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Annual Report 2016 Mount Carmel BP Church

I. GENERAL

1.0 Session Rev Oh Boon Leong (Moderator), Dn Agus Djunaedi (Clerk of Session), Eld Yeo Siew Yam (Standing Committee Chairman), Dns Samantha Tsang (Treasurer), Eld Bruce Lockhart (Chairman of Board of Elders), Eld Ho Peng Kee, Rev Peter Teo, Rev Lim Kheng Hai, Dn Jonathan Lum Yan Thong, Dn Loh Pin Chuan, Dn Adrian Wong Wei Ern, Dn Kelvin Teo Yoong Huat, Dns Serene Lim Kit Ping, Dn Foo Kim Peng, Dn David Chua.

2.0 Membership As of 30 November there were 1075 members (including 95 living overseas)

3.0 Church Staff Movement

3.1 Ps Tang Bin left on 19 March 2016.

3.2 Erh Pheck Hoon joined the church office admin team on 1 Aug 2016.

3.3 Fiona Yang left on 31 August 2016.

3.4 The pastoral staff went to Kota Kinabalu for retreat on 21-25 August 2016.

II. WORSHIP SERVICES

4.0 Worship Services 4.1 Attendances Average attendance of the worship services were as follows: 1

st Service (including Youth service) 429 (433 in 2015)

2nd

Service 346 (340 in 2015) Saturday Evening Service 94 ( 91 in 2015) Chinese Service 152 (163 in 2015) Sunday Evening Mandarin Service 116 (154 in 2015) Filipino (Rhoda) Service 15 ( 17 in 2015) 4.2 Worship Ministry

Pursuing Holiness - Serving With Excellence - Love In All Things “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

We thank God for the faithfulness of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in their continued service in the worship ministry.

An aim for 2016 was to consolidate and stabilize the team. We implemented a “fixed music team roster” where musicians were rostered on fixed weeks in a month. This was aimed at allowing for a growing familiarity of team members with each other and also to allow a more stable schedule for everyone to commit to.

A number of our members experienced the joy of parenthood (hopefully more little musicians for the future!) this year and I want to thank the rest of the team for stepping up and “mucking in”. We pray that God will provide us more resources in 2017 particularly on the Bass and Guitar.

We also tried to harness technology to try to smoothen the various activities required in preparing for each Sunday’s worship service

- Thank you to Michelle Wong for a faithful year of service as music team coordinator. She worked tirelessly setting up various Whatsapp groups for each Week’s music team and worship leader to allow for better coordination and discussion.

- Thank you to Shawn Poon and Matthew Siew for sourcing and writing (often from scratch!) each week’s music charts and placing them in the Google Drive for efficient access by all. And thereafter maintaining our steadily growing digital library of scores.

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- You may notice that the musicians are swiping at our Ipads/tablets/Surface Pros during service. No, we are not surfing the internet but reading from our digital music scores!

We thank the Lord for being gracious to each of us and for sustaining us through the year.

It is my prayer that even as we continue to lead God’s people into worship every Sunday, each of us will be spiritually refreshed and fed in this act of service to Him.

To God be the glory!

4.4 Choir

The choir typically ministers to the congregation through songs and hymns during worship services on Sundays. Most of the pieces are centered on themes of Praise and Worship and God’s love and grace. The choir usually presents song anthems on 3rd Sundays of each month and also will lead the congregation with a hymn during the Holy Communion services on 1st Sundays. The choir’s hope and desire is that these songs will glorify God and edify the congregation.

This year, for the Maundy Thursday Service, the choir presented a choral presentation entitled “Once and For All”, which retells in music the story of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The songs presented were: Broken and Spilled Out, Once and For All, O Gethsemane, They Should Have Cried, ‘Holy’, Via Dolorosa, Zion Shout!, By His Stripes, Grace Medley, God So Loved The World, Glory Hallelujah! He’s Alive! The service ended with a message by Rev Lim Kheng Hai, based on Romans 6:10, “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.” Other special events in the year include Dedication Sunday, Church Anniversary, Mission Sunday and Reformation Sunday. These presentations were both uplifting and a blessing to congregation and members alike.

The choir continues to practice every Thursday evening for one and half hours from 8pm. We have the privilege to have student-conductor Moe Kafat, who is also a graduate student in Singapore Bible College (SBC), to lead us in conducting the choir and to impart good vocal and singing techniques. The choir also had the privilege to work with other conductors like Yang Kai, Vimezo Iralu and Shiela, whom are also from SBC, whenever Kafat is travelling or unavailable.

Besides the singing, the choir also organises fun and social events. Once a month, the choir will celebrate members’ birthdays. To enable even closer bonding, the choir will organize choir thanksgiving and fellowship events at the home of one of the choir members. During this time, members together with their families and loved ones, come together for a time of makan, games, singing, fellowship, thanksgiving and sharing.

As with other ministries in the church, the choir has its share of challenges. As some members are not able to make it for the practices on a week nights, our pianist Joshua Lim painstakingly prepares 4-part practice tracks for members to learn and practice at home. We also record practice sessions for members to listen and typically shares it in the choir’s Whatsapp chat group. These measures have been a great help for members, especially for those who struggle to attend. Moving forward, the choir needs to have one or two more piano accompanists, to share the workload and commitment. It would also be ideal to have a permanent conductor or Music Director, so that there will be consistency and improvement over time in worship, choral presentations and direction.

Another challenge is that of recruiting new members into the choir. Ideally we would like to grow the choir to more than 30 members, so that the choir can sing and harmonize even when some members are not present. We encourage church members to consider serving in the choir for 2017. The songs being presented will be a blessing both to church and members alike. The only requirement is the commitment to serve faithfully and the ability to carry a tune. Members are also welcome to serve a period of time, or commit to specific projects (e.g. like 2017 Maundy Thursday Service, Mission Sunday and Christmas etc) if they are unable to commit the full year.

"Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him." Ps 33:1.

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5.0 Saturday Evening Service (SES) We thank God for the 15 years of God’s grace and growth in the Saturday Evening Service (SES). We also thank God for what He has done and continues to do through the congregation. We have seen God’s blessings as His people grow in the knowledge of God’s Word and in their love for one another. SES remains committed to the discipleship of all members and the welcoming of newcomers. This year we introduced “after worship events” where people stay behind after dinner fellowship to participate in these events. These events include the once a month Reframe video viewing cum discussion, special presentation, interview session and games night. Some of the youths from the KidSparks will continue in SES Kingdom Seekers (our youth ministry). It is our prayer that they will grow in their walk with the Lord. We also thank God for the joy of witnessing baptisms and transfers of membership in Easter and Christmas. We thank God for the current SES core committee members who have served faithfully. They are: Tan Thien Choon, Andrew Tan, Lim Chee Wee, Melissa Choo and Kwok Wai Ling. The committee has drafted a 3-year SES Vision 2020 document to help steer the ministry forward. KidSparks ministry continues to be an effective outreach to children of our members and friends in the neighbourhood, through their enrichment and Bible classes. Besides ministering to the children, our teachers also reach out to the parents by befriending and witnessing to them. We hope we can shine for our Lord Jesus in these families through this education outreach. The four Discipleship Groups continue to grow in the Word and in fellowship with one another. SES also continues to support the wider ministry of Carmel. A group of us joined the annual church camp. Several of us have gone on the various mission trips organised by our Overseas Missions Ministry. Pray for us as we press on for the Lord especially next year 2017 - Carmel’s Golden Jubilee Year. May the Lord grant to us the joy of serving Him. As for all SESians, the Apostle Paul encourages us with these words, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

6.0 Mandarin Worship Service (MWS) Theme for Year 2016: “ Equipping Disciple for the Expansion of the Kingdom” Average attendance: Av.140+ weekly, total regular worshiper monthly about 170+

Pulpit/Sermon: Base on The book of prison Epistle.

Worship Changes: 1) Leads by a Chairman, 2) The Choir Practices Two to Three time a month, presentation once

a month, Choir teacher Rev. Lee Zhong Min. 3) Need a pianist for Choir and a choir conductor

Sunday School : 1) Children: about age 7, 2) All Adult Sunday School classes: about 50. 3) Baptism Class two times this year. (Feb-Apr & Sept –Nov) Baptism: Easter Day – Dec 2016, 2 baptism,4 membership transfer. Prayer Meeting: monthly, attendance average 18. We also encourage 3 X 3prayer-group weekly.

