April report

21 April, 2011

Hi,

In this Good Friday, we are reminded that Jesus had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isa. 53:4).  In all our afflictions, He was afflicted (Isa. 63:9). 

How does God feel when we are suffering?  God understands our pain and absorbs it to 
Himself. When we suffer, He suffers also.  On the Cross, God was never more human than
at that hour. God was never nearer to us than when He hurt.  In that suffering, God is most 
like us.  Touched with our trials and sufferings, He understands and stretches out His 
nail-pierced Hands to help and to hold us.  In our suffering, we can see God like never 
before.  It may be the closest we will ever get to God.  God’s effort becomes the strongest, 
when our efforts are useless.

On the Cross, He stepped in and made us alive, forgave us, cancelled our debt, took 
away the record, stripped the powers of spiritual rulers, won the victory and showed 
the world through His resurrection. (Col. 2:13-15).

Thus we become the sons and daughters of the living God, heir of God and joint heirs 
with Jesus Christ.  Each of us is a new creation in Christ, of infinite worth, deeply loved, 
completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally accepted and absolutely complete in Christ 
– one of a kind, a designer original.

This Good Friday, we should, ever the more, put our hands into His nail-pierced Hands.  
His marvelous love is passionate, personal, purposeful and pursuing.  His eternal love 
is unconditional, unchanging, unending and untainted.  In Him, we are saved and safe
and secured in His Hands.

May the good Lord bless His love and salvation into all our hearts!

Please pray as the pastors and leaders of a fellowship of some 60 country-side churches
gather for special training times in Tanzania.  I will be there from Sat. April 23 to Tue.
May 3.  There will be three days of training for Bible College students, three days for 
the pastors and leaders and a graduation service on Sun. May 1^st.  God is given us the
privilege and joy to be ministering to them.  May souls be saved, saints equipped and
pastors and leaders raised up to minister to their own.

Thanks again for your prayers and support in so many ways to enable us to train Nationals for Nationals.  Please visit the blogspot at http://faithatworksfellowship.blogspot.com/

May the good Lord bless you and all yours greatly.  “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which you have shown toward His Name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Heb. 6:10).

Your because of Calvary Cross,

Rev. Goh Seng Fong   (John 12:24)

ASM – Schedule & Expenses for 2011

I.                    SUGGESTED  PROGRAMS IN 2011

A.      INDONESIA - MEDAN – MMin program (S$1,000 per session for 60-65 people)

1.       7 – 11 February

2.       27 June  -  1st July

3.       12  - 16 September

4.       21 – 25 November

B.      INDONESIA –BAMDUNG, JAVA -  May 23-27

C.      NEPAL – MMin program

1.       Kathmandu  - (S5000 per session for 45-50 people)

a.        6 - 10 March

b.      18 – 22 September

c.       Graduation MMin, Nepal, Sept . 23^rd  (S$1000)

2.       East Nepal (new site with 45 people, S$4000 per session)

a.       13 – 17 March

b.      25 – 29 September

D.      DMin PROGRAM for four brethren – in May and another in November

E.       CAMBODIA –  MMin program  with Life University

Still in prayer and consultation

F.       MYANMAR

1.       16 – 21 Feb . in Yangon and Mandalay

30^th Spiritual Convention with fellowship of 30 churches

25^th Anniversary and graduation of Mandalay Bible Seminary

2.       31 Oct. – 9 November  - Training in Yangon, Mandalay and Maymyo    

G.     TANZANIA   -  23 April – May 2  (with fellowship of 60 churches, S$3,000)

Training in Bible College (April 25-27) and Leaders’ Camp (28-30 April)

Graduation, Sun. May 1st        

II.                   THE EXPENSES, BY FAITH:

A.      MEDAN , INDONESIA– 4 sessions at S$1,000 each = S$4,000

B.      NEPAL – 2 sessions at S5000 each  at Kathmandu = S10,000

                1^st Graduation, Nepal  = S$1000

         2 sessions at S$4500 each at East Nepal = $9,000        

C.      MYANMAR

1.        Scholarships for 30 students (Mandalay Bible Seminary)  at US$150 each due May = S$5850

2.       February 30^th Spiritual Convention , Mandalay at US$1,000 = S$1,300

3.       November Pastors’ Conference, Mandalay  at US$1,000 = S$1,300

D.      CAMBODIA – praying for one session in 2011 = S$1000

E.       TANZANIA – Leaders’ Camp at S$3,000 (about 150 people)

F.       RESERVED FUNDS FOR LECTURERS’ EXPENSES – S$4,000

Total:  S$40,450  -  JEHOVAH-JIREH  !!!

