THEME: Evangelism and Church Planting

From 11th to 13th May 2006, about 60 servants of God (including Bishops, Presidents, Pastors, Church Leaders and Representatives) gathered at Ayer Keroh D'Village Resort in Malacca for a three-day conference. It was organised by the Fellowship of the Indian Denominational Churches of Singapore and Malaysia (FIDC).

After dinner the Bishop of the Methodist Church of Singapore, Bishop Dr. Robert Solomon, delivered his keynote address on "Evangelism and Church Planting: Biblical Perspective" based on the Book of Acts.

The next two days were given to the theme of evangelism and church growth. The two days’ devotions were led by Bishop Julius Paul of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Malaysia and Bishop Ponniah of the Anglican Diocese.

On the first morning Rev. Mathew Mathews of an Independent Church in Singapore spoke on the need to take into account the social and cultural factors that influence evangelism and church growth within the Singapore context. Then Dr. S. Batumalai of the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia presented the Malaysian side of the same scenario.

That afternoon the participants were divided into ten groups, each group given a topic which looked at factors/issues that hindered evangelism and church growth in their own church context. As the participants were varied in denominational background and locality, there was much deliberation and discussion during the plenary session that followed. That evening Mrs. Sheila Dharmaratnam from Singapore presented her paper on "Growing a Healthy Church - Christ's Strategy". It dealt with the various stages of preparation in the ministry of Jesus Christ, that gave a useful pattern for us to follow.

On the final day, Bishop Dr. Robert Solomon briefed the participants on the history, formation and the future aspiration and direction of the FIDC. His briefing was well received by the participants and all agreed that FIDC should move ahead more vigorously. Rev. Joseph Kumar of the Tamil Annual Conference Malaysia presented the final paper of the conference. It was a two-part presentation. The first part dealt with the struggles and success of the Tamil Annual Conference. The second part was a challenge to be radical in our approach to evangelism and church growth within our multi-religious society. The conference ended with the closing speech by Bishop Dr. Robert Solomon.

Overall it was a useful conference, learning new ideas on evangelism and church growth especially among the Indian people group in Malaysia and Singapore. It also gave us the opportunity to know our fellow brothers on both sides of the causeway. It challenged the participants to be more involved in evangelism and church growth by obeying the Lord's Com-mand in Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations". May the Lord bless us!

Rev. Elijah Bala (TAC)