LBC FILIPINO 3RD YEAR ANNIVERSARY SERVICE
by Lea Ladaw
The Filipino Ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church celebrated its 3rd year anniversary on the 11th of July with the theme “Press toward the mark” Phil 3:14. We praised God for the presence of Pastor Selva and Sis Mary, Pastor Sherwin and Sis Jhosie, our guest speaker and his wife, the LBC brethren and all the visitors who had graced the joyful event. There were a total of 93 people who attended, 21 of them first-time visitors. Everyone was warmly welcomed by the ushers and each one was given a souvenir pen as door gift by the junior girls, Euell, Naomi and Melanie.
A few minutes after 3.00 pm, the service started with a prelude from Deacon Robert and his daughter Elisha. Pastor Sherwin then led the opening prayer and the welcoming of visitors. Afterwards, our song leaders Bro Don and Bro Richard alternately led the congregation in the singing of hymns to God. By this time, more visitors and members arrived to fill the hall.
Special presentations were also offered to the Lord. It was a joy to behold and to hear the sweet voices of the Children and Juniors’ Choir who sang “May the Lord Find Us Faithful”. Even little Gabriel gave his best in singing the song! The Filipino Choir also rendered the song “Our Best”. The message of the song was very clear: we should give our very best to God because He deserves nothing else but that. After a while, encouraging and heartfelt testimonies were delivered by Bro Mercian and Sis Bernadeth respectively. They made us laugh and cry at the same time. And in the end, we all rejoice in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
The anniversary would not be complete without the heart of our service, God’s message and the reading of His Word. We were privileged to have as our special speaker Missionary Travis Lewis from our own native land, the Philippines. He gave a powerful rendition of one of my favourite hymns, “How Great Thou Art”, accompanied by his beautiful and talented wife at the piano. Soon after, he preached on the message about God’s provisions for us, expounding on the verse “my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” Phil 4:19. Missionary Lewis emphasized on our need for a Saviour and that Jesus is the only one who could save us. Later on, Pastor Sherwin invited the visitors to accept Christ’s gift of salvation. Praise be to God for the 3 souls who yielded to the call.
Everyone was then riveted to the video clip that Bro Mike industriously put together with the help of the Filipino brethren. Their combined talents resulted in the exceptional presentation of how God moved and worked in the Filipino Ministry since its existence 3 years ago. It was simply amazing to hear so many believers testifying of God’s faithfulness in their lives and how He had changed them for the better! Pastor Sherwin and Sis Jhosie’s wedding photos were also included in the video as well as the photos of other church activities attended by the members.
Some of the highlights of the anniversary service were the giving of a family portrait to Pastor Selva and Sis Mary presented by Deacon Robert; the recognition of some of the Bible Institute students for their hard work and dedication to their chosen course; giving of gifts of appreciation to our guest speaker and his wife, who incidentally was celebrating her birthday that same day and also to Pastor Supera, our guest missionary to China. Sis Grace also presented Sis Mary a bouquet of flowers for her untiring assistance and guidance especially to the Filipino ladies. Last, but definitely not the least were the words of encouragement and prayer of Pastor Selva to the newly weds, Pastor Sherwin and Sis Jhosie who got married on June 19th.
The time for the cake cutting finally came with the pastors and deacon doing the honours. We sang the anniversary song after which Bro Froilan said grace for the food and closed the service with a thanksgiving prayer. However, the end of fellowship is yet to come as Bro Gilbert, our always-at-hand photographer prepared everybody for the group photo. And what a huge group it was! Nonetheless, our smiles were professionally captured and our happiness was evident in our faces.
Fellowship continued during meal time. Assortments of foods were beautifully laid out for us to feast on. Thanks to the members and even non-members of LBC who contributed generously to the occasion. God’s blessings were really overflowing that day. After being filled with the sumptuous food, everybody helped in cleaning up the church.
