ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORT 2023
Grow Communities Team
GROW COMMUNITIES TEAM
The Grow Communities Team makes disciples by calling the church to “Grow with us” in authentic communities of Life Change Groups (LCGs), which are equipped in Grow Classes.
left to right: Raymond Wong, Rev Lee Twee Kim, Ps Dawn Lee, Khoo Seng Khong (SK)
Who we are
Team Head: Raymond Wong
Staff & Ministries: Lee Twee Kim, Raymond Wong, and Dawn Lee (LCG); SK Khoo and Ho Kum Weng (CE); Joshua Lim (Prisons)
What we did
The Grow Communities team aligned with the church discipleship focus Yes Jesus, I Will! by helping members to grow in discipleship in small groups and learning together. There is now a wider variety of Grow Classes for the church (both young and mature Christians) to broaden and deepen their spiritual walk. We also have Grow Classes offered in collaboration with other ministries (e.g. Christianity Explored with Outreach Ministry). With Covid restrictions removed, more LCGs met in-person, and experienced deeper levels of community and obedience in their huddles. The Prison MInistry also grew deeper in fellowship with both one-to-one accountability groups and small mentoring groups.
Life Change Groups (English):
Most LCGs resumed in-person meetings in 2023. Many LCG members shared that they enjoyed the experience of community and fellowship when they met in-person that earlier Zoom meetings could not provide. Bible studies on the gospel of Mark aligned LCGs with our church sermons and guided us in our discipleship journey. While some LCG members still found “I will” statements challenging, it is encouraging that there is a growing number who regularly use this in their personal applications. It is heartening to see more huddles interacting regularly outside of LCG meeting times, for deeper sharing of personal reflections, joys and struggles, for prayer and accountability. So, if you are not yet in an LCG, we strongly encourage you to join one, and grow together with the rest of us in your small community!
Life Change Groups (Chinese):
2023 was a year of growth and stabilisation for the Chinese LCG ministry, although not all LCGs have resumed in-person meetings. We praise God for a steady increase of requests to join LCGs! To help our LCG newcomers, we introduced a 4-session LCG experience which interested/new LCG members can join to “try it out” before deciding to join the regular LCGs. This initiative worked well. Similar to the English LCGs, we used the gospel of Mark in LCG Bible studies, with a focus on obedience to the Word.
Praise God for our 37 English and 14 Chinese LCGs. Have you joined an LCG yet?
Prison Ministry:
2023 was a year filled with numerous novel experiences. It marked the first time our brothers participated in the Prison Fellowship Singapore (PFS) men’s ministry. Additionally, 17 years after our Prison Ministry began, we were finally blessed to hear NLG brother Jensen Lee sharing a sermon during our church’s Prison Sunday service in September. The NLG demonstrated growth and resilience through the buddy system, evident in the way they actively reached out to one another. Moreover, a few brothers applied for prison passes to return to the correctional facilities and testify to God’s goodness in their lives. In a significant spiritual development, we are delighted to share that a few ex- inmates accepted Christ, and became part of our NLG ministry in 2023. Wrapping up the year on a high note, the NLG retreat provided an enriching experience for the 50 members who attended, fostering spiritual growth and camaraderie among our community.
Thank God for His sustaining grace and power in our Prison Ministry!
Christian Education (English):
We are grateful for how God has been working in our Christian Education ministry. As we expanded the Grow classes on offer to Phase 2 in 2023, God even brought people outside our church to our classes and the Holy Spirit has led a number of people to accept Christ through these programs — all glory and praise to God! We dare not rest on our laurels, however, and we pray that the culture of learning in WEFC will continue to grow and deepen in a way that will strengthen our faith and obedience to Christ. We invite you to come and join us in discovering that we are never too young or too old to learn and to be used by God!
Christian Education (Chinese):
We provided a series of classes to cater to the different needs of the Chinese-speaking WEFCers, ranging from Baptism & Membership class, Study of Gospel of Mark, and an OT/NT Bible survey class. Our Grow classes were specially designed to complement the Mark sermon series so that leaders and members would have a better understanding to lead and engage in Bible discussions.
Where we are going
Grow Communities team will focus on two areas:
(1) Strengthening discipleship in our small groups (LCGs, NLGs) in knowing and obeying the Word, and
(2) Strengthening huddles for deeper sharing and accountability.
We will actively participate in one of the key areas of WEFC’s 5-year plan by beginning to equip and develop leaders in order to build up a sustainable base of mature leaders. 2024 will see the final phase, Phase 3, of our Christian Education (English) Roadmap being implemented, with new curriculum being introduced in 2024 for mature learners who would like to stretch themselves so that they can serve God better.
ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORT 2023
Grow Communities Team