TRACKERS, a youth discipleship programme organised by TRAC (Trinity Annual Conference) Youth Ministries, offers a three-month intensive mentoring programme to give our young people an opportunity to encounter God through Word, Spiritual Disciplines and Mission. Its goal is to effect value change in
our young people – i.e. from the world’s values to Kingdom values.
THIRTY-FIVE youths gathered at the Children’s Chapel at Faith Methodist Church on Jan 7, 2009. We came from 11 Methodist churches (nine from Trinity Annual Conference and two from the Chinese Annual Conference) and one Brethren church. Each of us was fresh out of a pivotal experience in our lives – be it the O-Levels or A-Levels examinations or National Service.
Wherever we came from, however, our experience of God told us that He was worthy of the next three months consecrated to His purposes. We were the third cohort of TRACKERS.
We saw ourselves as disciples of Christ, embarking for these three months on a journey of faith together. Our slogan – “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23) – emblazoned across our name-tags.
Journeying alongside us were mentors from our local churches – the Rev Lai Kai Ming (Pentecost Methodist Church), Pastor Reuben Ng (Paya Lebar MC), Ms Wendy Chiang (Aldersgate MC), Ms Sally Tan (Sengkang MC) and Ms Dorcas Kwok (Truthmin).
Our first month was spent learning more about our God, and how to view the world and ourselves from His perspective. For example, Mr Joseph Chean from YWAM explored “The Call of God”, the Rev Bernard Chao helped us identify our “Spiritual Gifts” and Mr Glenn Lim shed light on Postmodernism from a Christian perspective.
Some of the teachings were heavier, and needed more effort to digest – particularly after a good lunch of wanton mee (at nearby Commonwealth Crescent). Each teaching session placed an emphasis on personal learning, encouraging small group Discussions and regular journalising as key supplements to the lectures.
Skills for His Kingdom’s work were also taught and practised through the (initially feared) daily devotion roster. The Trackers took turns to lead worship and intercessory prayer, and to preach and share testimonies. For many of us, it was our first time doing such things. As we began stepping out in faith, God grew our hearts and potential for Him.
The second month was devoted to missions. The four missions teams – to the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – began by waiting on the Lord to discern His purposes for us in these nations. He was faithful, revealing His heart to each team and inspiring our preparations.
Each team spent around 10 days in the mission destination. Seeing God’s work in each country awed and humbled us, and we encountered God in ways unique to our situations and needs.
The team to Cambodia found that they were there to love and be merciful; the team to Myanmar that they were there to refresh and encourage. As disciples, we began to understand what it meant to be world-impacting Christians as we allowed God to place His heart for the nations in ours.
The third and final month saw the Trackers return to Singapore to serve the community at home. Some of us were despatched to our local churches while others were sent to social outreach organisations. In a sense, our varied assignments reflected how we had first begun – called from all corners of Singapore, from many different backgrounds.
Now though, our unity in purpose was clear – to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Christ, whether it was interning in our local church, despatching food to the needy, befriending the elderly or giving tuition to children.
At the end of it all, though we might be dispersed for good once again, it is our hope that the Lord will continue to reveal His glory through our lives – wherever we may go. TRACKERS may be over, but our journey of faith continues.
The 35 Trackers “graduated” on Sunday, April 5, at an evening service held at Faith Methodist Church.
Cassandra Yeap from Covenant Community Methodist Church and Michael Cheong from Living Waters Methodist Church were participants of TRACKERS 2009.