Coming Up

Coming Up

Leadership Seminar
April 24–25 at First Assembly of God Church, Kuala Lumpur

THEME: The Future of Leadership

SPEAKERS: Peter Chao - Founder-President of Eagles Communications, Singapore; Dr John Ng - President of Meta, Chair of Eagles Leadership Institute and Honorary Chair of Eagles Mediation and Counselling Centre Board of Governance; and Michael Tan - Eagles Communication Executive Vice-President.

Situations are expected to get more complicated in the future. Leaders must therefore be able to grapple with the expected complexity and arising challenges and issues if they are going to lead effectively.

To prepare for the future, it is all the more crucial that leaders are firmly rooted in the fundamental principles of leadership so that they can lead their people through the storms of complexities.

This seminar will help participants to get a good grasp of the future as it takes them through five sessions of leadership principles: trust, balance, teamwork, personal recovery and motivation.

Contact the NECF office for more information or check out the NECF website.

Global Day Of Prayer
May 31 at SIB Kuala Lumpur

THE Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) is a worldwide event whereby on Pentecost Sunday every year, believers throughout the world gather to pray for a greater Pentecost.

The GDOP vision is to have Christians from all nations unite in repentance and prayer.

Last year, GDOP was celebrated on May 11 by millions of Christians from 214 nations. In Malaysia, more than 1,000 believers in the Klang Valley from various denominations gathered, praying in faith that God will fill the nations with His glory.

This year, Christians around the globe will once again embark on this prayer journey on May 31. God is moving in His awesome power and He is challenging us to be part of this journey. It is a journey that is not about us, but about a world in desperate need for His glory and compassionate love.

It is a call to respond to His invitation in 2 Chronicles 7:14 to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways.

Malaysians in the Klang Valley will meet at SIB KL for a night of intercession, organised by NECF Malaysia, while Christians from over 20 other towns throughout Malaysia will gather in their respective places.

NECF urges Malaysian Christians to come and pray together in desperation and in expectation - that the earth (including Malaysia) will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea!

National Chinese Prayer Camp
July 12-15 at Bayu Beach Resort, Port Dickson

SPEAKERS: Bishop Ng Moon Hing, Bishop of The Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia; and Rev. Eu Hong Seng, NECF Malaysia Chairman

A strongbond among churches will result in a strong network which can contribute effectively towards community transformation and ultimately, national transformation.

Organised by the NECF Chinese Commission, this year's camp will focus on strengthening the bond among the Chinese-speaking churches.

The camp is a prelude to the NECF Malaysia 2009 Nationwide 40-Day Merdeka Fast and Prayer, scheduled to begin on July 22.

With the speakers' experience, foresight and influence, participants will be inspired to become more passionate intercessors for the nation.

'Renewing Life, Uniting Churches, Transforming Nation' has been the theme for the prayer camps since 2005.

It has been the commission's desire to see God's people come together and pray as a family in one voice, crying out to God for the renewal and revival of the nation and all the nations of the world.

National Church Conference
Aug. 25–27 at FGA KL

THEME: Transformation – Leading with Creativity and Conviction in Crisis

SPEAKERS: Rev. Barry Boucher from Ottawa, Canada; and Paul De Jong from Auckland, New Zealand.

NECF Malaysia is rallying Christian leaders from throughout Malaysia to participate in this major conference that carries the NECF's vision for nation building - Transforming the Nation Through the Local Church.

In line with the transformation agenda, there will be workshops that will inspire participants to serve and impact their communities with projects that serve the needy.

Churches that are running successful community projects will share their stories to encourage participants to go and do likewise. Participants will discover how the projects were set up and run, the cost and human resources involved and ultimately, the impact the projects have made in changing lives and the community.

The projects that have been lined up are a dialysis centre, drug rehabilitation centre, children's home, disaster relief work and two grocery-related ministries that either sell-at-subsidised-cost or provide free-of-charge essential goods to the poor.

Look out for more details in the coming issues.

Planning Our Youths' Future
Sept. 7 in Ipoh

THE health and future of our nation rest on our youths. The Church therefore needs to proactively and passionately pursue ministries that reach out to teens and youths, particularly those in schools.

Since education policies and school authorities dictate the running of the schools, these ministries present delicate work with many variables which are beyond their control.

The availability of committed teachers and students to serve in the ministries can therefore make or break the work. Additionally, parental involvement are key factors to the health of the ministries.

It is thus vital that Malaysian Christian leaders appreciate and support the Students and Schools Ministry (SSM) so that the windows of opportunity remain opened and that continued growth is sustained.

Reaching the youths in our schools cannot be done in isolation (by the teachers alone or by parents alone or by churches alone). To achieve far-reaching impact for our nation and churches, effective SSM requires the synergic partnership of all parties concerned - teachers, parents, churches, and para-church ministeries.

In light of this, NECF Malaysia, through the NECF YouthNet, has been in discussions with organisations involved in SSM to brainstorm ways to effectively impact students. The organisations include the Malayan Christian Schools Council (MCSC), Teachers' Christian Fellowship (TCF) and Scripture Union (SU).

The discussions have led them to plan a National Appreciation Day and Forum in September with the theme, "Students & Schools Ministry - A Partnership between Parents, Teachers and Churches." The forum aims to:

• Re-look at schools as an important mission field and plan long-term strategy towards developing our youth as nation-builders of tomorrow;
• Bring together parents, teachers and churches to synergise their roles as agents of transformation, for example through parent-teacher associations and schools' Christian Fellowships; and
• Brainstorm how to make SSM effective and impactful.

The organisers are hopeful that parents, teachers, youth workers (including uniformed bodies), senior pastors, church leaders and youths will participate at the forum scheduled for Sept. 7 in Ipoh. Look out for more details in the next issue.

Run For the Nation
10 October, 5.00am – 12.00pm

Run for the Nation (RunNat) 09 is a nationwide event where Christians run and pray for the peace and welfare of the cities and the nation as they sweat through the routes.

Organised jointly by NECF Malaysia and Malaysia Sports Partnership, RunNat 09 will be held in selected cities in Malaysia to also encourage healthy living. The event is opened to all Christians.

The event was birthed in the early hours of October 5, 2007 at 5a.m when three men met in front of a cinema in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, and started their five-kilometre run together. Half an hour later at a petrol station, they were met by another three who continued the run for another five km. Meanwhile at a coffee shop in Ampang, a similar event was taking place. As was in Subang, Damansara and elsewhere in the Klang Valley. By 10a.m., 105 Christians had run a total of 160km from Ampang to Petaling Jaya, Bangsar to Subang. This was no ordinary morning run, for as they pounded the streets, they prayed for the places they passed and released God's blessings upon the city and nation. The youngest runner was five and the oldest 66.

This year, a group of Christians from different churches in KL are planning to revisit this event on Oct. 10, and expand the run to all the 13 capital cities throughout the country.

The organisers are looking for like-minded Christians and their churches to help organise and execute the event in the 13 cities. For further details, contact organising chairman Victor Chua at viccwchua@gmail.com or leave at message at the Run For The Nation 2009 Facebook group.