Week 35 (25 - 31 August): Planting Seeds

For the month of August, the youth have been focussing on the importance of bringing your friends to church! We started off with our first outreach event on 16th August, where the youth brought a friend that they wanted to reach out to. Aunty Kwee Shan and I were so encouraged by the turn out and by their enthusiasm! We have great youth.

Truthfully, we were concerned when we thought of the outreach event. We didn’t think it was easy to invite your friends to church — today, religion and church are surprisingly tricky topics to navigate because others may have preconceived notions of what the faith is like, or maybe we are not sure if they are even interested. We are possibly also concerned with whether they will feel at home. One of the things I realise we subconsciously do that excludes non-believers is to speak in “Christianese” (i.e using terms or phrases that would only be known by other believers), which then makes the gap feel even wider.

However, watching the youth laugh with each other at how someone’s wonky churros looked and collectively descend to the playground after dinner, I realised that perhaps we overcomplicate things. What we tend to forget is that at the heart of evangelism or discipleship, what matters most is community. It should not just be a mission to share knowledge/advice or to get immediate buy-in. Perhaps it is easier to think of the Great Commission this way: Being called to go out and bring more friends into our community. Along the way, there will be opportunities to share life, and consequently God.

What becomes key as believers, is to continually believe and to give opportunities for His goodness to shine through. We looked at Matthew 8’s account of the centurion and his servant, where the centurion interceded on behalf of his paralysed servant for healing. While the centurion was neither a believer nor a Jew, the faith that he demonstrated was undoubtedly Christ-like. He wanted the best for his friend so he sought out Jesus, trusting that He could heal, and was so persistent in his faith that he saw the miracle. We need to have faith like this: in times of difficulty, to walk with our friends, and to direct them to the Lord. All we have to do is plant the seed. In His time, they will encounter Him and know firsthand just how good He is. I hope this encourages you to keep making new friends for the Kingdom! The harvest is plentiful. See you all soon!

With love,

Zoe (For the youth)