Team Archippus (Henson, Siew Hoon & Lay Leng) is thankful to the Lord for the privilege to play a small part in what He has already begun to do in the hearts of freshly commissioned Archippuses at Bethesda Katong Church. Many have been awakened, and they have responded to God to be aligned with Him, run the race and go for gold.
Here are some takeaways and reflections from BKC campers:
“Thank you very much for expressing clearly and powerfully the Archippus Awakening message that encouraged and strengthened us. It resonated deeply with my spirit. It is God’s answer to our prayers to see our church wake up to know and fulfil His will, our kingdom assignments. The alarm has been sounded and we must respond with a sense of urgency and faithfulness to complete our mission in the final hour. I have been challenged to align my focus to God the King, His Rule and His Kingdom perspective and away from self and inward perspective. Then I am motivated to faithfully finish my assignment, depending on His Spirit for empowerment. Knowing that when I focus on the alignment to Christ and let God assign, I can rest in His will.” Sharon Tio
“Henson listed four traits of an awakened Archippus and I related the most to “Assignment, not Activities”. Understanding this helped me realise that I would often be busy, occupied with many activities. I was generally eager to help, perhaps like what Henson said, that busyness could be due to pride. By helping or doing something, it made feel better about myself. At the same time, because it was about me, when things did not work out as I had hoped, I would get disappointed and discouraged. Even though I know that God’s power is shown through our weakness, I had not been living according to what I know. I was relying on my own strengths and not connecting to the power that comes from God. No wonder I had felt discouraged when things did not go well. This was a clear misalignment in my service to God. So I repented and told God I want to be realigned by simply relying on Him and not my own strengths to complete the assignment that He has given to me.” Benjamin Pang
“I was introduced to the Bible character, Archippus, who was given a charge by Paul in Colossians 4:17 to wake up, know what God asked him to do, and do it. I think of my assignment as a father to my adult sons. I often feel inadequate to lead them in their walk in the Lord in this modern fast-paced era. I am aware that their faith is being bombarded by the many challenges that the church is facing in these end times. Instead of being anxious, I was reminded that God’s grace is sufficient. One of the first things I did after the camp was to share with my sons what I learnt. They were curious about the three words, awakened, aligned and assigned, and it gave me the chance to emphasise that salvation is only the entry point, beyond that is living out God’s assigned purpose. We are awakened and aligned towards being assigned for God’s kingdom purpose. Praise God.” Roger Koh
“What stood out the most during the church camp were the thought-provoking questions asked. Am I doing the kingdom assignment given by God or am I doing Christian activities due to peer pressure or my own will? Did I do over 100 activities and miss the single assignment that God tasked me to do? I learnt that busyness does not equate to kingdom fruitfulness. Another thing that stood out was the urgency of time. That really woke me up and I was challenged to spend less time on myself and more on my loved ones. I also redirected my focus to posture my heart to listen to God. I learnt that God may have already given us our assignment but our ears are shut or because our heart is distracted due to the worries of life and deceitfulness of wealth.” Chew Jun Qiao
“I found myself questioning my motivations and direction in life as a result of hearing Henson’s call to awake, align to God’s will, and receive His assignment. Was I simply cruising along the ‘travelator of life’ or was I making an intentional effort to tune my ears to God’s Word, being prepared to hear His calling, and then be ready to heed His call? As Henson explained, alignment was the crucial link between awakening and receiving our assignment. I struggled with having a consistent quiet time and deeper relationship with Jesus because I have yet to surrender all my ambitions and hopes to Him. I was reminded that I must continue to work on this aspect of surrender to Him. It was also encouraging to know that each one of us has a unique assignment from God. At the same time, this is the eleventh hour before Jesus’ second coming, and so I must live my life with a daily urgency, as if God might come tomorrow.” Jonathan Lee
“Something that really touched my heart was one trait of Archippus that Henson taught us. Archippus was almost anonymous but known by name to God. I could relate to this greatly as I had never seen myself as a person of much importance. I have always pondered the question, “Who am I to make a difference in our everyday life?” I am no one! What is my purpose? I have always questioned my worth and felt condemned. I believe God really wants me to know His heart through understanding the Archippus Awakening message. I may be almost anonymous but I am known by God, and I, too, can be used buy Him. God has a way of revealing Himself so we may align with Him, know and fulfil His given assignments. He has affirmed and ignited my inner passion to create a closely-knit community for mothers in Singapore. May I continue to be led by Him to give me strength and wisdom to move on my kingdom assignment.” Evelynn Ang
“Henson spoke a simple yet powerful message that stirred my tired heart to respond to God, to awaken and to align back to His will. God has used Henson to awaken the church to respond to God, yearning to discover what good works He has prepared in advance for us to do, to walk by faith and in surrender to God’s desires not personal desires. I’m thankful to God that He led me back to His soothing embrace.” Sheryl Lum
“Through the message, Henson warned of believers, of churches, being in slumber. That we must be awakened to the fact that we are in the last days, and we need to bring others to live the Kingdom of God and not just get them to say the sinner’s prayer. If we are aware of the urgency of the hour, but do nothing about it, then we are apathetic! Ouch! Six weeks before the camp, four words arrested my attention: “renewal of your mind”. I knew that I have to renew my mind. Being busy with many activities is not fruitfulness. We must be busy with our kingdom assignments. Henson mentioned that many of us say we believe one thing but act like we believe another. That is evidence of misalignment. I know that now, I will need to be realigned and get right with God before I receive my next kingdom assignment, so that I can serve my King from a posture of rest.” Yong Pit Kee
Siew Hoon and Lay Leng have also written their thanksgivings:
“It was my first time on Team Archippus at a church camp but it would be my fifth time sharing my Archippian story and I had felt nervous. The Lord gently chided me and reminded me that the prayers offered to Him were a “done deal”. Immediately I rested in Him and was empowered by Him when I started speaking. Thank God for Ps Henson who poured his heart out to declare the Archippus Awakening message again. What caught most of my attention was the phrase “run in such a way that you may obtain it” in the final session. The Lord whispered into my spirit and gently provoked me, “Have you been running in such a way, My daughter?” I knew I needed to realign with my King. The warm and hospitable BKC brethren made me feel at home. I was overjoyed to see many of them responding to Ps Henson’s message during the altar call, wanting to be awakened, aligned and assigned for Jesus. May the Lord continue to spur them and help them to move forward after the camp. I am thankful to the Lord once again for the partnership with Team Archippus to serve the body of Christ. It is always an encouragement to see more believers awakened and responding to the end-time message.” Toh Siew Hoon
“The song 10,000 Reasons came on from Siew Hoon’s phone in the hotel room we were in. My heart leapt! I was reviewing my Archippian journey, preparing to share it shortly. God used the song to reassure and encourage me that He is with me. Riding upon prayers from Ps Henson and Siew Hoon, I declared God’s mercies in leading me to hear the eleventh-hour message to be awakened, aligned and assigned for King Jesus and His kingdom purposes. Throughout the camp, Team Archippus received superb hospitality from the BKC brethren. I particularly enjoyed the group discussions. Many sincere questions were raised, reflecting a desire to understand the Archippus Awakening message and be postured for the LORD’s kingdom assignments. God has certainly used the message to encourage them to focus on the aligning as He does the assigning. I am thankful to the Lord for this privilege to serve with Team Archippus at the camp. Truly, when we do our part, He will more than do His part.” Tan Lay Leng