First of all, I would like to give
thanks to God for giving me this opportunity to join this two months short-term
mission school (STMS). Before I decided to register, I was struggling and
thinking whether my parents would let me go. Finally I made up my decision and
called my parents to ask them and my parents actually agreed to let me go.
This STMS was really memorable to
me. Two months were like a blink of an eye, we had only started to build up our
relationships, and the next thing I know, we were graduating. I still
remembered the first time when we entered into the Methodist Theological School
(MTS), we did not even know who our room-mates or classmates were, and now we
had become good friends.
MTS is a fun but also a disciplined
place. We had specific activities at specific times during our stay in MTS. We
had Morning Worship at 5.15 am every morning at Wesley Methodist Church from
Tuesday to Friday. We also have recreation and gardening on Wednesday and
Thursday afternoon.We also go evangelism at the General Hospital, Central
Market or Schools on Friday afternoon. These are all compulsory for all the
students. On Saturdays, after breakfast, we had to clean the kitchen and our
own hostels. This is the time when young people, who had never done chores
before, learn to do them. We would help one another because MTS emphasizes on
life as a group.
This year, there is a significant
change in STMS English. There is an increase in numbers of participants, from a
mere 10 students to 27 students, and the duration had been extended to two
months. The course includes Bible Study and Christian Living, Spiritual
formation, Evangelism Training, Introduction to Missions and Choir, all which
helps a young Christian to grow spiritually. Overall, we had to do assignments
including reading books and writing book reports, writing spiritual journals
and etc. We also had field trips to Wong NaiSiong Garden and James Hoover
Memorial Park to learn the Methodist Church Heritage in Sibu and write a
reflection paper of what we had learned. We also had an outdoor class at
Jubilee Park Sibu where we learn to listen to God. Through these works and
assignments, we had learned about the mission fields, how to read the Bible and
pray, and learn to evangelize to people.
9th Batch English Short Term Mission School Group Photo
Apart from our usual Thursday prayer
meetings, we would also have English vespers lead by STMS English students on
Tuesday evenings. Personally, I serve in the Chinese church and normally pray
in Mandarin, but during my time in STMS, I had learned to pray not only in
Mandarin but also in English.
All the students of MTS are assigned
to different churches in Sibu and Sarikei for their weekend church exposure.
Since there are only one English-speaking church in Sibu and one in Sarikei, so
most of the STMS English students are assigned to churches with BM Ministry. I
was assigned to Nyelong Park Methodist Church in Sarikei, together with 3 more
STMS English student and also a Theological student. We would attend their
English Small Group, English Service and also join their longhouse ministry. It
was really a fruitful experience.
STMS students with Church leaders of Nyelong Park Methodist Church,
Sarikei
Visit to RumahEntagau (NPMC’s Longhouse Ministry)
During this time in STMS, every one
of us (including the Chinese and Music STMS students), is assigned into family
groups which are supervised by MTS full-time lecturers, and led by a
Theological student. We would have group devotion on Thursday mornings and
would join our sport and gardening activities as a group. As I left MTS, I
missed the family groups the most. We were not close when we started, but after
the short-term mission trip, we had grown closer and would show our true
colours to one another. Our group leader had also done quite a good job caring
for each and every one of us. Now, we still communicate with one another
through WeChat, to know how’s everyone doing and would pray for one another.
Ms. Irene
Lai’s Family Group
Short Term
Mission Trip to Yuan Nan Methodist Church and Tin Ann Methodist Church
Thank God that He had encouraged me
through my lecturers, group leader and friends to continue to serve God in
church using the gifts that He had given me and I would someday give myself to
Him to do full-time ministry. I did not regret joining the STMS course and I
thank God that He had opened a way for me when I was struggling with the
decision. So I urge you all to join STMS while you still can, because it is
worth it. You will learn to communicate with people, evangelize to
non-believers, and learn to live as a group while you are away from home. Age
is not a problem. I’m already 25 and I’m still able to get along with the young
brothers and sisters. There are even a couple of people who are older than me,
but still able to get along well. You can too.
