“LORD, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?” (ACTS 9: 6)

How to be a servant of God? Where can I draw my encouragement and strength in serving God and others? Serving God and serving others is not an easy job. At times in my ministry I do experience feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. At times ministering for Jesus in this parish can be both uplifting and exciting and burdensome and tedious. But no matter how tough my tasks become I keep my spirit going and growing in the way the Lord leads me.

When I began my ministry as a priest in February, 2003 in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia I was afraid and I didn't even have a clear vision of what it means to be a servant of God. If I am going to serve Jesus Christ and His Church I need to find the way God wants me to minister. Over the years I have come to learn how to meet the human needs and how to live my ordination motto, “To live a life of love” (2 Jn 6), a life that is lived for others. Often I pray that I may not lose sight of being a true servant of God “to act justly, and to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with the Lord,” (Micah 6: 8).

Some of you have been ‘servants’ or leaders in the various ministries and BECs for a few years now. Have you ever asked yourself, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” I know you have more than enough commitments at home, at the work place and in the community and society as well. We can’t do everything all at one time or do it all on our own. But we can do something and do it with full commitments. As servants of God we are called to serve and help one another to grow into a relationship with God.

In Christian service, each of us should take the place of Jesus on this planet, “Not to be served but to serve,” (MT 20:28) and to cultivate the attitude of sacrifice and service to others. In our Christian ministry, we will face difficult people, difficult situations and difficult circumstances. Problems with people are the most difficult to bear. When the people we serve irritate us or upset us, the first thing we should do is to pray for them, forgive them and let the Lord change them. The Holy Spirit can use them as tools to build our spiritual maturity and leadership qualities.

On 27^th August, we will begin an “EQUIP LEADERSHIP TRAINING” programme in our parish. This programme consists of a series of modules and workshops, which will be presented over a couple of months. I strongly encourage all leaders and members from the various ministries, BECs, parishioners and even those who are attached in the corporate world to participate in this training programme.

“I am sure of this, that the Lord who began a good work in you will bring it to completion...” (Phil 1: 6).