Eld Lee Kong Sing

Christian Fellowship – A Testimony

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Since joining the AF some five years ago, God has taught me many precious spiritual lessons regarding Christian fellowship. When believers come together in fellowship groups there are many spiritual blessings to be gained. Whether it be in the study of God’s Word, during group discussions, sharing testimonies for mutual encouragement, God adds His richest blessings as believers come together to provoke one another unto love and good works. In addition to experiencing many of these blessings, there is one lesson in particular that I have learnt that is perhaps less apparent and that is the aspect of ministering to others as part of Christian fellowship, to serve others more than to be served. The Lord taught me this lesson in the most marvellous and unexpected way which I hope to share with you by means of this testimony.

I am by nature an introvert. In fact, I consider myself not only introverted but extremely introverted. As an extremely introverted person, gathering in groups, meeting both new and familiar people, striking up conversations with people I do not know and even with people I know are rather stressful activities. Participating in social activities often saps me of both emotional and physical energy, leaving me exhausted at the end of the day. This has always been my predisposition since I was very young. However, by God’s grace and enabling, I have been largely able to function normally in a social setting without coming across as being aloof or unfriendly. Many people who hear that I am extremely introverted are often very surprised. But I believe that this character trait will remain with me for the rest of my life which means socialising will always be a challenge and a source of discomfort for me.

Therefore, given my predisposition of being extremely introverted, joining a fellowship group is not something that I would voluntarily do. In fact, since becoming a believer in my late teens, I did not attend any fellowship group prior to the AF. As a result, I lost out on many spiritual benefits which I believe has left me inept in some areas of my service and ministry today. I lost an important part in the development of a young believer. On a related note I have also discovered, in the course of my interaction with Pandanites, that there are many other introverts, and I might even hazard to say that introverts number in the majority. Perhaps this fact has something to do with the frequently heard comment that Pandanites are “cold”. To say that one is cold means that one does not care. Certainly I feel that is not true about Pandanites. Many of us do care; it is just that we are often too shy to express it adequately.

How does the Lord teach an introvert the importance of Christian fellowship and of ministering to others in service? The Lord had to intervene in my life.  

Through God’s ordering of events, the Adults Fellowship as we know it today was established some five years ago. Originally, the AF ministered to adults aged 35 to 60. However the leaders of the church felt that the age-range was too wide which made it harder to cater to the spiritual needs of individuals in the fellowship. Hence a decision was made to form two fellowship groups consisting of AF and SAF. A new AF was established to minister to 35 to 50-year olds while the SAF ministers to adults up to 60 years of age. When the idea was first mooted at a Session Retreat, I immediately felt the burden and desire to help. It was a burden that is both inexplicable and contrary to what I know of myself. My personal disposition towards introversion made such a call to service rather unexpected. In fact, the call was so contrary to my nature that in the following years I continued to doubt if I was truly suited to the task. In the eyes of man, it might have seemed foolhardy of me to  step forward. But the burden of the call to serve was unmistakable. I think I was like Peter who when the Lord appeared to the disciples walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee leaped into the raging waves without much thought in order to go to Christ. Peter acted in faith and trust in Christ. Similarly, I went forward without much thought other than to answer the Lord’s call to help set up the new AF, and I thank God for sustaining me thus far.

In answering the call to serve in the AF, I learnt one of the first lessons about fellowship. The Lord taught me the important aspect of fellowship which involves ministering to others more than expecting to be ministered unto. I had to learn to set aside my introversion and personal preference for privacy and quietness and to serve God selflessly by ministering to others for Christ’s sake. Serving in the AF was very uncomfortable for me to say the least. I had to overcome my many weaknesses in order to do so. Although I struggled in the task, I had the peace that God had nonetheless called me to the task. What ensued were five very blessed years of the challenges and difficulties alongside many spiritual blessings. The difficulties humbled me while the blessings served to encourage me and I think that in the final analysis, in the giving, I received more than I gave. Truly it is more blessed to give than to receive. The following story is one such example of what I witnessed and experienced.

It was not very long after the inception of the AF that several members of the ministry were stricken with great and severe trials. Individuals themselves or their loved ones were afflicted with very severe illnesses. In the eyes of the world, this may not be a good thing. However, God is sovereign and has a good and perfect plan for His children. When the news was first made known, AFers were dumbfounded. The nature and severity of the illnesses were not commonly associated with this age group. As a result, many AFers did not know how to respond. We were on very unfamiliar ground and many were left in a state of shock.