Visitation: Regular visitation twice a week for MWS member. Cell Group: Bible Study Fellowship Once a month, monthly Ever-Green Fellowship weekly, average attendance 30, 3 PRC group, 1 single lady’s group, Young believer group, 1 mixed adult lady group (PRC & Local), 1 young mother group, 1 Senior PRC group Others: to assist SEMs baptism

Year 2017 Planning Theme for the Year : Grounded in Foundation Objective: Projected attendance of 180; to strengthen cell group for all to attend; organize a Christian Education program and emphasize MWS prayer meeting,

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Pulpit/Sermon for 2016: Preaching base on the Gospel of John and topical sermons Special Request for year 2017:1) One Choir conductor and One Pianist for Sunday Worship

7.0 Prayer Ministry

The Prayer Action Group pressed on with its mission of enhancing the prayer life of the church at different levels i.e. personal, group and church. At the personal level, members were exhorted to make prayer the steering wheel of their lives and not their spare tyre. To facilitate this, the PAG is sending prayers straddling different areas such as church staff, church matters, national and global concerns on a periodic basis to PAG members. This way, other than personal and family matters which are usually prayed for, we hope to enlarge the prayer parameters of our Prayer Partners.

We pressed on with exhorting members to come earlier for worship to pray and meditate before the Lord. It is good to see about 60-70% of the congregation doing this in all our worships services, including the MWS. Reminders to be serious about prayer were weaved into several pulpit messages over the year. The Carmel Weekly carried regular book reviews and testimonies on Prayer (written by Yvonne Liew). The 80 members of the PAG were encouraged to pray along with the Prayer Warriors at the Wed Prayer meetings based on the same prayer points sent to them earlier every Wed evening (coordinated by Lai Fong). This way, other than the 10-15 attendees at the Wed Prayer meeting, we estimate that another 15-20 are praying along. Still, we renew our call for members to come to our Church Prayer meeting once a month ie P.O.E. M. (Pray Once Every Month………together). To facilitate this, we started the meeting earlier at 7.45 pm instead of 8 pm, to end around 9-9.15 pm, so that working attendees can have an early rest.

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Eld Peng Kee had asked God to start a Church Prayer Revolution (CPR) when he shared over the pulpit to launch PAG in November 2014. We have made a start, but have still a long way to go before Mount Carmel truly becomes a "House of Prayer". Will you join this Revolution?

III. DISCIPLESHIP AND TRAINING

8.0 Education for Christian Formation (ECF) Ministry

ECF Ministry oversees Adult Education and the Library in Carmel. Our goal is to equip Carmelites with the theological knowledge necessary to live out their faith in their daily lives, through providing a wide range of education initiatives. As and when possible, we seek actively to work with other ministries, such as YAM and Octopus, so that we can synergise our efforts to serve the Church and the community. Educational Initiatives In 2016, ECF Ministry organized the following education programs: a) 10 week course on Reframe (by Regent College) (est. 45 pax, Feb – Apr 2016)

b) Educational Tour at Asian Civilisation Museum – Christianity in Asia Exhibition (35 pax,

Jul 2016)

c) Panel Discussions were used as a means of exploring multiple perspectives on cultural

issues:

i) Harvest in the City: Reflections on the City Harvest Saga (40-50 pax, Aug 2016)

ii) Chinese Religions (40 pax, Oct 2016)

We also offered the following programs with other parachurches/ Carmel ministries: a) With YAM Ministry: Movie Outings - Risen (Apr 2016) & Persona Non Grata (May 2016)

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b) With Biblical Graduate School of Theology (BGST):

- Spirituality & Christian Formation by Chong Ser Choon (CS101, 3 credits, Jan-Apr

2016)

- Aging Matters 1 Day Conference by Paul Stevens & Jason Yap (110 pax, Jun 2016)

- Effective Evangelism by Toh See Kiat (Aug-Sep 2016)

- Biblical Interpretation & Hermeneutics by Quek Tze Ming (HE101, 3 credits, Sep –

Dec 2016)

- These courses are offered as part of ECF’s efforts to encourage Carmelites to

undertake theological training via BGST’s Certificates in Bible Studies, and

Theological Studies.

Overview of ECF Ministry (2017) In 2017, we will continue to use a range of educational methods to engage Carmelties, such as courses, panel discussions and movie nights. In conjunction with Carmel@50 celebrations and 500 year anniversary of the Reformation, we shall also conduct a Reformation cum History Tour with BGST (2-12 Sep 2016). As and when possible, we hope to further our collaborations with YAM and Octopus. E.g., ECF will be working with Octopus to co-host the Movie events.

9.0 Youth Ministry

This year’s Youth Service sermon series focused on the theme of “The Upside Down

Kingdom” (following on from last year’s series – a Bible overview through the theme of “The

Kingdom of God”).

We thank God for our DCG leaders who have served with us and have indicated that they will discontinue. They are Jamie Liew (1 yr), Rachelle Tham (1 yr), John Tan (2 yrs), Annabel Tio (4 yrs), Vivien Tham (1.5 yrs) Leong Ho (5 years). This number is unprecedented in terms of turnover. We are grateful that our Lord has called new leaders in for the New Year: Hoi Lai, Chuay Fen, Shi and Joel Lau. Through Spiritual Formation Group (SFG) and team leadership with Joshua Yeo and Airika, we are also grateful to God for preparing young people and calling many of them to serve in the Youth Committee. This is an answer to our 2014 expectation, “We are expecting the Youth Committee to mature both spiritually and… At the same time, we hope to recruit a few more youths for future leadership succession.” Brief Highlights of the Year Youths were very proactive in inviting their friends to Valentine’s Day dinner in February. We had a major turnout which crowded the venue to its maximum capacity. Apart from evangelistic events, we had a couple of evangelistic youth services to reach out to friends with the Gospel of Christ. What we really want to witness is youths living out their faith in their respective marketplaces (school, classroom, CCA) testifying the goodness and greatness of our Creator God. For a rare moment, we mobilised youths and young adults to invite friends to a movie at a nearby theatre on Good Friday. After the movie, we adjourned to a restaurant for food and Pak Wah facilitated a discussion on the movie “RISEN” as well as addressing the death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord. The experience helped our people to engage in meaningful conversations with friends about our faith in Christ. AMA or Ask Me Anything was held in May and October to answer a variety of questions from youths about the Bible and also on “Love, Sex and Dating”. Having more questions than we can answer shows that the youths need further engagement on such issues on the home front. Riding in KTM train and changing to an electric train, our fourth visit to DAJ home in Kajang has some 23 people on board in early December. DAJ is a home to about 100 needy children and 12 destitute elderly. We had a meaningful time of bonding and serving at DAJ. Youth Service Camp in December gave our youths ample opportunities to serve one another and people beyond our comfort zone. Letazia (commandant), Aloysius (2 I/C) and the camp committee did an outstanding teamwork in planning and preparing the youth campers to grow in this area of service in God’s kingdom.

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Gearing for 2017 We intend to have at least two special Parents Meetings – to meet all parents of all youths in the New Year – to kindle the sense of ownership in being the primary disciple-maker for our children, our youths.

10.0 Young Adult Minixry (YAM) Mt Carmel Young Adults Ministry has a total of about 170 young adults (aged 19 – 30). At least 30 of them are studying or working overseas. The diversity of the young adults’ life stages sees them experiencing a slew of changes ranging from National Service enlistment and further studies to entering the workforce, changing jobs, courtships, getting married and being new parents—not necessarily in that order nor as an anticipated journey. The YA ministry is a slice of the local body of Mount Carmel, i.e. we minister to one another as a church (not just within a particular ministry). So for this year we intentionally stepped down our ministry events in order to free the schedules of YAMers to participate in the church-wide Pathway of Discipleship: Mentoring and Intentional Discipleship. Participation for the younger YAMers has been in the form of Project Ezra – an intensive bi-monthly of gearing them to read and teach the Bible better. The older YAMers were engaged mainly through Reframe, however, participation beyond it was lower than anticipated. Some brief highlights of this year’s main ministry-wide activities include the following: For Easter, working together with the Youth Ministry, we invited friends to watch Risen, a movie on the resurrection. It was followed by a robust discussion led by Dn Lai Pak Wah as we hosted our guests over food and drinks. The 40 campers for the YAM Camp were treated to the laid-back style of Telunas. Rev Tan Soo-Inn was again our guest speaker, to extend further some of thoughts from the previous year. We focused on what takes up (or will take up) the majority of their waking hours – work. We explored the theology of vocation, gifting, ministry and discipleship, culminating in a crafting a tentative personal mission statement. Bearing in mind the changes young adults experience and their limited availability, it is noteworthy to see many participating in the ministries of the church. About 35% of them serve in their CGs as well as ministries such as Sunday School, Youth Ministry, Worship Ministry, Choir, OCTOPUS, Alpha Course and Missions. Looking ahead, we will witness the start of another Care Group in addition to the current ten. We’re also excited to see that some participants of Project Ezra have taken the initiative to spear-head the effort to organize seasonal combined-CG Bible study under the Mentoring and Intentional Discipleship banner. We hope this continues to deepen their love for God through his Word and also enriches their community life. We continue to persevere in supporting young adults grow in their relationship with God and with others that they may mature as disciples of Christ. All praise and glory be to God in the highest!

11.0 Care Group

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved

you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Eph

5:1-2)

The care groups in Carmel exist for the purpose of encouraging one another and building up

one another in our Christian faith and in our walk with God. We have groups comprising

young adults, couples with young children and couples with grown up children. At present we

have 49 care groups (including 4 from SES). Two new groups were formed this year.

