disciple of Jesus. It says, ‘...you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.’ See how Jesus called his followers, audience and people whom He was in contact to be His disciples.

- Are you all teachers Jesus’ disciples? Are you following Jesus in bearing fruit? It is the fruit that you bear that proved that you are Jesus’ disciples. What fruit you need to bear. Jesus did not make it so clear as to what should be the fruit. Based the gospel of John, you can expect that Jesus wants ourselves to be born again.

- You see how He helped a Samaritan woman with five husbands to be born again by teaching her worshipping in spirit and truth. Lives must be transformed in the kingdom of God. As Jesus’ disciples, our lives must be born again or we must help others to be born again. This is part of the fruit we have to bear. Are we into it?

- Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-26 had pointed the kind of fruit we need to bear. If you and I are born again, the Holy Spirit who dwells inside us causes us to bear the fruit of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Mereka saling mengasihi, bersukacita, hidup rukun, sabar, berbudi, baik hati,setia, rendah hati dan dapat mengawal diri.)

- Apostle Paul emphasized in verse 24 that ‘Those who belongs to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.’ ‘Demikianlah, orang yang menjadi milik Kristus Yesus sudah mematikan tabiat manusia dengan segala nafsu dan keinginannya.’

- When you are empowered by the Holy Spirit, you are powerful for Christ, you are like Christ, you display those godliness, holiness in your life, fruit of the Holy Spirit. As teachers, can you bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit? You can according to the teaching of Jesus, if you remain in Him, remain in His word. Remembering and obeying His word, this is the secret of bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

- Many Christians do not know this secret. They thought by obeying Christ, they are restricted in freedom, and they lose freedom in life. It is exactly the opposite.

- As teachers your empowerment is coming from obeying Jesus to be His disciples, once you are sure of this, you have the power needed to empower your students to be born again.

- It can happen through your teaching in school where your students love to learn from you as you are filled by the Holy Spirit to teach so that they learn very much.

- When you stand up in the power of the Holy Spirit to be righteous, your students can feel it and you transform their lives. They are so attracted to your righteousness because of God who is behind your life.

- So, now, is your life, your performance in school consistent with the word of God. If so, your students will be transformed by your life. They will be bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit like you.

D. Conclusion

- Failure to respond to Jesus’s call to be His disciples, we will end up as the branches thrown into the fire by Jesus, meaning, we have nothing to do with Jesus.

- Remaining in Jesus means we become His disciples to bear His fruit.

By Rev Law Hui Seng (20th June, 2013)

Posted By Teresa Han

A Faithful Disciple of Jesus – Late Bro Eu How Chii

Dear disciples of Jesus,

Brother Eu How Chii (89 years old) went to be with Jesus on 12th January, 2013. I believe he is Jesus’ faithful disciple on earth. I know him personally. When I was a young pastor at Kuching Chin Daw Methodist Church (1998), I came to know him. We served Jesus together closely for one year as I was only posted to the church for one year. Though it was just short one year, he left a deep memory in my life as a faithful disciple of Jesus. I would like to share with you my experience with him.

A Lay Preacher

He was a lay preacher who feared Jesus more than anything. He prepared his Sunday sermon thoroughly. He delivered his sermons with great conviction and remaining faithful to God’s word. He walked the talk. He joined me in visitation to numerous families, prayed for people and participated in pioneering Desa Wira outreach ministry. At the initial stage of setting up Kuching Faith Methodist Church mandarin service, I was busy and tired, and so I asked to preach monthly, he committed to it without fail. He always delivered his promise. He also secured some fund from the government to build Chin Daw new church. He was teaching God’s word for many years at Kuching Serenti Drug Rehabilitation Centre. As if, he grasped every opportunity to serve Jesus.

Local Church Executive Committee

He was a very committed LCEC leader who never missed any committee meeting. His lay leader report was always available. He gave constructive ideas and guided the LCEC whenever possible. He made me felt that he always desired Jesus’ church to move forward. I could see how he exercised his faith. He always supported all our church decisions with action and love.

A Prayer Warrior

He never missed weekly prayer meetings. He loved to pray and he set a good example for the rest to follow. He kept a record of his prayer items. He remembered to pray for my mother’s health ever since I mentioned it in the church prayer meeting. After I left Chin Daw, I still called him to greet him. He told me he still prayed for my mother! That was extraordinary and it impacted my life. As far as possible, I remembered to call him to thank him for the prayer for my mother. Each time we talked over the phone, he would encourage me by saying all the positive biblical words. I knew he was ill but he never said he was suffering from his illness. He just said joyfully God’s grace was sufficient for him.

