Press Statements & Articles

Jubilee Celebration in Ipoh

Jubilee Celebration in Ipoh

by Rev Clement Peter, Ipoh Pastors' Fellowship

 

AS early as 5pm, the Tamil Methodist Church in Buntong, Perak, was already bustling with participants who had been preparing for months for a great event. It was Malaysia Day, 16 Sept 2012, and the worship team, shofar blowers, procession group, the banner carriers and the audio-video team were busy preparing for a great time of praise and prayer to the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

 

By 6.30pm the church was almost filled with more than a thousand people. The ushers had started their job of welcoming people since 5.30pm while Rela personnel had been directing traffic and parking from 5pm at the church parking lots and in a field nearby owned by the Indian Recreational Club. Meanwhile, a group of intercessors had been praying in an upper room for about an hour before the service began.

The service started promptly at 6.30pm with worship led by the team from High Praise Assembly and the Word of Life Centre. The master of ceremonies for the day was Rev Timothy Lam who spoke fluently in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. By now, between 1,300 and 1,500 people had gathered.

The reading of Scripture by pastors in Bahasa Malaysia and English followed the awesome worship just before the countdown began. The congregation counted aloud as the clock ticked away the last seconds to welcome the advent of Jubilee for Malaysia. It was 7.00 pm sharp when the 12 shofar blowers sounded their instruments to be heard through all the heavens. This was followed by a grand procession of banners and flags while the Jubilee anthem was sung by the people.

  The Rev. T Jeyakumar of the Canning Garden Methodist Church shared a message of freedom to help understand the significance of the long awaited Jubilee. The congregation was moved with cheers to see the real "merdeka" that God was giving His people.

The highlight of the evening was a time of reconciliation that covered two parts. First, there was a time of confession to God the Father for all the sins of the nation. Pastors representing the different ethnic groups confessed the sins of the present and the past, and the ignorance and sins of forefathers. Many among the congregation were moved emotionally to tears. Then, the reconciliation team lead the people on to confess to each other sins of anger, hostility and disunity among the races of Malaysia.

The shofar horns were heard again at the end of this session, blown aloud as a symbol of forgiveness and a sign of atonement between God and His people and reconciliation among the ethnic groups. It was a joyous and glorious moment where tears of repentance were replaced with the joy of forgiveness.

Different pastors then proceeded to proclaim words of blessing upon the nation and the church. It is Jubilee and God the Father will surely heal our land and bless its inhabitants. The congregation then shouted their hearts out as at the close of the service and the Jubilee anthem being sung again, and this time even grander than before as the shofar and musicians accompanied the congregation.

We thank God for the Jubilee, we thank Him for His forgiveness and the grand celebration, and for the things that He will do to and for our nation during Jubilee. Most of all we thank Him for His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is Lord of the Jubilee. He died that we may all be free, and free we shall be, because He has fulfilled the Jubilee.



[ Back ] [ Print Friendly ]