by Tan Lay Leng
Marvel with me at how God assembled Team Archippus for our kingdom assignment at Church of the Good Shepherd (Anglican) Sandakan (COGS).
I had read of a pastor’s message entitled “Don’t Stop on Six”, about how when Joshua was walking around the walls of Jericho, they needed to continue walking around seven times as God promised for the walls to come down. The title lingered in my mind. We were a team of six then, and behold, soon after I read that, Ps Henson informed us that Amara had agreed to come on board as the seventh member of Team Archippus! The dates could not have been more aligned. A missionary to India, Amara’s scheduled returned to Singapore was 28 August – just in time to leave with the team on 29 August to Sandakan!
Ps Susheel’s insightful words were these, “What made this team unique was that the Lord had brought in some ‘heavy artillery’ – people who knew how to pray. Along with this, there was a definite prophetic edge to the team. During the trip, it became evident why He had done so with many occasions of praying for COGS members, the church itself as well as a number of prophetic words released to encourage especially the leaders of COGS. God knew what was needed and He provided!” Amen!
73-year-old Amara herself testified that while she was praying for this kingdom assignment, God kept telling her that He would be doing great things in the midst of His children in Sandakan. When she shared her Archippian journey of being assigned at 68 years of age to India, many testified that they were touched to see that no one is too old to serve our great God. A lady was so encouraged by what God is doing in Amara’s life she confided in her of her own challenges. As a result, God used prayer warrior Amara to counsel her and pray with her. Praise God!
Another prayer warrior on Team Archippus, Charlotte, testified that her personal takeaway (besides being blessed knowing a great team of Archippuses and having great fellowship and good food) was that God gave her the confirmation of an assignment which she had been exploring and praying about. We rejoice with her that through this AAA seminar, God has not only spoken to the believers in COGS but also any believer who is awakened, aligning and awaiting to be assigned by the Father. Team Archippus was also privileged to have received a surprise kingdom assignment to pray on site at Vision Primary School, a school set up and run by the Anglican Church.
I mustn’t miss out the mention of the Sandakanites’ superb hospitality towards us. Siew Hoon aptly described it, “First, Canon James Lee’s wife, Emily, cooked up a scrumptious meal to welcome us. Then Dr Arthur Chung spent time bringing us through a fantastic educational tour in the Rainforest Discovery Centre, teaching us so much about nature, insects and trees. The rest of the days, Canon James arranged for different church members to host our meals. Some of them even spent the whole Sunday afternoon bringing us to places of interest and to sample Sandakan’s signature food.”
Ps Susheel was right to say that our bellies were as full as our hearts were! Our hearts were definitely blessed to know that many of them had heard and reflected what was shared by Ps Henson and everyone. Simply love the way Ps Susheel put it, “There was no ‘rah-rah’ reaction but it was a quiet, deep grasping of the Archippus Awakening message that showed up in the conversations. We were also blessed to hear Canon James share his gleanings and insights.”
Our gifted translator Wai Yee summed it up brilliantly, “Though I was physically tired, I simply love the sense of purposefulness, fulfilment and teamwork when I was on kingdom assignment. I look forward to my next assignment from my Commander Jesus Christ. We sang the song ‘Servant’s Heart‘ so many times and I would like to echo the lyrics, ‘My Jesus my Lord, You’re the love of my life, wherever You go, wanna be by Your side.’
We pray that Sandakan will not be the same again as more of the saints there are awakened, aligned and move on their kingdom assignments. We raise a Hallelujah to all that God has done over the unforgettable “Triple-A” weekend!