Adventist Crossroads
April - June 2002

New President
Danson Ng, President
Singapore Mission

From July 1, 2002 Pastor Danson Ng assumes the presidency of the Singapore Mission.
He served in the ministry for almost 30 years except for two breaks during which he obtained an M.A. in Church Ministry and a Master in Leadership from the Adventist Seminary in the Philippines. He was ordained in January 1977.
He has been a church pastor, departmental director and more recently the Mission secretary. He is married to Irene Chua and they have two grown up children, Serene and Jason.
I urge all pastors, institutional leaders and church members to reaf firm their trust in the almighty God who will show us what to do for the His work in Singapore. We must put our absolute trust in God. He will lead and guide us to accomplish great things for as He has promised, “…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28 20). This requires that we consecrate ourselves wholly to Him and walk humbly with Him daily.
Let us earnestly seek Him and experience revival and reformation by the power of the Holy Spirit to advance and finish his work in Singapore. Only by staying united in our Lord Jesus Christ can we be a formidable force to fulfill the Gospel commission.
Every member matters—senior members, working adults, youth and children. You will be in our hearts as we strive to minister and equip you for the Lord. We shall marshal all our ministries, personnel and resources to equip you to be strong and zealous witnesses for the Lord and prepare you for the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray for the Mission and pastoral leadership. Together we shall do great and amazing things for God! Yes, we shall see our churches and cell groups grow and multiply, new territories entered, institutions and community agencies synergize with one another to bless the community.
This is our dream and our hope. We need you join us in this important and exciting adventure for God. Won’t you?

New Secretary
Johnny Kan, Secretary
Singapore Mission

Pastor Johnny Kan was appointed Secretary of the Singapore Mission and will officially begin on July 1, 2002. Pastor Kan entered the ministry in 1993 and served for a number of years as church pastor in the Singapore Mission. He carried several departmental responsibilities at the same time. He was ordained in September 1999. Presently, he is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at the Fuller Theological Seminary, USA, by distance learning.His wife, Pik Yee, is a medical doctor.

As we move into a new era of ministry in the 21st century, the Adventist Church in Singapore is presented with new opportunities and threats. I believe if we want to emerge as the leading church of today in finishing the great commission in our local context, our Church needs to go through some major alignments and renewal in the way we “do church.” The emerging 21st century church can be identified by these five core characteristics. Each is a window into the mission, values, structures and culture of a 21st century church and will be present or in process within an individual congregation.
Window One . . . Effective Leadership. Leadership is shifting from one person to a leadership team that is a gift-based partnership between the pastor, the laity and other leaders. The focus will be shifted from preaching and providing pastoral care to one on being proactive in leadership, vision casting and centered on mission. Such leadership source is shifting from being academic and credential-based to one emphasizing character, gifts and demonstrated competence.
Window two . . . Lay Mobilization. High value is placed on recognizing individual gift, role and place to serve. We need to develop a more systematic approach to the process of identifying gifts and talents, equipping/coaching, and placement for service. The whole perspective is one of “whole life ministry” with people using their gifts to serve others not only in the church but with family, work, community and the world.
Windows three . . . Cultural Connectedness. We cannot be naive about the changing world. The changing 21st century Singapore population is set in an age of mission and a society in which the influence of Christianity is declining. The 21st century is global, urban and multi-cultural. Our Church must understand and engage the culture proactively at its point of need. Using a first century model (I call it the ACTS 2 church), we ought to be culturally indigenous to our mission field and customize our worship, teaching, outreach, and ministries according to our specific cultural and demographic setting.
Window four . . . Authentic community. Ministry is customized for people as individuals and is driven by people’s needs and opportunities, not programs. There is a sense on the part of the congregation that their needs have been heard and the church has responded appropriately. Community is fostered through small groups for purposes of caring, learning, support, ministry and accountability. There is a recognition of multiple stages of faith development and a process in place that fosters individual growth and maturity at each stage. Most of all, there is an emphasis on disciple-making, worship, prayer, and a sense of spiritual adventure that the congregation is on a journey to discover where God is active and unite with Him in His work.
Windows Five . . . boldly Proclaiming the Present Truth. The 21st century church must be bold in sharing the Present Truth to lost people in a new and refreshing ways. God has raised up the Adventist Church for a purpose. We must never lose sight of that calling. Many in the world thirst to know the Truth as taught in the Bible and further explained through the writings of Ellen White. Our prophetic role in these last days may make us unacceptable in some communities. But as a people called by God, we must remain faithful to our unique Adventist teachings and calling. We need to present God’s truth to lost people in the most authentic and relevant way.
May our Church truly be revived and renewed as we prepare for the latter rain to come in its fullest measure. We need to surrender our old-mind set, ungracious life, unteachable spirit and unrepentent heart.
In Ellen White’s counsel to a church elder in 1903, I want to echo my desire for our Church in Singapore. “Our churches are in need of a spiritual revival. Now is the time for the work of repentance and confession of sin to extend deeper. Now is the time for God’s people to allow the Holy Spirit to make clean and thorough work, in order that all selfishness, all wrong, may be uprooted from their hearts. May the Lord help you and the whole church, is my prayer. “ Atlantic Union Gleaner, September 9, 1903,

