Reaching the NEXT Generation with God’s Word

BERItA SUJULY

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SPECIAL FEATUREStaff Time With Dr. Lawson Murray

Volunteer’s Appreciation Dinner

YOUTH CORNERInter-CF Captain Ball Tournament

Penang SCF RallySU KEDAH Camp

STAFF MATTERSMeet Our New Staff

SU Resources

CHILDREN’s CORNERImpossible Possible

Children’s Ministry Coalition

COMMUNAL BIBLE ENGAGEMENTpg 3 & 4

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This is history in the making. I’m referring to the inaugural Inter-SCF Captain Ball Tournament called the CAP Games, that was held at SMK (L) Bukit Bintang, P.J., on 28 April 2018. Captain ball has been a growing sport among the churches and schools over the recent years, and we decided to jump on the bandwagon to use it as a platform for the SCFs to reach out to their friends. Albeit the first time, we had a total of 20 teams from 15 schools (one all the way from Tanjung Malim!) that participated in the tournament. We thank God for the Gospel shared, protection from major injuries, meaningful fellowship, new friendships, and good weather (although it was a tad too hot, it was better than rainy weather). We hope that this will be a stepping stone for the various SCFs to continue connecting and building meaningful friendships that lead to opportunities to share Christ. Congratulations also to SMK BUD3 CF for being the maiden CAP Games champions!

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INTER-CF CAPTAIN BALL TOURNAMENT

196 students. 25 teachers. 18 schools. 1 Rally. Students were

challenged to be Warriors, and not Worriers at the annual

Penang SCF Rally on 17 March 2018 at SMK (P) Methodist

Penang. Scripture Union had the privilege to co-organise the

event for the second time and we thank God for those who

have helped out and attended the rally. Soli Deo Gloria!

PENANG SCF RALLY

SU Kedah Cam

p 是一个适合12-20岁学生的布

道营会。除了教导关于基督信仰，学生也会

参观及体验一些日常接触不到的活动，比如

参观咖啡制造厂，动物园，大自然（如：瀑

布，小溪，爬山，花园，茶园等等。

SU KEDAH CAMP

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STAFF TIME WITH DR LAWSON MURRAYThe SU staff had the opportunity to spend time with Dr. Lawson on his recent visit here. The team had an afternoon with him, and among other things he shared, he gave an impassioned call for the place of sports ministry in outreach. 80% of people in the world either participate or follow sports, making it a great way to build bridges to people outside the church.

At meal times with smaller groups of staff, he discussed his other passions – Children’s Ministry and Bible Engagement. The Children’s Ministry staff exchanged

ideas and thoughts on how they could be more effective with children. For Joel Wong, BE staff, one thing Dr. Lawson said remained with him, that the key to getting people to read the Bible was that they know and love Jesus first. Then the desire to read will follow.

Dr. Lawson had time off to visit our National Aviary, with Christopher and Rosalind Cheah. Birds are one of his favourite pastimes, having worked in a Bird Farm before in South Africa.

In recent years, the Lord has blessed SU with a pool of volunteers who serve alongside the staff. These volunteers sacrificially contribute time and effort to help out at the many SU camps, training sessions, conferences, School Christian Fellowship visits and other events.

In appreciation of their partnership, we were privileged to invite these volunteers to a dinner on 30 January 2018. Our guests were feted to a delicious spread at the spanking new outlet of Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock Restaurant in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur.

In an atmosphere of camaraderie, members of the SU Council and the staff enjoyed this night of warm fellowship with the volunteers, sharing good food in the cosy ambience of the beautiful restaurant. As the Lord has blessed us with volunteers in Penang and Ipoh too, we hope to fellowship and express our appreciation for these volunteers over a meal there soon.

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

Dr. Lawson with (from left) Elkha, Jennifer and JoelleDr. Lawson with Christopher at the bird park

Dr. Lawson with Bible Engagement staff,

Timothy (left) and Joel

Renewal begins when we recognise that the Bible is primarily addressed to the community of faith, speaks to our shared actions and beliefs, and invites the people of God to work together to make disciples of all people. Then, with this understanding as our foundation, we imagine, explore and experience the Bible together. Experiencing the Bible together can take countless forms. It may be small groups of students gathering together on campus lawns to read the Bible, or a family discussing the Scriptures during supper. Regardless of the form, the way we experience the Bible together should include listening, learning, and living out the Bible as ‘us.’ This requires humility, grace, and an openness to hear from God through what others say.