The work of the Lord is greatly to be praised! He had been with us throughout the planning and the preparation of the anniversary program. He made sure that all the members would put in their efforts to come up with a well organized service. Thank you to our Pastors and their wives who continue to support and guide us every step of the way. Finally, we thanked our visitors who spent their one Sunday afternoon to celebrate with us instead of doing other things. To God be the glory, great things He has done! Happy 3rd year anniversary, LBC Filipino Ministry!
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LBC Walkajog at Marina Promenade by Ian See
On the 1st of May, which was Labour Day and a Saturday, the Church held its yearly walk-a-jog. It provided us an opportunity to get together. This year, the event was held in a park right in the middle of the city, the Marina Promenade.
The day started off with good weather, bright and sunny. We were supposed to gather under a small shelter by 9.30 am but when everyone arrived, it was about 9.45 am. We changed the assembly point to near the MRT station so that access to toilet facilities would be more convenient. There was a great turn out with 56 people present, including a few visitors. When everyone had turned up, we gathered in an open space to start our warm up exercise which was conducted by Uncle Richard. After the warm up, the children were the first to run a stretch of 1.6 km. The next category to run was the youth. They had to run 2.4 km. This was followed by the women and men who had to run the same distance.
When all the categories had run and the race ended, we sat back on a big mat and sang hymns to God. The song leaders passed the role of leading the singing from one to another. After the hymns, Brother Bong shared a short message titled “Children of the light”. The message is about walking the talk. At the end of the devotion, prizes for the race were presented. The categories were, children, youth and adults.
Following the prize giving, we had some games. The first one we played was when one person was told a verse and a number and he or she had to find the verse counting the words till they reached that number. He or she has to know the spelling of that word and then had to run back and whisper it into the ear of the person behind him/her till it reached the last person who then wrote it down on a paper. The first one to write it down with the correct spelling and run to the front wins a point. After the first game, we could leave or stay to play another exciting game of Frisbee which many people enthusiastically stayed back to play.
Overall, we had a great time that day.
LBC Missions Conference April 2010 Bro Sidney Yong
I am a newly added usher to our church's ministry. I felt energized by the word of God through the Missions Conference. I am thankful to God that I can serve Him. Our mission conference was the 20th. The theme was "hear the cry of hell". We all wore international clothes on that day. On the first day, we had missionary Eric Tan as our first preacher. He preached about having the heart for lost souls. His message talks about how to save souls, by the word of God. It also says that we as Christians were presented with the great commission, to preach the word of God. "The Lord is always with us, taking care of us through thick and thin" missionary Eric Tan said to the congregation. Missionary Eric Tan also asked, if we do not go out there to preach the gospel, who will?
Our next preacher was missionary Ruel Barbaso. He talked about the fires of hell that never end. His main point was, what does Hell display? Many people deny the existence of hell, which leads them to their greatest downfall. As they think there is no hell, they do not know the way to not end up in hell, which is the word of God. Missionary Barbaso, wanted us to be able to have the will to preach to the lost souls, and I think he managed to do just that.
In between the two messages, there was lunch and special items like songs. This Mission Conference has inspired me to do more for missions and for the will of God. And I am sure that many were too.
21st Anniversary Service 28th Feb 2010
Sis Shona Suresh
On the 28th of February, LBC celebrated her 21st Anniversary with a great turnout. We had over a hundred people in attendance and 12 first-time visitors to hear the Gospel. Our theme was "Press toward the mark" Phil 3:14.
We began the service with Pastor Selva opening with prayer and welcoming the visitors. The singing of hymns were made more enjoyable as a result of the harmonized voices of all of us and even the visitors! Then came the presentations by the LBC choir, the Youth Choir, the Children’s choir and the Filipino choir. There was also a special by the Deaf ministry signing to the hymn ‘He Lives’.
