Not Alone

The Fellowship of Evangelical Students, or “FES” may not be a name that really rings a bell with most UTAR CF members. That is not surprising since most of us enter university just after secondary school, so we are usually more familiar with our own church organizations or maybe Scripture Union.

The FES is actually a Christian organization that specializes in working with university students, and through many ways they are a group that has really helped me in my fledgling walk with God.  If you stay with me and read on, you will see through the lives, words and experiences of myself and other fellow UTAR CF-ers why I say this.

My hope is that you will be encouraged and be aware that there IS this group of Christians who are constantly praying for you and offering guidance and support to our Christian Fellowship, though the interactions may mostly be with the student leadership due to constraints of time and personnel.
One thing that distinguishes the FES from many other groups is their commitment to building spiritual relationships with individuals: “Impacting lives, one student at a time” is something I’ve heard many different staffworkers like David, Lian Chui and Esmond say.

In spite of the fact that UTAR Kampar is quite a distance from their headquarters in Penang, KL and Melaka, it really is quite something that committed staff workers can make the time to meet up with students. Huan Min, a UTAR CF alumnus says, “they’ll always find time to meet with us if we’re looking for them”.

I can actually recall every single meeting I had with FES staff while I was still a student, and they are so memorable and important to me, probably because as university students, we don’t have that many “older folks” around. I did not know what it was like to run this race, but they did.

UTAR CF-ers with David, our former staffworker

Besides that, I can also vouch for the assistance that God has given us through the experience and example of the staff workers. Jensen (2008-2011), calls them “a pillar of support” for the CF work on campus. One of the UTAR CF Kampar pioneers, Renjie (2007-2011) also affirms the FES as a source of great encouragement and guidance.

Gin Mah, a former committee member, once remarked to me that "even though there is only one staff worker for each campus, the contribution that they have is immense because of their experience and knowledge,”

Recently, a few of us from UTAR CF had the privilege of joining the FES Jubilee Celebration in Petaling Jaya. We, who are in our twenties, bore witness to the testimony of many who shared about 50 years of FES ministry, what it meant to them and what it meant for our nation.

Gin Mah: " See you again in 50 years"

The warmth we felt that night while worshipping and mingling with “unfamiliar yet familiar” faces send across a clear message: We are not alone, and we have “family members” all over the country praying for us and doing God’s work in expanding His kingdom. This is a lesson to me that I think started when I had my first ever chat with David, our former FES staff worker, back in 2011.

Even as we become busy over the Christmas season, we can take heart that God is doing His work all over the nation, and that we have Christians praying for Christians and for those who will hear God’s word and come to know Jesus over November and December.

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.”

Colossians 1:6

Calling, Commitment, Carry

IN worship God does not respond to the atmosphere,

God respond to faith!

Worship leader:
- to worship God
- not just song leading, BUT leading WORSHIP in GOD's PRESENCE.

Well, atmosphere is important too.
- The sound and production need to be good
- Arrangements: Play in time and in tune as well (so you will not disrupt or disturb people worshiping God)
---ALL THESE NEEDS practice!---

Question for self to God:
 God, what do You want to achieve for this worship?
- To stay connected with the people because we (worship leaders) are leading them in God's presence.
- You can't COMMUNICATE the WORD of GOD without COMMUNICATING with the HEART of GOD.

Vocal/Choir/ANYTHING ELSE:
 3 Cs':

1) Calling
-Know your calling
-Once you are sure, be involved in leading worship/joining the choir, etc.
-It is a privilege to lead worship/joining the choir BUT REMEMBER, we are NOT doing GOD A FAVOR!
-Read Exodus and get to know Moses as a person. God CALLED HIM to bring the people out of Israel. Moses doubt at the moment if he is able to lead so many people out and first, to get through Pharaoh. He also said that he is 'slow of speech and tongue' but because God assured him that He will be with Moses and so Moses obeyed. It was Moses' CALLING.

