New Intake Blending and Fellowship (Oct 13-15, 2023)
Group photo taken at iconic landmark Universiti Malaya signage.
We were once lost and scattered. But the Lord has come to find us one by one. And one by one, He has led us to His flock. We who have received His life are today under His continual care and shepherding. Wherever we may be, we are under the care and shepherding of one unique Shepherd - our Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever we come together, it is the shepherding life within us that draws us to come together. Whenever we come together, we are cared for and supplied in the presence of our Shepherd. This was just our experience in the past Campus New Intake Blending and Fellowship (Oct 13-15, 2023), where over 50 brothers and sisters studying on campuses across Klang Valley visited the churches in Petaling Jaya (PJ), Kuala Lumpur (KL), and Subang Jaya (SJ).
Station 1: Petaling Jaya (PJ)
We were welcomed with a love feast dinner at PJ Hall 1 (near Universiti Malaya). We enjoyed Hymns, #1153 (“We have found Christ who’s all in all”). The last stanza of the hymn aptly describes how we felt about the meeting:
Stanza 5
We have found that meeting with the saints
Is the greatest joy on earth;
’Tis by this our spirit never faints
And our lives are filled with worth.
Meeting with the saints is indeed the greatest joy on earth. When we enjoy the Lord’s shepherding in our coming to the Word or in our personal prayer, there is a still small voice within us leading us to be together with fellow brothers and sisters. When we go along with this desire within us, the Lord gathers us into Himself with the rest of His flock. And we experience joy and satisfaction. Our coming together becomes a mutual rest to us and the Lord. What a picture of the church life!
On the next day, we visited the nation’s top-ranked university – Universiti Malaya. That was followed by a visit to the brothers’ and sisters’ houses in PJ and SEGi University. We thank the Lord for the saints there who are one with the seeking Shepherd in caring for the students. Our prayer is for many more “lost” sheep to be brought back to the flock!
Station 2: Kuala Lumpur (KL)
We began our time in KL with a visit to the Royal Selangor visitor centre. Following a good 45-minute guided tour there, we visited Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Technology & Management (TARUMT) on a short campus tour. It is one of the campuses in KL where we have more brothers and sisters. Our prayer is for the Lord to gain these brothers and sisters to be His shining testimony, even the lighthouse paving the way for many more to be brought back to Him, on this campus!
When the Lord brings us back to Him, He does not only be the life in us, He is also the life ushering us into the light (John 1:4-5; Eph. 5:8; Phil. 2:15). Today when we come to the word to contact the Lord, the Spirit opens up the word to give light to us (Psa. 119:130; Eph. 1:17-18). When we are under this shining, we experience it as four stages of one complete cycle: the convicting, healing, governing or regulating, and eventually growth. Each of these four stages ushers us more into the light and constitutes us to be the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). When we come together, we see the manifestation of the church as a golden lampstand. The manifestation of the church as a golden lampstand depends on how much each of us is under the shining. We look to the Lord for His continual shining upon each one of us that He may gain the church as His shining testimony on earth!
Station 3: Subang Jaya (SJ)
By the time we reached the third day, we had gotten further into the sensation that we were made one flock of the Lord enjoying the Lord as our abundant life. We became more released in our hymn singing. And some brothers and sisters opened up to testify how they experienced the joy of preaching the gospel to their friends. They went from not having the courage to mention their faith to their friends to eventually bringing some of their friends to salvation. They testified that one thing that has helped them was coordinating with one another in their contacting gospel friends. For instance, the brothers at the brothers’ house would coordinate with some serving ones to open their houses for dinner with their gospel friends. The togetherness and oneness became a testimony that attracted some of their gospel friends.
When they did it individually, it was difficult. But when they came together for the gospel, the strength and supply multiplied. And when one is saved, all rejoice together. There is indeed strength and supply when we fight for the Lord’s interest as a corporate entity. May we be those who bind with one another in our gospel labour so that the Lord may gain more young people in our respective campuses!
Subsequently, we made our way to the brothers’ and sisters’ houses in SJ. That was followed by a visit to Sunway University. We then wrapped up this three-day blending and fellowship with a visit to Taylor’s University.
Conclusion
We are not only our Lord’s individual believers, we are also His sheep. We are today under the continual care of the Shepherd who is life in us. This life ushers us into light and infuses us with light. This life also causes us to have a desire to come together. This produces the church as a shining golden lampstand. What a glorious call! For this, may we be those who cooperate with the “flocking” nature within us and seek the Lord in His shining. May the Lord gain a thoroughfare in us that our campus years would be full of meaning and profitable to Him!
