Elliot Ku

I had the opportunity last night to catch up with two childhood friends. After many years of separation, we finally got to sit down together to share about what God has been doing in our lives over the past years.

Apart from sharing about our university studies (Xin Yang aka Pisteos (black shirt) is in his final year at Universiti Utara Malaysia and Tian Hao (gangster ‘Army of God’ shirt) is in his final semester at Beijing University), we shared about how we feel like God has called us into full time vocational ministry. The more we talked, the more I realised that these boys are very different to the 9 year old boys I used to muck around with. They have matured so much and God has been doing a great deal in their lives. Furthermore, to see what God has impressed on their hearts is phenomenal. Each of them sees God calling them into different realms and contexts for ministry, and they have both committed to prepare themselves for whatever God has installed for them.

After hours of sharing and laughter, we settled down to pray for one another. That was such a precious moment to behold because the way they prayed really reflected how God has been working in their lives over the past 10 years. We prayed for each others ministries, studies, and relationships. More importantly, we prayed that our eyes would focus on the centrality of the gospel in ministry, and that we will strive towards the same goal in life – which is to honouring God wherever we are in the world.

Today, I’d like to invite you to pray for ministry trainees with me. These could be those who are part of internship programs (like MTS), those early in their theological studies, or even those in their early stages of pastoral ministry. Therefore, in addition to ministry trainees that you know, I thought it would also be good if we could pray for some other good friends of mine.

• Sam Wan has just begun his studies at Sydney Missionary and Bible College
• Ryan Yeomans is continuing his studies at Moore Theological College
• Jess Joseph who is also serving as an intern at South West Chinese Christian Church
• Dom Cheung is starting an internship at Kirkplace Presbyterian Church where he will be trained by Pastor Steve Chong.
• Adrian Tam recently began his role as the Youth and Young Adults Pastor at Epping Church of Christ

Please pray that:

1. God will teach us loads in our early stages of ministry – whether through mistakes or successes
2. We will receive good preparation for lifelong ministry through great trainers/mentors and theological preparation
3. We will receive good support from friends and family
4. Throughout this process, our hearts will be drawn even closer to God and our affections will grow even more
5. Our ministries will be an overflow of our lives
6. We may gain even more clarity that full time ministry is God’s will for us