From its start in 2003 through the E03 conference, and via the E06 conference in 2006, SIBKL has been making an impact in the lives of young Christians for more than 10 years now. In a month’s time, a decade since E06, E16 (Empower 2016) will reach once more into the hearts of young Christians, with the goal to impact a continuing legacy within their spiritual journey with God.
Whilst E03 had the modest but important aim to bring the young people within the SIB church together into unity, E06 had built upon the earlier foundation to shape a comprehensive and fully-cohesive community from various churches. From this, it became the seed of forming SIBKL’s youth-based NGO that today is influencing the nation through community transformation and impacting thousands of lives.
This September, E16, which carries the theme “Unstoppable“, will aim to move higher and deeper, this time raising the young generation to be an unstoppable movement for God – by moving out and becoming more involved in the wider community outside the churches. In short, to make an impact in the nation itself.
Deputy Senior Pastor, Pr Lew Lee Choo shared her vision behind E16. Previously, the conferences were aimed at the youth. This year, the target group has been extended to include those who are young parents, up to the age of 40. There is a deep-seated reason for including the 30-40 year old this time. One of the aims of E16 is to establish an intergenerational relationship that go beyond just a single group of people. It is to equip the young parents so that they in turn will be able to empower the next generation.
‘We want to build something that will still retain its significance 10 years from now. We know we have an unstoppable God. E16 is all about partnering with this irresistible God.’ It is with this in mind that the mission statement was formed: A conference to jumpstart a movement among the succeeding generation for the next 10 years.
Sharing about the timing Pr Lee Choo conveyed that the church and organisers wanted to step into the spirit of the movement. While the last 10 years have been spent trying to grow the church, they realize that the process of passing the baton cannot be one that takes too long.
‘The young people who were impacted by E06 have now known and journeyed with Christ for 10 years. Many are now in leadership positions but many now also have great responsibilities with their families and jobs. It is a time of great transition in their lives and a period where it is so important for them to be rooted in Christ.’
Many senior pastors in Malaysian churches are also today in their 60s. ‘We cannot wait until the young hit the 40s before we equip them,’ shared Senior Pastor, Pr Chew Weng Chee. ‘And if we aim only at the very young, many of the younger ones will lose their focus. This time we aim to be comprehensive and hit the right target group, not only in terms of the next generation, but also in terms of the group range.’
Pr Chew communicated that looking at the pool of young Malaysian Christians today, he could see that they were a group that is very fervent and ready to move with God. ‘This is God’s gift to the Malaysian churches, the raw material, and we want to develop them into who God meant for them to be.
In conjunction with E16, the Unstoppable EP featuring four original songs written by young songwriters from the next generation worship community of SIBKL was released. (“UNSTOPPABLE“, a song from SIBKL’s Worship EP ‘UNSTOPPABLE‘ is available now on iTunes and Spotify).
‘There is so much potential in our young people. They are multi-talented and visual, and the world has changed, not just yearly, but daily. It is so vital for the young to connect back with their spiritual bearing.’
Many young generation today, even among the pre-believers, yearn to make a difference to their nation. And Malaysia is undergoing tremendous and major transitions. This is the best opportunity for them to show their love for the country.
‘Many young people want to contribute to nation-building,’ shared Pr Lee Choo. A major objective of E16 is to help the young to bring in the revival spirit into our nation. To move from self-centeredness to God- and other-centeredness. To be interested in the world. ‘The next generation are critical to the shape of things to come.’
The E16 conference will consist of 3 major elements. The first are the workshops where practical opportunities are given to attendees in shaping them to be witnesses, answering the call of Christ upon their lives as found in Acts 1:8 and Matthew 24:14. They will be empowered so that they can be excited once again about their new identities in Christ, discovering that they are able to pray effectively as well as receiving and imparting the word from God.
The climax of the E16 will be the Unstoppable Festival, which will take place at Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam on 10-11 September from 6pm onwards. Renowned Evangelist, Pastor Philip Mantofa from Mawar Sharon Church, Indonesia will be speaking on both nights. Entry to the Festival is without charge and it is open to all ages. All are welcome to come and hear the Good News and celebrate God’s unstoppable love for everyone.
‘As Christians, we all know that we have an unstoppable God. In the book of Acts, as the early church expanded, persecution started to come in.’ Pr Chew conveyed, ‘In such a times, there was one statement made by Gamaliel that struck home into my heart.
‘In Acts 5:38-39, he made the statement that if something is not of God, it will come to nothing, but if it is from God, nothing will be able to stop it, and if we are fighting against it, we will only find ourselves fighting against God. It is time to come out of hiding and stop just going through the motions.’
‘We are in an unstoppable season. God is bringing life to His people and we must ride on it,’ conveyed Pr Lee Choo. “God wants to shape His people and we believe that E16 will be employed by God as part of His shaping. Our ultimate aim is that we want to sow something in the spirit that carries on years from now.’
The E16 Unstoppable Festival provides translation for both BM and Mandarin languages. To book your headset, visit www.e16.my/translation
NOTE: The E16 Unstoppable Conference will be held from the 9th-12th of September at SIBKL, Bangunan Yin with the Night Festival at 6pm (10th and 11th September) in Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam. To find out more, visit the event website at http://www.e16.my/ All pictures were kindly contributed by the organisers of the event and SIB KL.
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Jason Law
Dear Team,
I am interested in the E16 Conference but I am already 46, single. Can I still please attend? Also is the venue accessible via public transport?
Thank you
Hi Christina,
Unfortunately I think the conference is fully booked. The night festival is open to all public however. You can take the RapidKL U80 from KL Sentral to Shah Alam bus terminal, then change to U605 to Melawati Stadium. However, due to the late hours, we would advise you to either get a friend or a family member to go with you, and maybe drive you there, or get a cab from the Subang or Shah Alam KTM station. Hope this helps.
My apologies. There are actually some public transport options provided by the E16 organisers. You can check them out at http://www.e16.my/transport You may take the T629 Rapid KL bus from the Asia Jaya LRT station to get to Bangunan Yin at Phileo Damansara.