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Lessons from a 6-day course by Haggai Institute Alumni Association PJU and Subang Jaya – Mei Wai

July 15, 2016 Mei Wai News, Spotlight 0

Mei Wai graduating from Haggai Institute (HI)

In the midst of a life transition now, I have been looking for good materials to help reorient my life, especially on how to be an effective witness for the LORD. Praise God, my friend sent me a Whatsapp invite for a local Haggai Institute National Leadership Seminar. And the rest is history!

Haggai Institute participants worshipping God

A little bit about me:

I am a 12-year-old Christian. But like many church-goers, I found evangelism hard work, literally! My past experience in evangelism had been accompanied with rejection and embarrassment, so much so that I felt that evangelism is only made for ‘the evangelist’ and not me.

But with Haggai Institute (HI), it helps to address my blindness in evangelism. HI’s approach or vision is to ensure that the gospel is presented in the power of the Holy Spirit, with cultural relevance and sensitivity to all people, especially in non-evangelized nations of the world.

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mwSerious@Work — Mei Wai (front, left) diligently taking notes

I realized that evangelism is actually possible for me! But it needs to be respectfully done, properly addressing another person’s cultural and personal world view (or individual perspective of right and wrong).

Some takeaways, I had from Haggai seminar can be summarized as below according to modules:

HI vision: Mentioned as above.

Biblical mandate: There is no excuse for every believer not to share the gospel, as it is the Great Commission for all God’s disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). It is neither the ‘Great Suggestion’ nor the ‘Great Commission only for pastors’.

Discipline: We are to know the cost, and keep ourselves fit spiritually, physically, emotionally and socially, so that we can effectively share the gospel, no matter the cost.

mwLightGroup — Mei Wai (2nd row, 2nd from left) with her group members

Communication: One of God’s favorite models of evangelism to the people is by healing through the power of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 13:8). Other than that, transformed lives, testimonies, transparency and a genuine heart are the best heart-to-heart communication and evangelism ingredients.

Leadership: We are reminded to first, be a follower of Jesus before we can be Christ’s disciple-maker or leader. If we are not first a follower, we will misrepresent God and people cannot come to God.

Pluralism: In a multicultural society, one of the ways to present the gospel without being culturally offensive is by conducting the “Good Person Test”. According to God’s standard who takes account of even the hidden thoughts of our heart, can anyone call oneself “good”?

mwGradGroup — Graduating group of Haggai Institute, completing the six-day course

Stewardship: We need to live every moment acknowledging God as our Ultimate Boss. Just as how we need to be accountable to our earthly boss, we need to be accountable to our Heavenly Boss as well – the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and “Boss of Bosses”!

Goal setting: A lesser taught topic among the churches, it is nonetheless crucial to ensure follow-through of the vision received.

At the end of the HI sessions, we – the Haggai alumni – were being sent off, enthusiastic to carry out God’s Great Commission by the equipping of God’s Word and leading of the Holy Spirit.