Features
01 Feb 2014

What can the Church do for our Mission Schools

Source/Author: By Ms Tay Choon Neo

Methodist Council of Education

Haven’t we all heard the general lament of our Mission Schools; some even say that they are more like a sekolah agama than a Christian Mission School. What happened to the Christian Ethos of our Methodist Schools?!

It is with joy that I bring you greetings from a new avenue of the Council of Education called Spiritual Life Development of schools. As the recently appointed Director, I covet your prayers and partnership to bring back the Christian Witness and Christian Ethos in our schools which has been eroded over the last few decades.

Our Methodist Mission Schools have been providing education since 1891 with the Anglo-Chinese School (now MBS) in Penang. After that, many schools have been set up and blessed thousands of boys and girls with a good holistic education based on Christian values and principles. There were church schools, government-aided schools, afternoon schools, continuation schools, private schools and they attracted multiracial and multi-religious students of all social-economic backgrounds. Over the years, because of changes in policies and circumstances, demographics have also changed. The ethos or pervading spirit of the school has been reformed until it is often unrecognizable as a mission school.

A Picture
A few years ago, at a church leaders’ retreat, my pastor
asked us to draw a picture of our vision for the church. In my picture there was a huge black mountain. Behind the mountain there was a river … a River of Life and Jesus was walking in the river … and there were people in the river walking with Him: teachers and students. On the banks of the river there were schools – mission schools. The schools, dotted along the river banks, were so near to the River of Life that the boys and girls could just step into the water and receive the Living Water.

What
did all that mean??!

To me, it meant that our Mission Schools are great opportu
nities to reach the young with the love of God: the proximity of the school to the river of Life. I, myself, am a product of the Methodist Girls’ School Kuala Lumpur and came to know Jesus as my Saviour and Lord whilst in Form 3. Coming from a non-Christian family, the seed was sown and nurtured in school.

However, there was no church in my picture, only schools.

The harvest field is plentiful
There are about 40,000 students and 3,000 teachers in our Methodist schools, both government-aided and private.

The land is there but who will sow the seed? Who will reap the harvest?
Opportunities abound for the church as a whole, as well as individuals, to be involved. The recent National Educational Blueprint invites the Community to come and play a supportive role for the growth and development of the school and education.

This is a big challenge for us, the church, to claim back the original mission in education. But God is concerned about young people and so should we be.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do
not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matt.19:14

Our
schools are public spaces where the greatest influence can change lives. We need people who care for these young boys and girls enough to invest their time, effort and perhaps money, for the betterment of individual lives and for the society and nation as a whole.

How the Church can do Ministry in the Mission School

1. Be a member of the School Board of Governors/Managers
2. Be an active member of the School Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG)
3. Be an supportive member of the School Alumni Association
4. Possible ministries in schools
a. Poor and Needy – financial needs, meal supplement (recess,
lunch, biscuits), bus fare, etc.
b. Coaching / Tuition for certain subjects
c. Counselling of Teachers & Students, offer a listening ear
d. Social welfare services
e. Offer help in school camps, school outings/trips
f. Girls’ Brigade (GB) and Boys’ Brigade (BB) – Officer, Help
Instructor, Chaplain
g. Help organize Founder’s Day
h. Be present at Special Days, e.g. Awards Day, Sports Day, School Performances, Retirement of Teachers, etc.
i. Support School Fund-Raising Activities
j. Visit the Heads and pray for them
k. And so much more…
5. Christian activities in schools
a. Christian Fellowship – Speakers, Advisor
b. Chapel – Speakers, Advisor, Music
c. Teach Bible Knowledge (for SPM), Religious Knowledge (non-exam Bible teaching)
d. Prayer meetings, prayer walks
e. School CF camps, Teachers’ Camps/Conferences
f. Religious Emphasis Week
6. Offer expertise/skill as human resource to any school project/function
7. Help create a Mission School atmosphere
8. The Church should strongly support the GB and BB ministry in the school by providing personnel and training; where there is no company in the school, to look into starting one. The programme is holistic and it is recognized by the Ministry of Education, as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
9. Encourage students to take up Bible Knowledge as a subject in school.
10. Promote Teaching as a Vocation and Mission. Get young people to become Teachers.
11.
Offer merit (on academic performance) or social (on financial
needs) Scholarships
12. In every school, private or government-aided, we must work towards the appointment of a SCSC (School Christian Support Committee) chairperson from a nearby church to spearhead the work.

Let us be involved in a visible, genuinely concerned and unbiased way.

We offer our assistance to educate and nurture, and if the Lord gives opportunity, to evangelise and make disciple. We do not convert people - that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord establish the work of our hands to the glory of His Name.

Ple
ase contact me for further clarification.

Shalom,

Tay Choon Neo

Email: choonneo.tay@methodisteducation.edu.my
Tel: 6016-6941456, Office: 603-79565310