My CF Experience

One NTU; One body; One God

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NTU-CF About Stories Resources FAQs Contact I’m New About Stories Resources FAQs Contact I’m New One NTU; One Body; One God Written by: Ezra, Sociology year 4, Giant Grapes SG Photo credits: Bill Yap, Kimberly Tan Published on: 30 March 2022 It goes without saying that the past two years of COVID-19 life has been incredibly challenging. In the past, we had been able to worship together in our hall lounges for Small Group sessions, today, we have to sing silently in the Arc, where we would be seated in groups of less than five. Previously, we were able to mingle with one another and enjoy buffet dinners with new friends during Fellowship Night (FN) sessions, whilst FN now consists of us having to log in online and have breakout room sessions with fellow CFers. I had greatly missed this physical aspect of fellowship, and though I understand that God can still use these online platforms to carry out His will, I would nonetheless find myself reminiscing the times when we could really fellowship together as one, standing side by side each other, feeling each other’s physical presence. So, when the COVID-19 measures in Singapore had started to loosen up, and the opportunity had arisen to plan a session where not just CFers, but all Christians associated with NTU can come together to worship and pray, I jumped at the opportunity without hesitation. In fact, even before the pandemic, I had a deep desire to see body of Christ in NTU gathered as one, united in our faith and love for the LORD, so this opportunity also seemed like an answer to that prayer and desire. HE GOES BEFORE US Thus began my journey to be part of the team to plan for this year’s Campus Day of Prayer (CDOP), a gathering for believers in NTU to spend time in worship and prayer, that had been held in previous years as well, albeit with stricter safe distancing measures in place. Together, our team of 5, consisting of members from NTU-CF, NTU CRU and NTU Harvesters, set about to pray and seek God for what He envisioned for our campus. I had been deeply encouraged by the fellowship and the earnest desire to move in the way that God wanted to move, and I can safely say that every step of the way, despite the small team, God showed His hand throughout, speaking through our weekly prayer sessions, through the encouragement from students and faculty from other universities and campuses, as well as through our own devotion and reflection of His word. The team’s deep passion for the things of God, and their genuine heart for seeing God’s will be done in NTU meant that throughout the whole planning, I learnt so much about what it means to genuinely seek the Lord and be obedient to His will. All He asks is for us to trust Him, for we knew that ultimately He will go before us, revealing more and more about His goodness and faithfulness along the way.   The CDOP planning team  CALLED FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 (ESV) In the early stages of the CDOP planning team’s meetings, it was brought to our attention that the time period we had envisioned the CDOP to fall on coincided with the Jewish festival of Purim. With this in mind, the team committed to understanding the story of Queen Esther in the Bible, which the festival commemorates.  The story of Esther is a beautiful account of how God intervenes at just the right time, calling people into positions and situations to do His work, so as to overthrow and reverse what the enemy had meant for evil. In the same way, the team explored the situations and cultures in our school that needed reversing and needed God’s intervention. As we were preparing and praying for the school, yet again, God’s hand was observed when He opened up doors for us to get into contact with a staff from the University Wellbeing Office, who happened to be a fellow believer, and he shared with us about his deep burden for the mental wellness needs of the students in NTU. It was thus towards this direction that we planned the prayer and worship segments for the CDOP, seeking God to use His people to bring His peace into all areas of the campus, and committing the existing initiatives by campus ministries and groups into His hands. We truly believed that it was no accident that God has placed us in NTU, and that He has called us into this university for such a time as this. LET US BE ONE VOICE THAT GLORIFIES YOUR NAME Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:15-16 (NIV) In the blink of an eye, the day of the CDOP had dawned upon us. We were thankful that God had continued to show His hand at work, moving obstacles around throughout the planning process, even holding the skies for us so that students would not be hindered from making the short walk to the event venue. Personally, I also got to experience how God was still speaking to us even on the final moments of preparation. I had been reading Isaiah 66 as part of my Bible reading plan, which articulated how God was selecting priests and levites (v21), and I thought that this again was another way that God was speaking to us through His word, reminding us that

