SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA — Who or what is God in this season?
Ninety-nine Christians from across Southeast Asia pondered that question as they stared at blank sheets of paper. Their assignment: Write a poem. Draw a picture. Create a word cloud. Do something creative to illustrate what God looks like to them.
They split into groups based on their homelands and languages and spread out across the auditorium and classrooms of the Seremban Church of Christ. They represented 10 countries, from Mongolia in the north to Indonesia in the south, but shared a mission, providing care for disadvantaged children. They represented a variety of ministries, including Agape Asia.
A Christian who lives in Myanmar shows his illustration of a regal-yet-loving God.
A Christian from Myanmar — where violence has become common since the military ousted the country’s government three years ago — drew a smiling, stick-figure king on a throne. “He loves me so much, so he sent me his son,” the Burmese Christian wrote.
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Steven Tham, a leader of the Petaling Jaya Church of Christ in Malaysia, drew a mended heart under a cross next to the words of Ephesians 2:14, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.”
Steven Tham shows his illustration during the Respite retreat.
When the groups reassembled in the auditorium, the Chinese Christians were the last to arrive.
“We needed the extra time,” said one of them, who goes by the name Moses. It was the first time many of them had seen each other in person in five years. As they shared what God is to them, they shed tears.
“There’s a comfort that comes from being face to face,” Moses said. In a country with few Christians, “it can be lonely.” Even in a Christian ministry, it’s easy to lose focus on God.
In his own picture, Moses drew a tree festooned with branches of green, yellow and red. He wrote small arrows next to each red branch and Chinese hanzi characters describing them — “Pride,” “Worry,” “Fear.”
These branches don’t bear fruit, Moses said.
Lately, that’s how he’s felt.
Thankfully, “God cuts the sick parts out.”
Moses shares his depiction of what God means in his life.
‘Rest is a spiritual discipline’
Running Christ-centered ministries for children is tough.
Doing so under a regime that represses religion is tougher.
“The most offensive thing about grace is that it only goes to those who don’t deserve it,” says Seth Bouchelle during a Sunday morning Bible class at the conclusion of the Respite retreat.
What may be tougher still: Convincing Christians who operate such ministries to rest.
“Repeat after me: Rest is a spiritual discipline,” Seth Bouchelle told the participants. “And busyness is not a Fruit of the Spirit.”
“Repeat after me: Rest is a spiritual discipline. And busyness is not a Fruit of the Spirit.”
Bouchelle and his coworker, Becca Patton, conducted sessions during the four-day retreat, Respite. Bouchelle, a graduate of Abilene Christian University in Texas, works with multiethnic and immigrant churches that meet across Manhattan and the Bronx in New York.
He and Patton are part of Exponent Group, a nonprofit focused on equipping, spiritual formation and community restoration. Christians in Singapore spent a year working with the nonprofit to introduce immigrants to the Gospel through a network of small groups.
Jesus, during his ministry on earth, took time to withdraw from crowds, said Bouchelle, who encouraged the participants to do likewise. He and Patton built in long breaks between sessions. Still, many of the retreaters struggled with the urge to use those breaks to check in on the children they serve back home.
Participants break into groups to discuss focus questions during the Respite retreat.
“Taking care of my kids, that’s my priority during the day,” said Prashanth Alam, director of Bangalore Christian College and Missions in India. His wife, Jyothi Nirmala, works in a real estate office so that the family doesn’t have to rely on foreign support.
Alam visits at least four Churches of Christ per week and conducts Bible studies and Vacation Bible Schools. On Tuesdays and Saturdays he works with those ready for baptism. He also coordinates the three-year-old college, which is about to graduate its first class.
How did he find time for the retreat?
“My wife told me to go,” Alam said with a chuckle. “She tells me to slow down, to take some rest.”
Serving in a predominantly Hindu nation, “I’ve seen many disappointments,” Alam said. He used to dwell on them, but “I’ve stopped doing that. Failure happens.”
Betty Chukka
His mentor, Jacob Chukka, helped him to navigate the highs and lows. Chukka, who died in 2019, left behind a legacy that includes multiple children’s homes and a Christian school with about 250 students. Chukka’s daughter, Betty, oversees the work and participated in the retreat.
Amid the stresses of ministry management, it’s important to find time to “leave all of the tension behind,” Betty Chukka said. “I think this kind of thing should continue.”
‘Spiritual conversations without agenda’
Alam thought that the retreat was specifically for workers with Agape Asia. He was surprised to meet Christians who work in other ministries — some not even associated with childcare.
That was by design, said Sam Leow, a native of Malaysia and an elder of the Highland Church of Christ in Cordova, Tenn. Participants got the chance to meet fellow believers from a variety of disciplines.
