Community

Living and discipling among the lost
By Roy Tan
Community Ministry staff member

Time and again, Acts 17:26-27 has crept into my mind to remind me of the sacredness of our everyday lives:

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

There is a redemptive purpose for the place and time that God has planted us in. While God sends some of his servants to different parts of the world, most of his children he bids to carry the fragrance of Christ right where they are. In my family, we have made it a priority to be with those who need him most, that is, the non-believers whom we rub shoulders with - our neighbours, relatives and friends. We are learning to engage the demands of our daily lives in a way that will not sidetrack, but enable us to fulfil the very purpose of our lives. We are learning afresh how to love them and point them to Jesus in ways that are relevant and meaningful to them.

In The Navigators worldwide, there has been a renewed passion to reach out through the natural network of relationships that God has placed us in. We have grown more sensitive to God’s call to spend time with the extended families that God has placed us in. It is not only about reaching out to the “ends of the earth,” but also remembering our “Jerusalem” (Acts 1:8). If we do not learn to live out our faiths at home, our efforts elsewhere would be greatly handicapped.

The core members in the community ministry (sometimes called the Insider Evangelism Network group) are Thomas Chua, Angeline Koh and myself. The team is not only reaching out in networks God has placed us in, but we are also coaching others to do the same. It is indeed an adventure experimenting with different and sometimes non-traditional forms of connecting with our communities and seeing the Lord bring people to himself as we follow him.