Work Through Us

Inspire our heart

Give us dreams and visions

Knowing Your heart

And hearing Your voice

Anoint us

Empower us

Work through us

Use our hands

Use our feet

Use our heart

To touch the lowly

To speak to the disdain

To comfort the weak

Anoint us 

Work powerfully 

Through each of us

Divine Providence

Monte and I were at the Ministers' Institute cum Retreat (MIR) in Malacca, Malaysia, from 21 - 24 November, 2016. Our stay in Holiday Inn was wonderful. 

Our friends, B and M (a christian couple), have graciously paid for me to attend this retreat. I am deeply indebted to their kind generosity and help.

Time and again, God has shown His goodness and faithfulness to Monte and I. We are humbled and thankful for His providence and grace. The Lord's unending mercy is new every morning. His unfailing love never fails. Our hearts rejoice for He is exceedingly good. God has blessed us beyond our wildest imagination.

Awesome Privilege

Last Sunday morning, Monte was preaching at Pentecostal Christian Community. His message:

"Build an Ark for Coming Rain."
There are time God prompts us to build arks
Though there be no show of coming rain.
Regardless of what we see or don't see
Times when God us to acts of faith
Acting as apostolic people
Partnering with God towards
The dreams He gives us
Getting ready for coming rain
For the blessing of humanity
And the healing of creation."

Our hearts are filled with deep gratitude for every opportunity we have to minister. We continue to draw from God's throne of grace. God grants us His wisdom, grace and understanding to share what He places on our hearts. As vulnerable and weak vessels, His transforming and empowering presence graced us to love and serve Him and His people. It is a great privilege to share His message of hope, renewal and restoration.

Five Loaves and Two Fishes

This morning, Monte is invited to preach at His Sanctuary.  We are thankful for every ministry opportunity.  God grants us His mercy and grace to serve Him in season and out of season.  We offer our five loaves and two fishes to the Lord.  We call out to the Lord to do what we are incapable to do.  As we posture our hearts to serve God and His people, the Lord empowers us.  He graces us with His strength to do the work of the ministry.  God's faithfulness reaches to the sky and His tender mercies are new every morning.

God’s Opened Door

In 2008, the Lord's opened door for me to be on the judging panel of FAME2008.  This was an inter-boarding school singing competition for some boarding schools here in Singapore. It was held last night at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) Boarding School. Along with me were three other judges. We had a great time together.

When I was first approached to be a judge, I was thinking to myself that maybe someone else who was more qualified could do a better job. When I finally accepted the offer, I felt so honoured and privileged. The competition was so well planned. We spotted some real good talents. I learnt so much through the experience.

Another incident of God’s opened door happened when we were in Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (APTS) in Baguio, Philippines between 2000 and 2001.  The late Dr Chin Do Kham, who was then the Dean of Students, was not able to honour a commitment as something unforeseen had crept up and he asked if I could take it on. When I found out that I had to minister at a worship seminar at Baguio Assembly of God, I was hesitant.  He could have asked any student in the seminary or the faculty member to stand in for him.  I was deeply honoured of the invitation.  I felt that it was a little too much to fill his shoes. 

Monte encouraged me to go ahead as he felt that I could do it. To cut the long story short, I took on the challenge. It turned out to be a great blessing. I went away encouraged and thankful for God's help, grace and strength because His enablement and empowerment was more than enough for me to accomplish the task.

When God opens the door, He graces us with all that is necessary to do the job. In our inadequacy and timidity, we may miss the His blessings. When we step out in faith and confidence in Him, He lifts us up to greater heights. He teaches us new things and opens us to the realm of the supernatural.  He broadens our horizons.  He stretches us to trust Him for we are incapable to do anything without His empowerment.  He shows us the smallness of our strength and the greatness of His power.

Monte has penned some lyrics to a song entitled The Love of God is Overflowing

The love of God, is overflowing

It reaches to, the deepest sea.

The love of God, is overflowing

It rises up, for you and me

The love of God is overflowing

Like a fount, that's pure and free

The love of God, is overflowing

It's flowing down, for you and me

I put in a simple melody and we used it at the end of January this year when Monte was preaching at His Sanctuary.  The Lord granted a wonderful time of ministry that day.

We enjoy ministering together.

The little that we offer to the Lord may seem small in our own eyes but the Lord can use what we have in our hands.  Serving the Lord reaps bountiful blessings and joy.  We can only abandon ourselves completely to the Master in love and total submission.  God is so good.

Servants of the Lord

Last Sunday, Monte was preaching at His Sanctuary.  We had a wonderful time of ministry.  Our hearts are overwhelmed by God's goodness.  

We minister at the church twice yearly.  Every time we are there, some warm and cheerful elderly ushers would welcome us.  We love seeing them.  Their love, enthusiasm and loving service is heartwarming.  God has given each of us talents, gifts and abilities for service.  Long ago, I read about an individual who would faithfully prepare and wash communion cups in church.  What may seem small in the eyes of man means a lot to God.  Everything that we do with a sincere and grateful heart reaps boundless blessings from on high.  God sees our hearts, He empowers us to love and serve because we are all servants of the Lord.