2) Commitment
i) Personal walk with Jesus
-You can't lead people to a place you haven't been yourselves.
-Therefore, saturate yourselves with the Holy Spirit and grow in Him.
*God wants a relationship with YOU!!!*

ii) Part of a TEAM
- unity
-be careful NOT to build on your self-esteem BUT on the Spirit of God.
-God blesses when we are united.
*Ephesians 4: 1-6*
--be willing to CHALLENGE each other and be willing TO BE CHALLENGED!

iii) Submission to leadership
-trusting God and his anointed leaders.
-David refuses to touch Saul even though he has the chance to kill Saul because he knows that Saul is God's anointed one and he shouldn't touch him or cause him harm (2 Samuel 24, 26).
-Being a leader, should be humble.
-Being a leader, God will give you a vision.
-If you haven't have a vision, serve your pastor's vision!

iv) Strive for excellence
-NOT PERFECTION!
-develop the gift God has given you by training it (singing, dancing, acting,etc.)
-Excellence is an ATTITUDE you LIVE WITH!
-We should want to be excellent in everything we do.
Eg: Singing in tune and in time: If not good, it will be a distraction to the worship.
..side note..get a vocalist. Understand how your voice work.
-Worship: "I want to do my best when I'm leading worship is not for ME but to lead you in the presence of God.

v) Commitment + heart and passion (and developed gifts, too)

3) Carry
- You are carrying the Word of God.
- Allow Him to stretch you.
-Noise vs. Sound
  --SOUND is beyond melody, genre, etc.
    ---It is the SOUND of victory, hope, breakthrough, life and freedom (Psalm 61).
    ---It is something you LIVE WITH, not something YOU DO for the sake of doing.
    ---When noise is too loud, carry the sound ABOVE the noise. Be wise.
(Proverbs 8).
   ---Be quiet, be still, there's always a song God gives you.
  *Your life carry a song, it carries a prophetic sound.*
-We're ministries in the house of God!

Q1: Is my life big enough to hold God?
A  : NO. You need to continue STRETCHING! HELLO!!! We are serving the God who MADE THE 
      WHOLE UNIVERSE! You need to CHALLENGE yourselves, to grow bigger, to do more for God!
      - More of Him >>>You're asking God of the whole universe come in and open you up, turn your life 
        upside down! Allow Him to stretch you.


Q2: Is my life empty enough to be God's vessel?
A  : Pour out your worries and burden to Him. If not, there's no place for Him to be in your heart.
      Holy Spirit wants to be in YOUR HEART.
      - We are all LEADERS. Wherever we are, we are LEADING the people around us to CHRIST.

Updates!!!

Firstly, I would like to apologize for not updating anything here for the past six weeks. So, now I will give a brief highlight on what had happened in the last six weeks.

Before the May trimester started, we had our annual CF camp in Sufes Campsite. " Into the Wild" is the name of the camp and yes, we were literally in the wild. What a time of joy and great fellowship that we had when all  CF-ers from all four campuses come together. We got to catch up with old friends and make some new ones as well. This camp was much different from those that we had in the past. This time we did a lot of activities that required physical strength. Jungle trekking and river trotting were the highlights of the camp. It was so much fun. Let's camp together again next year...=)

Lunch

Worship Session

Pitching Tents

Games

Lifegame- In the prison

Small group discussion

The campers

During the first week of the May trimester, we sold 'mua chi' and our well known apple pie again for the recruitment drive. Many people signed up for CF this semester and WE WELCOME ALL OF YOU!!! It was a joy to see so many new brothers and sisters in Christ coming to find a place where they can share and fellowship and learn more about God. We had our Welcoming Night on the 2nd week of the trimester. Just like the recruitment drive, many turned up on that night. There were also about 10 churches who set up their booth waiting for the freshmen to check it out. Although the room was a little hot and stuffy,we hope all of them had a good time.

The freshmen

Register! Register!