My last meeting with was last year, 3rd December Holy Communion Sunday. He still drove to church for the Sunday service. His eyes brightened up and he smiled when we shook hand. He was joyful and full of the Spirit of Jesus. He walked slowly. He did not want to be served the Holy Communion at the pew. He would follow everyone else and lined up and knelt down at the Holy Communion rail to receive his holy communion. I asked his son brother David Eu why he did it. The explanation was it symbolized he was in Christ like Apostle Paul, “I am in Christ.”

He is still survived by his wife, Ling Tung Bee, 2 sons and 2 daughters and the in-laws, 9 grandchildren and a great grandchild. I know all his children and I should say he left behind two generations of godly descendents. He impacted their lives.

I may not be able to say much to remember brother Eu How Chii as what he had done for Jesus on earth was much more. He really had fought a good battle on earth and left behind a legacy of faithful discipleship. He really served until the day he left this world!

Update About Myself

Please pray for me as I spend my sabbatical year with my family, writing a book and doing mission. My prayer items are:

1. Pray that my family will be as faithful as late brother Eu How Chii in our discipleship.

2. Thank God for I have completed almost 2 chapters of my book (out of 13 chapters). Pray that I can finish another chapter by the end of this month. My chapter is ‘How much my family meant to me.’

3. Pray that those politicians who are corrupted will be removed in this election.

4. Pray that our Ulu Belaga missionaries for the Penan will solve their driving problem. The lady missionaries find difficulties to drive on timber roads during rainy days.

I pray that we all serve Jesus faithfully throughout our life so that we will not regret as we are about to see Christ.

A Faithful disciple of Jesus,

Pastor Law Hui Seng

(Miri, 20th March, 2013 Sabbatical)

Posted By Teresa Han

Overcoming Racial Barrier in Worship

FMC

27th Jan, 2013

Written By Rev Law Hui Seng

Posted By Teresa Han

John 4:1-26

Main Idea: Jesus overcomes racial barrier

Objectives:

a. To empower disciples of Jesus to overcome racial barrier to reach out to the indigenous people of Sarawak.

b. To teach the significance of worship.

A. Introduction

- The book of Revelation has great teaching about how we should do mission. It is a book which we Christians believe about eschatology, how our future will turn out to be. It is a beautiful picture of the future of God’s people. Therefore, when we live our lives on earth, we want to do mission, we need to bear that end picture in mind. This end picture or final picture must affect how we do mission on earth.

- Therefore, if you are expecting to see only Chinese when we see Christ in judgement or in heaven, we really miss the end/ final picture in Revelation. Revelation15:4 “Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” All nations will worship God. The Greek word for nation here is ‘ethnos’, it is also race or tribe. So, the final picture of people worshipping God in heaven is made up of different races.

- As I serve in the area of indigenous people evangelism and mission in Sarawak, as Board of Evangelism put in efforts to mobilize SCAC churches to do mission among local indigenous people, I find all kinds of excuses, prejudices, lacking in vision, and reasons for Chinese Christians reluctance, indifference, and inaction not to make disciples among the indigenous people of Sarawak. Some of us felt it is the ministry of Sarawak Iban Annual Conference because of Iban language; some feel it is difficult to do because of language and cultural barrier; some even feel they cannot be helped as it is very difficult to transform them; some say there is no manpower to reach out; some say they do not know how to preach to them; some honestly say they do not have the burden to reach out to them.

- Could all these excuses or reasons be due to our Chinese superiority mindset and our clannish identity? We subconsciously look down on other races or the indigenous people.

- I look to the Bible to find answers to answer all these challenges. In light of the word of God, all these so called reasons cannot justify their claims.

- So, here locally, in Sarawak, if we do outreach, evangelism and mission, we only focus on Chinese, we have totally missed the big end picture of nations, and we get our Missiology wrong. Jesus has a very teaching about overcoming racial barrier in evangelism. It is a very direct passage urging us to reach out to people of other tribes and races in John 4:1-26. Can you and I follow His example?

- Let us examine the context of the passage to bring out a message today for you. I entitle my sermon/message today as ‘Overcoming racial barrier in worship’.

