Community Day
By Ps Ng Zhiwen
2 hours before Community Day (16th November) began, I was making my way to our church premises. Earlier in the day, there was a wedding, and right after the wedding ceremony and lunch, there was a major handing over of the Fellowship Hall, so that all the food and activities for Community Day (organized by 27 AGs and youth groups) could be set up on time!
The Functional Health Screening that our Seniors360 ministry had arranged was already underway in the Chapel and in other rooms. I figured that some guests had already arrived. But would that be it?
Earlier on, over the 3 weekends prior to Community Day, over 22 AGs and youth groups did door-to-door invitations to 33 blocks of flats in Bishan.
We catered dinner for 400 people that evening.
And then it rained.
And it didn’t look like it’d stop.
We didn’t do any pre-event registration, so we had no idea as to who would actually show up.
Will anyone come at all? Will all our members be just standing there at their booths with no one to engage but themselves? Will all our effort come to nothing? What will we say to our members who have worked so hard? Will today be one big disappointment?
Over the one hour before the actual start (at 4pm), all we could do was to pray, and finish the setting up, and leave everything into God’s hands. People gathered in small groups to pray. I sat myself down in the office to pray, and then another time in the Main Sanctuary (brother Desmond Chew was there, and we prayed together).
The rest is history.
People just kept coming. First time visitors and also long-time friends whom we have known through our home missions ministries.
The fellowship hall was constantly full, and everywhere was abuzz with activity.
The chapel was crowded with Seniors waiting their turn for their health screening. The barbers clocked their first free hair cut before 4pm, and never got to rest until 6pm.
I was at first concerned that the less visible activities (the ones that were not in the fellowship hall) would not receive much human traffic, but my concerns were unfounded. “Waves of people” visited the Empathy Lab run by our Enabling Ministry folks.
When dinner began, we soon ran out of food and utensils.
Many of our own people chose to serve dinner, talk to our guests, or help with the clean-up, before going to find food for themselves after the event.
My heart was so full after the event, and I’m sure it was the same with the rest of the organizing team.
The LORD surprised us all with more than what we expected. And for a moment, it seemed like this was what God did with the ones we’d learned about in Genesis (Adam and Eve, Noah, Abram), to simply trust and obey Him, and watch Him work.
And perhaps one of the biggest treats of all was seeing so many of you serving in the door-to-door invitations and at Day itself. In the end, Community Day was not just about the community in the neighborhood. It’s also about us and for us – the Gospel community.
To all who came, I hope you were blessed. Remember in prayer those you got to meet.
All glory be to God! He is good.
