NECF deputation trips on Nation-Building
by Eugene Yapp
SINCE February, the NECF nation-building team has been travelling from one pastors' fellowship to another in different towns, cities and regions to share NECF's nation building agenda. The team, comprising outgoing Secretary-General Samuel Ang, Executive Secretaries Eugene Yapp (Research) and Andy Chi (Prayer), spoke on current issues and social trends confronting the nation, as well as some successful initiatives and undertakings by NECF in collaboration with churches.
For the past four years, the NECF team has been working hard to strengthen its nation-building agenda. We praise God that the response has been encouraging from some churches. The result is greater cohesiveness between regional pastors' and ministers' groups with national bodies like NECF and the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM). The Kuching Ministers' Fellowship (KMF), for example, has taken up CFM's statement in 2011 against the impoundment of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles.
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 Eugene speaking to the Petaling Jaya North Pastors' Fellowship |
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With support from NECF, KMF is also undertaking a pilot pre-school development project to build and develop pre-schools, both in terms of infrastructure and syllabus. It will be launched first in and around the Kuching area with plans for further expansion to other parts of Sarawak.
We are also thankful to the Lord for the formation and setting up of a Commission of Sabah Affairs (COSA). With COSA, NECF hopes to be able to communicate and liaise with fellow-believers and churches in Sabah to initiate strategies for the spiritual and physical well-being and welfare of the people of Sabah. One initiative, still at the proposal stage, is a research and documentation project on some of the critical issues and problems faced by Sabahan Christians.
As with all our previous deputation trips, the question-and-answer time was the most interesting and lively. The pastors asked questions covering politics, religious freedom, factors contributing to the current state of the nation, practical things the church could do and even when the 13th general election would be held! The question-time provided great interaction between the pastors and the NECF team. We are thankful to the Lord that some pastors' fellowships have taken concrete actions, such as mobilising their church members to participate as election monitors or as polling and counting agents and by setting up 24-7 prayer initiatives for the nation.
We thank the Lord for His guidance every step of the way throughout this very exciting phase of NECF's nation-building agenda!
Sam addressing the Klang Pastors' Fellowship |
