Source/Author: By Bishop Dr. Ong Hwai Teik

It is a joy to be at this joyous and auspicious occasion of the dedication of the Beautiful Gate Centre. 

I bring greetings, best wishes and warmest congratulations of the Methodist Church in Malaysia Family to this celebration. 

We are indeed most thankful to Almighty God for this ministry that has touched many lives. We have witnessed the progress and growth of the Beautiful Gate ministry, with its establishment of 8 such Centres. 

We thank the many CAC churches, individuals, 17 NGOs (including Christian ones), companies and corporations who have given financial support as well as help rendered in various ways in making today’s celebration possible. 

1. The 1st reason why the Methodist Church in Malaysia carries out this Beautiful Gate Foundation Ministry is because of our biblical roots.

A. Caring And Giving is rooted in God’s very being. He is The God Of Compassion as seen in the Old Tes-tament: An important image of God in the Bible is that of parent or father. God is Father. He is the responsible Creator who has a bond of love with His creation, especially humankind that is made after His own image. Our Father God especially cares for those in need: in the Old Testament world the most needy and vulnerable in society were the widows, orphans and aliens/migrants. ^ESV Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. ^NIV Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done. When we carry out good deeds especially to the needy and the poor – we become salt and light for God in touching, transforming, bringing needed help and awaited healing for those in need. 

B. He is the GOD of healing in the New Testament:
The New Testament continues this same active theme as it is filled with the explicit demonstrated life of compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ as He met the needs of body, mind and spirit of the people around Him. The needs of body, mind and spirit of the people around us have not changed. We witness the countless cases of how the Lord Jesus healed the scarred bodies of lepers, gave sight to the blind eyes of Bartimeus, freed Mary Magdalene from 7 evil spirits,  delivered the guilty conscience of a rich tax collector like Zacchaeus, as He told them that the power of the Kingdom of GOD/ Heaven was upon them. We, the Church, follow in the footsteps of our Beloved Saviour and Master in fulfilling the mission He came to fulfil: ^NLT Luke 4:17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, ¹⁹ and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

2. The second reason why the Methodist Church in Malaysia does this is because of our historical roots. The Methodist Church was founded by Rev John Wesley [1703- 1791]. John Wesley in 18^th Century England was well known for His outspoken resistance to the slave trade, alcohol traffic, excessive interests charged to the poor. He undertook advocacy for the poor in education. He started and superintended schools and orphanages, supported women preachers and their rights, and helped to relieve the sick. He also pioneered the electric shock treatment for the mentally ill, dealt with alcohol abuse severely, advocated prison reform, was involved in the abolition of slavery; and administered aid charities. John Wesley wrote one of the all-time bestselling medical texts titled Primitive Physick that went through 32 editions, making it one of the most widely read books in England. Because of his charitable nature he died poor, having lived by his own convictions: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever  you can.” The second is -“Earn all you can, give all you can, save all you can”. 

3. We are glad that today, in the Methodist Church in Malaysia – our caring and giving continues to be rooted in God’s very being as the God of compassion, and founded on the great historical heritage of the Methodist Church left to us by God’s servant John Wesley. Today, our Methodist Churches in Malaysia, amongst many of our social outreach work are Prison Ministry, Homes and Caring for the elderly, Orphanages and Homes and tuition centres for poor children especially in Sibu, Bintulu, KK, Drug Rehabilitation Centre, Health Clinic Sessions, free legal clinics, 69 Mission Schools, 2 Private Colleges and 6 private schools, operating Dialysis Centres, our Methodist Education Foundation [with text exemption status] gave grants to 128 students amounting to RM 375,275 in 2018. We thank the Lord for the Ministry Of Beautiful Gate – that continues to minister in the healing name of Jesus Christ.

4. We continue to minister in this wonderful name that provides blessings. He supplies our needs to facilitate this ministry and gives us the success of our labour. In the words of King Solomon, the wise king who is attributed to writing only 2 Psalms, Ps 127 and Ps 72. ^ESV Psalm 127:1 a song of ascents of solomon. “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” His father King David, a very able soldier, talented musician, a man of valour and bravery, full of charisma/ magnetism/ appeal and surrounded by deeply loyal and very skilled soldiers/ warriors – said the same thing in another way in Ps 124. _^NLT Psalm 124:1 “What if the LORD had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat: We thank the Lord – he is on our side because we have chosen to be on his side” – even as this ministry of Beautiful Gate is inspired by Jesus Christ of Nazareth and submitted to the Lordship and leading of the Holy Spirit.

5. Let me close with the words of John Wesley: “But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing!” ― John Wesley

And so today as we dedicate this building and ministry of the Beautiful Gate Foundation, we dedicate ourselves to “Be Not Weary Of Well Doing”! AMEN.