God is the Strength of our Heart

Yesterday, we had the privilege to minister at His Sanctuary.  We had a great time of ministry.  God is the strength of our heart; we continue to depend on Him.

We were caught by surprise when the church took a special offering to meet the cost of Monte’s upcoming conference in Virginia, USA.  You may read more on it at http://jeefong.blogspot.com/search?q=conference

God has gone beyond our wildest imagination.  He continues to lead us on the path He has laid before us.  As we thread on it, we can only say that God is amazing and His mercies endure forever.

Liberating Ministry

Yesterday evening, Monte and I had a wonderful time ministering at J-Gospel, the Japanese fellowship of St Andrew’s Cathedral.  The Lord graced us with His presence.  As we gathered in His name, He revealed Himself to us as our ever-present God who is powerfully at work in our lives.

We came away encouraged, enriched and empowered.  The Lord has graciously allowed us to partner with Him and we are awed by His greatness and wonder.  We entrust every opportunity and occasion to allow Him to work in and through us.  We worship a miracle working God who looks impossibilities in the eye and declare that all things are possible to those who believe.  We pray for an enlargement and extension in our capacity to allow God to lead us to unchartered waters and unclaimed territories.  We believe the Lord for mighty victories as the Lord triumphs over the enemy.  The Lord has overwhelmed us over and beyond what we could ever dream or imagine.  He has put within our hearts a quest for a liberating ministry that sets men and women free to worship our living God in spirit and in truth.  The Lord is raising fearless people who will pursue Him with every fibre of their beings.

Vessels for Him

In preparation for today's ministry at J-Gospel, the Japanese Fellowship of St Andrew's Cathedral, Monte and I spent some time to pray at the Lower Pierce Reservoir.  We cherish these precious moments when we can seek the face of the Lord together in prayer.

Monte will preach and I will be ministering in songs.  We thank God for each opportunity to serve God and His people.  We are mindful that God is the one who has graciously opened the door of ministry; we serve from hearts of gratitude for we are merely His vessels.  We cannot do anything apart from His grace and empowerment.  We give Him all glory and praise.

Never too Busy

We live in such a busy world.  We are so busy with our lives that we miss out important things in life like family and friends.  Besides being busy, another characteristic of modern people is we want everything instant.  Instant noodles, coffee, services of all kinds and even instant results in everything.  We become impatient and insensitive to people whom we deem slow.  We become immune to the glaring needs of people around us as we become more absorbed in ourselves.  We serve our immediate needs before we give a thought to others.  We are increasingly hesitant to share our time and resources with people whom God has put on our hearts.

When we examine the life of Christ, we see an opposite picture.  His heart is always leaning towards the needy.  He fed the hungry, He quenched their thirst, He comforted the heavy-laden, He ministered to the outcast of society knowing that His reputation was at stake.  The life of Christ oozes with love and compassion this world has never known until He appeared.  He shows us the way to live.  He shows us how to give unconditionally.

We long to hear the heartbeat of the Lord.  We want to respond to what is important to Him.  We pray for the Lord to sensitize our heart and spirit to respond to His prompting to reach out to people.  We cannot be too busy to care because His love compels us to love and serve.

Our Home Fellowship

On the 30^th September this year,  Monte and I started our home fellowship.  We have been in prayer for some years now and when the go-ahead sign came, we launched out in simple faith and committed it to the hands of the Lord.  It is an honour to partner with the Lord in this endeavour.  The Lord’s unfailing love and constant leading overwhelm us.  He is our faithful and dependable God.  In the natural, we feel that we are launched into deep waters but in our spirit, we sense an excitement and expectation.  We know that God is with us and He will carry the home fellowship, we are not alone.

If you are not a Christian but open to experience Christian fellowship, or if you are a Christian but currently not settled within a fellowship - you are welcome to visit our Thursday evening home fellowship at our house (Sengkang area; 8pm). Currently, this small group fellowship involves breaking of bread, worship choruses, sharing of stories, sacred Scripture reading (currently, we are reading through the book of Ephesians), and prayers for one another.  You may reach us at montejf@singnet.com.sg

The Ministry of Love

The work of the ministry is fulfilling, wonderful and often challenging. 

The Lord pours His grace on us as we serve Him. He grants us divine empowerment and strength. 

We cannot accomplish anything with human strength and wisdom. We are completely reliant on the Lord in our quest to serve Him.

As we minister, we open up and share our lives with people. We become vulnerable. God ministers through our vulnerability.

We share our mountain top and valley experiences. We share our sorrow and our joy. 

We are vulnerable people with very real needs. God cares deeply for each of us. He loves us with an everlasting love.

God chooses to use broken vessels to reveal His glory.

We are fully dependent on God's grace and strength. He empowers and energises us each day.