New Pastor for Balestier

As of April 1, 2002, Gration Perera was assigned as the new pastor of the Balestier Road Church. Pastor Perera hails from Sri Lanka where he began his ministry and worked for seven years. After obtaining two masters, one in Pastoral Ministry and another in Health Ministry from the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies he served in the Thailand Mission for a little over seven years before coming to Singapore.
Joining him is his wife, Sherine, who was an auditor and teacher in Thailand. They have three girls, Dinushikam, 17, a sophomore at Mission College, Thailand; Rochael, 14, and Lakshika, 11, are students at the San Yu Adventist School.
Pastor Gration’s vision for Balestier Church is to establish it as a soul-winning hub for the Mission and empower the laity to fulfill the Gospel commission. He plans to strengthen the midweek prayer meetings, Friday evening vespers, Sabbath school, hour of worship and sundown worship. This will provide opportunities for church members to enhance their spirituality through Bible study, prayer, fellowship, witnessing, and obedience to God. Other strategies include coordinating existing arms of church ministries to arrive at a common goal; conducting seminars, workshops, and employing other training tools to create an awareness that Christian stewardship is of utmost importance and bringing members into a total commitment to practice the principles of stewardship. He will endeavor to maintain a mature level of ministry to the different segments of the church such as children, youth, adult, shut-ins, and non-attending members. Let us give him all the support to realise this vision.
We welcome the Perera family to the Singapore Mission.

A Miracle
Serena
SDA Community Church

My life long dream was to become a missionary in some third world country. I am twenty and was in my second year in a US college working towards a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. I wanted eventually to go into Medicine. I participated actively in an outreach ministry, had many friends and enjoying my life. Suddenly, all this was disrupted. I was struck down with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, an auto-immune disease. It drained me of my energy and affected my kidneys.
My mum visited me from Singapore. We were helpless, confused and worried. We turned to the Lord for comfort and peace. Finally, after four days, the doctor diagnosed the problem and started treatment. By that time, my condition had deteriorated. The skin on my stomach and thighs were so stretched out from the water retention that parts of it split open. I could not even close my fist or move my toes.
Throughout this time my mum kept vigil, prayed and read to me from Psalm 34. It reminded me to give thanks to the Lord at all times. I thought of Job who drew strength and wisdom from the Lord during his trials and tribulations. I was amazed at the appropriateness of the scripture verse and was convinced of the need to give thanks to the Lord no matter what happens.
It was only after I made that decision, did I realize that the Lord had already performed a miracle in my life, which I had been unaware of at that time. It dawned on me that if it had not snowed that particular day, I would not have been taken to the hospital and received the appropriate treatment in time. You see, where I was, snow hardly falls and one could expect snowfall perhaps once every ten years or so. Since it had snowed last year, nobody expected a snowfall this year. When it providentially snowed that day, many roads were blocked and because of that, the school nurse could not come to see me. The dean was forced to take me to the hospital instead. Some people might think that it is a coincidence for snow to fall, but it never snowed after that day, at least for a long time.I continue to give thanks and trust in the Lord our living God each day.