Currently, we have a CG membership of 587 comprising 65% of our church membership.

Care Groups in Community

Care Groups is the foundation of authentic godly community at Mt Carmel. It is in CGs that

personal relationships are fostered and strengthened, where the biblical mandate of loving

one another is being practiced. CG leaders serves as under-shepherds with each cluster

having a pastoral staff or elder as overseer, providing pastoral care to CG members. CGs

also rally and support each other when one of her members has taken ill or challenges or

death of a loved one has taken place. CG provides practical help and journey together in both

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good and bad times. Two or three CGs has also come together over the past year for joint

activities and fellowship, together with their fam ilies.

Care Groups in Service

Care groups also serve in various church based and community based ministry and work,

sometimes with inter-generational groups coming together for a common cause, such as

missions, fundraising or HLO participation. We are delighted to see these happening.

CG Needs Survey

A survey was conducted to take a quick snap shot of what are the different needs of our CGs.

CGs are at various stage of life and needs that covers a very wide spectrum. There is much

diversity from group to group. However, a few themes have emerged such as needing

greater help in training to lead and grow groups, skills to handle the word as well as to lead

either topical or book studies. There is also a desire for discipleship in community to have

pastors and leaders to visit groups to build relationships. Quite a few groups struggle with

absenteeism where work and family commitments make it difficult to meet on a regular basis.

While other groups are looking for projects to serve together.

Training for CG Leaders

In 2016, some activities were organized to meet some of the needs above. Together with

CEF, CG also embarked and encouraged CGs to go through the REFRAME program within

the next 2 years and a training session was conducted by Dn Timothy Liu for CGLs. In the 2nd

half of the year, Ps Daniel has also conducted 2 Saturday morning session on the book of

Ruth which was well received. Pastoral oversight for CGs and formation of clusters were also

launched this year.

CG Theme for 2017: Strengthening Christ-like Communities

Besides bible study and topical material discussions, CGs are also to grow into Christ-like

communities that reflect the “loving one another” value through concrete and practical means.

It also implies how each member is to live out godly lives in the world of work, family and

society, reflecting God’s love for his creation. A series of training and events are designed to

equip and build communities, through MID as well as topical quarterly equipping through the

CG ministries.CG ministry will also attempt to provide platforms to connect with Carmel

members and regular visitors who are not involved in CGs to draw them into a loving

community.

12.0 Children’s Ministry SATURDAY KIDSPARKS (Enrichment: 4.00 to 5.00 pm/ Bible: 5.30 to 7.00 pm)

Weekly attendance: Enrichment hour (25), Bible hour (22). Attendees: children of SES worshippers, children from neighbourhood. Enrichment hour consists of academic subjects - English and Maths (Primary), English through activities like reading, story-telling, songs, crafts, games (Preschool). Groupings: Preschool (K1/K2), P1/P2, P3/P4, P5/P6. Bible hour consists of worship, lessons and activities in groups – Preschool (N1/N2/K1/K2), P1/P2, P3/P4, P5/P6, using Gospel Light (Preschool) and Discipleland (Primary) materials. Special and outreach events: Welcome and Orientation (2 Jan), Bible Sat by Bible Society of SG (27 Feb), 10

th anniversary with song presentation @ SES (5 Mar), Joint Outing with Sun Schl (16

Mar), Easter Celebration (26 Mar), Mother’s Day (7 May, with cooking class for mothers), Missions (23, 30 July) on West Kalimantan and Andaut trips, Music Sat (27 Aug), Mid-Autumn Festival (17 Sep), Children’s Day (1 Oct, 3-hour programme), Joint P6/Youths’ Outing (15 Oct), P5/P6 Thanksgiving/Farewell Lunch (5 Nov), Pre-Christmas (17 Dec), Thanksgiving/Promotion (31 Dec). Combined June and Dec holiday programme: Video-screening on Christian heroes (June), Christmas (3, 10 Dec). A total of 33 co-workers serve in KidSparks. Weekly offerings collected are designated for a CAN. One-on-one sharing session with a P6 boy was conducted. He will transit into the Sat/SunYouth group wef 2017. Children’s worship is held on all Saturdays except the 1st Sat when the children join the first part of the SES worship service at Joy Chapel. Coordinators are: Margaret Ong with Hannah Tio, Vanessa Tham and Rosy Chew (Enrichment hour), Melissa Choo (Bible hour). Innovations for 2017: Recruitment of more co-workers to serve in both time slots - 4.00 to 5.00 pm (Reading programme for K1/K2, English tuition for Primaries), 5.30 to 7.00 pm

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(Bible hour), new roles created, e.g. administrators, assistant teachers for Reading programme, due to projected increase in no. of children, emphasis on English subject, creative outreach events towards CWK, neighbourhood, etc. SUNDAY SCHOOL (Time slots: first - 9.00 to 10.30 pm, second - 11.00 am to 12.30 pm)

1. PRESCHOOL - Weekly attendance for both sessions is 50. Teaching materials being used are: Gospel Light (Toddlers/Nursery group), Discipleland (Kindergarten). Special events: Pre-Easter (20 Mar), AGM/Church’s 49th anniversary (29 May), Children’s Day (2 Oct), Christmas/Thanksgiving/ Promotion (25 Dec). OAC and Scripture Union ministry teams were facilitators. A total of 36 co-workers serve in the Preschool group. Coordinators are Phoebe Chua (9.00 am) and Joyce Go (11.00 am). 2. PRIMARY (1 to 6) – Weekly attendance for both sessions is 82. Teaching materials being used are the Discipleland series. Special events: Welcome/Orientation (3 Jan), Bible Sunday (28 Feb), Joint Outing with KidSparks (16 Mar), Easter Sun Celebration (27 Mar), Church AGM/49

th anniversary (29 May), Missions (24, 31 July) on West Kalimantan and

Andaut trips, Music Sun (28 Aug), Children’s Day (2 Oct), P6/Youths Outing (15 Oct), Youth Ministry Orientation (30 Oct), P6 Thanksgiving/ Farewell Bruch-Fellowship (20 Nov), P6/Youth DAJ mission trip (2-7 Dec), Christmas/Thanksgiving/ Promotion (25 Dec). Combined June and Dec holiday programme: The Beatitudes (June), Christmas (Dec). Children’s worship is held on all Sundays except the 4

th Sun when the children join the first

part of the main services at the Hope Sanctuary. A total of 45 co-workers serve in the Primary group. Coordinators are Aileen Khong (9.00 am) and Margaret Ong (11.00 am). A total of 13 P6ers transited into the Sun Youth Ministry in December. One-on-one sharing sessions with them were conducted on Sundays.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY (OVER-ALL)

In-house events: Co-workers’ Thanksgiving and Prayer Meeting with Lunch-fellowship (3 Jan), Co-workers’ Training by OAC-Australia (19 Mar), Vacation Bible School (31, May, 1-2 June) with attendance of 95 children and service of 43 youth/adult co-workers, Church camp’s children programme (17-20 June), Co-workers’ Retreat/Teachers’ Day Celebration (10 Sep), Recruitment Drive for 2016 Co-workers (24 Sep – 20 Nov), Publicity with video-clip on Children Ministry, song presentations @ Sun worship services by 9am Preschoolers, 11am Primaries (24-25 Sep), Bible Camp for Primaries (Kids-in-the-Book-New Testament) on 23 Nov with attendance of 58 children and service of 29 youth/adult co-workers, song presentation @ Christmas Eve 2 services (24 Dec). Bible Society of SG, Scripture Union, OAC (Australia) ministry teams, Ms Celeste Yee, SBC students, church members were facilitators of special events. In-house mission trip/training/external event: Mission trip to Andaut, Cambodia (6-10 Apr), Sharing to Thai Chiangmai group (29 Apr), attendance at CEF Asia-Pacific regional conference in Indonesia (26-30 Sep) by Margaret Ong. Prayer meetings are held amongst sub-groups. The regular use of modern electronic equipment and technology are in place. Communications amongst co-workers and relationship-building with families of children will continue to be strengthened. Evangelism and discipleship will continue to be the focus of the ministry. New initiatives for 2017: Combined worship in groups for 9am Preschool, 9am P1/P2, P3-P6, 11am Preschool, 11am P1-P5, modular training courses for teachers and assistants, family devotion seminar/workshop (CEF), D6 conference for coordinators and senior teachers (Bible Society of SG), training on evangelism and creativity (OAC), Kindergarten Fun Day (15 Jul), CE Sat/Sun (23-24 Sep), more equipping opportunities for co-workers. Challenges for 2017: Recruitment of co-workers among youths and young adults, innovative approaches to leading worship, teaching Bible, facilitating special programme, personalised faith-development amongst 2

nd/3

rd generation-

believers, closer communication/ partnership with parents/guardians, etc.

