I continue to be overwhelmed with what an honor and privilege it is to be here. Pastor Glen and Pastor Wilson from Elim Church in Singapore have been incredibly gracious and welcoming. To have their invitation to teach here is very special.
I am also continually thankful to have the opportunity to serve on this ministry team being led by Prof. Ben Freudenberg. Over the years, his vision, character, humility, and friendship have played a big role in helping me grow in my understanding of family ministry. It is a blessing for me to feel that I am able to give back to him in a small way by being a part of this teaching team.
Each day contains many humorous moments. Today my Singaporian friends were telling me about a special kind of pedicure/foot treatment. Apparently, there are some manicure/pedicure shops where you can go to have the dead skin removed from your feet. How you ask? You put your feet in a bin filled with these little fish which come and bite and suck the dead skin off your feet! Think of baby pirhana without teeth. Now, as a person who likes fish (catching them anyway) I thought that this sounded pretty interesting, and I thought I might even try it. I mean, this would certainly be a unique experience, right? So I asked them how many of them had done this, and immediately they all said, “No way! We would never to that. How gross! How many other feet have been in that water?” Needless to say, if it is too gross for my Singaporian brothers and sisters, it is too gross for me.
Our first major conference launched on Friday night, and I had the opportunity to share the messages of God’s Grand Vision for the Home, and The Essential Role of the Family for World Evangelization.
The congregation was very warm and welcoming, and helped me feel at ease. They even laughed at my jokes (perhaps out of pity). The pastor asked me to offer an altar call after my message.
After two 45 minute messages, walking through many Scriptures on the Great Commission power of the Christian family, I invited those who needed prayer for their families to come forward and meet with members of the prayer team. I was overwhelmed with what God did. Many came forward, and pastors from the various congregations spread out to pray personally with those who had come. God enabled me to prayer with a number of couples who came forward asking God to heal their marriages. Others asked me to pray that their family would become a discipleship center. A man wanted to repent that his heart had been at work not at home. The vast majority of those I prayed with were crying out for God to save their lost children.
People are people. Souls are souls. Families are families. We are all one race and we all have the same father in Noah, and in Adam. God’s Word speaks with supernatural power to all people, in all places, and in all times. Today a group of women asked me, “Pastor, how can we encourage our men to be the spiritual leaders of our homes? It seems that the women tend to be more of the spiritual leaders, even though they want their husbands to be in that role.” Sound familiar? Satan’s attack designed to keep men passive, and invert the husband wife relationship has been the same since the Garden of Eden.
It is awesome to see the Holy Spirit unifying teams of pastors and church leaders around God’s Word, and God’s plan for evangelism and discipleship to begin at home! Please pray for me as I will be preaching in two services on Sunday morning. I will be preaching from Acts 3, sharing the gospel, and calling people to begin their Great Commission calling with their own family.