The best part of our celebration, personally, was the commemoration of the journey our church has taken through the 21 years of her history, how the Lord used Pastor & Mrs Selva who were sent out by the church in Hawaii. A video montage of memorable photographs, then and now, starting with how our church started with the very first group attending our very first bible study was shown. . The complicated transitions used to move from segment to segment was really amazing! Michael Gimenez must have put in hours and hours of work and it definitely paid off because it was simply astounding and so professional.
After the sermon by our guest speaker, Pastor Poelman, we gathered for a church photo taking. After that was the event that most of us were looking forward to, lunch! We had a combination of Nasi Lemak, fruits and various desserts, thanks to the many contributions from the members of LBC! During the lunch, we had family and class photo taking and everybody had a great time mingling and fellowshipping.
All in all, it certainly was a God glorifying program and the help and support of all our members to prepare and set up contributed to the success of the event. We pray that more souls will be saved and added to the ministry of this church.
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LBC Children's VBS Dec 2009 by Melanie Saba
On 1st and 2nd December LBC had a Children's VBS at Pasir Ris Adventure Park. The theme was “With Christ in the vessel.” Thank God for workers – like Pastor Sherwin, Pastor Selva, Aunty Lee Fen, Aunty Mary, Aunty Doris, Aunty Wee Lin, Aunty Grace and Missionary Ermilo. There was a total of 19 children who attended the VBS. Seven first time visitors also attended.
The weather was generally good although it rained for a little while. We started off with some children’s songs led by Pastor Sherwin and Zachry. We had our lessons under the nice shady trees beside the calm blue sea. Our lessons were on character building. We learnt how to be obedient, honest, patient, responsible and to build good habits. We even learnt a new poem of obedience which is: “When my parents call me quickly I will obey, I will do my very best each and every day”. Our teachers were Aunty Mary and Aunty Lee Fen. Lunch was brought by everyone to share.
Aunty Wee Lin took us in art and craft where we learnt how to make book marks and cards using rubber stamps. I think it was easy but fun. Then we had games led by Shankar and assisted by Deborah and Rena. We were divided into three teams, of which our leaders were Sidney, Zachry and Ryan. The games were very fun although we did not manage to play all the games that had been prepared.
Some of us stayed overnight at the P.A. chalet. On 2nd Dec, Naomi and her grandma celebrated their birthdays. There was spaghetti, satay and Aunty Nee Kim brought Roti Prata. The “Caring” team led by Zachry won the games and we had prize giving on the second day and also souvenirs for the workers and helpers.
Six children accepted Christ as their personal Saviour. Thank God for a fruitful VBS. I am looking forward to the next VBS.
Photo album in snapfish.com
RETREAT AT DESARU, MALAYSIA, JUNE 2009 BY Zachry Ng, 11 years old
On the 8th of June, we went for a church retreat at Desaru Pulai Beach, Johore. It was a time to fellowship with one another and we had a wonderful time! There were 42 of us including the Lifegate members and the LBC Filipino ministry.
The theme song for the camp was Follow On. The theme verse was ‘… if the Lord be God, follow him…’ 1 Kings 18:21. Last but not least, the theme of the camp was Follow God.
On that Monday morning, we met in church at 7.30am. At around 8am, we left for Malaysia in the coach. When we reached Pulai Beach Resort, Pastor Tatu and some other members from Lifegate were already there. The resort was quite a big compound and near the beach. There was also a big swimming pool. I couldn’t wait to get into the pool! We had a wonderful lunch at the restaurant in the resort and I enjoyed the squid most. Aunty Evelyn then designated us to our various rooms.
In the late afternoon, we played some games. We were divided into 3 groups – Ezra, Ezekiel and Exodus. I was in Ezekiel and we won the first game – throwing and catching water balloons. In the evening, after dinner, we had some singing and Pastor Tatu shared a devotion with us. After that, it was time to rest.
