Last year, I stumbled upon River of Life Community Church’s (ROLC) theme verse. Yes, you guessed it – Colossians 4:17!, Archippus Awakening‘s key verse and assignment.
With the next AAA Webinar (1-3 April 2022) just round the corner, I emailed the church with hope of serving them with the Archippus Awakening message. Elder Weng Him responded promptly and we connected over coffee at i12 in Katong.
After attending the AAA Webinar, I was invited to speak at ROLC’s Sunday service on 1 May 2022. Needless to say, the message was “Another Awakening: Who is Archippus?”, challenging all to be awakened, aligned and assigned for Jesus and His kingdom.
With the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions came the invitation by Elder David to speak at ROLC Camp 2023 in Melaka (18-21 June) with the camp theme “Arise. Align. Assigned.” I gladly and readily accepted this opportunity.
Camp started in Punggol on Sunday 18 June. I brought the first message “Awake Arise: Discerning & Moving with God’s Kairos” at their church service. After a quick bento lunch, we set off for Noble Resort Hotel. Thank God for smooth immigration clearance and a safe journey to Melaka.
On Monday, the second and third messages were “The Kingdom Advances: Fellow Soldiers” in the morning session and “What’s in a Name?: Enough Horsing Around” at night. On Tuesday, I closed with the final challenge “Finish the Race: Go for Gold”.
Each morning, I joined in the morning prayer before breakfast. It was very encouraging to hear the elders and members pray key points and takeaways from the messages for ROLC. The desire of their hearts was truly to have ROLC fulfil her corporate assignment and for everyone to know and fulfil their personal assignments.
On the last morning (Wednesday 21 June), Serene and I were requested to ‘host’ a session about “Family Relationships”. To keep it casual and informal, we asked for questions to be submitted so we can address what was foremost on hearts. The issues and topics ranged from our convictions on having children, how to encourage younger ones to have children, how to handle technology, how to manage conversations, and even dating. (Note: We most definitely do not consider ourselves as subject matter experts; just fellow parents trying to figure things out along the way. Humbled that we can share views and perspectives in hope of encouraging all parents, grandparents, and younger ones too.)
In the closing session, campers shared their key takeaways. Many were challenged by the messages. Some had their eyes opened to kingdom truths and perspectives.
- The messages challenged me to diligently go about fulfilling my assignments.
- It totally awakened me to how we ought to live our life i.e aligning to our King.
- I am motivated to be more proactive in my spiritual life.
- Every message is clear, creative, comprehensive and consistent with Holy Scriptures. It is refreshing and revelatory! The picture of the horse tied on plastic chair is impactful!
- More aligned so that we could be ready and not be afraid to pick up assignment when being called.
- Refined my perspectives & understanding on Kingdom mission and gospel. The messages gave me sharper alignment in this kairos season to be intentional and more accurate with the next steps.
- We are a people living under a King & His kingdom. As kingdom people, we need to be prepared, agile & adaptable to different situations. We are trained to be war horses, ready for His instructions & assignments through alignment to His will. We need to finish the race well to receive the eternal rewards.
- My take home is I need to pastor/raise “war horses for the King and His kingdom”.
- The church camp sessions have affirmed God’s prompting to me – I have been in the AA for too long and need to turn and go to AO.
I am thankful to the elders and leaders of ROLC for the invitation and opportunity to declare the fuller message of Archippus Awakening through this camp. Our family (three of our children were with us) experienced the love and hospitality of ROLC across the four days of fellowship, interaction and travel.
As ROLC celebrates 21 years, a coming of age as it were, I believe this is a kairos moment for them to shift into all the Lord has prepared for them. What a privilege and honour to have played a small part in their corporate journey, to speak into ROLC, that many may not just be awakened but also arise, align and be assigned for Jesus and His kingdom.