13.0 Ladies’ Ministry

Ladies Fellowship 2016 is a very busy year for our ladies and in particular the committee. Some of us face challenges in our families, our work or our health. We thank God for His grace, strength and wisdom to carry out our responsibilities with joy despite the challenges we face. I thank God for the committee who has been serving together with me for a few years. They are Karena Chan, Patricia Chooi, Heng Wai Yin, Dorothy Low and Sam Cheng Wang. It is a joy serving with them. We will miss having Dorothy and Cheng Wang in our committee next year. They will move over to join the Senior Ministry Committee.

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“Daughters of the King” is the theme chosen by the committee for this year. Our desire is that Carmel Ladies will remember our relationship with our Father God who is also our King, and to live our lives worthy of our calling as Daughters of the King.

The three key events this year are: “A Woman More Precious Than Jewels” Course (Mar and Apr), Ladies Day Away (September) and Christmas Outreach Lunch.

“A Woman More Precious Than Jewels” course was held over six Saturdays and in collaboration with Covenant Community Methodist Church. Together with some sponsors, the two churches brought Cathy Houba (and her husband) to teach the 12 lessons course. Each church hosted the course for three weeks. A total of 110 registered with an average attendance of 85. Topics include:

The Ladies Day Away replaced our annual retreat as the committee felt it would be too taxing to plan two retreats within six months of each other (2017 retreat will be in March). The event was held at Republic of Singapore Yacht Club at West Coast Ferry Road. Mrs Persis Lim spoke on what it means to live as Daughters of the King. 52 ladies attended the event.

Our Christmas Outreach Lunch will be held at Peach Garden Restaurant, Miramar Hotel at Havelock Road. Dr Koh Siang Kiang is the speaker. As of November, 90 ladies have registered. We should more than meet our minimum number of 100 ladies.

Besides these key events, there were three health talks: Food for Cancer Patients by Constance Low (July), Understanding TCM by Eleen Tay (Aug), and Understanding Dementia & Mental Health by Euice Quek & Dr Joseph Khoo (Oct). All these talks were very well received.

Looking ahead we are excited as we plan for the combined Carmel, Hebron & Hermon retreat in March next year. Our speaker will be Mrs Hia Lin Choo and the venue is DoubleTree Hotel in Johor Bahru. We strongly encourage all ladies from age 18 onwards to join us.

Care, Share, Study and Serve (CSSS) Some 20 ladies meet for bible study and prayer every 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month (except for June and December) from 11 am to 1 pm in church (room #03-01). We thank God for eight new ones who joind us this year. The bible study leaders this year are: Florence Ling, Phoebe Chua, Aileen Khoong, Fennella Henry, Karena Chan and Ang Lee Luang.

We finished the remaining chapters on “Abundant Simplicity” by Jan Johnson in May. In July we began our study on a new book, “Becoming A Woman of Strength” by Cynthia Heald. Through this study we are encouraged to depend upon the Lord God, the Great Giver of strength for strength to commit, wait, seek, pray, serve and persevere throughout our lives despite and in spite of our circumstances. We also learned that we are strengthened through His Spirit to be teachable, to be self-controlled and to be holy. The remaining five more chapters will be covered by middle of 2017.

Heart2Heart Ministry (H2H)

Our mission is to: 1) Provide an avenue for church members to experience God’s love by ministering to their felt needs. 2) Create a caring church through helping members build stronger relationships with each other.

Christine Yeo took over the leadership from Ng Gek Lang this year. We thank God for the leadership of Gek Lang the past few years. As of 31 October, we made a total of 100 visits. We visited and ministered to 26 members and their families. 66% of our visits are to the bereaved and those hospitalised. A) Wakes and Funerals 26% B) Hospitalisation 40% C) Home visits 30 % D) Others 4%

Thank God for bringing Sawako Oh and Tan Mui Hong to strengthen the exisiting team of ladies: Jackie Kiew, Philomena Loh, Susan Lee, Susannah Siew, Chia Choy Ping, Christine Yeo, Dorothy Wee, Fiona Chee, Tan Peck Joon, Tan Lay See, Sharon Wong, Sheila Poon,

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Madeline Lim, Lim Gek Lang, Phoebe Chua and Christina Goh. We praise God for working through us to be channels of His blessings through Prayer, Exhoration, Acts of Kindness, Comforting presence to Encourage increasing faith, hope and love to bless those needing support.

14.0 Hospitality Ministry

Hospitality is showing love to Christians and strangers. We do so because we are commanded to be hospitable. Rom 12:13: “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” 1 Peter 4:8,9: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Hebrews 13:2: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”

We show hospitality because we have been shown the ultimate act of hospitality by God. God first opened His home and heart to us. We did not deserve it. It is only fitting that we, in turn, reflect this grace bestowed on us as we interact with others and exemplify the love of Christ to them. Therefore, hospitality is not limited to the few who serve in the hospitality team but to all Carmelites. May we extend a smile, a word of encouragement, a helping hand, or our friendship, to all who come to worship with us every Sunday.

Albert Eio heads the hospitality team. Many of them have been serving faithfully since the ministry was launched in 2007. Some serve as greeters, some as befrienders and some as refreshment hosts. Each plays a crucial role in making our visitors feel welcomed and at home. We are in need of more Carmelites to join us as some on the team has stopped serving due to other commitments. We are especially in need of greeters and refreshments i/c.

As of 20 November, a total of 82 guests filled in and submitted the contact card. There are probably some who didn’t identify themselves and submitted the contact card. Not all guests are brought or invited by Carmelites. There are several who walked into our premise on their own. Out of the 82 guests who submitted the cards, about 32 of them are visitors from overseas, including short term exchange students. 50 of them are locals, permanent residents or are working here for a couple years. Guests are invited to bi-monthly lunches. The bi-monthly lunches provide opportunities for us to know them better and for other Carmelites and church leaders get to know them too. We rejoice that 19 of them are somewhat connect into the body life of Mount Carmel through friends, Alpha course, Beginners’ Class, etc.

Thank God for Florence Low and Goh Swee Hong who bless us with their culinary skills, cooking meals for the bi-monthly lunch. We need more to come onboard to serve with us at these bi-monthly lunches either as cooks, befrienders or servers. Please consider serving with us.

Pray for the team helping with the integration as we fine-tune the integration process. The team members are Albert Eio, Edmund Chew, Kok Yong Hao, Tay Huimin, Claire Ho and Ps Assoc Lee Luang. We bid farewell to Claire who left for Sydney in September to work for a couple years.

15.0 ConnexUs (previously NEXUS Fellowship)

Our aim is to forge strong bonds across ages by providing avenues for Carmelites to get to know others beyond the CGs and create opportunities for fellowship with newcomers. Three events took place this year – Lilliputt in May, Movie screening “War Room” (which we sponsored together with Pray Action Group) in June and Christmas Caroling to NUH Hospital in December.

We support and participated in church-wide events ie. Reframe Course (by ECF) & the screening of movie Persona Non-Grata (by YAM) in May. Project Timothy (under Mentoring and International Discipleship Track by Ps Daniel) was launched in October to identify and mentor our next generation of servant-leaders who can help grow Carmel to our next level. The objectives are: a. To provide for participants a model of how to study God's Word carefully. b. To develop their potential as teachers and preachers of God's Word.

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c. To nurture their leadership potential and prepare them for strategic contributions in coming years.

d. To encourage one another in our spiritual walk through accountability groups. Sixteen people between the ages 27 and 40, signed up to meet once a month for 3 hours and for 10 months a year (break in June & December) and Lord willing, for 3 years. We appreciate your prayers for Project Timothy and the participants.

16.0 Church Camp 16.1 SUMMARY: This year’s church camp was held at Le Grandeur Palm Resort in Johor Bahru,

Malaysia, between 17 and 20 June 2016. A record total of 401 campers attended the camp.

16.2 CAMP THEME: Knowing You 16.3 CAMP OBJECTIVES: (1) To allow campers to set aside time specially for spiritual

rejuvenation by fellowship, worshiping God and listening to God’s word being preached. (2) To build a more cohesive community by allowing campers to forge meaningful bonds with fellow believers and newcomers to church. (3) To provide an opportunity for service by encouraging as many as possible to participate and contribute to activities during the camp.

16.4 REFLECTION: After last year’s large turnout of 384 campers, this year saw an even larger

turnout. Campers were blessed by the sermons and fellowship with one another. The feedback from campers was good in relation to the accommodation, recreational facilities and the food catered by the hotel. We thank God for his grace and provision in relation to the camp.

16.4.1 English Ministry The speaker for the English congregation was Bishop Emeritus Robert Solomon. He preached a series of sermons on knowing Jesus. His sermons were very well received. Elder Bruce Lockhart conducted a workshop on “Truth – Absolute or Relative?”; Dr Calvin Chong conducted a workshop on “The Challenge of Discipleship in a Globally Connected, Digital World”.

16.4.2 Chinese Ministry

As a community, the Mandarin congregation has always been eagerly participating in church camps. This year, we were blessed by the teaching of Rev. Lim Jit Thye.