On the second day, after a hearty breakfast, we were divided into 4 different workshops – the adults with Pastor Selva, the Youth with Pastor Sherwin, Aunty Mary took the juniors and my mum was with the preschoolers and lower primaries. Our workshop was conducted near the beach. Aunty Mary taught us on obedience to God and also about sharing the gospel. I learnt that we must always be brave and not be ashamed to share the gospel with lost souls.lesson, we went to the beach and the children had a “Sand castle competition”. Those in my team were Dorothy, Caleb, Kezia. Caleb and Kezia did not really know what to do and they even destroyed our sand castle!
The adults and youth played beach volleyball.
After lunch, some of us went to the swimming pool to play. It was really fun. Later in the afternoon, we had a game of Captain’s Ball. During the game, unfortunately, Uncle Suresh fractured his right wrist. He was immediately sent to a nearby clinic by Pastor. All of us prayed that he would be fine and get treated quickly.
In the evening, during our BBQ dinner, our prayers were answered. Uncle Suresh went back to the resort in an arm sling and his condition was stable. We later assembled in the Conference room for singing and Pastor Sherwin shared a devotion. After that, we had indoor quizzes and then it was time to go back to our rooms.
On the third and also the last day, we all prepared to leave. We prayed and thanked God for the beautiful and wonderful camp. We took a group picture and left in the coach.
I enjoyed this Church camp very much. I had lots of fun swimming, playing, eating and learning. It may interest you to know that I led some songs in the camp too. I am really looking forward to the next church camp.
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LBC BIBLE CONFERENCE 27th to 29th JUNE 2009
We thank the Lord for the 3 nights of Bible conference held at LBC from 27th to 29th June 2009. About 100 people attended and listened to the topic, Prophecies of the 21st century by Dr WL Smith. On Sunday morning, Dr Smith preached on “Broken Believer”, a revival message, that is always timely.
For the Preachers’ Conference, we had about 20 pastors and missionaries for the two days. The topic was, “Successful Servants”. We also provided lunch for the pastors and they enjoyed the fellowship with the brethren. I want to give thanks to God for all those who helped in this conference, especially our full-time workers.
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From Dr Smith’s Globe report:
Our ministry in Singapore was a special blessing. We had the opportunity to do several things.
First: I conducted a prophecy conference at Lighthouse Baptist Church pastured by Bro. Selva.
Bro Selva and Sister Mary are wonderful servants of the Lord. They have a very strong church in Singapore. There were 100 people who took our course on Prophecy in the 21st Century.
Second: I conducted a pastors’ seminar that turned out to be of international proportions. A total of 21 men attended the course on “Successful Servants of the Lord.” We had men from five different nations present, Singapore—Malaysia – China —India—USA.
I have been invited back for the next two years to minister in Singapore and, also, go to Malaysia in 2011, the Lord willing. I had the privilege of speaking 22 times in Singapore. Keep us in your prayers.
In His service.
W.L. “Preacher” Smith
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LBC NATIONAL DAY PICNIC 9 AUG 2009 BY SHAMAN SURESH
This year Singapore’s National Day fell on a Sunday, so our annual picnic was planned for Saturday the 8th of August. The fellowship committee found a beautiful location for our picnic: Upper Peirce Reservoir. After what seemed to be an almost endless drive in from the main road, we arrived at the car park and, thankfully, the park was not crowded that day.
Preparations were made to set up the small area for our worship and devotion time. The worship session began just after 10am and was led by Bro Weng Leong, Bro Nap and our up-and-coming leader, Zachry. After our time of worship, Pastor Selva shared a short devotion on the contrast between a person being able to do nothing without Christ and all things through Christ. It was a short but meaningful lesson which we all can apply in our lives.
After a time of prayer, we took a few minutes to acknowledge all the members who had brought food and were basically given a sneak peek into what our menu was for lunch. Our game-master Bro Richard took over and tried to gather everyone at a shady corner where our first game would begin. However, many of us were finding it difficult to leave the buffet spread and walk across to the games corner. After some time, most of us were gathered to listen to the instructions of the games given by Bro Richard. Our first game was called “Curry Yong Tau Fu” and although some of us were a bit confused at the start, it looked like everyone was having a great time after a couple of rounds. The game lasted for awhile longer before we moved on to our second game. As we gathered for it, I noticed that the group had gotten smaller and realized that a few of us had given in to temptation and were already relaxing on a comfy bench or attacking the buffet table.
