Young Adult Ministry Stories

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8

Under the gentle guidance of our Director of Pastoral Care and Spiritual Formation, Soo Hoong, a group of 24 young adults gathered on Saturday 18 July to spend an afternoon of extended time alone with God. Many of us had heard of the term Lectio Divina (Latin for ‘divine reading of Scripture’) and were keen to experience for ourselves this prayerful reading of the Word, just as the 6th century Benedictine monks did.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them.” John 6:44

Indeed, it is the Lord who draws us to Himself first, for He wants to draw near to us more than we can ever want to draw near to Him. The spiritual retreat, conducted online via Zoom, began with an introduction to the purpose of Lectio Divina - i.e. to tune in to God and ourselves, as we meditate on passages of Scripture, so that we might be able to hear God’s loving word to each of us in this season of our lives. The goal was not to study the Bible, but rather to allow God to speak to us and show us things from His perspective. And through it all, that we may find rest for our restless souls.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

The Lord Jesus’ invitation to us still stands today. The busyness of life often robs us of time and energy to pause and be attentive to the gentle whisper of our Lord. This endless and, sometimes, mindless rush from task to task distracts us from growing in love with Jesus.

“For the Word of God is living and active.” Hebrews 4:12

Truly, God gives His word to us in love, to heal our brokenness and strengthen our feeble limbs. The Holy Spirit, who knows the mind of God, is able to bring His word in season to us. As the young adults quietened our hearts to encounter God, we were guided through the 4 phases of Lectio Divina:

- “Lectio” (reading) - reading slowly to hear the sacred Word of God

- “Mediatio” (reflecting) - pondering on God’s personal word to us

- “Oratio” (responding) - expressing our honest and heartfelt response back to God

- “Contemplatio” (resting) - resting in the presence of God

It was a time of conversation and intimacy with the Lord, where deep called out to deep. As we listened carefully to the reading of a chosen passage (Psalm 23), and noted down any special word, phrase or image that touched our senses, each of us allowed the Holy Spirit to minister His love and healing to our hearts.

“I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.” Isaiah 41:10

After an hour of communal reading and meditation on Scripture, participants took the next hour to do heart-to-heart time with the Lord in the comfort of our individual homes. At the end of that hour, we gathered in virtual breakout rooms where facilitators guided us to share the downloads received from the Lord. Many shared about how the Lord reminded them of His loving goodness to care for them in whatever circumstances they may be facing. Truly, God speaks in the silence of our hearts.

In the concluding segment, Soo Hoong encouraged each participant not to let the seeking of the Lord stop that afternoon, but to keep meditating on what the Lord had impressed on our hearts personally, so that we might continue to discern the Lord's guidance for our lives.

Indeed, one afternoon of silent retreat can never be enough for our thirsty souls.

May this experience lead each of us to hunger more of the presence of God in our lives.

Travelling The R.O.A.D Together

In line with the church-wide R.O.A.D Bible reading plan for the past few months, the PLMC Young Adult Ministry decided to organise a Y.A. Webinar on Saturday 30 May to allow our young adults to address questions they may have for the biblical books covered thus far, namely Genesis and Exodus.

COVID-19 and Circuit Breaker measures may have restricted much of our social gatherings, but thank God for technology that connects us together in community, albeit virtually! This first-ever Y.A. Webinar was attended by 57 young adults who “showed up” with their wide smiles at the Zoom meeting. After having been holed up at home during this period, it was comforting to see familiar faces and hear everyone’s voices again.

Guest Speakers – Pastor Alex Chew & Mr Eugene Cheong

The online event began with the Y.A. ministry staff, Justin, welcoming participants on-board and introducing the guest speakers for the day – Pastor Alex, who is the pastor overseeing the Y.A. ministry and Mr Eugene Cheong, a retired army colonel, who is currently a seminary student at Singapore Bible College and also a faithful long-time member in our church.

Virtual But Real Connections!

Once the participants had settled in comfortably, our event host, Justin, began to invite the young adults to take part in online check-in activities like contributing their one-word impressions of Genesis and Exodus via Word Clouds in Mentimeter and engaging in small-group discussions via virtual Breakout Rooms.

Though initially awkward for some of the shy ones, the breakout room discussions soon proved to be an enjoyable platform for saying hello to one another, connecting with old friends and meeting new friends, even though all of this was done through our computer screens. It was definitely a refreshing moment for those of us who had not interacted with anyone else, beyond those in our households.

Zooming Into Worship…

When the people of God gather, how can we not praise and worship Him together! And so, the praise and worship segment was beautifully facilitated by our awesome siblings team, Jonathan and his two sisters, Amanda and Joanna. Serenading us with their voices and instruments, they led us into a time of declaring the goodness of God in song, within the comforts of our own homes.

Did Dinosaurs Make It To Noah’s Ark?

After providing the audience with some historical context about Genesis and Exodus, Pastor Alex and Eugene began to address some of the interesting questions fielded by the young adults. Did DINOSAURS exist in the Garden of Eden? Did Noah actually bring a pair of giant DINOSAURS into the Ark as well? Could these humongous creatures have even fitted in at all? Or could there have been DINOSAUR eggs incubating in the ark instead? These were some of the tricky questions that Pastor Alex bravely took on, using his extensive knowledge of the Hebrew language, archaeological evidence, historical theories, and even bringing in radioactive dating methods for figuring out this intriguing dinosaur question.

Another hot topic raised was about the old and new covenants of the Bible, which our other speaker, Eugene, skilfully addressed. Eugene invited spontaneous responses from our young adults, several of whom candidly unmuted their microphones and shared their opinions with the community.

Special Guest Appearance By Pastor Shih-Ming!

A nice surprise was also in store for our audience when Pastor Shih-Ming’s face popped up on our screens! In his concluding words for this Y.A. webinar session, not only did he affirm our young adults for being curious about these difficult questions related to the Bible, he also imparted words of wisdom to all of us. Pastor Shih-Ming encouraged our young adults to be undeterred by these difficult questions, and instead to continually seek a deeper understanding of the Word of God.

Even the internationally-acclaimed evangelist and pastor, Billy Graham, said of himself, “There are many things I don’t understand.” So, if a giant of the Christian faith has uttered such words, surely we have great hope. Quoting Pastor Shih-Ming in his closing prayer, may the Lord Jesus continue to grant us divine wisdom and understanding as we navigate the difficult questions in our study of His Word.