16.4.3 Children Ministry

This year, we were again able to cater separate programmes for preschoolers and children in P1 to P5. The children were blessed by the ministry of Ps Jabez Chia and Sarah, and Jin Jinglai and Mila Pinidia Sari.

16.5 HELPERS

We thank God for the faithfulness of those who served in one way or another to assist in the planning and execution of the camp. These include everyone from the bus i/cs, morning exercise facilitators, workshop speakers, discussion group leaders etc. In particular we would like to acknowledge Thomas Lim, the Camp Commandant, and the Camp Committee, comprising Daniel Chan, Candace Zhou, Madelaine Chan, Sharmaine Soon, Matthew Siew, Soh Cheow Tuan, Tracy Wong, Keith Wong, Tim Tay, Doina Koh, and Elizabeth Tham. Once again, we record our special thanks to Madhan Dennis, who has been integral to the online registration process.

16.6 FUTURE CHURCH CAMPS

Going forward, we will continue to implement the following:

Scouting for hotels 2 years in advance to ensure that we can secure hotels with both quality and value during the June peak period.

The logistics and management of church camp has grown in tandem with the significant increase in the number of campers, and we will be exploring hotels which are close in proximity to Singapore and have suitable facilities and accommodation for future camps.

Finally, we thank God for being our shepherd and guide in organising this year’s camp, and for His mercy in covering all our inadequacies and faults. We commit next year’s camp into His hands.

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17.0 Rhoda Fellowship Our theme this year is “Growing Deep & Building Up.” Through the Bible Study sessions led by Sister Pang Tee Lin for pre-believers & new believers, and Ps Assoc Ang Lee Luang for the growing believers, the ladies learned to live a life of faith, to be assured of their salvation, and to be significant ladies whose lives have been touched by the Lord. The preaching by Ps Fitz, Chan Kum Soon & Ps Lee Luang, helps to encourage our ladies to grow deep in the Word and to be built up in their faith.

Besides playing at our Worship Services twice a month, Brothers Chan Kum Soon and Chew Hiong Keng also coach those interested in learning to play the guitar on Sunday afternoons. We have about 12-15 ladies learning, some have progressed to the next level.

This year we partner with ASKI Global Ltd to offer a Financial Education Course. This 10 week course teaches them to be in control of their finances, helps them to state their financial goals and to learn how to reach them, besides teaching them to create a personal budget and savings plan. The average attendance is 15.

Our committee members are Alicia Ebal, Mylene Ascunion, Marilyn Magsino, Zenaida Rodriguez & Miriam Casalamitao. They are the pillars of the fellowship.

This year we organized outings to MacRitchie Reservior, Jurong Bird Park and the Alive Museum. We subsidize up to half the entrance fees to make it affordable for all to come.

Please pray that the domestic helpers get a day off every week so that many can come more regularly. Pray too that we Carmelites encourage and send our helpers (be they from Indonesia, Myanmar or Philippines) to join the Rhoda Fellowship every Sunday (except 1

st

Sunday of the month) from 11 am to 12.30 pm in ACE Room.

18.0 Library 1. The Library is located at The Fellowship Hall and its operational hours being :

10.15 am ~ 11.00 am (only on Sunday). Altogether, there are 8 volunteers in the library duty roster.

2. Memberships as at 30.10.16 : 435.

Average weekly items out on loan are : 75. 3. The library has about 900 items inside 2 pushcarts, comprising of Books, Children Books,

CDs, VCDs, DVDs and Magazines. The rest, comprising of books, especially commentaries and other reference books are kept in the Youth-cum-Library Room. Members are encouraged to borrow the reference books during the library operating hours.

New items added are publicized in the Church Bulletin with occasional book reviews added.

4. DVDs from ACE and CMfC programs are also available in the library.

5. Magazines subscribed to are: Creation & Impact

6. The Library wish to apologise to members who wish to donate books, as the library

cannot accept anymore books due to space constraint. 19.0 Men’s Ministry

Carmel Men for Christ

We thank God for sustaining the ministry into its fifth year. Meeting every first Saturday of the month from 8.15 to 10.30 am (except Jun, Oct, Nov and Dec), He sent another 10 speakers to share with our men on a range of topics such as “Mastering Your Sexual Desires”; “Dementia: Is it Preventable”; “Finding Your Destiny: For Such a Time As This”; “Serving God, Family and Work: Maintaining a Balance”; “Sustaining Spirituality for the Long Haul”; “My Journey with the Lord”; “Vocation: A Personal Journey” and “A Learning Journey: Reflections on 60 Years of Ministry”. The speakers hailed from diverse backgrounds and included Dr Bobby Sng, Lucas Chow, Gurmit Singh, Lok Vi Ming, Prof Kua Ee Heok; Daniel Koh, David Chan, Michael Tan and Goh Kng Yan.

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At these sessions, brothers caught a glimpse of how God works in various settings. They got a better appreciation of what it means to be “in the world, but not of the world”. Hopefully, they would rise to the occasion of being more effective “salt and light” for God wherever He puts them, especially in their workplaces and the marketplace. Their worldview and understanding of themselves as men was also enhanced. After all, God exhorts us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rms 12.2).

28 brothers enjoyed great fellowship and bonding at a morning walk at Sungei Buloh Wetlands/Marshes in May. Another 22 brothers (a few with their spouses) enjoyed great fellowship, fun, food and spiritual nourishment at a tree-top walk in Nov.

A highlight of 2016 was the publication of Men for Christ: Living Out Our Faith. This is a compilation of 21 CMfC talks in 2012-2014. Published in conjunction with Graceworks, more than 500 copies were sold within 2-3 months of its release. Many were bought by brothers from other churches. The book is intended to spur and bless the men’s ministries in our Singapore churches.

In 2017, by God’s grace, we hope to press on with challenging our brothers in Carmel to live their lives fully for Him. Some brothers from the other BP churches have started attending these talks as they find them useful. In addition, we are happy to see more younger men attend our sessions. After all, they are the ones who have many more years to live for Him. Also, they will live through more seasons of life against different backdrops and challenges and need more equipping to navigate the currents and run their races. We encourage more to do so.

Thursday Men’s Group (TMG)

A smaller group of older men (between the ages of 50-70) continued meeting weekly on Thursdays between 10 am and 12 noon to study God’s word, learn interesting mind puzzles, magic tricks and games, visit needy residents at the Singapore Christian Home (senior citizens) and enjoyed great lunch fellowship around Carmel and further away! We also enjoyed a great breakfast fellowship at discounted prices at the American Club in Sep courtesy of a TMG brother who is a member. Ps Kheng Hai led in a study of the book of Romans.

This pool of aging Carmelites (our Seniors), both females and males, will increase over time. They represent a potentially powerful source of brain and prayer power as well as human resource for the Lord! In 2017, we hope to enlarge the pool of TMG men (currently about 15). Take the plunge. Come and join us!

IV HOME MISSIONS 20.0 Evangelism And Follow-Up (EFU) Ministry 20.1 The mission of the Evangelism and Follow-Up (EFU) Ministry is to reach out to the unsaved

and unchurched with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to provide basic follow-up for newcomers, seekers and new believers of the Christian faith.

The EFU Ministry is divided into the following areas of services:

Welcome Corner

Tract and Bible Distribution

Video Ministry

New Life In Christ (NLIC) Course

Evangelistic Projects

20.2 Welcome Corner / Tract and Bible Distribution The Tract and Bible Distribution Ministry purchased more than 250 English, Chinese and Tagalog bibles for distribution in 2016. Some of the English and Chinese bibles were given to prison inmates and half-way house residents for the Crossroad Bible Institute (CBI) bible studies. More than 1,000 tracts were purchased for distribution in 2016.

Audio MP3 English NIV bible and Mandarin bible CDs for the elderly are available at the Welcome Corner. Audio MP3 New Testament CDs are also available in dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka.

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20.3 Welcome Corner / Video Ministry The Welcome Corner provides a one-stop resources counter for the 1

st and 2

nd Sunday

Services. It offers free tracts, Christian literature, bibles, Our Daily Bread & Our Daily Journey devotional booklets and “The Story of Jesus” DVDs.

The Video Ministry distributes the evangelistic “The Story of Jesus” DVDs freely to newcomers, friends and visitors attending our Sunday Services. 100 “Jesus” DVDs were purchased for distribution in 2016. Each “Jesus” DVD comes with a range of languages and dialects for selection such as English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Foochow.

20.4 New Life In Christ (NLIC) Course

The 8-week New Life In Christ (NLIC) Course commenced on 2 October 2016 and ended on 20 November 2016. There were 7 participants who attended the NLIC Course and after the Course, they were channelled to Care Group Ministry, Catechism Class and Young Adult Ministry.