But it was not very long before we regained our composure and by God’s grace, we started to do something. The sharing of information on the progress of medical treatments became a fixture of the AF meeting programme. This was then followed by corporate prayer led by the leaders. Networks were quickly set up with the use of Whatsapp. Whatsapp groups were made known to AFers and shortly after, the groups quickly became populated with many who quietly indicated that they wanted to help. As the Lord brought many willing hearts, helpers came from within and without the AF. Coordinators were appointed who became Whatsapp group administrators. The process involved coordinators approaching those afflicted to find out how help could be rendered. When a need arose, the coordinator posted it on the Whatsapp group and offers to help came in fast. Needs and help came in many forms. Those with cars offered to ferry the sick to-and-from hospitals. Other times, some could only provide transport one way, others offered to cover the return trip. Some offered to clean up the homes of those afflicted. Some bought groceries and other daily needs. Some cooked simple meals, some cooked elaborate meals. Some offered to baby sit the children. Some even took it upon themselves to return library books.  Many hands made work light.

We all did what we could to help. Believers came together with the love of Christ for one another. I observed many quiet individuals setting aside personal reservations and hindrances to selflessly minister to those in need. Though it was a very difficult and tearful time for many, in the much giving and serving of others, the blessing of Christian Fellowship was bountifully experienced first-hand by many. Knowingly or unknowingly, Hebrews 10:24,25 was put to action. God helped not only me, but also many others to learn first-hand what it means “to consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works”. Through the sharing of information and coordination, many were provoked unto love and good works in very practical ways. God showed me a very important aspect of Christian fellowship. It is the service of others. It is to minister to others without any expectation of return, expecting nothing more than the ability and privilege to serve the Lord by helping others in need. It is to do what little we can in the service of others constrained by the love that Christ has for us.  

Incidentally, Hebrews 10:24,25 is the theme verse of the AF:

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

These verses command us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves and in doing so, the activity that characterises such an assembly is the mutual provocation and exhortation of one another, to cause and encourage one another towards love for one another and to perform good works to help one another.

The leaders of the AF selected this very apt passage of Scripture for good reason. It represents what we felt should be the mission of the ministry. Through what had happened, I came to realise and learn how weighty the choice of a theme verse can be for a ministry. If we had known that God would require us to live out our theme verse in such a practical way, would we have chosen a different verse, perhaps one easier to fulfil? Truly, God’s Word and His work are not to be trifled with. God holds us accountable, not only to speak, but also to do. Words are easy to speak but living it out is a separate matter. Truly, God is to be honoured and to be feared! I believe that what happened was no coincidence and I am in awe and praise of God’s holy name!

There is another outcome of this “establishing phase” of the AF. I think it is best explained by sharing with you something I encountered at one of the AF meetings. As part of the programme of a regular AF meeting, we separated into discussion groups after the message. The topic for that meeting revolved around the subject of death and glorification. Hence the discussion questions were appropriately prepared. I was in a discussion group of about ten individuals and as we took turns to share, it dawned upon me that of the about ten in my group, three individuals had either experienced the loss of a dear one recently or recovered from a life-threatening illness. Needless to say the sharing that evening overflowed with fathoms of practical lessons of faith accompanied by the shedding of not a few tears.

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:2–4

Patience here refers to perseverance and endurance under trial. Patience has the quality of making us more perfect or more complete in the things of God.

Truly, though the trials were fiery and hard to bear, the result was that many brethren grew in patience and faith such that we were not left wanting of spiritual growth and blessings. The fruits were shared not only by those afflicted but also as a fellowship group and we were all very much enriched.

In the five plus years in the AF, the Master Teacher taught me many precious lessons regarding Christian fellowship. I learnt that God never intended for man, introverted or otherwise, to be an island. Christian fellowship is meant to minister to and bless the believer in unique ways that cannot be gained through any other way, and one of these blessings lies in the fact that we minister to others selflessly and sacrificially. It is about believers coming together to see how they can help one another rather than to expect to only gain from others. This is very much a part of Christian fellowship. For me, to participate in fellowship often requires a distinct and often painful effort on my part. Yet, in the giving and sacrifice, one does not lose out but on the contrary one becomes blessed with more than what one started with. It is “spiritual arithmetic”.  I hope that with this sharing others may be encouraged to fellowship as the Lord has commanded us and be blessed in the process.