Shifting from private to communal Bible engagement isn’t easy. New postures of thinking and acting aren’t formed overnight. For communal Bible engagement to thrive, we must intentionally make it happen. And this takes fortitude, prayer, wisdom, unity, and hard work.

COMMUNAL BIBLEENGAGEMENT

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Many Christians engage with the Bible mainly by themselves. We read it privately during a ‘quiet time,’ interpret it alone and experience it personally in the sanctity of our home.

Which is good and fine. Or is it?

Private engagement with the Bible isn’t the biblical norm. In most instances when the Bible mentions engagement with God’s Word, it’s in the context of the community. God’s people experienced the Bible as ‘we’, more so than ‘me.’ People would gather together, often in someone’s home (Acts 2:44-46, 12:12-17), and the Bible would be read aloud while everyone listened. Then, having listened to the Word, they interacted with it, processing, digesting and acting on it together.

Hearing with others, rather than reading independently, was the biblical reality because it was an oral culture with very few copies of the Scriptures available.

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So how did we get to where the plural focus of Bible engagement became more singular?

With the advent of the printing press in the 15th century, engagement with the Bible became book-focused. Books facilitated the shift from the Bible mainly being heard in the community to mainly being read individually.

While some things are gained through the process of change, some things are also lost. The printing press shifted Bible engagement from something that was about communal formation to something that was, according to Glenn Paauw, more about a ‘private me-and-God book.’

So why is the privatisation of Bible engagement an issue?

Privatised Bible engagement is problematic because self-directed connections with the Bible often lead to self-oriented responses to the Bible. And mostly serving personal needs is the antithesis of biblical faith.

This article is written by Dr. Lawson Murray, the President of SU Canada and author of several books including Bible Engagement Basics.

This book is for Christians who realise that Bible reading alone is not enough, but who desire to connect with Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him. Do contact SU for copies of Bible Engagement Basics at RM30 each.

This book is ‘about learning how to engage with the Bible in order to meet with Jesus and live in harmony with His Story’, says Dr. Lawson.

Dr. Lawson Murray

WORDAlive in Chinese!

Yes, the WORDAlive Camp was held for the very first time in the Chinese language this 17-20 March, for about 30 youths from the Sri Botani Presbyterian Church in Ipoh. The camp, held at the SUFES campsite, saw the youths working through how they could read the Bible, how to do quiet time, and understanding God’s Big Story of the Bible. The teaching sessions and workshops, interspersed with outdoor adventures and activities such as drama and dance, were fun, engaging and interactive.

Dive Deep in Bible Engagement seminar RIZE Conference - Children Ministry ConferenceBible Engagement in BM at Sabah

Discussion in the outdoors at WORDAlive Camp

WORDAlive Camp

Growing up, I was deeply impacted by Scripture Union (SU) camps. I attended my first SU camp when I was 14, the National School Christian Fellowship Leaders (NSCFL) Camp. Since then, I attended the camp yearly until I was 16 and after that, I helped at the camp for 4 years. My close connection with SU, coupled with the impact it has been for young Christians, encouraged me to go full-time in SU.

MEET OUR NEW STAFF

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What made you join SU?

What are you looking forward to in your ministry at SU?To be able to sow seeds into young Christians and see them grow and give back to Christian teens like how SU previously did for me. The opportunity to sow seeds into the lives of young Christians gives me the motivation to continue in this ministry.Chai Tze Kwang

I sensed God’s leading to lead young people and I’m excited about the next generation and ministries to help this generation flourish in the Gospel and in the Word. I also have a burden for urban teens, who face a whole set of different issues and struggles, compared to those in the outskirts and rural areas. SU was a door God opened for me.

What made you join SU?

