PASTORAL CHAT
Dear Readers
There is no place like home and our hearts are full of praise to God for bringing us back safely from the 11th Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Soon after arrival back we were told of the sudden departure of the mother of William Teo, our most diligent Treasurer in the building of New Life B-P Church and also the home-going of Elder Geoffrey Tan’s mother. Both William Teo and Elder Geoffrey Tan are now with us worshipping at RELC. My belated deepest condolences to them.
Today I am speaking on a greater subject than praying for our Government, the subject on Jerusalem which will become capital for the whole world when Jesus returns to rule the world for a thousand years. Christians have a dual citizenship.
By Lord’s Day Oct 3, 04 we would have completed one year worshipping at RELC. We will celebrate it with a thanksgiving lunch after service at the Pin Hsiang Restaurant, RELC paying $15 and the same charge for children sitting at big tables, and $5 for buffet. Also application forms are issued for those who would want to join True Life B-P Church if you are already baptised.
As autumn has come, soon Christmas will be here and then New Year. Yearly the FEBC Bookroom sells Christian Calendars at $2.50 from 4 types in both English and Chinese. The English has John 3:16 and the Chinese “Christ is the Lord of this House”. Each adult worshipper is entitled to one calendar in English or Chinese free. Get it at the Book Table after worship. Our dissemination yearly runs into thousands. This is household evangelism. If you want more to give to friends you have to pay $2.00, cost.
Your affectionate pastor
T T
The 11th Pilgrimage to Egypt & the Holy Land
26th Aug to 11th Sep 2004
By Alice Kee Luan Keow
We, 47 pilgrims left Changi International Airport as scheduled at 11.25 pm on 26th Aug after an initial scare when some members were not allowed to check in. We arrived in Cairo 5.50 am after transiting at Dubai airport for an hour. (Cairo time is behind Singapore by 5 hrs.)
27th – 29th Aug
After clearing customs, we visited the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx and passed by the City of the Dead. We took a tour of the Egyptian Museum to see the treasures and the Tutankhamen collection which were housed there.
Next day, on the way to St Catherine Pastor exhorted and prayed for the peace of Jerusalem as in Ps. 122. Enroute, we stopped at Marah where Moses made the bitter water sweet (Ex. 15:22-25) and also Elim where there were 12 wells and 70 palm trees (Ex.15:27).
30 members set out at 1.30 am to climb Mt Sinai to watch the beautiful sunrise. We had our Lord’s Day worship at the foot of Mt Sinai. Rev Tow preached on the Ten Commandments from Ex. 20:1-17. We crossed to Israel via the Taba border. The security checks were very stringent and we took approximately 4½ hours to clear Israeli custom.
30th Aug – 3rd Sep
Time in the morning for a swim in the Dead Sea. We took the cable car up to the fortress of Masada where the Zealots made their last stand against the Romans. We had to clear another Israeli check-point before entering the city of Jericho, which has become a ghost town. They had no tourists for the last four years. All the shops and hotels were closed. It was truly a sorry sight and we’re like an “oasis in the desert” to them. On the way to Tiberias, Pastor exhorted us with Ps. 121 on the safety of the godly.
Over the next few days, we visited the Jordan River, Banias, Church of Multiplication, Church of Mt Beatitudes where Pastor gave an exhortation on Matt. 5, Capernaum to see the ancient synagogue and St Peter’s house. We had St Peter’s fish for lunch. Then we had the ancient boat ride back to Tiberias as Pastor again taught us with Ps. 107:23-32 on God’s manifold providence over men.
We went to Golan Heights, Caesarea Philippi where Peter told Jesus “Thou art the Christ” (Matt. 16:16) and Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Next was Bet Shean, the Decapolis of the Roman Empire, Bet Alpha with the famous mosaic in the synagogue, Mt Gilboa where Saul was and Ein Harod (Judges 7:1,6-7). We walked through the water shaft of Megiddo, one of Solomon’s Chariot cities, Haifa and Mt Carmel where the Prophet Elijah killed 450 Baal prophets. Then on to the ancient site of Sephorris to see the mosaics and Caesarea to see the Roman and Crusader remains.
4th – 8th Sep
Coming to Beit El Baraka never failed to excite me. The nightly devotions, feeding on God’s Word through our beloved Pastor, Rev Tow and the testimonies were the high point of past pilgrimages. I truly longed and looked forward to our home base even from the onset of the trip. It was really a home away from home atmosphere where we could fellowship over unlimited coffee and home-baked cookies.
Throughout the next few days, we visited the Church of Nativity and Shepherd’s Field in Bethlehem. We had to go through very strict security checks again, even to the extent of changing to an Arab bus before we could proceed.
On Sunday, we worshipped with the Arab brethren in Baraka B-P Church with Pastor exhorting them with scriptures from Jn. 4:23-24 and Ps. 50:23. After lunch, we toured their ¾ completed church in Shepherd’s Field. Then it was on to Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum where 6 million Jews were exterminated by the Nazis.
Other sites we went to include the Tomb of David, Upper Room where the Last Supper took place, the Church of Dormition, Mt of Olives, Place of Ascension, the Pater Noster Church, the Palm Sunday Road, the Garden of Gethsemane with its ancient olive trees, the Church of All Nations, Kidron Valley, the Pool of Siloam and St. Peter in Gallicantu where the cock crowed. We walked down the Via Dolorosa past the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the lame man (Jn. 5), and also the Stations of the Cross.
The other high point was the visit to Golgotha and the empty Garden Tomb. I felt a great sense of triumph, knowing that my LORD IS RISEN and He Lives Forever more. Hallelujah!
Emmaus, Gibeon, Ein Karem and the Model of Jerusalem as it was in Jesus’ time were also in our itinerary. Then it’s on to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We also had another chance to float on the Dead Sea.
9th – 11th Sep
It’s back to Cairo via Taba and a final tour of the ancient Pharaonic City of Memphis before boarding the plane home to Singapore.
Truly it’s been another enriching and humbling experience to walk where our LORD JESUS walked 2000 years ago. I thank the LORD for Rev and Mrs Tow for the great effort in organizing and leading us on this pilgrimage. A very special thanks especially to Mrs Tow for the many months of hard work and sleepless nights in making this trip possible. May each of the pilgrims benefit spiritually in one way or another. Lastly I thank the LORD for His sovereign protection and grace on our Pastor and all members. May all praise and glory be to GOD.
Amen!
Mount of Olives, 11th Holy Land Pilgrimage (Aug 26 – Sep 11, 2004)
