Adventist Crossroads
January - March 2000

Welcome

1st February, 2000 saw a new pastor at the SDA Community Church. We welcome Pastor Elton Lee and his family to the pastoral team. He replaces John Tan who is now the full-time coordinator of the Mission Youth Ministry and is also the "sheep dog" for the Jabez Group.
No stranger to the Singapore Mission, Pastor Lee began his ministry in 1985. In 1990 he obtained his M.Sc. in Marriage and Family Therapy from the Loma Linda University. He was ordained in 28 November, 1992 and has pastored several churches. He left the Mission in 1996 and directed a counselling centre till 1999.
His family means a lot to him. Roxana, his wife, is a piano teacher and enjoys cross-stitching as a hobby. They have a son, Marcus, 9, who likes studying English and Mandarin in school. Their daughter, Danetta, 7, enjoys school and ballet. Pastor Lee relaxes with swimming, camping and photography.
He envisions the SDA Community Church becoming a cell church one day. He desires to run the church by asking "How Jesus would do it if He were here today."

Congratulations!

Beginning in 1987 with 50 children, the Seventh-day Adventist Kindergarten at Jurong has come a long way. Today it has an enrolment of 415 children and operates three sessions.
In November, 1999 the coveted ISO 9002 certificate was awarded to the Kindergarten. This award represents an international consensus on good management practices with the aim of ensuring that the Kindergarten can con sistently deliver the services that meet its client’s requirements. A series of standards are required to ensure quality management.
Areas of management among others that were scrutinised included: systematic management committee, efficient administration, and proficient teaching staff.
Congratulations to Mrs. Lina Wee and her staff!

It’s Spanking New
Geoffrey Pauner, Principal

San Yu Adventist school started off the new year with a total enrolment of 195. A month a half later the number is reaching 300 students. We hope to reach at least the target figure of 350 because this is the number that the school based its budget for this new year.
In November 1999 the school moved from Upper Serangoon Road into two blocks of buildings at Thomson Road. With the other buildings not approved for use it proved to be inadequate. The main block was completed at the end of December 1999 but it was not until 10 February that we received the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP).
On 15 February we moved into the new Block C. This block consists of the administrative offices, three science laboratories, the staff room, a lecture room, an audiovisual room, two classrooms, three computer laboratories, two canteen operators rooms, a waiting room,
several storerooms and a music room. Much work moving things stored in various rooms
all over still needs to be done in the following months.
Emphasis Will Be Given to several aspects of the program with this new setup. There is now a comprehensive counselling structure in place comprising the Pastoral Care, the Student Advisory and the Discipline Committee.
Computer enrichment is another. This entails plan for three fully-equipped computer laboratories by the end of 2000. The goal is one computer for every four students.


Fifth Triennial Session
Toh See Wei, President

Once every three years pastors and representatives from the local churches and SDA institutions meet together to review various aspects of the work and to set goals for the next three years at the Mission Triennial Session. This is scheduled to be held on 29 and 30 April.
Among the items to be dealt with is the findings of the Mission-wide on-going self-evaluation carried out among our members in November 1999. The result of the survey has been sent to your churches. It showed, for ex ample, that more than 80% of you responded positively to the statement, "I have complete assurance of salvation." You also indicated that you would like to see our local churches contribute to the world mission field both in finance and human resources. However, the survey also revealed some areas to be improved. For instance, less than half of you surveyed do regular evangelistic outreach activities.
The Natural Church Development approach is also adopted to further narrow down the areas for improvement. NCD provides a diagnostic tool to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses. Over time we can track our progress. We need to give evaluation its due place in our planning and implementation process. NCD has been proven to be effective in helping churches grow spiritually and numerically. It is currently used in many SDA churches in the North American Division.
Let us pray earnestly that those in attendance during the Session would give themselves wholly to the guidance of the Spirit. We want to be more effective and finish the work entrusted to us in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.

Develop Correct Values
Goh Tong Seng, Principal

The ACDC as it is better known or the Adventist Child Development Centre at 120 Balestier Road started in 1985 as a community service to the Whampoa-Balestier neighbourhood.
Its objective is to help develop children to their fullest potential: physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. It aims to fulfil this by teaching Christian moral values, basic literacy and numeracy skills.
It offers full-day and half-day care as well as before-and-after school care services to children ages 18 months to 12 years. Recent improvement to the premises allows it to take in up to 103 children. There is an annual average of 12 to 15 children graduating after K-2.
Thank you for your continued support.

Readying for Community

2 March was yet another opportunity for the pastors to study about cell church. Pastor Don James, the consultant for cell church and small group for the Evangelism Institute of the North American Division, shared concepts and tips about this organisational design during the pastors’ meeting.
At another meeting on 23 February key group leaders from our various local churches were also exposed to this concept when they met with Pastor James at the Singapore SDA Chinese Church, Thomson Road.
The potential this approach has to offer has gotten our pastors all excited. The individual commitment in the cell group allows one to experience the fullness of true community in Christ. It allows Christian ministry to flourish. It empowers and develops individuals. It nurtures friendship, spirituality and healing. If you belong to a church which is getting excited with plans to organise cell-groups you are on track. If you have not heard about this cutting-edge technology of doing church, look out for it. It will be coming your way soon.