In the past 4 issues of the LPN Newsletter we have been casting vision for the transformation of the city. We have sought to lay the ground-work in preparation for the task of discipling the City. The task is so huge that it is often daunting but we cannot afford to be intimidated by the giants in the land.
We need the patience of Job, the faith of Elijah and the skilful leadership of David to accomplish what we have set out to do. We cannot afford to quit in the face of the enemy’s attempt to discourage us but we must rise up in the power of the Spirit and in the unity of the that 1Body of Christ to do all we can, for as long as it takes, to see His will be done in Penang as it is in Heaven!
So for this issue, we shall turn the spotlight on a little “David” - Fettes Park Baptist Church (FPBC) – who has taken on the Goliath of Education in a courageous attempt to impact the “Education” Sphere. Let their story encourage us to start somewhere!
Pre-School Education for the Marginalized
In January this year, FPBC started a pre-school education program for children from poor families in Rifle Range.
Pastor Alvin Chew writes: “Poor families, in their struggle against poverty, very often do not send their children for pre-school education. Most of the quality pre-school education programs in the market cost money and some of them are very expensive. Because of that they do not send their children for pre-school education. As a result, children from poor families are becoming "less-equipped" compared to children whose parents can afford to send them for quality pre-school education. Children who cannot read, write or do simple math when they get into standard one are often left behind in their studies and will eventually get discouraged. A survey that was done by Prison Fellowship Malaysia under the leadership of Mark Matthew confirmed this finding. He said that 80% of the children who cannot read and write by Standard 3 have more than 50% chance of committing crime when they grow up. The purpose of this program is to give children from poor family backgrounds an equal opportunity at quality education. We hope that strategically, through education, we will help poor families breakaway from the vicious cycle of poverty. FPBC has been blessed with the knowledge in training pre-school children since 1978. We reckoned that this is a gift God bestowed upon us and we want to use this gift to bless the poor.”
Renovating a Community Library
In May this year, FPBC responded to a request from a Member of Parliament to adopt one of the 6 libraries in Penang.
Pastor Alvin says: “We chose the library in Rifle Range because of its dense population and its strategically alignment with the pre-school education work we are doing in House of Hope. The condition of the library in Rifle Range was run down and under-utilized because of the lack of resources. The church raised $40K from our members to renovate the library and to put in the basic resources. Our goal is to give the students in Rifle Range a conducive study environment and to equip them with the basic resources for their studies. We plan in the near future to upgrade the library with newer computers for e-learning. We plan to work with multinational companies on this.”
As a result of this pioneering work by FPBC, the LPN Churches are seriously looking into a joint-program to adopt all 6 Community Libraries in Penang to carry out similar works. Praise the Lord! We are getting somewhere!
Pastor Albert
LPN Facilitator for City Transformation
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