Conversations on Mental Health

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NTU-CF About Stories Resources FAQs Contact I’m New About Stories Resources FAQs Contact I’m New Conversations on Mental Health Written by: Breadfish SG Published on: 12 March 2021 What is mental health? Is poor mental health the same as having a mental illness? Do you struggle with asking people for help when you need it? These were some of the questions that we tackled in our conversation about mental health. Mental health is a topic that has been growing in prominence ever since COVID-19 came to Singapore. During COVID-19, there have been reports of an increase in the number of calls to suicide help hotlines because of the pressure that Singaporeans were under. According to the Institute of Mental Health in Singapore, mental health is about how we think, feel and act as we cope with our lives. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Good mental health isn’t just the absence of mental health problems. Being mentally or emotionally healthy is much more than being free of depression, anxiety, or other psychological issues. Periods of prolonged stress and the inability to cope can also put us in a position where we have poor mental health. Stress will be present in everybody’s lives. Therefore, we can see that poor mental health does not only affect people who struggle from types of mental illness, the everyday person can suffer from poor mental health too.  Our SG also acknowledged that there were certain stigmas about having poor mental health that were present in society today. One example is that many feel that it is shameful to suffer from poor mental health and this causes people to keep silent about their problems. Armed with this knowledge, we then set out to talk about mental health in our daily lives. We talked about some issues that we faced during circuit breaker and how we were able/not able to cope with the changes. During our discussion, some mentioned that they felt anxious about what the future will be like. Others spoke about the struggles of feeling isolated because they were not able to physically meet up with loved ones. The conversation progressed to some of us also admitting that we had trouble asking for help due to various reasons. We realised that the struggle in asking for help affected everybody. We then moved on to identifying people who are struggling to say “help” for the struggles that they are facing. Many of us identified friends as a group that we wanted to help. Some of our friends were struggling with loneliness, depression and mental illnesses and we wanted to be that listening ear to them. Some talked about setting aside intentional time for prayer so that we could intercede for our friends and we also brought up the importance of conversations as a means to show God’s love to people.  From this session, we were able to have a better understanding of mental health. Mental health is a topic that is important to God and we wanted to start creating conversations about it with our Christian and non-Christian friends.  We need to normalise speaking about mental health and share what the Christian view on mental health is. In the process of doing so, we can be salt and light to the people who are hurting and we can be conduits of God’s grace and love, in our actions and relationships.  Love,  Breadfish SG Back to the top © NTU Christian Fellowship 2023

My CF experience

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NTU-CF About Stories Resources FAQs Contact I’m New About Stories Resources FAQs Contact I’m New My CF Experience Written by: Jethro, ADM Year 4, Giant Grapes SG Published on: 21 June 2020 Hello everyone! I am Jethro and I am the President for this current AY. I am in my final year in NTU, studying digital film making in ADM. As we embark on the new academic year, I thought it would be good to reflect upon my past 3 years in CF. I remember my first experience with CF in their annual camp and I had many fears in me. I had never interacted with any Christian groups outside my church and I was not sure that I would fit it. I was also afraid that what I believe in might clash with what others believe in, starting a conflict. It was also difficult for me to start a conversation because I did not know anyone then and I was quite introverted. My first camp experience The camp proved me otherwise. I realized that everyone’s church experience is slightly different from each other and it reflects the diversity of churches in Singapore. Meeting then in an interdenominational organisation like CF provides the platform for an exchange of ideas and opinions. I remember vividly about my conversations with other CF-ers about how they viewed the first few chapters of Genesis and their views of creationism. Even though I was doing a fine arts degree, it was interesting to hear from my life science friends about how they contended with such a topic. I also remember from this camp the variety of opinions when it comes to scripture engagement and I enjoyed all of it. I participated in most of the CF activities, such as our small group sessions to our fellowship nights and community engagement sessions. What I really appreciated was how the activities in CF are geared towards gospeling in all areas of our lives. We are not just viewing the gospel from the point of view of spiritual salvation, but in our day to day actions, in our academic fields and in our communities. This gave me the handles to think deeper about what I study in school and how I can participate in the conversations that the university is concerned with. I am also thankful that I could share my ideas freely and contribute back to the CF. My Monday Small Group My bible camp group in 2018 (I have no idea what I happening here) As part of my final year project, I have to do a short film and I have the freedom to pick my topics. I decided to do a documentary on a topic close to most people’s hearts- food. The angle which I am entering is though urban farming and our state policies. I thought that this was also a good time to reveal our broken relationship with food and to recenter our food production with a focus on creation care. Though my research phase, I had good conversations with my other CF friends about food and its relation with our faith. Food is in an abundance in Singapore and we should consider it as a blessing and not as a given. The conversations that I had helped me in understanding the topic better and when I pitched it to my school friends, they could understand where I am coming from. I am also hoping to start a larger conversation over this and I am doing a series of blog posts on my project website www.stateofthegardencity.com Looking back, I am really quite grateful for joining this campus ministry because it has broadened my perspectives and given me an image of how a Christian community can be like. It might seem scary and overwhelming at the beginning but as you commit yourself to it you would end up learning a lot. Back to the top © NTU Christian Fellowship 2023