My 3 Challenges As An Associate Pastor In GPC 3: Keep The Fire Burning

By Rev Dr Forest Koh

GPConnect was launched in June 2021. It was designed in response to a unique “moment-in-time” situation caused by the pandemic to connect the whole church with love and care through phone calls. I am thankful that it has served its purpose and we are moving forward.

When we shared with the connectors and the CG leaders that we were closing this ministry, those who were actively involved were disappointed. One of the connectors responded, “When GPConnect is closed we are no longer connectors, so what is our identity in this meeting?” At that point in time, we were still meeting every Thursday.

That was profound, for I agreed that when we lose our identity, we will lose our vision and our mission. The mission of the connector is to reach out to the whole church. If we are no longer connectors, are we still going to reach out?

For the past two years, many have worked very diligently as connectors. If the role of the connector is removed, will we continue to reach out? Will we lose the fire of reaching out after GPConnect is closed?

This is the third challenge of being an associate pastor in GPC: how can we encourage our people to keep the fire burning for outreach?

As a Christian, as a follower of Christ, we are called to be witnesses of Christ to reach out to the lost world. (Acts 1:8) This is our identity: we are witnesses of Christ to reach out to the world! I pray that when a ministry comes to an end, the spirit of sharing God’s love will continue.  

Another connector texted, “Once a connector, always a connector for God wherever we are. So, we don’t stop abruptly but continue to be connected to our connectees... We continue to keep in touch with them (via WhatsApp, meetings, calls, etc.) and pray for them all the time, especially those we have bonded with for the past year. All these can be continued at our own pace.”

This spirit of connecting with one another should not die off. We must “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of [us] may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:13) This is our call as a GPC member, as a disciple of Jesus.

And to continue to let the fire burning, we must be filled by the Spirit of God; we must be first loved by Christ and in return we must say, yes, I obey Jesus’ two great commandments: to love God and to love my neighbours. All of the above must be motivated by the Spirit of God. 

Let’s continue to care and to connect and reach out to one another, our Christian and non-Christian friends and family.

Let’s pray that this spirit of outreach will not die off but that we will keep the fire burning and shine for our Lord.