Update on Missions (April 2023)
Elder Jonathan is our elder serving with the Missions Committee and at our recent QCM, he took the chance to update the church on our vision for missions. Our vision guides and affects what we do, and he encouraged us to consider how we too, as members can participate in the work.
Our vision
Missions in GBC exists to support GBC's vision to make disciples of all nations. As a ministry, we aim to achieve it by:
Sending and supporting disciple-makers among peoples and nations in Asia, prioritizing the unreached;
Growing indigenous local churches; and
Working through sound partnerships to advance the gospel.
We hope to send and support those we send out. We see our role as raising and sending missionaries out, and seeking to faithfully support them in the field. We believe that Missions Organisations are important, but it is primarily the church’s role to raise up missionaries. Thus, we also desire to partner with organisations who share the same belief and sees the importance of the local church in the work of missions.
We want to send disciple-makers. We hope to send those that proclaim the gospel to the lostness of the world. The Missions Committee also desires to prioritise sending people that share the gospel, and also be committed to discipling and helping them grow in maturity.
We are also intentional about work in Asia, prioritising the unreached. We hope to focus on this region to leverage on our geographical location, language skills and also cultural understanding. We seek to do these by growing indigenous local churches. We hope to see local pastors supported by local congregations. We are not seeking to plant sister churches who report back to us, but believe in the independence of local churches.
Elder Jonathan also shared that we seek to do these by working through sound partnerships to advance the gospel. As a church, we recognize that we do not have a lot of experience in church planting. There are also a lot of good partners that we can learn from, connect and work.
Missions projects and partnerships
Currently, we are supporting a number of missionaries as well as projects. We thank God for the faithful work of the Pua Missions Team. They have resumed their quarterly visits since September 2022, and most recently, they’ve also held a VBS with Kathy’s home.
2023 has also given us opportunities to establish new partnerships.
First Baptist Bandung (FBB)
Some of our Missions Committee made a trip to visit them in January. FBB is an Indonesian church partnering with local churches to raise up and send indigenous missionaries to unreached and unengaged ethnolinguistic people groups. Through their partnerships, they aim to reach the 38 Indonesian UUPGs in phases.
We are partnering them by financially supporting 3 missionaries sent to Northern Sumatra. We hope to further explore how GBC members can be involved with Gospel proclamation work there. As more reports and updates come from this partnership, let us continue to pray for this work. Let us also prayerfully consider how we can be more involved in the gospel proclamation work in Indonesia.
Bangkok City Baptist Church
Elder Jonathan and Pastor Mark had the chance to visit them in August 2022. They are an English speaking church in the heart of Bangkok that seek to serve English speaking urbanites. They have established a publishing ministry that translates articles and books aimed at equipping local Thai pastors for ministry.
We are financially supporting on book translation project on "Expository Preaching" by 9marks. We are also discussing short-term evangelistic opportunities and longer term attachment options for members seriously considering the call to Missions. Elder Jonathan encouraged such members to consider working in such a cross-cultural setting with a trusted missions partner as they discern their call.
DQI/Life Lite Christian church
LLCC is a church of 70 people gathered together through a study sponsorship program. We were connected with them through one of our members who planted this church, and they’ve since grown. A team recently visited to teach, preach and establish relationships.
Our partnership is one of training and equipping as they transition from a student ministry to a church. Pray for them as they formulate their statement of faith and move towards formal membership.
How we can participate
We thank God for the faithfulness of our current missionaries, and also encourage our members to continue to keep them in prayer! Look out for updates about our missionaries during services, at prayer meetings or in the weekly enews. We also thank God for the gospel work being done in the nations, especially in our region. Let us also prayerfully seek the Lord’s guidance as we establish new partnerships.
If you’d like to find out more about missions, we commend two books to you. They are “Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global” by Andy Johnson and “How Can I Support International Missions?” by Mark Collins. You can drop by our book table on Sundays to see if these are available for sale.
And for members that are keen to participate or are discerning a call to missions, feel free to approach our elders, or write to Elder Jonathan at (jonathantan307@gmail.com) or members of the Missions Committee. They’d love to hear from you and have a chat about this.