Setting up various commissions has made NECF Malaysia a more effective organisation. In addition, the commissions themselves have had a uniting influence on the local churches as their members are volunteers from different churches.
The Prayer Commission is aimed at stimulating a national prayer movement and raising prayer awareness among churches with prayer and intercessors’ seminars and national prayer mobilisation programmes.
The Research Commission monitors and studies existing and emerging national and global trends. With the knowledge acquired, the commission is able to advise NECF on how to respond to specific situations affecting the Church and the Christian community.
The Orang Asli Commission was set up to promote revival in the OA Church; provide a medium for the safeguard and spread of the gospel among the OA peoples and for fellowship and effective cooperation among OA Christians, especially in the areas of evangelism, Bible teaching and social economic concerns. The commission is indeed a breakthrough in the ministry to the OA peoples.
The Women’s Concerns Commission is involved in educating Christians on the issue of women’s role in the home, church and society at large. As part of the ministry, news and issues on women are regularly featured in Women to Women, a section in the Berita NECF.
The Bahasa Malaysia Commission seeks to mobilise churches to reach out to BM-speaking Malaysians, particularly the younger generations and East Malaysians, in the peninsula. It also trains and equips workers for the ministry and regularly organises seminars and conferences.
The Missions Commission is a network of mission leaders formed to encourage prayer and the sharing of ideas, information and resources to challenge and mobilise the body of Christ in Malaysia for cross-cultural missions. It facilitates training, seminar and consultation and serves as a missions resource for the Church, and to share information with like-minded bodies in other countries for mutual encouragement.
The Tamil Commission, the newest commission, was established this year to create a platform to unite the Tamil-speaking churches through fellowship, cooperation and partnership, and to share expertise and resources in the areas of evangelism, missions, Bible teaching and social action. Through these efforts, the commission hopes to usher in revival and renewal among the Tamil churches.
NECF also has a bi-monthly newsletter, the Berita NECF, covering local and foreign news and prayer items. Other commissions and programmes of NECF include the Legal Panel, Dialogue and Representation, Arbitration and Advocacy and Resource and Research.
Orang Asli Commission
Help OA Churches to Help Themselves
It’s time OA churches stand on their own, writes OA Commission Chairman
REV. LIEOW MENG KUANG
The NECF Malaysia Orang Asli Commission was set up to provide a platform for consultations, liasing and pooling of resources. Coming together to work with NECF is a new relationship, which will take some adjustment on the part of all those involved in the OA work.
To succeed in our relationship, we need commitment to work toward a common goal with a give-and-take attitude.
One of the ways we can strengthen our ties is by having conferences and seminars together. To date, we have organised a few training meetings and these have started the process of uniting us.
Although the OA churches from the different tribes are small compared with churches of other ethnic groups, her membership in the Body of Christ is not insignificant. It is therefore important for established churches to understand and accept the OA churches and help them to grow.
Today, many OA communities are opened for evangelism, many tribes are accessible, and therefore we need a bigger and wiser workforce.
In Malaysia, where local missionaries are involved, we need to work towards independent OA churches, not OA churches that are forever dependent on the established churches. If we sent missionaries to do outreaches in the early years, now we need to send teachers, trainers and administrators.
In the past, we gave financially, but now these groups need to be self-supporting. They need to have their own pastors and teachers, whom they support themselves.
We want to thank Rev. Wong Kim Kong and Miss Leong Yew Lai, who have been instrumental in getting us to this point of the OA Church history. We want to thank NECF for helping to raise awareness of the OA Church and its needs to the established churches.
Let us all work together to build the OA Church for His glory and not the glory of any individual or denomination.
Research Commission
Making Sense of Trends
Research Commission Chairman EDMUND NG speaks of the need for the commission and its contribution
The Need: We are living in a time of unprecedented changes that are rapid and complex. Most of the changes carry spiritual undercurrents, and
are subtle and subversive in seducing Christians into the world culture.
To avoid being unconsciously influenced by these changes, we therefore need a research team to monitor and study the present and emerging trends and issues affecting the Christians.
The NECF Malaysia Research Commission comprises volunteers, who each select a field of study, then monitor the happenings in that field. Once a month, we meet to discuss and record our findings.
In keeping abreast with their selected fields, commission members are assuming the role of watchmen and be as sons of Issachar to discern the times and watch out for the signs of our Lord’s Second Coming. We are also able to advise on specific situations which require an immediate response from NECF or the Christian community.”
The Contributions: Firstly, we want to see churches and the Christian community have a wider perspective of things because no church exists in isolation. For this, we have organised several conferences and a series of publications that deal with the present and emerging trends and issues.
Secondly, we want to see churches and the Christian community look beyond their immediate needs. As Christian leaders, we must not be so caught up with our church’s internal affairs that we forget our role in the immediate community. We need to know how the Malaysian Church as a whole is moving, and how we as a local church is functioning as part of the Christian community in a predominantly non-Christian society.
Our recent Survey of Churches, Pastors and Christians has given us a bigger picture of the Malaysian Church that is based on objective data and not subjective perceptions.
Women’s Concerns Commission
We are pleased to observe that, generally speaking, women’s fellowships in churches are doing well. Women, quite effortlessly, reach out to other women, make friends, encourage and pray for each other. The commission has partnered other para-church groups in the organisation of seminars for women. We have taken care not to duplicate what women’s fellowships are already competently engaged in. The commission will be organising a meeting with women leaders from the different churches/ organisations for a time of fellowship and interaction. We want to share ideas, concerns and needs and find ways to further network with each other.” – Goh Poh Gaik, Women’s Concerns Commission Chairperson
Missions Commission
It has been a wonderful experience working with my team members who come from such a rich and diverse missions background. Personally, I have been humbled by their great faith in God to see many things through, especially in the area of finance. Their simplicity and approach in many issues have amazed me. So have their high tolerance and perseverance level.
In my few years in this commission, I have observed that a majority of the churches in Malaysia are still inward looking. Cross-cultural missions has probably only reached 20 percent of the churches. This may be due to the lack of workers, especially in research, and a coordinated effort. Ideally, there should be a resource centre that can unite and coordinate all the efforts of the mission agencies to avoid duplication.” – Alex Lim, Missions Commission Chairman
Striving for ‘Relational Unity’
“Raising prayer awareness is sweat and tears,” exclaimed NECF Malaysia Prayer Commission Chairman GRACE HEE. Nevertheless, it has been a very fulfilling two years in the helm, and she is grateful for a well-bonded team of nine people who share her passion for mobilising the intercession ministry in the nation.
Her team meets once a month, and occasionally goes off for prayer retreats. Grace said in recent times, they have been reminded to strive for ‘relational unity’ instead of ‘functional unity’.
“Infunctional unity, we are together just to do the job but in relational unity, we are able to relate in all aspects of our lives, and not just because of the task”, she explained.
Asked how far the commission has impacted the prayer climate in Malaysia, Grace modestly replied, “It will be presumptuous to say that the commission itself has impacted or influenced the prayer climate. I do know there are a number of prayer groups that are really into praying for the nation. I think the commission has done its part, especially in calling forth united prayer across states. It has been very encouraging but there’s still alot of ground to cover.”
Grace and her team have been encouraged by the growing desire of churches to meet together for prayer. “When members of one church gather to pray, they tend to pray internal matters, but all you need is two or three churches gathering to pray and automatically they pray about the Church of Malaysia and the affairs of the nation. I think that’s why God calls for unity in the Church because His desire is for whole cities and whole nations.” |
