Applying the Gospel
Andrew, one of our ministry interns, shares how the internship has given him clarity on God's call to ministry for him and his wife, Esther.
It’s been a couple of weeks since the end of the internship; and looking back, I can clearly see that God was gracious in blessing me and the other interns, Joshua and Hannah. Thank you, GBC family, for this gift!
A significant part of the internship was reading and writing—working through 20 books, strengthening our doctrinal foundation in the Word, and adding tools to our toolbox for a lifetime of ministry. It also involved listening and observing, and being exposed to different ministry activities. If you haven’t done so already, I would encourage you to read the reflections by Joshua and Hannah as they summarised well what we did.
Personally, the internship was timely in a season of uncertainty for me and my wife Esther. By His grace, God answered prayers in giving us clarity, (re-)affirming four areas:
Our heart for the local church has grown. God’s primary means for gospel proclamation is through local churches and for His manifold wisdom to be displayed (Eph 3:10). Esther and I have applied our growing love for the church by being prayerfully available and present, looking for opportunities where we can build up the body of Christ (Eph 4:12). Reading the Bible with other church members, hosting fellowship dinners, and participating in CG have been practical ways where we’ve experienced much joy through the local church.
God has renewed my sense of purpose in the marketplace. While it was challenging to be working full-time and interning full-time, God used my time to help me re-connect how I can use my job as a means to be in Singapore. He also reminded me of my call to worship Him even in the mundane things, like responding to emails and formatting sales decks, because I work unto King Jesus (Rom 12:1). In this season, I was able to see how my job makes me a better follower of Jesus. I plan to continue to be in the marketplace and look forward to applying the gospel at work.
I have a desire to be an elder someday and now understand better the weight of the responsibility and calling. I admire the shepherding love and patience of our elders so much more. GBC family, your elders really love you! It has been sobering and humbling for me. I pray that God will continue to extend His grace upon me so that I can better incarnate the love of Christ to those around me. Practically, I am excited about how I can get more involved, especially in how I can love our church and serve in community.
God has grown my desire to be a cross-cultural disciple maker. With Singapore relaxing social distancing measures, Esther and I started going out with others and are being more intentional in engaging and building relationships with the lost, including friends and colleagues. It has been satisfying and worth it. We praise God that He has brought the nations to Singapore. Please pray for more follow up, and may God use our faithfulness for His glory.
We praise God for this internship, and it has been an encouragement to us to be able to immediately apply what we learned.
Andrew and Esther sharing how the internship has grown their love for the local church and how we can pray for them during the worship service on 6 Dec 2020.