Written by Chee Yen • Feb 03, 2022
Back in 2019, Pastor Chris Kam challenged the church to chase their lions in reaching out to the community. The GodDreamers, a cell group of working adults and married couples in PJ North 6 took up the challenge. Pong Kai Mun, cell leader of GodDreamers shares their story. “We prayed over the list of projects shared by Pastor Kelvin Yong, and had planned to adopt an Orang Asli community either in the East Coast or Perak.”
However, God had other plans. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, these plans had to be shelved. The CG was stuck. Nevertheless, they persevered in their prayer and desire to serve the community. God’s design took shape when the New Life Care Centre (NLCC) orphanage was allocated to PJN6 CGs. Kai Mun recalled, “We prayed on whether we should take it on, as the members including myself felt the burden to reach out to two particular groups – widows and children.
The CG felt they were ready to take ownership of this project for a longer term. There was no clear idea on its execution, but they were sure in wanting to build relationships with the children and to uplift them both materially and spiritually. Their first initiative was gifting planners filled with Bible verses and journalling pages to the orphanage’s over 30 children and staff for Christmas 2020. God’s plan became clear in early 2021 when GodDreamers were planning their next steps to uplift the orphanage. The pastor working with NLCC voiced their needs to the CG. The building needed repairs and a fresh coat of paint. The children could grow in their English proficiency, and spiritual and character building.
A fundraising project was initiated to paint and renovate the orphanage building. The CG’s challenge was to raise RM26,000 from June to August. Initial thoughts were to fundraise half the amount, as they were not sure if they could raise such a large amount on their own. But God provided RM28,000 by the end of the fundraising campaign. While the first challenge was taken care of, the second was not as straightforward. Unfortunately, they lacked the skills in creating language and character building classes for the children. This was when the GodDreamers were joined by two other CGs to serve the orphanage – Lighthouse CG led by Huong Yew Yi and Alice Hoo, and Sycamore Tree CG led by Tan Jen Meng and Anna Hon. “It was really God’s grace that these cell groups collaborated with us. I really praise God as some of these CG members were serving in DUMC’s Children’s Church, and therefore had the necessary experience and skills to build up the children.”
Six months’ worth of English and character building lessons were drawn up, and a trial run was carried out in August 2021. Alternate weeks of English classes and character building classes were held every Sunday afternoon via Zoom for 12 children, until the end of the year. The character building classes were based on the Children’s’ Church programme, which include mini-cell meetings, welcome, worship and word sessions, and memory verses. New and second-hand devices were sourced to enable these children to have a more comfortable time on Zoom. From the abundance of blessings from fundraising, to the timely participation of the other two CGs, God’s hand was clearly evident throughout this project.
Kai Mun recalls Pastor Daniel Ho’s sermon on being locked down but not locked out. “Thank God for technology, as it really made things snap together really well. Some core members are actually currently based in Bangkok, and realistically speaking, we would not be able to have physical weekly classes due to time constraints with driving around Klang Valley. While some may lament the usage of Zoom, its availability actually helped us all, both with planning among the CG members, and for connecting with the NLCC children.”
For the next steps, the GodDreamers coupled with Lighthouse and Sycamore Tree are working to keep this project sustainable for the long term. Plans include upskilling the CG members’ on working with children, and for an annual fundraising campaign. Kai Mun leaves a word of encouragement, “Whatever you do, pray as a group for confirmation and go with the Holy Spirit. God will provide. Where our minds are limited, God is unlimited. He moves in the background. Seek Him first, prayerfully obey, and go. Yes, it takes time, but somehow, the project will move.”
Written by Chee Yen for PJ North 6