B. Context and Brief Exegesis

- Traditionally for many centuries, Jewish Judeans of the south were in enmity with the Samaritans in the north. The Samaritans are the descendants of a mixture of two groups. (1) The remnants of the Israelites who were not deported at the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 772 BC. (2) Foreign colonists brought in from Babylonia and Media by the Assyrian conquerors of Samaria (2Kings 17:24ff). The Samaritans (northerners) and the Jews (southerners) were in theological conflict because the Samaritan refused to worship at Jerusalem. After the Babylonian exile, the Samaritan blocked the Jewish restoration of Jerusalem. In 2nd century BC, the Samaritans helped Syrian monarchs to war against the Jews. In 128 BC, the Jewish high priest burned the Samaritan temple on Gerizim.

- Jesus was aware of such hostile background and He went to the North to engage in this powerful conversation with the Samaritan woman. Jesus rested at Sychar, Samaria (verse 5). He was tired after the journey, sat down by Jacob’s well when it was very hot, at the sixth hour, midday (verse 6). Into such conditions, the Samaritan woman came to draw water. Her arrival at this unsociable hour (because of the hot sun), tends to lead to the suspicion that she was an outcast. What caused her to be an outcast? Suspicion she has earned, for drawing water under the hot midday sun was not a consequence of her personal sin (sexual or otherwise) but of racism, that had isolated her and her people (of whom she was a representative) from their rightful place at God’s messianic banquet.

- Jesus totally disregarded the woman’s protest at the impropriety of the situation. He offered her a role reversal: if only she knew who she spoke to, she would ask Him for living water. From then on, Jesus tried to direct her to understand who God is. Jesus used the metaphor of living water to direct her to a knowledge of God. In verse 10, Jesus responded to her protest, “…If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” At this pivotal point, Jesus turned His request for a drink into an offer of living water for her. He engaged her in very deep theological talk, along the lines of living water. She did not understand the metaphor of the living water, as she was still stuck thinking of ‘physical living water’ in verses 11 and 12.

- To help the Samaritan woman to realize what the living water was, Jesus explained that He is the source of living water and a receiver of it would never thirst again. This living water would lead a person to eternal life (verses 13 and 14). Jesus had successfully stirred her to desire this living water so that she answered Jesus in verse 15, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” This positive response to Jesus also reflected her willingness to disregard cultural codes regarding men and women; and Jesus’ success in drawing her closer to God. Jesus was in the midst of His mission to reconcile both the Judeans (Jews) and Samaritans, and direct both ethnic groups towards God, through Himself.

- How did Jesus do it? He boldly created new systems, to break down cultural codes that limited opportunities for the sharing of resources between different groups of people. The new systems here referred to is the open interaction between men (it started with Jesus Himself) and women in a conservative society; and the metaphor of living water which leads to eternal life.

- How did Jesus try to reconcile Judeans and Samaritans? He did not do it directly. The answer probably lies with “Jesus’ Johannine mission: to call people away from commitments to man-made systems of identity and into rebirth as children of God.”

- On the surface, Jesus and the Samaritan woman may have shifted from one subject to another subject such as from the well and water to husbands, prophets, places of worship and the Messiah but below the surface of this narrative, lies a consistent thread: Jesus the ‘prophet’ knew the underlying Samaritan history of hostility with Judean Jews (cf. 2Kings 17:24-41; Ezra 4). Jesus’ mission in going to Samaria (John 4:4) was to offer an alternative to both Judeans and Samaritans to end their endless struggle over ethnic identity. In His effort to draw them to rebirth as God’s children, He urged them to disregard the racial barrier (man-made identity).

- He subtly broke down this great barrier of ethnicity by answering the woman’s question of dispute on the presence of God, in the choice of place of worship (this mountain or Jerusalem). He answered, “neither place”, in verse 21, “…Believe me, woman, a time is coming, when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” God is present where worshippers worship in spirit and truth (verses 23 and 24). Jesus told the woman that God is not concerned with which race worships where, but He is concerned about all worshippers (all ethnic groups) worshipping Him in truth and spirit.

- The build up of insights from the metaphor of living water to the Messiah had enlightenedthe woman’s spiritual blindness, overcoming racial hostility and boundaries. The woman (regardless of the shame of living with a man and not being married) responded by being the first ‘apostle’ (in the sense of being sent forth), rushing back to her people and becoming a messenger for the Messiah, causing many people to drop what they were doing and follow her to see Jesus (verses 28-30). As the woman shared her testimony with her own people, many of them believed in Jesus (verse 39). Jesus had successfully reconciled some Samaritans with Judean Jews (starting with Himself). SCAC churches need to follow Jesus’ example, in regard to the Iban, and start with themselves. This Samaritan woman belonged to another race and another identity. She was a woman difficult to transform.