Leow is treasurer for Agape Asia’s board of trustees. The nonprofit initially focused on surgical care for the underprivileged in China. During the pandemic, Agape Asia expanded to include ministries that serve children in India, Nepal, Myanmar and Mongolia. Now the ministry cares for about 1,600 children.
Sam Leow, right, serves the Lord’s Supper during Sunday morning worship on the final day of the Respite retreat.
Bouchelle serves on Agape Asia’s advisory board. Leow said he was impressed by the way Bouchelle and Tan Beng Chuan, retired lead minister for the Pasir Panjang Church of Christ in Singapore, worked together there.
“The key is, how do we disciple the next generation?” Leow said.
Tan coordinated the retreat, which included a group of Christians from Pasir Panjang and other Churches of Christ in Singapore. Pasir Panjang supports mission work in India and other parts of Southeast Asia.
Tan Beng Chuan gives instruction to retreat-goers.
“You are holy people, set apart for this retreat,” Tan told the participants.
Since the early days of mission work in Southeast Asia, just after World War II, doctrinal debates and controversies have divided Churches of Christ. Tan’s wish for the retreat was for Christians to engage in “spiritual conversations without agenda.”
A ‘Scriptural recipe’ to help children
Dale Taylor visits with Dr. Ann Wang Pierce, director of China and operational projects for Agape Asia, outside the meeting place of the Seremban Church of Christ in Malaysia.
Among the attendees were Agape Asia’s board chair, Steve Shaner, and executive director Dale Taylor, a former missionary to Asia. The nonprofit seeks to serve orphans and to plant churches “in places where no one is going to serve the children and no one is going to preach Jesus,” Taylor said.
Shaner, a retired communications professor at Harding University in Arkansas, encouraged participants to receive personal coaching from Bouchelle and Patton. He also suggested training from Mission Resource Network. David and Michelle Allen, former missionaries to Thailand who work with the Texas-based nonprofit, attended the retreat and conducted informal meetings with participants.
Although coaching and training are valuable tools for those who serve children, Shaner pointed to the Bible as the blueprint for Agape Asia’s ministry, specifically Luke 2:52: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”
“That’s the Scriptural recipe for how to help abandoned and neglected children to grow — Luke 2:52: ‘And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.’ ”
“That’s the Scriptural recipe for how to help abandoned and neglected children to grow,” Shaner said. Christians help children grow in wisdom through their schoolwork, in stature through nutrition and in favor with God through Bible study and discipleship.
As a result, children grow in favor with the souls around them, Shaner said, and point others to the cross.
Steve Shaner speaks during the Respite retreat.
‘Like rain in the tropical forest’
On the final day of the retreat, the 99 Christians became one congregation, joining their voices in worship as Kenneth Gong, a member of the Seremban Church of Christ, led classic hymns:
“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord; he taketh my burden away.”
Solongo Ganbat
It was the largest church gathering Solongo Ganbat had ever been a part of. The Mongolian native became a Christian in 2017 and serves as managing director of a nongovernmental organization that cares for orphans.
Her small church can have from seven to 20 in attendance, “so this is huge for me,” Ganbat said. Less than 2 percent of the 3 million souls in her nation claim Christianity as their faith.
“Here, I feel like I’m in a family,” Ganbat said. “This congregation is impressive, with lots of folks to know. We need to know each other well. Our time here is not enough.”
Mongolia’s constitution provides for freedom of religion. So does Malaysia’s, although the country has a Muslim majority and strict anti-conversion laws.
“We’re thankful for the freedom to worship,” Seremban church member Chan Kar Yean prayed between hymns, “realizing that many here don’t have that freedom.”
In China, Christians groups must worship quietly, in small groups, and must be careful with whom they share their faith, said Moses, who serves about 100 neglected and abandoned children in three communities in China.
That’s why he and his fellow Christians spent so long in their discussion sessions during the retreat, he said. It was a rare joy to speak about Jesus freely.
Johnston Seah, a member of the Pasir Panjang Church of Christ in Singapore, repairs a broken clay jar during a kintsugi project at the Respite retreat. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold. Retreat participants used super glue and gold paint.
When asked if he’s ever persecuted for his faith, Moses brushed the question aside.
“That happens all the time,” he said. “I’ve been brought to the police station, told to give up my faith. It’s just like in the Bible. It’s just common persecution. That’s the environment. It’s like rain in a tropical forest.”
How does he cope?
Moses reacted as if the question was a bit silly.
“I’ve got the Bible,” he said. “I’ve got God.”
Jojo Ramos of Baguio City, Philippines, explains his artwork about what God means to him as his wife, Janet, watches.
Vikraman, who preaches for the Tamil and English services of the Seremban Church of Christ, prays at the beginning of the Respite retreat.
Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
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