Adventist Crossroads
April - June, 2000

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

After spending a little over four years here Dr Geoffrey Pauner and his wife Kathleen left to settle in Arlington, Texas. Dr Pauner first came to Singapore in 1957 and through the years he had left and then returned to work several times. When the Singapore Mission came into its own in 1988, Dr Pauner became its first president. After a study stint at Andrews University he returned in 1989 to become the principal of the Seventh-day Adventist School (now the San Yu Adventist School) from 1996 till the present time.
He had worked hard to garner the support of the SDA members in Singapore for the San Yu Adventist School. He had a special burden for the propagation of the Adventist culture in the school and especially for the teachers and staff to demonstrate to “difficult” students, as he puts it, the Christian principles of love, concern, forgiveness and patience.
One cannot work with Dr. Pauner without admiring his calm and gentle ways in the face of problems. The secret, he says, is to expect problems as part and parcel of a day’s work and mentally prepare for them. When they do come he is not rudely shocked. He uses the analogy of carrying an umbrella: “If it rains there you have it. If it doesn’t rain, well and good.”
His wife, Kathleen, who worked as a secretary at the Southeast Asia Union, was also the honorary Women’s Ministry co-ordinator of the Mission. She has organised several Mission-wide events to strengthen the ties among the women folks in our churches; the most recent event was the International Women’s Day of Prayer.
We thank the Pauners for their valuable contribution to the work and wish them well as they continue to minister elsewhere.

Healthy Church l Ready People
Toh See Wei, President

Over the weekend of 29 to 30 April, 2000 delegates from the churches and the institutions in Singapore met in the San Yu Adventist School audiovisual auditorium for the Fifth Triennial Session of the Mission. Besides reviewing the progress of the Church work in the past three years, the delegates laid plans for the next triennium and elected ministries coordinators institutional committee members.
The session adopted the following vision statement: ‘Healthy Church Ready People’. A ‘Healthy Church’ is one that is strong in the eight quality characteristics found in the Natural Church Development (NCD) model. A ‘Ready People’ means that we want to be ready and equipped to finish the Gospel work.
Two significant resolutions that the delegates passed were the adoption of the NCD principles for local church growth, and the coordinated effort of Adventist community agencies and local churches to provide synergy for our work in Singapore. (If you do not know what NCD is about, please ask your pastor).
We have embarked on NCD with the church profile survey carried out recently. The result will provide a basis for our Church boards as they plan. A number of familiarising seminars
have been held to educate members. The Mission will continue to provide the training and resources. The diagnostic survey will be done annually to gauge the progress of the local churches. We believe that a prayerful and faithful follow-through using the NCD principles will result in healthy churches, and healthy churches are growing churches. We want to see our churches grow and the Gospel work completed.
Three weeks after the Session the head of institutions met to coordinate community services for a united evangelistic thrust. To kick off plans are made to have regular lunch meetings to share ideas and resources in their respective areas. They also want to meet with the pastors to coordinate church outreach through these community services.
If we work together to focus on the two major projects mentioned above, and not get distracted by the many side issues that so readily beset us, there will be plenty of actions for Jesus in Singapore for the coming months and years. I pray that with a new triennium beginning in this new millennium, we can be used by God in more effective ways to accomplish the Gospel work in Singapore.

New Head in SYAS

With the departure of Pastor Geoffrey Pauner, the Mission Board appointed Mr Leong Weng Kee as the new principal. This was ratified at the recent Mission tri-annual session.
Before joining the San Yu Adventist School (SYAS), Mr Leong was an associate professor at the then Southeast Asia Union College. He enjoys teaching Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Computer.
He enjoys the outdoors with his wife, Doris, a full time “Minister of Home Affairs” as he puts it, and their two daughters, Su Han, 4 and Su Wen, 3. He is also the coordinator for the Singapore Mission Pathfinders program.
He wants the SYAS to be a genuine Adventist education institution; one that would meet the needs of the next generation of young people and future leaders.
To achieve this, he said, the SYAS must have a team of dedicated and committed staff and a strong proactive support from our churches and the community in Singapore.
While being optimistic he cautions that in the face of the turbulent storm of changes and crisis, the SYAS must stand tall and make a difference; it must set its priorities and directions correctly. And most importantly “We must always remember to put God first and in charge of everything.”
We welcome Mr Leong and his family!

The Strength of Women

Since 1990, the Department of Women’s Ministries at the General Conference has promoted a special day when women have the opportunity to strengthen their spiritual bonds as they pray for and with each other.
The International Women's Day of Prayer provides an opportunity for women to learn about each other and prayed for one another. It is a time to reunite with God and one another to strengthen spiritual bonds. Although the essential purpose of the day is for prayer, the day can also provide women with an opportunity to strengthen their ties with other Christian women as they pray together.Eighty-eight women met at the SDA Community Church on 25 March, 2000 for this special event They united in offering praises and prayers. Personal testimonies of miraculous healing and God’s leading elicited thanksgiving and tears of joy. Special intercessory prayers were offered for Mrs Maria Wong (SDA Community Church) and Ms Ko Yi Ling (Singapore Chinese Church).

Family Priority
Danson Ng, Family Ministry Coordinator

Twenty-three families took home with them more than just the memories of a good weekend. Fathers, mothers and children, 73 persons in all, rediscovered the joy of family worship and a special feeling of oneness that could come only from doing things together. This was the Mission-wide Family Camp held from 17 to 19 March, 2000 at the A’Famosa Resort, Malacca.
The theme, Strengthening Family Bonds through the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, ran like a golden thread through the songs, the family worships, the devotional messages, the arts and crafts and the fun activities.
There was no shortage of people willing to assist in the music, the songs and the activities. Pastor and Mrs Dan Walter from the Southeast Asia Union Mission served as resource personnel. Mrs Walter introduced the family worship art and craft ideas based on the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It was heart-warming to see parents with their little ones participating as family units. Many new songs that emphasized family relationships and unity were introduced. Pastor Lee Ki-Plin added to the spiritual dimension with his three-part daily devotional on the Attitude, Action and Application of Grace based on Galatians 5:22-23.
A nature hunt led out by Mrs Walter and Ms Sharon Ong got children and parents scurrying all over looking for treasures of nature. Mr David Paulson, Mr Paul Pagram, Mr Ong Teik Hong and Mrs Walter introduced more fun activities that had everyone in stitches and totally stress-free. To cap it all craft time on Sunday morning provided opportunity for families to create surprising artistic arrangements from simple everyday materials.
For many this was a family camp that would be remembered for a long time to come. They are looking forward to the next one.