Right after our games, it was finally time to eat and as most of us had not had any breakfast, we were eager to grab some food. There seemed to be quite a large variety of food with dishes like spaghetti, beef rendang, sausages, prata, chicken curry, sandwiches and fresh fruits. During the meal everyone was having just a good time of fellowship with each other and enjoying the nice break from work and school. While enjoying our fellowship, we also took many different group pictures. We thank God for our country's National Day!
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Our First Church Retreat Sis Cyril Zacarias
Elisha and Naomi were already so excited even days before the church camp. I myself also wanted to go to this camp. We were not able to join the 2007 retreat because I had just started work then. Two weeks before the retreat, my leave for June 9-10 was approved. Prior to that, my boss said that I could not take leave for June 8 because it was a Monday. She suggested that I take Thursday off instead. I thought, “Hey, the retreat is from Monday to Wednesday. What would I do there on a Thursday?” Well, in the end, prayer worked. My leave was approved and I set off for the three-day retreat!
The children could not contain their excitement as they helped me pack. It seemed that they wanted to bring along a lot of stuff. In the end, I had to buy a new, bigger travelling bag because I wanted to pack all our things together. On the morning of June 8, the children woke up very early - at 5:00 am! They were so anxious that the bus would leave without us. Naomi asked, “What’s the time?” so many times on the way to church. She felt relieved when we eventually arrived on time.
There was a joyful atmosphere inside the bus as we travelled to Desaru, even when the rest of the group had to wait patiently for my family and me to cross the immigration checkpoint. Unfortunately, we had chosen the wrong queue, and it took us a long time to complete the immigration process.
However, nothing could dampen everyone’s high spirits as we participated in games led by Shaman, and singing led by Zachry and his father on the journey there.
Desaru is a bit secluded from the city; as we travelled for almost two hours, we passed plantations and there were very few houses along the road. In the end, it was well worth the time because the resort was really nice. The resort was near a beach, had a pool alongside and several amenities, with a panoramic view of the sunrise. (We woke up early the next day to enjoy it.)
The theme of our retreat was “Follow God”, our theme song was “Follow On”. We also “followed” almost everything according to our retreat programme. We sang, prayed and had daily devotions. Sis Mary taught the children several topics during their Bible workshop. Elisha’s favourite topic was “Doers of the Word”, where she was encouraged to be a doer and not just a hearer only. The adults learned how to have a heart keen to follow God, like David.
We had a great time of fellowship during the outdoor games. The children loved the, “eat the kaya relay” and sandcastle building. They also had a wonderful time at the pool. The youth and adults enjoyed the volleyball game as well. For me, I joined the games which did not involve the sun and the use of physical prowess as I’m an “indoor type” – hehe!
There is one thing that most of us agreed upon about this camp - the food was fantastic! There were so many varieties of dishes, and you could eat as much as you wanted. On our last night, we were served all kinds of barbecued food, e.g., seafood, beef, chicken and sweet potatoes. This was accompanied by different types of salads like garden salad, potato salad and fruit salad. But what my two girls loved the most was the dessert: an assortment of cakes, gelatine and sweets. We really had our fill.
We dreaded the morning of the third day because we did not want to leave yet. Everybody was quiet when we met for the final briefing at the function hall. It was a moment of reflection. What had we achieved over the last two days? It was a time of revival for most of us, a time to focus on the more important things in life. We are so busy with our jobs, studies and keeping schedules that we sometimes forget to appreciate God’s work. Our fellowship with fellow believers in this relaxing environment strengthened our faith in God’s promises. Our spirits were revived and motivated to follow God always and unconditionally.
We went home that day renewed, blessed and grateful to have joined this church retreat.
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