-The Samaritan woman belonged to a different race from Jesus, and was thus a social outcast. The Iban belong to another race, and some are marginalized economically. If Jesus, a Jew bridged the racial barrier to reach out to a Samaritan woman from another race, and a social outcast, He has set a precedent for SCAC Chinese (a race) Christians to do likewise to the Iban.

- The story of the Samaritan woman is used only to serve as a biblical response to the SCAC Chinese Christians mindset and identity barrier, the main reason being that through this story Jesus calls His disciples in SCAC to move away from a commitment to man-made racial identity and turn to help another race, such as the Iban to be reborn as children of God. A secondary reason is that though the woman was an outcast and marginalized, Jesus disregarded her status and still reached out to her. This should challenge SCAC to reach out to marginalizedIban who are weak socially and economically.

-Biblically, according to the Apostle Paul’s teaching, SCAC Chinese Christians need to be like Christ. In Christ-likeness, we need to be like Him in bridging racial barriers.

- Jesus, out of compassion for the lost, in His mission to direct other race, the marginalized and the social outcast to the kingdom of God, reached out to the Samaritan woman. Jesus rejected any excuse to avoid her. This move of Jesus must challenge SCAC Chinese Christians to change their superiority mindset towards the Iban. All races are equally accepted by Jesus Christ: He loved the world (John 3:16).

C. Applications

-Firstly, one fundamental implication of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman is that SCAC Chinese Christians can no longer say that the socially and economically marginalized and outcast Iban are not related to them.

- Secondly, SCAC needs to change its clannish mindset to teach Iban the word of God; and accept them despite their race and economic and social status. SCAC cannot make excuses such as ‘the Iban are difficult to transform’, ignore the need to reach them, or leave the ministry to SIAC.

- Thirdly, since the Iban are another race, SCAC needs to overcome cultural barriers to bring the gospel to them in terms they can understand and accept; if they do, the Iban will own it.

D. Conclusion

- 1st January, 2011, I joined a brother in sending a piece of furniture to a poor Iban family. In fact, the next day, 2nd January, I flew to KK for 2 years of theological studies. We were faced with a self-accident Iban with his motor bike lying on the road. We stopped our pick up and upon examination, we found it must be drunk driving as smelt alcohol. He was unconscious and his skull had a hole bleeding profusely. I thought to myself if I did not save him he would die of blood loss as I learnt in first aid. I quickly press my palm on this small size Iban guy and we carried him up and put him at the back of the pick up with me holding him and put my on my 2 thighs, while I sat.

- I kept my palm at the bleeding skull with much blood on my shorts, shirt and hands. Jesus spoke to me in a very deep manner in this encounter. As I looked at the blood on the head, it doomed on me that every human blood is red in color. My mind at the time thought of the white and black skin people (especially African), their skin can of different color but there is all red. Chinese blood is read, Iban blood is red, Penan blood is red. All the human beings are red. The powerful conviction comes when God told me as long as we are human being with red blood we deserve to be saved by Jesus. Jesus shed blood for all the human beings with red blood.

- Therefore, by no means practicing the bad theology of allowing racial barrier to prevent us from preaching the gospel to the indigenous people.

2013 Resolutions

Dear disciples of Jesus,

This is a very rare opportunity of my life to have a sabbatical year. I have resolved to do the following 3 things in their order of importance. Please pray for me.

1. My number one mission is my family. I shall spend more time with my wife and children. For th children, I shall play games with them and coach them in studies at night.

2. Writing a book about my 18 years of ministry as a pastor. It will be a reflection and lessons learnt in view of the Bible.

3. Doing short term mission to Ulu Belaga, long houses and if opportunities arise, I will go overseas. I hope to use my spiritual gifts, language abilities like Malay Language (BM), English and Mandarin to bless the local people and beyond.

Thanksgiving for 2012

It is one of the most fruitful year in my life. I would like to thank God in the following areas:

1. My wife needs not go through a major heart surgery. She just needs medication and once in three months follow up at Kuching Heart Specialist Centre.