21.0 Heartlanders’ Outreach (HLO) Ministry

Goals of HLO Ministry The major goal of HLO Ministry is to conduct various events that interest and meet the needs of the communities living along West Coast Road and beyond. Through our interaction with them in these events, we hope to forge friendship with the residents so that we can introduce them to the love of God. We hope to channel some of the attendees of HLO Events to the Chinese and English Worship Services. Committee Members and Helpers Committee members: Rev Peter Teo, Corine Tham, Lim Siew Choon, Jane Lee, Ngo See Ming, Lucy Kiew and Tan Ser Leong. We also have Mr. Vincent Seah from West Coast Vista RC as part of the Committee. Pastor Tang Bin joined us from January to March and then he left to USA for a pastoral ministry position. Helpers: Stephen Tham, Emily Goh, Wendy Er, Ho Khee Chang and Lai Khoon, Henry Tio, Sam Kong Choy and Cheng Wang, Alice Peng. HLO Friday Events

Date Events Speakers/ Demonstrators

9 Jan Health Walk @ Coney Island -

22 Jan Hongbao Fish & Fan Heidi Koh & ladies

12 Feb Visit to River Hongbao -

4 March Traditional Chinese Medicine Eleen Tay

8 April Have fun with Origami Peter Ong

23 April Health Walk @ East Coast Park -

29 April Cooking Class – Wholemeal Raisin, Cranberry & Walnut Bun

Elizabeth Lee

13 May Beauty Talk Grace Lee

27 May Balloon Sculpturing Queenstown Baptist

10 June Coconut Rolls Ho Khee Chang

24 June Foot Reflexology Rev. Yap Beng Shin

9 July Parents Day Dinner Ban Heng Pavilion Restaurant

29 July Thank You Celebration (with durians, rambutans & jackfruits)

Faith Fellowship Hall

4 Sept Liza Foong Concert @ Esplanade Liza Foong

11 Sept Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at SEMS

Rev. Caleb Soo

30 Oct Yuya’s Performance @ Bethesda Bedok Tampines Church

Ms Yuya

Committee Meeting and Visitation In the table above, we see that HLO Events occur about twice a month. The other two Fridays are used for: (1) Committee Meeting and (2) Bible Study and Visitation of heartlanders.

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Recess of Public Ministry from August to December The Committee saw an emerging trend. For a few years already, West Coast Ville RC had not allowed us to put up our flyers of HLO Events on their notice boards. This year too, West Coast Vista RC does not allow us to put up our posters on their notice boards. However, we still distribute flyers to residents as they pass by Block 602. However, the residents who turn up for our events are the same people even though we still attract new comers. Therefore due to falling manpower and attendance, the Committee decide to take a 5 month break from organizing public events at our regular venue at Block 602. However, we still invite heartlanders for three public events on 4

th September, 11

th September and 30

th October. We

still visit heartlanders as well as conduct Small Group Ministry on first Sunday of each month. Fruit of the Ministry Through the public events we have interacted with the heartlanders. In this way we have gotten to know them better. Some of them have come forward and asked for counselling. Others have come for Mandarin worship service. On each first Sunday of the month, a regular group of heartlanders gather for Bible Study and lunch fellowship. They usually ask us to prayer over their requests. Through visitation, we have ministered to the needs of the heartlanders. At some evangelistic outreaches like Parents Day Dinner, a number of heartlanders expressed their desire to believe in Jesus Christ. The Future Ahead For many years now, the HLO Ministry is considered an outreach to Mandarin and dialect speaking heartlanders. Ironically, the Committee members of HLO Ministry are from the English speaking Worship Service. In order to reach out to heartlanders, we have to use translators and translation. We recognize this is not the most effective way to conduct ministry to the heartlanders. Therefore, when the time comes to hire a new pastor to replace Ps Tang Bin, the Standing Committee decides that the new Mandarin pastor will take charge of HLO Ministry. In other words, HLO Ministry will be parked under the Mandarin Congregation. The new pastor together with the Mandarin Congregation will run HLO Ministry from 2017 onwards. We wish them God’s blessing and guidance as they take charge of HLO Ministry. We also thank the incumbent HLO Committee for the many years of dedicated services to the heartlanders.

22.0 Outreach of Carmel TO Polytechnic & University Students (OCTOPUS) Vision: To extend Christ’s unconditional love to international students in Singapore through friendship and hospitality, helping them move in a positive direction in their spiritual journey towards knowing Christ. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Matthew 25:35 OCTOPUS started in 2008 as a pre-evangelistic ministry to build bridges with international students through “Festivals, Food & Friendships”, tilling the soil of their minds and hearts, preparing them to listen to the Truth (Mark 4:20). Activities in 2016 We continued to engage students over activity-based dinners (e.g. DIY sushi/prata) while sharing our views on local food and culture. Sessions also typically included a discussion on a topic of interest, such as the definition of happiness, and whenever possible, we provided a Christian perspective on the issue. Nevertheless, the key attraction for students was the held in the warmth of a Carmelite’s home. In the first semester (from Jan to Apr), we carried out our activities as we had done last year, with seven sessions spread out fortnightly from the start of the university semesters. Our numbers remained consistently high, 40-50 students attending each event. Four students also attended Mt Carmel’s Good Friday movie event. While student attendance remained high, we also noticed that there were many first-time attendees at every session and that with large groups of 40-50, there was less depth of interaction between Carmelites and the students. At a meeting between our adviser (Kelvin Teo) and chairpersons (Chai Chor Tiang and Pamela Er), it was decided that we should reduce the number of sessions to five and limit the number of students to 30 for each session. The second run therefore commenced a little later than it normally did in the university semester, and we did not have a session during the recess weeks.

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The last session of the second semester ended with a special visit by the parents of a Dutch student. Feedback continued to be very positive and encouraging for the two semesters. Looking ahead to 2017 We will continue with our model of a five sessions in one semester in the coming year. At the same time, we will work to raise befrienders among our young adults. We hope to give the team of befrienders increasing levels of responsibilities (e.g. coordinate an OCTOPUS session, lead a discussion group) in order to build leadership succession in OCTOPUS.

23.0 Social Outreach 23.1 We provided financial assistance to 2 person from the Carmel Relief Fund this year. 24.0 Clementi West Elder Care (CWEC)

St Luke’s Eldercare Committee Members Representing Mt Carmel BP Church - Dr Lim Siew Eng (Vice-Chair), Mr Chia Hong Kuan, Mr Simon Wong Representing Bible Church - Ps Freddie Ong, Dr Tor Yam Khoon (Chariman), Mr Guo Bo Representing St Lukes Eldercare - Mrs Lim Beng Toh, Dr Kenny Tan

St Luke’s Eldercare Ministry is a community outreach program supported by Mt Carmel BP

Church and The Bible Church. St Luke’s Eldercare aims to be a Christian Eldercare

Organization of excellence showing God’s love and compassion. It aims to bring Christ’s

hope, touch and love to the senior citizens in the neighbourhood community who attend St

Luke’s Eldercare at the Clementi West Branch.

The committee has not met for a year except in volunteers appreciation events (twice last year). This is partly due to recent renovations, but also possibly due to changes in management structure leading to uncertainty in role of the committee. The center is grateful for volunteers from the churches and financial support. We are the only eldercare center that holds a Christian faith and worship service every Friday. There is one volunteer (Catherine Tan) from MCBPC, and there are about 4 volunteers from Bible Church. There is a core group of volunteers not from either church.

Pastoral care from both sponsoring churches participated 2016

Friday weekly worship services at center: pastoral care from Mt Carmel BP Church and The Bible Church

February 2016 Hong Bao Donation Drive at MCBPC, collected and donated $12,665.00

April 2016 Center Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for volunteers

November 2016 Clementi Woods Kindergarten presentation at center

There are also supporting events from school and corporate social events to support the

activities of the elderly.

Ministry, volunteers and prayer items Weekly Friday services and ministry are conducted

by Pastoral staff from both supporting churches, with fellowship, friendship and visitations if

the client has expressed interest. Prayers are needed for the center for continued dedicated

staff, good governance and volunteers.

25.0 Clementi Woods Kindergarten

The Kindergarten is a ministry jointly set up by both Mt Carmel BP Church and The Bible Church since 1985. It is a non-profit community-based ministry of the two churches that strives to provide excellent, affordable pre-school education and imparting Christian teachings and values to the students.

Clementi Woods Kindergarten was registered with the Ministry of Education on 12 June 1985.

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On 26 July 2012, Mt Carmel BP Church and The Bible Church established and registered the kindergarten as Clementi Woods Kindergarten LLP. On 30 October 2013, the Kindergarten achieved accreditation under the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK) scheme.

In 2016, the Kindergarten had a full enrolment of 360 Kindergarten students in 16 classes.

To enrich the children’s learning the Kindergarten provides in-house Enrichment Programs; Creative Chinese, Hanyu Pinyin, Learn to read, Discovering Mathematics and Star Programnmes to help weaker students.