Passing on Ping-Pong ball

Time of Worship

Introduction of Committee members

In week 5, we had our 'sem-ly' Captain Ball Championship in Utar Sports Complex. The number of people who registered this semester were more than expected. It's good to see most of them who signed up were those who had never played before and some even from the KL campus and Ktar. They were all divided into 10 groups and the group that won this semester's championship is ?. Yeah, you didn't see it wrongly. The group name is ?. But, finding out who is the champion isn't the main purpose of this event. It is the fun and great fellowship that comes first. I guess, all of them had fun and were dead tired after the game. Purpose: Achieved!

Demo

The Cheer

Game In Action- Finals

The Scores

The Excited Spectators

The Champion ?

There are more great events lining-up for the following week of the trimester. So do check out our CF Facebook page and join us!!! God bless you...

Sengoi Remedial Class

Greetings brother and sister in Christ,

I’ve been approached by Gin Mah in introducing the ministry that I and a group of us have been involved. I’m not here to boast of what we are doing but hopefully it does bring awareness and if the Lord does touches you, do not hesitate to answer it J

Lately, I and a group of us have been involved in a ministry of providing education and remedial classes to Sengoi Kids (Orang Asli) in Pos Dipang, further out of Kampar town. In the beginning, our target was to Standard 5 – Standard 6 group of kids but somehow on our first day, kids ranging from the age of 6 to 12 were present at that moment and as day go by, it multiplies and now we have about 35 children to take care of. It is not so complete yet as we are still searching for a way or guidelines to be able to teach effectively to the children but we believe it will come one day as we seek for ways that only He knows best for the kids. We are not there to destroy what they already created as a community but to be there to help their kids or their community to grow.

Some are literally good at English, some at Maths but majority of them are much more poorer in education that you cannot imagine in the life that we are living in now. These kids likes to play, likes to see the world outside, likes to learn and travel around the world but less likely to be able to do it because of difficulties in communicating in a language that the world knows about, difficulties in financing their life, and lots more. Though they face all these, they are still happy living their life and being contented to live as a community and even on Easter Day, every household will cook for the whole community in that village and they will visit their house one by one until every house is visited and blessed with be it of different religion. How amazing is their fellowship of communion?

We had experienced it first hand, and we can tell you, the Journey to teach them, to educate them, to help them in growing up and bringing them experiencing the world that God is created is never easy, but we believe that it is worth doing it because everyone is of equal for the Lord created all of us. Not you and me only, but all of us. There are so much to share about but I would love you to experience it yourself and justify your experience by yourselves as a testimony of your own J

If any of you does want to know more, do not hesitate to call me or find me in any way you can find. Kelvin Wong : 017-5154029 or find me at Ktar Apartment : D404 (do notify me before you come).

Week 9: Movie Review " To Save a Life"

Hello Brothers and Sisters,

I have been a movie lover and a movie critic myself. Usually my friends ask me what movies to watch and even ask my opinion about the movies and I do rate movie without giving mercies. I am pretty harsh on movies, every details and every second of the movies. We had a movie night on week 9 with the CF and the movie was ‘To Save a Life’. Honestly, that’s my 1st Christian movie. I watched the movie all by myself 1st before the movie night so that I can give reviews about this movie and may even recommends this movie.

After watching it, I was speechless. It was so good that I had to watch the 2nd time the next day which was the CF Movie Night. This piece was about how a non-believer became a believer of Christ and save lives. It was so good I had to recommend to my friends.

I have learned so many things from this movie. In church, we all are brothers and sisters and we must love brother and sisters. ‘Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!’ Philippians 4:1

In that verse, we won’t judge one another as long we love one another. Before I became a Christian, my life was almost the life of the main character in the movie. My life could not been happier after knowing God. I love my brothers and sisters and everyone in the family of the church. When I am a Christian, I have been preaching the gospel to my family and to my friends who are non-believers and they do see a transformation in me. Watching this movie, makes me a proud Christian.

You know what, I am not going to rate this movie because it was very good. I hope you agree with me. May God bring more miracles in your life.

Jacky Lee.