2. My wife and four children survived the last two years without me supporting them most of the time as I studied at Sabah Theological Seminary, Kota Kinabalu

3. I graduated with Master of Theology, and equipped to make disciples of all nations (especially, Iban). With this, I hope to train more BM speaking pastors.

4. I had a chance to minister at a few Sabah Methodist churches in English and Mandarin. I built up close relationship with pastors and lay people there. They bless me very much with their life testimonies.

5. I was able to spend more time with my wife’s family members. I could pray for them in person. I reach out to my mother’s relatives.

6. I had sharpened my skill of deliverance after participating in a fiercely fought spiritual battle. I was able to apply my deliverance and spiritual warfare skills. If you want to read my testimony about it, you can email to request for it.

7. Despite my studies, my monthly trip back to Miri enabled me to spend quality time with my wife and children.

8. I establish close relationships with STS lecturers, staff and students. I learnt very much from them.

9. Wonderful disciples of Jesus throughout Sarawak and in KK who cared and support my family.

Prayer Points:

1. Discipline to execute my new year resolutions. To train my children to be disciples of Jesus.

2. Jesus will bless my family with good health to make disciples of all nations.

I pray that Jesus protects all of us from the harms of the devils, accidents, and diseases; and empowers us to make disciples of all nations. I pray that we love ourselves, our husbands, wives, children, parents, fellow disciples of Jesus, and the needy people out there. I pray that we as disciples of Jesus will take all life crisis, challenges, failures and needs as mission for Jesus. I pray that we will face all the challenges head on in Jesus’ name and we are all winners at the end of 2013. In Christ, we are always winners.

A Faithful disciple of Jesus,

Pastor Law Hui Seng

Posted By Teresa Han

(2nd January, 2013. Miri)

Deliverance

Dear faithful disciples of Jesus,

Jesus’ ministry on earth as we learn from the four gospels is about teaching the word of God and revealing God the Father and the Holy Spirit; performing miracles, healings and deliverance. As a faithful disciple of Jesus, with my limitations, I have always learnt to be like Christ. I am very far from being like Him but He has always empowered me to do what He commanded me to do. That is to preach His word, to perform miracles, to heal and to do deliverance. Especially the ministry of deliverance, I only did a few minor cases of demonic possession in my last 19 years of ministry. However, praise the Lord I have always been commissioned by Jesus to do it and I am always prepared to do it. I had equipped myself to do it. I read books (both in Mandarin and English, e.g., books by Neil Anderson) about it. I learnt from Baptist and charismatic lay people on deliverance in the early years of my ministry. I am not gifted in deliverance but I believe I am authorized by Jesus to do it. Before this deliverance in December, 2012, I even equipped some forty disciples of Christ to do spiritual warfare and deliverance in October, 2012! Eventually, one of them even joined me in the just concluded deliverance. Here is an account of it.

Demonic Manifestation

Many demons entered this Christian’s body! Actually before I came in, a team of pastors and lay people had done the deliverance. He is English speaking and I came in to participate (using English) in delivering the remaining demons.

On 25th December night, I only meant to interview the English speaking parents concerning the upbringing of their son and to find out unhealthy life habits and any bad relationships among them. Before this, I was warned that my style of interview might cause the demons to manifest. I told my fellow pastor and team members to be ready about it. The purpose of it was to prepare the demon possessed person for the deliverance the next day.

We interviewed the parents successfully. They were very cooperative and even confessed their sins before God and together we asked for forgiveness and prayed against all the curses and cut off all soul ties with the possible spirits. My one strategy of spiritual warfare in this initial stage is the teaching of Jesus, the truth will set you free. This fundamental principle requires all parties concerned, including the demon possessed person to be honest and open and tell the truth.

Then, we requested to interview the son. Using the same strategy, especially when I asked about if he had any anger, hatred, and unforgiveness in his life; he confessed to them. I asked if he could identify the person and there was no need to tell me the name. After I reminded him about his identity as a child of God, he should forgive the person. Then, he was not able to suppress the demons though he wanted to. In a matter of seconds, the demon manifested. I have not seen a serious possession like this before!

He lost control of himself. His eye balls turned white. The demon caused his whole body to become stiff; his face turned weird, mouth became lopsided and made strange noises; eyes opened and closed and not looking at you straight and most important of all, he was unusually powerful. When we called for his name, he could not respond. He was no more himself. Another power took over. We spent the next three and a half hour to do deliverance. The parents participated with us.