The Kindergarten Management Committee has established a Christian distinctiveness for the kindergarten through the employment of a Kindergarten Counsellor and the involvement of the two churches in the kindergarten ministry. The Kindergarten Counsellor, Mrs Christina, is responsible for the kindergarten’s Christian programmes – teaching lessons from the Bible, reciting verses, singing songs, counselling students and publicizing the two churches’ outreach programs. The kindergarten also operates a Bible Story Book Library for the students to borrow home a Christian story book every term. The Counsellor also runs the Mailbox Club to nurture the spiritual growth of ex-students. Mrs Christina also helps to publicize the Good News Club outreach program by The Bible Church on Saturday mornings and the Kids Spark children’s program run by Mt Carmel BP Church on Saturday afternoons. To reach out to the kindergarten’s children and families, the respective churches organize services designated as Kindergarten Sunday where the children’s families are invited to attend their church services while the kindergarten children and their siblings attend Sunday school.

We will celebrate the 31st Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony on 17 November 2016.

We thank God for blessing the kindergarten’s operations and keeping the kindergarten safe.

26.0 Sunday Evening Mandarin Service (SEMS) Vision & Purpose of Ministry

Colossians 1:28 “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”

2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” SEMS’ ongoing mission is to reach out to as many as possible mainland Chinese workers in Singapore, pointing them to Christ and equipping them all to be the disciples and evangelists of Jesus Christ. Outlook and Activities:

Over the past 12 months (Oct 2015-Sep 2016) the mounting challenges we faced at the SEMS ministry for the past 2 years continued and in fact, got tougher. Firstly, weekly attendance for the whole year had declined except for TV actor Li Nan Xing’s Gospel Rally when the attendance exceeded 300 (369). There were on average only 126 people attending our services, 43 people less than last year, and more than 100 less as compared to 2 years ago. We clearly see the downward trend in our weekly attendances. Nevertheless, we saw light at the end of the dark tunnel: 15 baptized for the same period, 31 responded to altar calls and 222 newcomers for the entire year. Secondly, with the re-structured Singapore economy, we found our brothers in-Christ being scattered throughout Singapore’s dwindling construction sites resulting in fewer people at every worksite available for our bus to pick up. Thirdly, many jobs are replaced by relatively less skillful and cheaper workers from India, Bangladesh and Myanmar as Chinese workers are more skillful and higher paid. With the escalated workers’ levy, the construction industry had to change their strategy to cost saving ones. Finally, as many of our PRC co-workers are back in China for good, we have fewer people serving together. Though the overall picture is that of a sunset ministry, we remain faithful, strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6). Despite these setbacks, we thank God for one Singapore company where more than 20 of our PRC brothers are employed. Like others in the declining construction industry, it had no new project for the past 2 years. And we expected our brothers there to be sent home at the end of this year. But by God’s grace, the said company got a new project at the last hour

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enabling these brothers to stay on for the next 2-3 years. Praise God! Through this incident, we are taught to focus more on God and His promise and not on circumstances and other problems. We also thank God for a group of regular Christians who called Mt Carmel their spiritual home. Regardless of whether their workplace is near or far, they will come to worship by themselves every week. Praise the Lord! As the government tightened on foreign labor supply with higher levies and an economy slowing down, the workers’ environment and benefits may be adversely affected. We will earnestly listen by ear, pray and follow God’s guidance about SEMS’ future development. Will you pray with and for us too?

Consequently, the revised key task for SEMS is to equip PRC Christians for their anticipated return to China. Apart from the ongoing teaching on understanding God’s Word better, we supported 2 brothers for at least one year on theological training in China from September onwards, in order for them to serve well in their local churches. A International Christian group called Christian Communications Singapore invited few churches which are doing outreach to PRC workers to start a Workers’ Training Center in Jiangsu Province from Nov, 2016. This is a 3-year certificate course conducted 3 times a year. Each time 2 subjects will be taught over a 2-week intensively. We expected 2 returning brothers and another 2 brothers’ wives who are already full time pastors to attend the first training course. Many of our brothers who returned to China or their wives are full time serving at churches in different part of China. Praise God for these brethren and their spouses’ eagerness to learn and serve. Please pray for them to share boldly and clearly what they have learned in SEMS with their families and friends, whether in Singapore or in China. We conducted a workshop on “Ancestor Worship” on May 1

st for the biblical education of our

PRC brethren. Thank God for a wonderful and meaningful time of sharing and discussion. We were also making Chinese dumplings together and all brothers present enjoyed themselves very much. For evangelistic outreach, we invited TV actor Li Nan Xing to share his personal testimony in July with our members, their families and neighbors. We thank God that the SEMS’ website had been set up, so that brothers can go online to view their activity photos and listen to sermons.

What is being planned

We will visit these 2 China-based Bible Training Centers in November, 2016, and pray for our future involvement. We plan to visit more than 20 brothers and their families on the same trip to encourage them to firmly follow Jesus. Locally, we will press on with the good work for the past eight and half years to continue our focus on evangelism, character and value building and discipleship training. Pray that God will continue to lead and guide us to serve Him faithfully and joyfully for “the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b).

Prayer Request on Challenges Ahead

Although the good old days of high attendance and conversions may have gone, and the future of SEMS’ ministry is uncertain, we will focus on those whom God has sent to us. We will do our best to care for them and reach out to them as Christ would have done. Despite the many uncertainties, we are grateful to God for His sufficient grace that sustained us (2 Cor 12:9). I am sure the Lord who has seen us through the many Sunday evenings starting from SEMS’ inception on Easter 2008, will continue to uphold us for the good works He has entrusted to us. No man is an island. We appreciate all the Carmelites’ continuous prayer and support and encourage you to be part of the SEMS’ team and remember us in your prayer always. Even as you refresh others, you yourselves will be refreshed (Proverbs 11:25). Prayerfully, we can continue to be the channel of blessings for the Kingdom of God to reach out to the remaining PRC workers in Singapore while the Lord keeps the window open.

VI. OVERSEAS MISSIONS

27.0 Missions Ministry Objective The objective of Overseas Missions Ministry is to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20 and Acts 1:8. Missions Board Rev Peter Teo (Chairman), Rev Oh Boon Leong, Elder Peng Kee, Elder Bruce Lockhart, Elder Yeo Siew Yam, Dn Foo Kim Peng, Dn Agus Djunaedi and Dns Samantha Tsang

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Missions Committee Dn Foo Kim Peng (Chairman), Rev Peter Teo, Dn Agus Djunaedi, Ho Khee Chang, Titus Lau, Yu Tawen, Foo Ruimin and Ps Thien. Missionaries, Missions Apprentice and Short Term Worker Two of our Carmelites finished their terms of services in the missions field. Betty Tan has served as a tentmaker in Hefei, Anhui Province for 5 years. She returned to Singapore in late June 16. We give thanks to God for her service and we believe she has built up disciples who can continue the good work. Jason Tan has served in Mt Carmel Novaliches for 3 years. His ministry included managing the payment for the construction of church building, financial administration and young adult ministry. He returned to Singapore in early November. Likewise we also give thanks to God for Jason’s contribution to God’s Work in the Philippines. Our missions apprentice, Eleen Tay has been serving with The Navigators for over 1 year at the campus of NTU. She also led a team to minister at Utsunomiya University in Japan. She has finished her term of service on 30

th June 2016. We like to thank her for her service and

pray that the Lord will lead her in her next stage of development. Another novel idea we are implementing is to engage seniors/retirees who are still capable of contributing to the Great Commission. One such Carmelite is Rosy Chew, who has taken early retirement. As she still has strength and energy and above all, her skill in teaching English, Rosy Chew responded readily to the idea of going for a short term trip of 3 weeks (instead of the usual 1 week). There was a need in Pontianak for an English teacher to teach TOEFL to some University Students, Secondary School students and children at Desa Kapur. Rosy stayed in Pontianak for 3 weeks (6 to 31 August) and her husband Edmund accompanied her for a few days. Rosy feels that this is one way for seniors/retirees to use their talent and serve God in the missions field. Theological Grant Students Ps Chai completed his Master of Theology at Singapore Bible College and graduated on 7

th

May 2016. Together with Gloria and two children, they returned to Thailand. Ps Chai is now teaching at Chiangmai Theological Seminary. Ps Thien continues in his second year of study for his Master of Theology at Singapore Bible College. He will graduate in May 2017. Missions Trips and Pastoral Training:

Dates Destination Purpose

14 – 19 January New Delhi, India Conducting Worship Seminar at UEF

16 – 19 January Yangon, Myanmar Exploring the concept of B4T

17 – 21 February

Chennai, India Leadership Development and Anniversary Celebration

9 – 13 March Manila/Palawan Philippines

Board of Trustees Retreat

6 – 10 April Andaut, Cambodia Annual Trip to encourage believers

11 – 15 April Dalat, Vietnam Pastoral Leadership Training

25 June – 3 July Singkawang and Pontianak

Leadership Development, Youth Retreat and Baptism

17 – 21 July Shenyang, China Pastoral Leadership Training

3 – 16 September

New Delhi and Manipur, India

Pastoral Leadership Training

9 – 14 September

New Delhi, India Exploration of Life Counts Now Ministry

16 – 18 September

Manila, Philippines Leadership Development and 13th

Anniversary Celebration

27 October to 2 November

Yining, China Enhancing the Ministry of Antioch Church

2 – 6 December Yangon, Myanmar Exploring with Laval Yau and Ps Kyaw Min Tun of Hesed Community Church for SEEDS Ministry