Prayer Chain: Installation of new Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YdPA)

Few days ago on Wednesday, we had a public holiday in accordance to the installation of new Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YdPA). Our 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong is a Sultan from Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Sultan Badlishah. As children of God, we ought to put our country in prayer as recorded in 1 Timothy1-2 [I urge, then, first of all, that petition, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.]

These are some of the insights from our brothers and sisters received during their time in prayer chain:-

1) Steven Teh (12a.m.)

What the Lord wills in this nation

For Exodus 23 v6 to 8 reads : "You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.

The Lord calls forth for us to keep the way of the Lord, and He hears our outcry, He will come down to us.

For Genesis 18 v19 to 21 reads : For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has spoken to him." And the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know."

For the poor He called them brethren of ours, we shall help. Lord bless His Majesty and empower him by Your Grace so he does not lend money for usury nor food at a profit, but for us to live among. Our Nation's poverty rely not on what the His Majesty does, but how we live among each other as brothers.

For Leviticus 25 v35-38 reads: "If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. You shall not lend him money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

Our Father in Heaven came to test us, that His fear may be before us so that we may not sin. Lest there be one who quits, For God desires us to stand fast to our beliefs.

For Exodus 20 v20 reads : And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin."

And for 2 Thessalonians 2 v15 reads : Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

Prayer of comfort

2 Thessalonians 2 v16 to 17 reads : Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

2) Ray Leong (1 a.m.)

This is what God speak to me,

our YdPA,Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Sultan Badlishah second time to assuming the position, and his age 84 years old.

Our Lord Jesus can save our king, Jesus love him as well,

Although our king face more difficulties to believe in Christ Jesus, but we can continue to ask God to open doors n ways for people to share Gospel to our king, he also can turn to God in secretly.

God save the king.

3) Jeremiah Jr. (1 a.m.) 

Today English Version (revised edition)

God chosen servant

Matthew 12: 18 - 21 this words is about God chosen servant Isaiah

"Here is my servant whom i have chosen, the one i love, and whom im pleased. i will send my spirit upon him, and he will announce my judgement to the nations. he will not argue or shout, or make loud speeches in the streets. he will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. he will not persist until he causes justice to triumph, and on him all peoples will put their hopes

For God has chosen the new YDPA that we shall put our hopes in him

Zech 4:6

and while in the prayer, i was really felt like not so feeling well but let us keep continue pray for the Lord say "not by might, nor by power but by my spirit" for my version is an angel to send a msg of God : " You will succeed, not by military might or by your own strength, but by my spirit" so let keep continue to pray in our spirit

James 2:4

Then you will guilty of creating distinctions among yourselves and of making judgments based on evil motives.

pray for the new installation of YDPA have the justice and not by evil motive from Satan

psalm 27:1-3a prayer of praise

The Lord is my light and amy salvation; i will fear no one. the Lord protects me from all danger; i will never be afraid. When evil people attack me and try to kill me, they will stumble and fall. Even if a whole army surrounds me, i will not be afraid; even if enemies attack me, i will still trust in God

pray for the protection on the new YDPA for Lord protection is not only upon us, it will be upon the new YDPA for we dont know what will happen as they might happen argument so pray for protection not only be with us, but with the new YDPA, let him be save from his enemies

exodus 17:2 They complained to moses and said "give us water" Moses answered, "why are you complaning? Why are you putting the LORD to the test?" for some of us are very tired, and its like we are asking for wisdom to continue for the prayer ask dony doubt, keep asking Lord for the scripture to PRAY as we shall not doubt on the new installation for we shall not put the God into the test, keep praying for the new installation of the new YDPA

4) Keat Wei

Open doors

The first thing came to my mind after pray for the prayer point is Freedom of Religion in Malaysia. I have this strong thought that Malaysia sure will be country of great revival of Christ.

After that I read Col3:4 "And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains."

Ya. Its coming very soon! Let's us pray, and He will open the door.