We sang the chorus, “In the Cross” for quite a few minutes and we prayed for God to direct us what to do. My fellow pastor being more experienced was our commander; we all listened to her instructions. She is experienced and gifted in deliverance. As part of the preparation, we confessed our sins, and I made sure all team members had no bad feelings or anything bad about one another. We asked for Jesus’ forgiveness and cleansing.

He was demon possessed seated. He continued to manifest despite our worship. We asked for the names of the demons in the name of Jesus. Demons spoke, “I am legion, legion, legion, many, many, ha, ha,…I am anti-Christ, I am the judge, I am the judge, ha, ha, etc”. A demon even spoke in some kind of tongues which we did not understand. It even sang in a foreign language. He was seated and we commanded the demon to come out in the name of Jesus for many minutes. Our effort was fruitless when we did the deliverance with him seated. We stood almost all the time.

Deliverance

Then, the Holy Spirit led the commander pastor to instruct us to lie him down. We did it in Jesus’ name as the demon refused to do it. Eventually, the demons gave way as we overpowered them and laid him on the floor. For many minutes, he was not aware of himself. But, praise the Lord, when he was on the floor, he seemed to be more calm and came to his sense. The biblical principles we used are: to affirm his identity in Christ and he belongs to Jesus; and to get himself to resist/ cast out the demons. This is part of the truth encounter strategy.

On the floor, when he came to his sense, we get him to say, “I belong to Jesus; and in the name of Jesus, demons out”. In this way, each time we identify a demon, we told him to repeat the phrase, the demon always struggled and he vomited and we believe some demons had come out. We always asked if there were anymore demons inside in the name of Jesus. If he did not answer, we always assumed there were some more and we asked for the name of the demons as they manifested. Sometime the demons pretended all were out by going to sleep and kept quiet. Our commander pastor would open his eye lids and noticed that the eyeball still moved about. It is a sign that the demons are still there. So, we did power encounter by commanding the demons to come out again and repeat the process. He vomited at least six times on 25th December 2012 night.

There was one time he made hissing sound. Our commander pastor discerned that he was possessed by snake spirit and he himself resisted it and it came out. He visited the snake temple when he was eight years old!

Towards the end process of the deliverance, we felt he was becoming better. I got him to follow my prayer on sins, about the gospel on the death of Jesus and how His blood was shed for his sin, died, resurrected, showed to 500 disciples and ascended to heaven to be with God the Father; and he belongs to Jesus… If the demons were still inside they always struggled and were vomited and cast out. In the end, I led him in a long prayer on the gospel, his identity in Christ and victory over the demons. There were no manifestations after a long prayer. I ended the prayer in Jesus’ name. I asked him if there were any more demons, to this he happily said there were no more demons inside. We were so happy and we reached home at about 12.30am the next day.

Deception

The next day, 26th December, both morning and afternoon, I did follow up and gave him biblical teaching on Christians inhabited by demons and how we can overcome the demons. Throughout the 5 hours of teaching and some prayers, there was no sign of demonic manifestation. In the morning, we plan for a thanksgiving prayer and testimony session at night.

At night, we began our thanksgiving by singing a few Christian songs. His parents also participated with us. There were about 40 brothers and sisters who were there who wanted to listen to the testimony. Eight BM pastors were also present. I was very happy to see them there as it was my wish to meet them in person. I will be preaching to their congregations in May and June, 2013.

Then, it was followed by my preaching on the demon possession and how we Christians could overcome the demons in Jesus’ name. I even proclaimed victorious battle over the demons. Then, it was followed by his testimony. He was brief and shared about how he heard demonic voices that told him to do harm things including taking his own life and he had overcome the demons in Jesus’ name. He thanked God and the deliverance team. Everything went well so far.

Then, our commander pastor called for prayer of blessing for him. As we laid hands and surround him in prayers, BM pastors also laid hands on him, demons began to manifest again! His hands started to shake and eyes looked abnormal again. Finally, he lost control of himself and his whole standing stiff again. In front of the congregation the manifestation happened. We were deceived by the demons when he said there were no more demons inside.

I quickly asked the congregation to stand and worship God in singing “In the Cross.” He was very powerful, I command in the name of Jesus to lay him down but it was a tough job. Four persons had to hold him and laid him down. This time all the deliverance had to do with the spirits of the computer games which he downloaded from internet.

