Since its humble beginnings in SS15 with just a few worshippers in 2010, the Lord has brought Faith Oasis and its pastor and leader, Pr Jack Piong, on an incredible faith journey. Today, the church is growing rapidly. It currently has its main venue and premises in a dedicated double-story shop lot in the suburbs of USJ7, as well as multiple outreaches and vibrant Myanmarese communities in towns throughout the Klang Valley from Rawang to Bandar Mahkota Cheras. Recently, they commemorated the first anniversary of their new premises in a memorable celebration of the power of faith and God’s goodness and grace.
The hallmark of Faith Oasis has always been reflective of its namesake. The church would stand as a testimony unto God through its community of faith-saturated believers and as a spiritual wellspring amidst the world’s pressures, a striking feature of which would be their commitment to taking up the apostolic model of the early church, well-known for its faith and the movement of the Holy Spirit among the community.
The story of how Pr Jack started his leadership of Faith Oasis is remarkable. Before he took up this leadership, he had bantered with God. It’s always intimidating to plant a new church, especially if it’s the first of such a church in the pastor’s life. Half-jokingly, Pr Jack had one day told God that he would plant and pastor the new church if God would show him two eagles, flying as a pair, before noon the next day.
In essence, this was a double test in confirmation. Eagles don’t usually travel in pairs. They are solitary birds, masters of their own space in the skies. Furthermore, the eagles had to be there before noon. The next day, Pr Jack waited and waited. Time passed until it was almost noon, but he had seen no eagle.
And then, just before noon, at 11:55 am, as Pr Jack reflexively reached out to a Bible his brother-in-law had given him, a bookmark fell out from it, with the well-known passage of Isaiah 40:31 written on it and an image of an eagle accompanying the verse. One eagle, but Pr Jack had requested God to show him two eagles. He flipped the book marker across. On the other side of the bookmark was a mirror image of the first eagle. Now he saw two eagles, and they were flying as a pair. Pr Jack realized at that moment that God had humorously given him the sign he had requested.
‘And I remember and learned something on that day; “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Furthermore, the Lord had reassured me that those who wait on the Lord would rise and soar like an eagle,’ Pr Jack shared.
This event stayed with Pr Jack for the next 13 years, even until today. It has shaped and directed Pr Jack’s vision and heart for Faith Oasis. In his sharing, Pr Jack spoke about Faith Oasis’s journey for the past 13 years. The church has seen many ups and downs. Particularly memorable, during the pandemic, they first struggled and then learned many new things they had never employed before, such as how to use a green screen, many video editing and broadcast software, and how to conduct worship through GarageBand. Yet the core challenge remains the same, to develop and grow an intense and right desire for the heart and things of God. For it is in this that the abundant life God intends for us comes to its full measure.
Pr Jack describes this Godly heart’s desire as something visible in the early days of the Church, a blueprint for us today. There was a unity of desire for the salvation of the lost, the power of deliverance and healing, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a New Testament church that was mighty in action.
Other defining marks of the apostolic Church included a Christ-centeredness, a Word-based, Spirit-filled Church, one that was active in prayer, worship, and witnessing, and a Church that pressed on and was distinguished in being relational, united in its people and loving in its action, a giving and missional Church. And this went into the individual level as well, defining its members as a people of God.
Pr Jack recognizes from this that when much is given, the level of accountability and responsibility grows commensurately (To whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required (Luke 12:48)). ‘As a people of God, we must grow in the knowledge of the Lord, for the word of the Lord has said His people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge,’ he expressed.
Prior to Pr Jack’s sharing, the anniversary celebration was also graced by two other messages, delivered by Pr Tom Pereira and Bro Robin Piong.
Pr Tom shared about Pr Jack’s instrumental role in bringing him back to the church and to the pulpit and the Christian’s active role in the harvest field. ‘God used the 120 people in the upper room to reach out to 3000 other people. The promises of God come to fulfillment when we take a step of faith, and we see the power of God (the blind see, the lame walk, those in bondage set free) when we walk in obedience, for these are promises God had already given the Church,’ he conveyed. ‘It is time for the Church to get out of our comfort zone and go where God wants to take us.’
Bro Robin shared a message about faith and how to possess the Promised Land (God’s Promises). A large part of it has to do with our attitude. When God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, there was much murmuring and complaining on the way to the Promised Land, and God delivered the land, not to the generation He took out of Egypt, but to the next generation. When they were at Jericho, God specifically instructed the Israelites to keep silent for the first six days as they marched around the city. On the 7th day, they made a joyful noise unto the Lord, and the walls came tumbling down.
‘We must speak life and the word of God,’ Bro Robin encouraged. ‘If you want to see the walls – whatever you are facing – come tumbling down, give thanks unto the Lord. God has said that when we acknowledge Him, He will make all our paths straight. He guides and comforts us through whatever valley of death we may be walking through. We walk through the valley, we don’t stay there.’
Christ’s rod guides us onto the path of life, and His staff protects us from all evil around us. He sets a table for us – in other words, an environment of safety, comfort, and celebration – in the presence of our enemies (despite whatever problem we may face, we have not just peace but also joy through Christ).
Romans 15:13 reminds us that our God is a God of Hope. And the Bible’s hope is not wishy-washy, but one of confident expectation. Scripture tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. It is active in the now and goes beyond the realm of the physical into the spiritual where the devil has no power. We gain faith through the word of God, and faith fills us with a great hope that encourages us to achieve things that are beyond the norm. The good news is that we do not need to be smart people to have faith. Faith operates out of the normal and often requires humility. And the greatest gift, that of our salvation, comes from faith, which is itself a gift from God, so that none of us may boast. The Law cannot save us, but Christ has provided a way, and He has taught us everything there is to know as we walk through life.
All in all, the anniversary was a very blessed time for all who attended, for it was not just a time of fellowship. It was also a time of coming to hear about the heartbeat of God and of a flourishing and thriving church in accordance with that heartbeat.
The writer would like to thank Pr Jack Piong and the church of Faith Oasis for their great hospitality during the writer’s visit to the church. All photos kindly contributed by Faith Oasis. The full service and version of each sermon can be found through the church’s at https://www.youtube.com/live/4xMKsTaZyBA?feature=share
|Share The Good News|
Leave a Reply