ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORT 2023
Grow Generations Team
GROW GENERATIONS TEAM
The Grow Generations Team makes disciples by calling the church to āGrow with usā through the seasons of childhood, youth, young adult and family.
left to right: Ps Vernon Song, Khoo Seng Khong (SK), Ps Annabel Chau,
Ps Dawn Lee, Rev Edward Chau
Who we are
Team Head: Annabel Chau
Staff & MInistries: Vernon Song (Children), Annabel Chau (Youth), SK Khoo and Dawn Lee (Young Adults), Edward Chau (Family)
What we did
The Grow Generations Team created opportunities for different generations in the church to interact with one another. As a team, we also shared resources by serving in each other's ministries.
Childrenās Ministry:
In 2023 we attained several milestones ā and the first would be the inaugural Chinese Childrenās Camp in June. We hit our target of 50 campers! Most of the children came from the Chinese Sunday School Classes, and we also had children from the English Sunday School. It was encouraging that many of our volunteers at the Chinese Camp were from the English Congregation. This affirms the unity between the two congregations.
Our first Chinese Children's Camp!
The second milestone for the Childrenās Ministry was the annual Children's Camp which took place from 23-25 November 2023. In addition to the camp for the children, we also invited their parents to come and hear what Sterling Campus had taught their children during the camp. 30 parents attended the session, where they learnt the need to recognize and understand Godās intended purposes for their children, and how they might need to change their mindsets and approaches to parenting their children, especially in the area of their studies. Our volunteers comprised of WEFCers (and a few non-WEFCers) from different generations, all working together to make this camp enjoyable and fruitful for the young campers.
Learning to Love
It was particularly encouraging to see the 18 youths (aged 13-16 years old) who stepped forward to take leadership in the various roles and tasks they were assigned to.
The third milestone for the Childrenās Ministry was the Childrenās Carnival held on 8 October to commemorate Childrenās Day, initiated and put together by a group of parents. Once again, the different generations came together to make this a fun-filled time for the kids!
Besides these churchwide events, Vera and Abel Fam organized a āPlay Dateā for families with young children on 30 December 2023, where the children could play while their parents could relax and chat. This idea came out of a burden to meet and get to know other young parents within the church, to mutually support one another in their role of spiritual parenting and raising the next generation. Each family was given the book, āHabits of the household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Familyā by Justin Whitmel Earley. We celebrate ground-up initiatives like this, where God gives a burden and leads His people to do something about it, and Godās people respond in obedience!
Thirty-four parents and children turned up at the picnic, along with a few enthusiastic young babisitters!
Youth Ministry:
Youth Camp 2023 - "Arkeo: God is Sufficient"
Camp commandants, Jay En, Rui En & Jedidiah, felt led to use the book of Habakkuk as the theme for Youth Camp 2023. The questions that Habakkuk asked God when he didnāt understand what God was doing are relevant to the questions youths are asking about God today, and. the answer is found in the camp theme: Arkeo, which means sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9)). As the camp commandants came down with Covid just before (and one during) the camp, each of them personally learned what it means to trust a God who is fully sufficient. On the final night of camp, the youthsā parents joined us for a buffet dinner, and were treated to an engaging talk by Mr Joel Seah, Executive Director of Woodlands Social Centre.
Chinese Youth Retreat
Our Chinese Youth Retreat was primarily to encourage bonding with the new Sec 1s as well as to check in on the lives and spiritual health of the older youths. We thank God for a good time of bonding through games and activities (including fun with a few from the English youth ministry), and a meaningful time of reflection about what God had been doing in each otherās lives.
Young Adults Ministry:
The highlight of 2023 for Youth and PathMakers (young adults) was the first combined YAY (Young Adults-Youth) Retreat in June 2023, where 128 youths (aged 15-18), young adults and specially invited ānot-too-oldā adults came together to hear and learn from each other across the generations. It was the first time that most of them had the opportunity to hear firsthand the struggles, pain and concerns of each generation, and to understand how we are more similar than different. We praise God for how He touched many at this retreat and the impetus it gave to WEFC to strive to become a truly inter-generational church family. The YAY retreat also kickstarted short and long-term plans for 2024, to intentionally build deeper into our young adultsā spiritual journeys and foster a strong sense of belonging.
Getting to know the different generations
Family Ministry:
We thank God for blessing our ministry to the elderly in 2023. Over the year, our programs included activities such as Memories Alive, a virtual tour of Chinatown, and Bonsai, Therapeutic Gardening and other workshops, to help keep our elderly active and engaged. We also conducted separate workshops on understanding dementia for adults and youths, to help them understand their elderly family members and friends better. Kopi Corner saw an increase in the number of seniors who came, and our home visits to the elderly during festive seasons also continued. We thank God for the commitment of our volunteers serving the elderly on Sundays!
Christmas at our Kopi Corner
Marriage Enrichment Weekend (MEW) 2023: "Are we there yet?"
MEW 2023 was held in Aston Batam with 33 couples. The theme was āAre we there yet?ā Nam Seng and Sok Mian, our Marriage Mentor trainers, were our speakers for the retreat. They also held a refresher for our couples during the MEW Afterglow gathering on affair-proofing our marriages and helped each couple write out their mission statement.
A total of 19 couples were trained by Bridging Hearts in 2023 as Marriage Mentors. This involved four nights of 3-hour sessions and one full day of training. The first batch was trained in February-March and a second batch in July-August.
These couples invested many hours to be mentored and trained to become marriage mentors themselves, to prepare couples for marriage, to journey with married couples to take their marriages from good to great marriages, and to walk with couples in crisis.
Using materials from Bridging Hearts, we conducted a Four Pillars Grow class with six young couples who were preparing to get married. Besides having their own marriage mentors, it was good to see these young people come together as a community to learn from their mentors of a different generation, and to laugh together as they encouraged one another to build strong marriages.
Building strong marriages together
Where we are going
As we look towards how God is going to shape WEFC into an intergenerational church, the Grow Generations team will focus on bridging the gap between generations by providing opportunities and various platforms for each group to engage in meaningful interactions. We hope to help WEFCers see Godās design for parents to disciple their children, appreciate the beauty of intergenerational mentoring, and collectively and individually honour our seniors by caring for them.
ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORT 2023
Grow Generations Team