The Spirit of Jesus led our commander pastor to request him to bring his laptop for cleansing purpose as she suspected there might be something not right with it. True enough it contained hundreds of computer games where a lot of them are about ghost, violence; and some horrible movies. As we asked him to delete the movies and computer games, demons manifested a few times. He used his finger to show to shoot and shouted “Bang, Bang.” One BM pastor received revelation from God he was fond of quotes and when we mentioned the word quote, demon manifested. I sensed the word violence, and demon manifested. We commanded the spirit of quote and spirit of violence to come out. He cooperated by declaring that he belonged to Jesus and he cast them out in the name of Jesus. There was one time, when he tried to delete a computer game called “Supernatural” demon manifested and he was not able to delete it. We went ahead to delete on his behalf.

He confessed he still had the external disk which contained the harmful computer games and movies. But, they were all not with him at that moment. We had to ask him to go back and took from home and we delete them in his presence. He actually felt sad and cried after he let go of the computer games and movies which were dear to his heart! He confessed it was hard for him to do it. But I kept telling him, if he did not let go, then, the demons still had a foothold in his life and the demons still remained inside. He had to make a choice. Praise the Lord he chose to delete them.

Meanwhile after he left to go home to take the external disk, we also ask some church members to go back as we expect to do deliverance until late night again. Only those who were keen to pray and learnt stayed back.

After the thorough delete where he only left a few games which are healthy and he promised to keep those games with the pastor. He would come back to take for the pastor when he fully recovered. I led him in a long prayer and the demons did not manifest again. This time when he was asked if there were anymore, he could not give a clear answer! A few days later, I called him to check on him if there was any recurrence, he said no and he did not hear any more voices also. We also arranged for a pastor to do follow up on him.

Lessons Learned

1. Demons really submitted to the authority of the name of Jesus Christ. Demons have to answer and give us their names when we ask in Jesus’ name. Demons have to come out when one resist them in the name of Jesus.

2. Demons are all lying all the time. Whatever they say is all lies or half truth. No wonder the bible called demons the father of all lies. Each time a lie was thrown at us, we countered it with God’s word and revealed their lies.

3. Demons’ tactics include lies and deception, teasing, criticizing and scaring us. They kept laughing at us. They even spit at our face to humiliate us. A demon said we blasphemy God more than it. A demon said it was the judge. Another said we lost, it won. A demon even called the lady pastor, “You are my princess.” Praise the Lord we are not scared, not humiliated and not give up on the deliverance. All of us who were involved had strong faith, including the parents.

4. Our application of biblical principles on affirmation of Christian identity and resisting the demons actually worked.

5. When we submit our willpower to the demons, example, by playing computer games, we can be demon possessed. We need to submit our willpower to Jesus, then, we can overpower the demons.

6. To fight the demons, both power encounter and truth encounter are very important.

7. Preparation of the deliverance team is very important. We agree to listen to our commander pastor and take instructions from her. We were united in trusting Jesus Christ to do the deliverance.

The whole process was really a great testimony of Jesus Christ our Lord, who was so faithful in empowering us to do the deliverance. Some brothers and sisters who listened to the testimony and saw the deliverance went back home and deleted their computer games. There was definitely God’s purpose in the whole process though we were deceived.

Prayer points:

1. Let us pray that Jesus is glorified in deliverance ministry.

2. Pray that disciples of Jesus are well equipped to do deliverance as the need arises.

3. Pray that disciples of Jesus do not give demons a foothold in their lives by playing computer games of all kinds.

4. Pray that the above testimony awakens the churches of the work of the demons and we must live holy life to avoid the demonic attack.

A Faithful disciple of Jesus,

Pastor Law Hui Seng

(Miri,Sabbatical, 1st January, 2012)

Posted By Teresa Han

More ‘Pastor Joseph’ Please

Dear faithful disciples of Jesus,

One of my great encouragements in disciple making for Jesus is to see His disciples making disciples. One great disciple of Jesus whom I come across is in the person of ‘Pastor Joseph’. A disciple of Jesus whom I introduced to you more than two years, he really makes a difference for Jesus.

Who is this ‘Pastor Joseph’?

I brought him to survey Long Malim, Ulu Belaga, more than two years ago in 2010. It is a Penan (former ly nomadic) settlement with more than 200 people. It takes about 12 hours from Miri, not to mention travelling on dangerous timber road. This Penan tribal group is numbering at least 20,000. They are probably the most left behind group in Sarawak. Most of them are uneducated. SCAC is making disciples among them in a small way especially at Ulu Belaga in the recent 3 years through education and short term mission. We have touched quite a few hundred Penan. Most of the long houses which we are reaching will be flooded to make way for building of Murum dam. They will be resettled else where. Long Malim is one such place. I have reminded them that where they go, we will follow them and make them disciples of Jesus.