15 – 22 December

Singkawang and Pontianak

Annual Trip o encourage believers, English Classes and Christmas Celebration

17 – 22 December

Manila, Philippines Youth Ministry Missions Trip to Mt Carmel Novaliches

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Missions Festival This year’s Missions Festival started with Prayer Meeting on 20

th July and it culminated with

The Missions Food Fair on 31th July. The theme was “Blessed to be a Blessing” based on

Isaiah 52:7 - “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!” We had two speakers for this purpose. The first speaker was Ps Deepak Lal (his wife Anuja accompanied him) who preached over the weekend 23/24 July. The second speaker was Dr Ian Mcloughlin (his wife Kwai Yoke also spoke at the Youth Service with the assistance of Wesley and Vanessa) who preached on 30/31 July. May God continue to motivate us to be a blessing in the years ahead. Furthermore, the amount raised from the Missions Food Fair was $26,855.10 which will be distributed to meet the needs amongst the nations we have ministries in. In addition, we have also raised $11,829 (USD$8,698) from the sale of Esther Ding’s book, “Taking Roots.” The fund raised will be used for the construction of Wisdom Nest School in Baray District, Cambodia. Bearing Fruit Through TRIPS TRIPS which stands for Transforming Rocks Into Precious Stones is a sponsorship program for the poor to study in college. When it was first introduced in the Philippines, it was to sponsor primary and secondary students. Later, it was extended to cover tertiary students. Today, TRIPS will only be used to sponsor students studying in universities. As education is the primary responsibility of the parents, they are asked to co-sponsor their children’s expenses as well. The students must be members of the church and they must be discipled by the pastors. This is to ensure that the students will graduate to become responsible citizens as well Christians who will serve in their countries, communities and churches. While as much care is taken to ensure that the recipients of TRIPS will succeed, yet we recognize there are some who have broken the rules and therefore they have forfeited their sponsorships. We have happy that there are more than 25 graduates from Mt Carmel Novaliches. All the five recipients of TRIPS from Narada Home in Thailand have also graduated and have found employment. The first recipient of TRIPS in Kalimantan graduated in August 2016. And this year, we have extended TRIPS to a Creative Access Nation. We like to thank all sponsors of TRIPS for your generous donations which are enabling the poor to study in tertiary institutions. We believe you are investing in their future potential. Let us pray for them that they will not only earn a degree but they will also see themselves as servants of the LORD for His Kingdom. Introducing SEEDS (Social Enterprise Enablement and Development Scheme) By God’s enablement, Mt Carmel has Overseas Missions Ministry in eight countries, namely Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In these countries, we have been using the traditional method of financing their ministries – mainly by giving them their wages according to their qualifications and years of services and ministry funds to minister to people. After 1.5 years of exploration, we will be starting a different kind of ministry in Myanmar. The approach in Myanmar will be slightly different. We will be collaborating with Laval Yau who is leading an organization called B4T.mm (Business for Transformation) in Myanmar. B4T was started by under the leadership of Operation Mobilisation. Instead of supporting the national workers with salaries, we will be encouraging them to become self-sustaining through bivocationalism. In other words, a pastor or church leader will be given a loan to develop social enterprise. With the profits made, he will be able to sustain himself and his family. If the surplus is huge, he might even support the ministry of the church. The loan will be paid back to Mt Carmel but we intent to recycle it within the country by funding another worker. We have already done a soft lunch through the two articles in Mt Carmel Church Bulletin (see Introducing SEEDS and Frequently Asked Questions published on 2

nd and 9

th October 2016). At this time of writing, our next action plan

is to visit Laval Yau and look at several projects from 2 to 6 December 2016. However, SEEDS is not just about providing a loan to a Christian worker. It is also about earning the right to enter a nation, church and community. Through partnership in the ministry, we hope not only to grow the pastor but also the church and the surrounding community. Support for Narada Home to end in December 2016 Mount Carmel’s partnership with Itapon Foundation to start an orphanage (Narada Home) in Nongwai Village began in 1999. Since that time, we have been funding a full time worker, Am, to run Narada Home and to take care of the kids together with her husband Tom. Over the years, we have sent many short term missions trippers in December to help them in various years. The end goal of Narada Home has always been to see a church planted in Nongwai Village. By God’s enablement, the leaders of Itapon Foundation together with the believers from Narada Home have planted Sanpatong Community Church (SPCC). The

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Good Kids Preschool is part of the ministry of SPCC. It is so well run that it is able to sustain itself as well as SPCC. Narada kids have also grown up, graduated from universities and have found jobs. There is currently no plan by Itapon Foundation to continue Narada Home as an orphanage. Therefore, Mt Carmel will no longer support Narada Home from January 2017. Am has found employment with GKPS. However, the leaders of Itapon have requested that Mt Carmel continues to send missions trippers in December to help GKPS celebrate Christmas. We thank God for giving us the opportunity to collaborate with Itapon for the work of the Gospel in Nongwai Village for 17 years. Looking Forward (Vision 2021) Mt Carmel will be celebrating our 50

th Anniversary in 2017. For this special occasion, we

intend to invite our missionaries and missions partner to Singapore for the Missions Festival in 2017 (19

th to 30

th July). We have two criteria for selecting who to invite – they must be our

supported workers or they are best representatives of the nation we have ministries in. We have agreed to invite from these nations the following co-workers: Cambodia (Ps Sokha and Ps Khiem; Ps Yew On and Dr Chern Chern); CAN (Paul Tu and Lydia); India (Ps Eman Kumar and Vidya; Ps Ayo and Aphi); Indonesia (Ps Palmanto and Anna; Ps Yee Xian and Salmah); Myanmar (Laval Yau); Nepal (Ps Kiran Das and Isha); Philippines (Ps Tang Hai Yang and Hui Choo; Flor Aristotle); Thailand (Am and Tom); Vietnam (Ps Khai and Ps Andrew). While they are in Singapore, we encourage them to live with Carmelites. If you would like to host them or help them move around, please contact anyone in OMM. Our current Overseas Missions Ministry is based on the Policy and Strategy that was drafted in 2010. As part of the exercise of Carmel@50, our leaders are encouraged to take their ministries to a higher level. For this reason, Ps Peter has drafted a paper on some ideas to take the OMM to the next level of engagement concerning how Mt Carmel can fulfill the Great Commission effectively. The Committee members have been deliberating the proposed ideas and we hope to submit a proposal for Missions Board to approve for implementation. We like to believe that the new Policy and Strategy will enable Mt Carmel to make progress in our attempt to spread the Gospel starting from Singapore and going beyond to our neighbouring countries in Asia. We pray that Carmelites will avail themselves to help achieve our goals as we serve the Lord of the Harvest together.

IV. CHURCH BUILDING MANAGEMENT

28.0 The CBC MC is a 6-member team with 3 representatives each from Mount Carmel and Bible Church. Currently, the three Carmel representatives are Jimmy Lam (Treasurer), Poon Joo Wee and Baet Yeok Lin. The appointment of chairman for the MC is swop between the two churches every two years. This year Andrew Chua from Bible Church has taken over the chairman post. The MC conducts regular quarterly meeting together with Bible Church Representatives. The activities included the following – evaluation of and renewal of service and maintenance contracts, insurance, evaluate proposals for purchase of capital expenditure, implementation of procedures for facilities management. The MC also provides directions to the Warden. Purchases, Repair and Maintenance works in 2016

Repair and replacement of stage lightings, dimmers & lighting control panels in Grace Fellowship Hall, Hope & Peace Sanctuary and Joy Chapel (March-June)

Roof waterproofing above car porch in (July)

Roof leakage above Warden's toilet and Hope Sanctuary (August)

Purchase of refrigerators and hot/cold water dispensers for pantries (October-December)

Installation of Clementi Woods Kindergarten (CWK) security fence, motorised shutter and access gate. Both churches approved the installation of a new perimeter fence and motorised shutter and access gate at the foyer to enhance CWK’s security. The project will be funding by CWK. CWK will be engaging the contractor in Nov 2016 and target to start installation works during the school holidays and to complete the work by end Dec 2016. Additional lift in CBC. With the increase number of elderly worshipping in CBC and the aging of the existing lift, both churches approved the addition of a new lift and to upgrade the exiting lift in 2017 and 2018 respectively. MC has sent out fee proposal invitation to 3 architectural firms for the project.

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The firm will design the lift shaft, provide recommendation on the type of lift, submission to authorities and oversee the construction of the lift. The submission of the fee proposal will be in early Dec 2016. A recommendation of award will be put up to both churches by end December 2016.

Currently, Malcolm's contract is an annual contract and is due for renewal in March 2017. In the Joint Churches Consultation Meeting, the meeting had agreed to extend Malcolm’s contract and terminate his contract renewal in March 2018 when he turned 67. Malcolm has been informed about the decision.