Recently, Bernice and I had the privilege of ministering at the Evangel Baptist Church camp. Some of you may be surprised to hear this since I have stopped accepting invitations to speak at church camps. In this season of my life, I had decided that I need to be more intentional in stewarding my time and energy. But I am not legalistic about this and there will be exceptions to my “rule”. I was glad to make an exception for Evangel.
I first joined Evangel in the late ’70s when I was finishing my time in university. I was part of the membership when the church was first officially organised. And this was the church that helped me clarify my calling to the pastoral ministry.
In my final year of dental school, I felt strongly that God wanted me to serve Him as a pastor and a Bible teacher. This wasn’t because I thought the pastoral ministry was more spiritual than dentistry. God calls His children to different stations of service. I felt that I was called to the pastorate.
This was a big decision and I had to be sure. Evangel helped in a number of ways. First, her leaders helped me with the discernment process. Initially Pastor David Chan, and subsequently Pastor Michael Shen, walked me through the process. OMF missionaries attached to the church also gave loving, patient guidance. I owe an enormous debt to Lucille Ramish, and Denis and June Lane.
Second, the church also helped to sponsor my theological studies. The Lord had led me to Regent College, Vancouver. Even in those days it was an expensive place to live in. I didn’t have anything saved up for my studies. The Lord of course was faithful. He provided monies from different sources. I had a grant from OMF which was contingent on my coming back to serve in Asia (which I was ready to do). Then, Evangel was committed to supporting my studies with SGD800 per month.
This was a very generous provision. The church was not a big church. And it was supporting at least three others in their theological studies. Furthermore, I told the church that I felt called to serve in Malaysia, so I would not be coming back to serve in Evangel. But the church had no qualms about supporting my studies. They had a kingdom vision even then and weren’t just concerned for the needs of the church.
Apart from the specific help in assisting my entry into church ministry, the church also helped in providing a healthy diet of Bible teaching both from the pulpit and in Bible studies. These were key in my spiritual formation and helped me to be someone serious enough about my faith to respond to the call when it did come.
All this happened about 50 years ago. Both Evangel and I have gone through so much in the years since. But I felt that I never had the chance to thank the church properly; to put on record how much the church had blessed me at a hinge moment in my life. I owe them big time. I continue to serve in a faith-based ministry, but all this had begun 50 years ago. So, thank you Evangel. And thank you for giving me an opportunity to preach at your camp, and to publicly thank you for the role you played in my vocational journey.
