FOCUS ON ASIA
SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL BIBLE INSTITUTE
Newsletter of Charles and Tamara Cook
Pasir Panjang Church of Christ
347 Pasir Panjang Rd.
Singapore 118688
ccook00@gmail.com http://focusonasia.wordpress.com
June, 2009
CHECK OUT THE BLOG FOR A LISTING OF SIBI CLASSES OFFERED IN JULY AND AUGUST I know that many of you check our blog for additional news each month. If you want a detailed list showing times and subjects for July and August it can be down-loaded at: http://focusonasia.wordpress.com/ Shown left are Stuart and Cecilia Jones who direct an outreach called Senior Adventures In Missions at SIBI Lubbock. Bro Jones also serves as an elder at the Sunset Church of Christ in Lubbock. Stuart will teach “Christian History (c100 to c1517)” and “Science Supports Scripture,” the details about these two courses can also be obtained on the blog. Later a guest instructor will be with us to teach “The Minor Prophets” and “The Christian Home.” We are expecting, along with our regular students, several foreign students from Malaysia, China and perhaps Myanmar. Also included in the July/August lineup are course like “Historical Christian Evidences,” “Identity of The Lord’s Church,” and others by Tom Goracke and myself…see the blog at http://focusonasia.wordpress.com/category/sibi/.
Sunset Apollos Institute
Glen Gray from Chattanooga, Tenn., USA will be our guest in Singapore June 6-9, 2009 to tell us about the Sunset Apollos Institute and all that their programs offer in the areas of Leadership and Marketplace Evangelism. On Sunday, June 7th, Glen has been invited by the Pasir Panjang Church of Christ to take the Bible school hour and make a presentation of what Apollos is all about.
THEN IT’S OFF TO CAMP… JUNE 10-13
The above picture shows the nearly 400 Christians who gathered in Melaka, Malaysia last year (June 08) for the Annual Church Camp, and with the number expected and activities planned for 09, this camp should be even greater than 08! We are looking forward to a great camp. Glen Gray has been invited to be the camp keynote speaker and our own Tom Goracke will be the speaker for the Youth Program. This year’s camp will be held at: Port Dickson, West Malaysia.
MISSION INTERNS RETURN FROM P.I.
Ten members of PP’s youth group have just returned from Tuao, Philippine Islands, where they spent a month doing actual mission work. [front row (left to right): Magdalene Lim, Charmaine Tan, Cheryl Soh, Geraline Lim, Olivia Leow, Joel Goh back row(left to right): Michelle Wong, Kenneth Kuek, Irvin Wan and Darren Chan (we’ll train the 2 little ones later)] For two months or better they were in classes with Tom and I as we taught them mission principles and textual studies from the Word of God. All that time we kept telling them, “you can learn about missions in the classroom, but on the field where where you learn to do missions.” Now we suspect they better understand what we meant. The whole church is very pleased with the dedication and hard work these young people have displayed.
OPEN BIBLE STUDY
Every Wednesday at 10 am Singapore International Bible Institute conducts an Open Bible Study for the community of Singapore…everyone is invited. Our attendance has been around 30 each week and growing. We are now into the Book of Romans, without doubt the most challenging book in the Bible. Please tell your friends about this opportunity for fellowship and study.
REGISTRATION AND STUDENT HOUSING PROGRESS
We can happily report that real progress is being made for getting official recognition from the local government, a necessary step before we can bring over foreign students to study with us. It is difficult, to say the least, for students from other countries to get permission to come to us as students without our registration identification. Those who have come to us so far have been guests, not students. This step will make us a recognized educational institution with the Singapore government. Our SIBI board of directors have been invaluable for helping get this accomplished. Tom Goracke is working closely with the board to also nail down a place where foreign students can be housed and still easily get to our school facility. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1)
CARE GROUPS THROUGHOUT THE CITY
In addition to the regular SIBI classes and the Open Bible Study program we have Care Groups (small groups) that meet at three different times during the week. Beng Chuan Tan, one of PP’s elders, organizes them and I teach the gatherings. We are now studying the books of John and Romans on campus with university students, business men (some retired), office workers in Singapore’s business district, and others.
SKYPING WITH MUMBAI
The Craig Philips family, missionaries to Mumbai, India, were with us for a few day at the end of May and the renewed fellowship was wonderful. They are pictured above as we all met with the House Helpers, a fellowship of foreign workers from the Philippines within the PP congregation. We got to talking about “skyping” and then Craig wondered out loud “why couldn’t we study the Bible with one another using skype?” We are now in the process of finding out if that might not be a feasible way for us to communicate the Word of God to those separated by distance. Many are already doing this
LEADERSHIP SEMINAR IN SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA
This first weekend of June (June 5-7) I will be traveling to Seremban, Malaysia to conduct a Leadership study with the Seremban Church of Christ, 318, Jalan Lobak 11, 70200 Seremban. Ken and Estelle Sinclair, long time missionaries to Asia, are with this congregation and the minister is Kok Bin Ong who serves as a member of our SIBI board of directors. I am praying that these leadership seminars we conduct will help churches in this part of the world to develop the kind of oversight God would want them to have…servant leaders with the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5-11).
RON DOWNEY COMING TO SINGAPORE
The Sunset International Schools division has announced that Ron Downey will replace George Carman as director of the Asian branch schools. Bro. George will be semi-retired but still vitally interested in Asian missions. We will introduce Ron Downey in our next printing.
God bless, Keep the Faith,
Charles and Tamara Cook
