Participants:
Series Code: MTS
Program Code: MTS002902A
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00:21 Adventist Children's Ministries turns 25,
00:24 a Global Mission pioneer in Zambia, 00:27 and the sights and sounds of Singapore. 00:29 All that and much more coming up next. 01:14 Hello and welcome to Mission 360. 01:16 I'm Gary Krause. 01:18 Today's program is coming to you 01:19 from the country of Singapore, 01:21 on the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula. 01:25 Singapore is a city state. 01:27 And by that we mean 01:29 a country that exists 01:31 within the confines of a single city. 01:34 And there's only three remaining 01:36 city states in the world. 01:37 One is Monaco, 01:39 and the other is the Vatican City. 01:41 On today's program, 01:43 we'll be learning more about Singapore. 01:44 But first up, 01:45 let's learn about Children's Ministries. 01:48 My guest here in Singapore is Pastor Thum. 01:51 And I wanna thank you so much for joining us. 01:54 And I'd like you to please describe 01:55 a little bit about the ministry that you're involved in? 01:59 Thank you for having me. 02:01 I'm currently working as a chaplain of this school 02:04 called San Yu Adventist School. 02:06 Yes. 02:07 It's a mission school with about 600 students. 02:11 About 40% of the students come from Mainland China 02:15 Forty percent? 02:16 Yes, that works out to be about, you know, about 400, 02:21 300 to 200 plus students. 02:24 Well, now, why are these students 02:26 coming from Mainland China? 02:29 They looking for a better education 02:32 and also an English speaking environment. 02:35 And, you know, Singapore is the education hub. 02:37 And so, and it is much nearer to China. 02:41 So this is a good stepping stone 02:43 to places like Australia, England, USA, 02:48 in the future for the tertiary education. 02:50 Yes. 02:52 So tell me how do you interact with these students 02:55 and with their mothers? 02:57 What do you do? 02:58 The students who are here, 03:00 they study in from grade one to 10. 03:03 And, but especially for children, 03:05 who are in the elementary, 03:07 the mothers actually here with them. 03:09 And these PRC mothers 03:12 would send their children to school every day. 03:14 And so we try to interact with their mothers. 03:18 And what we do is we offer them some very practical help, 03:23 for example, English class, 03:25 where we teach them conversational English. 03:28 And then from there, we get to know them as friends. 03:32 And they are very interested 03:34 with what the children are studying here, 03:36 especially Bible is something very new to them, 03:41 Bible as a subject, and they go to the church, 03:44 Thompson Chinese Church for the chapel classes, 03:47 and we make friends with them. 03:50 And we invite them slowly to our Sabbath school 03:52 to our children class, 03:54 and they come for worship together. 03:57 Now, when they come here, 03:59 do they realize that it's a Christian school? 04:01 Yes, before they decide to register with us, 04:04 we tell them very openly 04:06 that their children will be taught Christianity, 04:10 or rather moral education, through Christianity, 04:15 and they like it 04:16 because the children are learning good values, 04:20 especially the characters in the Bible 04:24 that Daniel, Jesus Christ, you know, 04:26 and children will go by 04:28 and tell their mothers the story. 04:29 And for students who are in high school, 04:33 they will have personal Bible study with us 04:36 after the gospel week, 04:38 where we invite them to get to know Jesus. 04:40 So every year we have baptisms of the students 04:43 and the mothers. 04:45 Wow. 04:46 And they then go back to Mainland China 04:49 and they have the opportunity to share when they go back? 04:51 Precisely. 04:53 How many years have you been doing this, Pastor? 04:56 I have been in this field of education 04:59 for the past 26 years. 05:00 Wow. 05:02 But the work with PRC or people from Mainland China, 05:06 are the most recent, 10 years. 05:08 Okay. 05:09 What particular challenges do you face in this ministry? 05:13 I think the challenge will be 05:15 how to have the mother 05:19 to be able to also relate the new faith to the fathers, 05:24 because most of them their husbands are in China. 05:26 Right. 05:28 And usually before we have their consent 05:33 to have baptism to join us as a big family of God, 05:37 we would ask their fathers, 05:39 and even though 05:41 they may not become Christians immediately, 05:43 and they are happy 05:44 with what the wives and the children are doing, 05:49 and they give us the permission, 05:50 and we invite them to come to witness this big day. 05:54 Wonderful. 05:56 Can you give me perhaps a story of someone, 05:58 a child or a parent 06:00 who has come to know Jesus through the school? 06:02 All right. 06:04 This year, we have had two mothers, 06:05 especially I have about 10 students, 06:08 the mothers of these students studying with me, 06:10 and two of them decided that 06:12 they want to join us 06:14 as a family of God through baptism, 06:16 somewhere in September this year. 06:19 And this mother, her name is Ventel 06:22 and she shared this with her husband. 06:25 And the husband actually got more excited than her 06:28 and he got baptized in the month of July 06:30 in Chengdu, in China, first, before his wife. 06:34 Wow. 06:36 You know, and the children are still young, 06:38 one in grade one and one in grade three, 06:40 but they love the story of Jesus, 06:43 and as they grow in the faith in Jesus Christ and His love, 06:49 and when they go to the high school, 06:50 I believe they also become 06:53 a family of God through baptism. 06:55 Fantastic. 06:56 So these children are coming here 06:58 with no knowledge whatsoever of the Bible? 07:00 Precisely. 07:02 There is a piece of blank paper and we write on them 07:04 "the love of God." 07:06 Well, it's a wonderful opportunity. 07:07 Yes. What a privilege! 07:09 Yes. 07:10 And also from the church, 07:13 there are people who are here to work. 07:15 They are the labor force for Singapore. 07:18 And we have those people that come into the church, 07:22 as a result of, for example, 07:24 The Hope Channel, The Amazing Facts, 07:28 and they wanted to find a church 07:29 that actually worship on the Sabbath. 07:31 So they came and as a result, 07:34 we will be able to study with them 07:36 and recently, 07:37 one of these workers from Chingdu, 07:39 his name is Tenson Sing. 07:41 He was baptized 07:43 after the series of evangelism meeting 07:45 and followed by personal Bible study. 07:48 Wonderful. 07:49 Well, Pastor Thum, 07:50 thank you so much for what you're doing. 07:52 May God continue to bless you. 07:53 Thank you. 07:55 Viewers at home, please pray for this ministry. 07:57 What a wonderful opportunity 07:58 to share with young minds 08:00 the good news about Jesus and with the parents as well. 08:03 We'll be right back after this break. |
Revised 2020-12-05