What are you looking forward to in your ministry at SU?I hope to see many young people’s lives transformed by the Gospel, by God’s Word, and through the Holy Spirit - creating a ripple effect to those we may not be able to reach ourselves.

Joel Mohan

Tumbuh Dalam Firman 2 disediakan untuk membiasakan diri membaca Alkitab dan sangat sesuai bagi mereka yang baru mula mengenal Tuhan Yesus. Buku ini menyediakan jadual pembacaan dan

isi huraian yang singkat dan sari fikiran yang sederhana. Pembaca dapat meneliti seluruh pokok inti Perjanjian Lama dan Perjanjian Baru. Buku ini dapat membantu kita mempelajari Firman-Nya

secara teratur setiap hari, meneliti petikan utama, disegarkan secara rohani dan dapat memupuk disiplin berdoa dan membaca Firman Tuhan setiap hari.

SU RESOURCESTumbuh Dalam Firman 2

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64 campers aged 8-12 years old from Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Seremban, Johor, and even as far as Vietnam, and a total of 19 staff and volunteers, participated in the SUPA camp from 17 - 20 March 2018 in El Sanctuary, Melaka. A handful of campers joined us for the very first time. From the theme talk, ‘Impossible Possible’, the campers learnt that nothing is impossible

when you surrender everything you have to God (Matthew 19:26), just like how God multiplied the 5 loaves of barley bread and 2 fish that the small boy willingly gave to Jesus to feed the multitude who followed Him (John 6:5-13).

The campers learnt that they are in God’s big story from the BE session, some useful sign language from the worship songs they sang, and how

to compete graciously and bond with their team members during the outdoor games session. They also learnt basic hip-hop dance grooves from various workshops, creativity from modelling with paper clay, how to face their fear of the dark from the night hike and how to be independent from climbing up and down the hill, baking cookies and mapping. During Fun Night, they had fun dancing and singing around the campfire.

Many campers told their group leaders that they wanted to come back again next year. There were also campers who received Christ as their Lord and Saviour and we are praying that they will continue to be strengthened in their faith in knowing God.

Following the RIZE conference in November 2017, a call was made for children’s ministers to form a coalition with the purpose of exchanging ideas and resources to share and build one another in children’s ministry work in Malaysia.

If you are keen to be a part of this coalition; kindly sign up at https://tinyurl.com/cmcoalition for further updates.

IMPOSSIBLE POSIBBLE

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY COALITION

games - blowing ping pong on water morning exercise

learning to use compass session

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D A T E S C A M P S / E V E N T S A G E G R O U P L O C A T I O N

14 July 2018 KL/PJ SCF Leaders’ Training Youth KL-PJ

18-20 Aug 2018 SU Brigade Youth (SUBY) Camp Youth SUFES Campsite, Tapah

23-24 Aug 2018 SU-DUMC WORDAlive Conference

Youth Petaling Jaya

26 Nov - 1 Dec 2018 NSCFL Camp Youth STM, Seremban

4-14 Dec 2018 d’NA Camp Youth STM, Seremban

WORDAlive Conference

At this conference, youths will discover treasures in the Word of God, as God’s Big Story unfolds. Realising that their individual life story is inextricably linked to God’s Big Story, the Word comes alive! Interesting workshops will equip them to continue engaging with the Word post-conference.

This discipleship camp, jointly organised by SU and FES, is actually an academy for the training of the spirit, heart, and mind; so as to nurture a young generation of leaders and critical thinkers. The d’Nous Academy is run on a 3-year / stage cycle.

NSCFL CAMP

Leaders and potential leaders in the School Christian Fellowship must not miss this camp. The teaching activities will help equip campers to be salt and light for Christ in their schools.

Please prayerfully consider supporting us in any way you can. If you decide to give a donation, you can send a cheque to Scripture Union, 386 Jalan 5/59, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, payable to ‘The Scripture Union in Semenanjung Malaysia.’Or Bank in to HSBC Bank: 302-035670-001 / Maybank: 5141-6964-1884

Please notify us on the payment details at info@su.org.my or 03-7782 9592. Thank you.

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Published by Scripture Union in Semenanjung Malaysia, 386, Jalan 5/59, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

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