1Cor16:9 "because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me"

Be prepared! Greater things will happen, we will never imagine before.

We believe that God will lead us.

Every time I pray. The mountains are removed! And the nation turns to u!!

5) Derk (4 a.m.)

I prayed asking God about His plans for our country.

What I heard in reply is this: "Watch and see what plans I have. Be faithful"

We know that in the next few months some things may happen that may change a lot of things in our country. Like Keat Wei said, God is the one who is going to open the doors.

We got to be faithful to our commission to live holy lives as God's people and bring His message of grace and salvation to the people, the same message that brought us hope.

Strengthen your brothers and sisters! Our Lord will come again one day, and what will He see in the church of Malaysia on that hour?

6) Pastor Eunice (8 a.m.)

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”

(Hebrews 11:6, NIV)

God bless our homeland...

7) Grace Yong (8 a.m.)

Whenever we think of giving up or losing hope for the country, we must remember that despite the inequality or troubles we are facing now...we have the greatest ruler of all with us. God is mighty and He has definitely has His own plans for us, for our country. I have learned that the most importantly to form a great nation, we ourselves must be well prepared to face the challenges. We must stand strong in faith and trust God that He will overcome with us.

Psalm 138 : 7-8

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me. The LORD will vindicate me; your love, LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.

8) Adrian Yu ( 10 a.m.)

2 Chronicles 7:14 [ If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.]

The verse just suddenly poped appear to me after a session of praise and worship.

Ask the right thing from God and you will be blessed tenfold. Instead of looking for materialistic things or relationship with man, Be someone who seek the heart of God just like King David did! And the rest, leave it to God. Because if you honour Him, He will honour you.

Lets pray harder that our government will receive the right things from God and stays away from corruption.

Because Christian's greatest weapon is God's word and prayer!

9) Hui Andrew (12 p.m.)

Learn not to complain but to pray unto you

learn not to have our own agenda but the agenda of God

pray the nation to vote wisely

pray for ourselves that we wont have favoritism mind set

10) Melody Hor ( 6 p.m.)

Prayed for citizens and rulers of country to love Malaysia more so that they would want Malaysia to be a better country for all of us. If you love your country enough you would only do good things for it, won't you?

and of course God to make Malaysia a better place. He is the only one who can change and make it happen. May he grant those who are ruling with wisdom and integrity, as well as those who are voting, may he grant them wisdom.

God can influence those in authority and we can influence that by praying :)

11) Wendy Loo

"So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

I ended work super late today, so I actually took the time that I have in LRT to pray for it.. There is a lot of distractions during the whole journey, but when I closed my eyes, I started to pray without even care about what happened surrounding me..

It remind me of this: "Our distance with our Father in Heaven is just simply a prayer away"... So no matter how tired we are, let's continue to pray for a transformation for Malaysia, shall we??

12) Daniel Chi

‎'Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.' Psalms 61:1

'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.' 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

Let's stand in the gap and cry out for this nation.

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Every time when we are frustrated of the measures that operate in this country, do we actually pray about it? Ezekiel 22:30 [“I sought for a man who would … stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land”] An intercessor is a man or woman-or child-who pray on behalf of others. God wants us to fill the gap in interceding for our country. He want us to pray as a believer, in this way the heart of God is expressed through intercession. 

Over and over in the Scriptures we see that Christ went away all night to pray in a solitary place. In fact, His whole life was intercessory. If Christ felt that it was important to intercede while He was on earth, then how much more should we consider intercession a priority? (Jacobs 1993)

Gin Mah

CG Week 6 & 7

Hellooo!

CG is ON for week 6 and 7!!! This 2 weeks will be focusing on the benifits of having a Christ life. Here is a snapshot of the materials for these weeks. This will be provided by your CG leaders during the meeting. This is for you to read through first and prepare.

It is good to go with a prepared heart and be ready to share and receive. Have a great time in CG people!!!

For those who do not have a CG and wish to join one, please drop a message in the UTAR Christian Fellowship Facebook Group (click the link).