The  ministry of love is inspired by the power of God's Spirit. 

It is love that is poured out from the heart of God. The Lord enables us to persevere in love and faithful service. 

We purpose in our hearts to serve the Lord no matter what it takes.

God has blessed us beyond our wildest imagination. He sustains us with His love and power. He makes us strong and pliable in His hands. 

We love because He first loved us. We will keep pressing on. 

As the Lord’s willing vessels, we fully submit and commit ourselves to the call of God on our lives.

Open Hearts

Last Sunday, we were glad and thankful to the Lord for allowing us to minister at Khush Khabri Fellowship. Monte preached on “Living Your Destiny as a His-story Maker.” (Eph1). We thank God for every open heart who had received the word which was spoken in weakness.

We are completely reliant on the Lord because we know that we can never achieve anything apart from the grace and providence of the Lord. As we sow the seed of His word, we are mindful that the Holy Spirit brings growth to us when we allow the full reign of His Spirit in every area of our life. We are partakers of His divine grace and we can only go as far as He leads us.

Five Loaves and Two Fishes

Monte and I are thankful for the Lord’s open door to minister at Mount Olives Church of God Power Pack Wednesday last week. Monte delivered the word and I led in a time of praise and worship. The Lord graced the service and blessed us with a good time of ministry.

We treasure every opportunity that God presents to us. We are mindful of our complete reliance on the Spirit of God who empowers us to do the work of the ministry. As we offer our five loaves and two fishes, the Lord has never failed to multiply them to meet the needs of the people. He pours out His grace to nourish and nurture us. He fills our hungry hearts and thirsty souls. We know that we are merely His channel, His vessels totally dependant on His sovereign hand.

He Wants Us

The Lord wants us. He multiplies our gifts and talents and uses them for His glory. Some of us are good at working with children, others with teenagers and young adults. Some are good at relating to the elderly. No matter what our strength is, it is never too small and insignificant. The Lord will use them all.

A person with a megawatt smile exudes a sense of warmth and very soon the ushering team leader will come a knocking to see if you would be keen to be a part of the ushering team. I have seen church members who do their part in washing communion cups.Others have availed their help to arrange chairs before a service.Loving service is an act of servant hood. The mark of a leader is servant hood.

The Lord wants our faithful love and service. He wants our allegiance. Serving God is for our own good as we mature in the Lord through serving the body of Christ. We develop strength, tenacity and learn to relate to our brethrens when we work as a team. Serving God will enlarge our capacity to embrace and accept people who may be different from us.

His Masterpiece

Yesterday, Monte and I were with Radiant Community Church. We are thankful for the Lord’s opening to bring the word to God’s people. Monte preached on The Greatest Story Ever Told. God is writing the greatest story of all time. That is the story of your life and mine. With open hearts and minds, we allow our maker to do everything necessary to fulfill His purposes in and through our lives. We are His workmanship and prized possession and He wants to present us as His masterpiece.

The Shepherd's Heart

While Monte and I were in Baguio, Philippines from June 2000 to April 2001, the Lord graciously opened doors for us to minister.  One time, Monte was preaching at a church on the mountain in another area. The name of the pastor was John.  Pastor John was a wonderful man. We learned that the his wife was taken ill for a prolonged period. So along with another church member, we visited her at home. Pastor John's house was next to the church.

It is one thing to minister when things are going smoothly. But, for dear pastor John, he ministered with the burden of caring for a very sick wife. He kept on track because God empowered him daily.  He trusted the Lord.  He persevered against all odds

Oftentimes, pastors brave through tremendous difficulties and trying circumstances to serve the Lord. They perseveres through insurmountable challenges that weigh heavily upon their hearts. The love of God compels them to keep on going on. God has put within each one of them His shepherd’s heart. A heart that goes all out to reach every sheep within his fold.  A heart that is filled with God's rich love.  They do not hold back in fear and discouragement but surge forward through the might and strength of almighty God.

He has a soft Spot for the Needy

Years ago while we were in the Philippines, one time Monte preached at a mountain church. We had such a wonderful time of ministry to the villages. The people were so warm and kind. They may be poor but they were full of the joy of the Lord. The Lord always has a soft spot for the poor and the needy. As we ministered among the poor in the land, God’s power and grace flowed from His throne to touch those precious and needy people. After the service had ended, they served us chicken with rice for lunch. Chicken was a delicacy for these poor villages. Our hearts warmed up by their hospitality and kindness. They served us their best portions and for that, we received with immense gratitude.

Thankful

We are thankful for the invitation for Monte to preach at His Sanctuary on 17 April, 2010. We extend our thanks to Pastor Luke and his church for the wonderful opportunity to bring the word to their congregation. We are humbled by the grace and goodness of our almighty God.

The word of God is so precious. He leads and directs us through His word. We are mindful that His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. He uses His word to purge us of all uncleanness and filth. He also refreshes us with His life giving word. No wonder the psalmist said that he loved the law of the Lord. For His word brings us life and wholeness.