Tuesday, April 1, 2008

For those who missed the YA Update on the 30th March 2008 Bulletin...

The Young Adults Update

Hmm... so what’s eating the BA young adults these days? To put it vaguely, lots and lots of things. You know, the incessant demands and expectations to “do more” and “be more” on young adults in this age can be rather scary. What a phase to be in! Partitioning time for the mountain heaps of commitments that whirl around their lives can be pretty challenging; and this is true whether you are a single, a single attached or a wedded young adult. Yet the fact that many of them are still able to find time to be involved in the Kingdom’s work in a cool variety of ways is way encouraging to say the least.

One of our main staple programs to help us connect with the Word and with each other is our regular bible study meetings. At the moment, we are still digging up treasures in the book of 1 Corinthians, where we have learnt a great deal about certain principles for Christian living like the importance of unity or the perils of immorality. I’m often inspired by their passion for accurate biblical interpretation. Recently, Lincoln came up with a neat system for our bible studies where we systematically work through a number of key questions that should guide us towards an accurate understanding of the text in its context which should in turn give birth to an accurate application. Ah yes, speaking of birth, the young adults are rejoicing with Lincoln and Grace on the arrival of baby Nathan Mao :) What joy!

We also want to pause at this point to give praise to the Lord for two members in BATS 1 that have stepped up to render service to the Kingdom...
Number one, Ivane, for helping out in Alpha as a discussion leader and also at BANG and number two, Victor, for courageously taking the step of faith to co-teach with Sharon in the Sunday School ministry (Primary 6 class). Actually, there’s a number three, and it’s from the BAYA camp. Subin has also just stepped into the arena and took up the challenge to lead bible study at the BAYA meetings. So Congrats to BAYA, they now have not 3, but 4 leaders to lead the word from henceforth (Dan, Jon, Sharon and Subin). Wait a minute, there is also a number four and five! Hozea and En Ai have finally graduated from DTC and have stepped up to lead in the Nurture Class for new believers (from BAY).

I’m sure the young adults would agree that many who have took the plunge to serve has found themselves in the midst of healthy growth. For example, Serene, the co-leader of BATS 1 has noticed her sister in Christ, known as Hazel, growing exponentially as a new BAY leader since December 2006.
Of course, we must never ever forget to give thanks for the many (probably much more than we often imagined) young adults that are not mentioned and who too are serving the Kingdom in ways that often times go unnoticed. These are young adults that serve in the music, logistic support, discipleship, personal evangelism and also those involve in ministries outside of BCBA, they are doing a great work for the Lord too.

The BA young adults are people who have entered a unique phase in their lives where they are embarking on a whole new world of responsibilities – new schedules, new authority figures, new system, new environment, new commitments, plus marriage and babies... wow, these are major changes indeed. As they continue to give of themselves amidst their busy and hectic and demanding and tiring schedules, my prayer for them is that as they remain committed to God’s work, they would be equally zealous in guarding their rest time, leisure time and personal time with the Lord. Pray with us.

Peace,
Chang Loong

No comments: