THE HISTORY OF OUR CHURCH

From October 1990 to 1995

Maranatha Bible-Presbyterian Church—a mission outreach of Life B-P Church—was officially inaugurated on Reformation Sunday, 28 October 1990, at 63 Cranwell Road (off Loyang Avenue) with about 30 people from Life B-P Church, led by Rev Wee Eng Moh and Dn Yiew. The Lord’s messenger was Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow, Pastor of Life B-P Church.

The Lord Jesus has been guiding and leading us these past eight years. The Lord also helped us in strengthening our teaching ministry. The first Bible class was started some time in November 1990. In March 1991, we witnessed the birth of our Sunday School, led by Elder Teo Gim Thong. To meet the needs of the young adults in our church, the Maranatha YAF (MYAF) was inaugurated in May 1994 after the first Church Camp at the UDMC Chalets in March 1994, where Pastor Jack Sin was the Lord’s messenger and advisor to MYAF. Today, the MYAF meets regularly on Saturdays for Bible study led by Dn Tan Peng Hui and his committee. Under the leadership of Dn Tan, they also undertake the evangelistic work of the church through tracting and witnessing in the Tampines, Simei and other nearby housing estates.

We believe that prayer is the power house and barometer of the church. Our Maranatha Prayer Meeting was started on 7 August 1991. A good number of our members came for this inaugural prayer meeting. We praise and thank God that through this ministry of prayer, many have been blessed and our corporate intercession continues every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in church.

In early June 1991, brother George Skariah (then FEBC student from India) was led to serve with us. He has ever since graduated with a Master of Divinity and his wife Bessy with a MRE; and they are presently serving in Madras, India. Our staffworker, Rev Wee Eng Moh, who was with us for two years, left us in 1992 to set up another church, Berean B-P Church. In his place, the Lord has led sister Anne Wong to serve with us as our full-time staffworker in end 1993. Dn Yiew who was one of the pioneers of Maranatha B-P Church, and whom the Lord has called into the full-time ministry, have also returned to Life B-P Church as a warden. Rev Colin Wong, who stood in as our interim pastor for eight months in 1992, left for further theological studies in USA on 13 August 1992. Since then, Elder George Tan has been leading us until in March 1994 (after the first MBPC Camp), Rev Jack Sin, our Pastor, ministered in our midst during his second and final years in FEBC. After his completion of his studies, Pastor Jack was appointed Pastor of Maranatha B-P Church on 1 May 1995.

—Dn Thomas Liaw

From 1995 to 1998

There were epochal events during this vital period of the church. Firstly, the church went through a time of formulating the Constitution (based on that of Life B-P Church), which was finally submitted to the Registry of Societies (ROS) for approval towards the end of 1995. By the higher hand of God, after some deliberation, the church registration was approved by ROS on 4 January 1996. With this official recognition of the church, the first Church Annual Congregational Meeting (ACM) cum Election was held in May 1996. The first Session was elected to office, comprising Pastor, Elder Teo Gim Thong, Deacons Kok Beng, Herbert Gwee, Thomas Liaw and Peng Hui, for a two-year term. The same month, in May 1996, we have our church van, a Toyota Hiace, finally registered with the LTA, after an initial rejection of our application. An appeal was made, with prayer, and it was positively received. Praise the Lord.

A Vacation Bible School (VBS) was conducted during the school vacation with 60 children and teenagers in attendance. The 5th Anniversary Magazine was also launched in October 1995 during the 5th Thanksgiving Anniversary of the church. The Church Camp was held in Malacca at Paradise Resort, where Pastor spoke on “The Elements of a Vibrant and Healthy Church,” with about 50 attending.

The Ladies-In-Touch (LIT), started in late 1994 initially among home-makers, and now extended to all the ladies in the church, is under the able leadership of sister Kim Ngo. It ministers to the spiritual and social needs of the ladies in Maranatha.

1996 was an eventful year with the establishment of the Growing Buds Fellowship (GBF) on 10 January 1996. It is a ministry to cater to the spiritual needs of our youth from age 8 to 12 years. The Maranatha Youth Fellowship (MYF) was initiated two years later, on 25 January 1998, to cater to those from 13 to 19 years old. The Men-In-Touch (MIT) was also started in 1997, with Elder Teo leading the men in Bible study and fruitful discussions on many practical issues of Christian living.

The VBS this year (1998), under Elder Teo’s leadership, is especially noteworthy, with more than 90 students who came, and six accepted Christ.

Our Church Camp in 1997 was held at Desaru Perdana, where Pastor spoke on “Revival in Contemporary Times,” taken from Malachi, and attended by about 70 campers.

Our church held her second ACM cum Election in May this year, and a new Session comprising Pastor, Elder Teo, Deacons Thomas, Kok Beng, Peng Hui, Anthony Quek and Terence Tan, was elected, with each serving in specific responsibilities in the church ministries. The various lay leaders served also in the committees of the LIT, MIT, YAF, YF, GBF, three NBCs (Bedok, Pasir Ris, and Hougang), the Sunday School (SS), Evangelism and Discipleship Committees, the PA crew, music ministry and the Library committee. A Chinese translation work was started in 1996, where interpreters simultaneously interpret the English message into Mandarin for the Chinese-speaking brethren. Thank God for the assistance from Life B-P Church (Chinese Service).

Maranatha B-P Church has also been supporting FEBC students in their theological training, including Ivan Toms who had returned to New Zealand after two years of training, brother Robert and sister Mui Leng who has a burden for African mission. We have been supporting missions in Esperance, Western Australia; Jubilee Memorial Bible College in Madras, India; and in Malaysia (Pastor speaks regularly at Kulai Besar B-P Church in Johore).

The church grows steadily by the sovereign will of God from about 30 people from the beginning to about 100 today. As Anne Wong, our staffworker, has left us for a higher calling of holy matrimony, thank God for providing a timely replacement in the person of sister Yeong Shoon, a graduate of FEBC. Yeong Shoon takes over the administrative and staff work of the church with effect from 1 September 1998. The Lord has been very gracious and merciful to us. What more can we say but to echo the words of the psalmist with thanksgiving in our hearts, in Psalm 107:8,

In conclusion, we thank the Lord for seeing us through eight fruitful years. Although there were moments of hard work, joy, and times of tears, but through all these, we have learnt to cultivate this sense of dependency on the Lord Jesus Christ, and togetherness and unity as a church family. As we re-consecrate our lives for Him, and consider afresh the work and ministry of Maranatha, we know that without the Lord’s help and guidance and the concerted efforts and prayers of each and every Maranathan, we would never have come thus far. Continue to pray with us and for us in our ministry in the years ahead.

—Pastor Jack Sin

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