“Pregnancy” Excitement
Chan Shee Wai
Balestier Road Church

It’s time for the Church to be “preg nant” again. It’s high time for us to plant the seed for a new church in the unentered north zone of Singapore. Recognizing this need, an action was taken in April 1999 at the triennial session of the Singapore Mission to establish a church in the north.
To show that is was not just talk, the Mission invited the Church Planting Director of the North Pacific Union Conference in Oregon, USA, Ron Gladden, to conduct a Church Planting Seminar in December 2001.
Following that, my wife and I went to the US in March this year and were endorsed as suitable church planters. The Singapore Mission approved a church-planting proposal with a startup fund of S$50,000. The first worship service will take place on January 4, 2003 at a cinema hall in Causeway Point, Woodlands.
Initial survey has yielded the following potentials:
˜ 94 active church members and 38 absent members reside in Woodlands, Sembawang and Yishun.
˜ 70 patients and 140 relatives from the Adventist Rehab Centre.
˜ 40 Voice of Prophecy students live in the north.
The possibilities are exciting. I will begin the groundwork from July till December this year. I have ended my pastorship at the Balestier Road Church on June 30, and will now concentrate on recruiting volunteers to pioneer this new work. I will also shoulder the responsibility of the Adventist Better Living Centre director. This will augment my work as I visit homes to assess and organize community health projects at the Causeway Point.
I am ready to enter Woodlands and solicit all your prayers and welcome all assistance.
Meanwhile, I have been scheduled to speak at all the six churches about this “pregancy” excitement.

Reaching Out to a Need
Chan Shee Wai
Balestier Road Church

If you were at the atrium of the Novena Square, Thomson Road on May 18 and 19, 2002 you would see some volunteers offering health screen ing to the walk-in shoppers. Those thirty volunteers were from the Adventist churches. They assisted in a free Blood Pressure & Body-Fat Mass Analysis screening jointly organised by the Youngberg Wellness Centre and the Balestier Road Church. Altogether about 600 people availed themselves of the free service.
It did not end there. The following week, on May 26, 2002, forty-six of them took advantage of the subsidized Blood Cholesterol screening.
It did not end there, either. On June 3, 2002 forty-seven from the public and seventy-seven church members attended the Better Health Evangelistic Meeting. The speakers were Dr. Tan Pik Yee, Miss Diana David and Pastor Chan Shee Wai.
We thank God for these opportunities to reach out. Efforts are underway to follow up the gospel seedings.

Best Wishes

It did not seem like too long ago when we welcomed Pastor Toh See Wei as the president of the Singapore Mission. That was in January 1999. Two years before he had joined the Mission as its secretary.
In March 2002 he sprang a surprise. He had planned to leave Singapore in a month to pursue studies for a medical career. The suddenness of it all dismayed many, throughout the Church, who have enjoyed working, playing, jesting and eating with him. After much persuasion he agreed to stay on till the appointment of a new president at the Southeast Asia Union mid-year meeting in May 2002.
His wife,Yen, is contributing to the various work in the Church and most recently as the Mission Health Ministry Coordinator. For this we are appreciative. No doubt, Yen would continue to be his inspiration as they face new challenges in the months ahead.
We thank Pastor Toh for his Christian leadership. He showed us that work can still be done with a good sense of humour. His skill in IT has proven an asset in the Mission office. His ability to get along with others has endeared him to all who worked with him.
We wish him God’s blessings and success in his new pursuit.