I believe bro Joseph Tan with a heart of great love for Penan because of his love for Jesus, ever since he met them, he continuously mobilizes his home church (Yi En Methodist) and other Miri District Methodist churches to go to do short term mission there for the past 2 to 3 years. He used his Jesus given BM speaking ability to the fullest and make disciples among the Penan. If more of us (younger generation of SCAC) are like that, you can imagine we will have no shortage of missionaries among the Penan. He taught them Ten Commandments and disciple them with systematic material. He mobilized other disciples of Jesus to be drivers, BM speaking brothers and sisters to teach the Penan children the word of God and invite them to come along to do cooking and social concerns. He mobilized team members to pray for needy Penan families. He taught them to exercise their spiritual authority to pray for the sick. He taught the Penan to be clean in their environment and set good example for them to follow. He made sure mission team members left behind no rubbish before we left so that we provided good example for Penan!

This ‘Pastor Joseph’ is also encouraging other Methodist churches to adopt a Penan long house like Yi En Methodist church. He prepared them to do it by bringing other disciples of Jesus with him and let them participate in the ministry. His effort is yielding fruit, for example, Mei Ann Methodist is now taking up Long Menapa.

This trip I went in again and served with him. I overheard the Long Malim people calling him ‘Pastor Joseph’! In the Methodist church, we do not call a person ‘pastor’ unless he or she is officially commissioned or ordained by the church. Penan people are not aware of it. However, as he goes there so often, he shepherded and disciple them as I described above, no wonder he is called ‘Pastor Joseph’. His other team members do not get that title. Therefore, I told him the Penan people had ‘ordained’ him to be their pastor. He must have gone there so often that he became part of their life. His pastoral role must have earned him the title.

Can we pray for more such ‘Pastor Joseph’ to come forward to serve the Penan of Ulu Belaga?

More Such Missionaries Please

This is my 7th mission trip to Ulu Belaga and I was called by Jesus to visit our SCAC 6 brave lady missionaries. It was an urge of the Spirit of Jesus as I always believe that they need prayers and encouragement in that tough and dangerous environment of ministry among the Penan. It is very tough to teach the Penan who do not have basic in BM and Mathematic. Daily travelling on the timber road is dangerous. Yet I was told they were all trained to drive. Ladies driving on timber roads and risking their lives for Jesus. By faith board of evangelism, SCAC prayed and appealed to churches for missionaries and they bravely responded in faith. They also live as neighbors along side the timber workers. They are really brave disciples of Jesus. If not because of their love for Penan children; and if they are not touched by the love of Jesus, they may not be there. Let us always uphold these brave missionaries of Ulu Belaga in our prayers. At the same time, let us pray for more such brave missionaries to be there at Ulu Belaga.

Prayers Needed:

1. Pray that where the Penan are resettled, churches will be built and BM pastors posted there.

2. Pray that Penan children will go to government schools nearby. Pray that SCAC will mobilize resources to support them in whatever we can.

3. Pray that more full time and short term missionaries will go in a more aggressive manner as time is running out as most of these long houses are going to be flooded in one year time. Remember once their lives are touched by Jesus through you, they forever belong to Jesus.

4. Pray that SCAC will send missionaries to unflooded areas to help in the area of education. There are long houses being identified, pray that SCAC will survey them soon.

5. Pray that SCAC will develop a holistic vision for Ulu Belaga Penan soon.

‘Pastor Joseph’ honestly shared with me he is tired after all these efforts. I really pray more

‘Pastor Joseph’ will step forward and pay the price for Jesus and take turns to go in and this can relieved ‘Pastor Joseph’ and we all survive longer at Ulu Belaga. When I encouraged ‘Pastor Joseph’ he always replied that he just wanted to give an account to Jesus one day he meets Jesus. Will you?

I pray that I will be there more often during my sabbatical next year. I pray that as disciples of Jesus, we all make our life counts for Jesus like ‘Pastor Joseph’. Can you do that at where you are?

A Faithful Disciple of Jesus,

Pastor Law Hui Seng

(Miri, 21st December, 2012)

Posted By Teresa Han