11 Aug 2013 by Melisa Chong-
Recently, the Singapore Baptist Convention hosted the 16th Baptist World Youth Conference, a conference held once in 5 years by the Baptist World Alliance. This year, delegates from all over the world came to the Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore from the 17th – 21st July 2013 to connect with other Baptists from around the world, to be equipped, to serve and to hear testimonies from various people who God is using for His purposes. In fact, 64 nations were represented at this conference. Someone commented that it was a glimpse of heaven where people of different tribes and languages came together under one Lord and God. Youths, young adults, youth leaders, pastors and missionaries were all represented there.
The theme this year was “Reach”. With John 3: 1-21, 13: 1-17 and 17: 6-18 as the key passages we were going to look at, the conference focused on 3 main points: God Reaching Out to Us, Reaching One Another in the Body of Christ, and Reaching Out to Others in Ministry & Mission.
Since the beginning of the year, my pastor had strongly encouraged me to go for this conference since it was such a rare occasion to have such a big conference so close to home. But it wasn’t until about a month before the event that my friends and I decided to finally sign up. I’m really thankful that I went.
At the conference, there were lively praise and worship. There were also various performances like singing, dancing, dramas and choral speaking. My favourite was the drama or choral speaking they would present for a particular scripture that was going to be preached on for that session. Sermons were preached by people from South Africa, Taiwan, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Singapore and even the Bahamas.
In the mornings, there would be an hour of Family Group Time. That was actually my favourite part of the conference where we were assigned into smaller cell groups and had bible study and reflections. I was encouraged by my group members’ testimonies and their eagerness to share the Word to the group. For example, after I had shared my thoughts on a particular scripture we were reading for that morning, a brother-in-Christ in my group came to me after and asked me to read Titus 3; he asked me what I thought of it the next day. I was so encouraged and it made me think, “How often do we do that? How often do we share a particular scripture with a fellow church member and tell them we’ll ask them what they thought about it the next day?”
In the afternoons, there were a variety of workshops which covered various topics, such as “Incarnational Faith on Campus” which was led by a former atheist, “Engaging Youth who are involved in Risky Behaviours”, “Foundations of a God-Honoring Marriage”, “Developing a Christian Worldview”, “Women in the Sex Trade”, and “Living a Life of Missions at Home”. I attended the last workshop mentioned. This particular workshop really awakened me to the idea of seeing my community as my mission field and the intentional steps I needed to take to be a missionary in this area. It also made me realize how the harvest is plentiful but the workers are truly few. The speaker used a powerful illustration to show us how most of the church’s equipped people (pastors, teachers etc) go to equipping the church, but very little of our equipped people are going outside of the church, especially to the unreached peoples group.
On the second last day, we had the privilege of joining in the “Stop Hunger Now” activity, where for two hours I joined others in helping to pack food for poor children living in 2 countries in South East Asia. That was a meaningful experience for me, being consciously aware that every grain of rice I was packing meant a lot for a child in that poor country.
There was so much I learned at the conference, both concerning my own spiritual walk with God, and concerning ministry. I shall just share four main things that stood out for me hoping it may be of some encouragement to you.
First, at the conference, I was reminded of the power and importance of the Word of God. How important it was to be skilful with it, to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks of it. The Word of God is there to help us discern false or wrong teaching and to know the truth. The Word of God is there for us to encourage someone else in their walk with God. And I learnt that if you are searching for God’s will for your life, not only pray, but study and soak yourself with the Word of God. In fact, I was reminded of a quote from David Platt that I had heard not too long ago before the conference, “If you look at men and women in history who have been used mightily of God, they were Word-saturated people.” The conference reaffirmed this fact to me.
Secondly, I was reminded that God’s strategy for world evangelization is discipleship. Jesus didn’t say in Matthew 28: 19 “Go and make converts.” Jesus said “Go and make disciples”. In order for us to answer this calling, we need to be taught the Word and to be already obeying the Word in our own lives. Then we need to teach others the Word and obey it. One of the speakers’ at the conference said, “Churches today are not teaching their members to obey the Word of God.” We preach the gospel, but do we also teach them to obey God? As a youth leader, it was something to take home to think about. It also made me think about being intentional about discipleship, to be discipled and to disciple.
Thirdly, I became more socially aware of injustices, the extent of poverty and oppression that was happening in the world, God’s heart concerning these issues, and the work of Christians in these areas. The bible is clear that God is against injustice and his heart is for the oppressed and the poor (Isaiah 42:7, 59:15-16, 61:8; Jeremiah 22:16; Proverbs 31: 8-9). At the conference, we met and heard from Christians, people convicted of this truth, who now work to stand up for justice, who are helping the poor, and who are working with the oppressed.
I have a non-believer client who once said “How come Christians don’t help the poor and needy, unlike this Buddhist organization?” At this conference, I was comforted to know that God has and is moving His people to reach out to the needy. They may not get the publicity like this Buddhist organization does, but it doesn’t mean the body of Christ is not doing anything. It doesn’t mean God is not doing anything. God desires to reach these people in need with His love. I left the conference asking “What can I help?”, “Where can I join God in His work?”, “Where can my church join God in His work?”
Lastly, I was reminded that God is in the business of spreading His glory and name to all nations and He can use anybody. He invites all His children to join Him in His work, regardless where we are at, what we are passionate about doing, and even how old we are.
During the ‘Stop Hunger Now’ activity, we had to be instructed on how to pack the food. Guess who taught my group how to pack? It was a pre-teen boy at probably about 11 or 12 years old. He was the one that instructed and taught us at our particular table, on what to do. A young kid knew how to pack food for the poor.
At the conference, there was a young woman who is currently serving in a ministry that reaches out to women in the sex trade in Nagaland, India. When asked if she faced any dangers, she answered she once had a gun put to her head. She was frightened at that time, but now she’s used to such threats to her life. She trusts God’s complete sovereignty over her life. All she knows is that she has to continue to help these women.
At the conference, we were also greeted by many older adults and even some senior citizens. Some were serving at the souvenir tables and registration counters. Others were ushers. Uncles and aunties were leading young people to their seats with smiling faces! How humbling!
Yes, God can use anyone. We just need to make ourselves available.
I left the conference convicted to answer these questions, “How can I make myself more available?” “Will I join God in making His Name & glory known among all nations?”
Note: This article is contributed by a reader of Christianity Malaysia. Melisa Chong currently worships in Straits Baptist Church in Melaka.
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