Lessons learnt fr ASM programme

Lessons learnt in Master of Ministry program of

Asia Seminary for Ministry

Name                                 Dil Bahadur Tamang

Present Ministries           1. Founder & President of Himalayan Bible Study Academy, Kathmandu, Central Nepal

2.   Ordained Elder at Binaya Church, Lalitpur, Central Nepal.

3.   Involvement in various Christian ministries.

Personal lessons learnt.

First and foremost, let me thank God for this wonderful privilege of being a part of Master of Ministry program organized by Asia Seminary for Ministry, Singapore. I thought it was just the other day that I participated in the modules of Master of Ministry program, but it has already been four years. God is good and I have personally been benefitted by this program in learning to live a Christ-like life. This course has helped me to know Christ better and walk closer to Him. I have been able to Trust Him more and the course has taught me to grow in my spiritual life. I was in a desperate need of such training, as a leader of a team of emerging leaders in the newly started ministry of training, equipping and empowering the leaders. It has enhanced me in the deeper knowledge of the Word of God. My knowledge in the Word of God is sharpened, and leadership skills enriched more through this training. In other words, this training has transformed my thinking, attitude and leadership skills in order to lead the group of leaders in a more effective way for the glory of God. I, as the coordinator for Nepal, had a privilege to learn together along with my colleagues and other contemporary pastors of Nepal.

I am thankful to God for granting me this wonderful opportunity of being a part of this program and pray that many more leaders of Nepal would get this kind of opportunity in the days to come.

Ministerial benefits from Master of Ministry program

As our ministry is a newly started training ministry requiring a lot of organizational development, we were in need of such  On the Job training for the staff members for their personal and organizational development. I chose the fresh theological graduates to join the team of teachers in this training ministry and wanted to give them a Shape or build them in the way I liked which was a big challenge to me. Choosing new and fresh graduates and lead and develop them in teaching and leadership skills was not a matter of joke. It was really challenging effort to me. Nevertheless, God is good and He provided like-minded partners like Dr. Goh Seng Fong and the team to conjure up this vision. It has been my pleasure to see my colleagues studying and growing along with me. I am glad that six members of our faculty team will be graduating in this forthcoming first graduation in August. What a pleasure for a leader to see his colleagues, the faculty members getting opportunity to have On the Job training for their personal growth and academic exercises.

Besides the development of our faculty members through this program, it has been my privilege to get other pastors of different church groups involved in it and develop an effective partnership in the ministry, as we all complete rather than compete in the ministry. The program has brought us more closer to each other.

My vision for the next Five years

By the grace of God and with the co-operation of my colleagues in the ministry, I have been able to start THREE RESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING CENTERS in Nepal in the last six years and have trained more than 300 grass roots leaders of Nepal from this five month residential training centers. Besides these 300 leaders, we have been able to train, many grass roots leaders and the church planters in more than 500

sessions of Mobile based training/seminars have been trained beginning from 2002 January. Master of Ministry program of Asia Seminary for Ministry has trained us more to develop Christ-like character, enhance biblical knowledge and develop leadership skills, and we are optimistic in our efforts of Developing more National Leaders for the better leading of the churches in Nepal and plan many more churches in the days to come.

The Lord willing, we would like to see our tent being Extended in the coming five years and start two more Residential Training Centers in the remaining two Development regions of Nepal too to help the Nepalese churches grow and reproduce more churches in this land. Besides these two more training centers, we plan and pray to hold about 200 training seminars on the mobile basis to train, equip and empower the Nepalese leaders so that they could Feed, Lead and Protect their flock in more effective ways.

Final Remarks

Lastly, not the least, let me thank you all for your faithful labor to the success of this program and a collective gratitude to Rev. Dr. Goh Seng Fong and other faculty members and board of Directors. We owe you for your faithful prayers and sacrificial giving to the ministry of Asia Seminary for Ministry which has trained many leaders like me in the third world and may the Lord of Harvest bring forth manifold blessings to you so that many more leaders would be trained in the days to come for the glory of God. God bless you.