One chilly week in March, I had a glimpse of Revelation 7:9 in action – people from different tribes and nations coming together to worship and glorify God. Nestled away an hour’s drive from Seoul, Korea, Bible Society representatives from Albania, Australia, China, England, Guatemala, Jordan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine and the USA came together to discuss one thing: How to better engage the next generation with the Word of God.
The team quickly learned that, while different cultures may face unique obstacles to Bible engagement, the need to advocate Scripture to children and youth is universal.
After a week of robust questions, brainstorming, and conceptualising, we were inspired to take the content of our discussions back to our respective countries and fit them in our own context.
Opportunities to Grow
With similar motivation, ETHOS Institute, the Evangelical Fellowship of Singapore and the Bible Society partnered with OneHope International to conduct a survey to “[reveal] the state of ministry to Singapore’s children and youth”. The goal of this survey was to highlight both the successes and gaps of existing ministries and thus create “opportunities to reach even more young people” for Christ.
Although the survey showed that churches and Christian organisations have seen an overall growth in their NextGen ministries, “churches indicated that family involvement, training and stable leadership were amongst their greatest needs for both children and youth.”
Bridging the Gaps
These findings showed that we are on the right track and have inspired us to work even harder to reach Singapore’s next generation with the Word. The Society will continue to advocate that families interact with their children and engage them with the Word through initiatives such as the Colours of the Bible art competition. We strive to provide parents and ministry leaders with quality materials and trainings through events like Walk Thru the Bible – Kids in the Book and the Children’s Resource and Equipping Fair. We endeavour to strengthen the family unit through conferences such as Married for Life and The World Needs a Father.
I often think back to our time in Korea and am eager for what lies ahead – to serve the church to reach the next generation of Singapore, offering these initiatives to our sister Societies in South East Asia, and also working with all 147 societies to reach the next generation for Christ.