sigafoose robert diane 1990 singapore

8/11/2019 Sigafoose Robert Diane 1990 Singapore

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Robert

and

Diane SIgafoose

50

Monk s Hill Road

04-50

Singapore

0922

Republic of Singapore

/ 3 t i

Forwarding Agent:

Delmer Rhodebeck

1429 Norwood

Granite City, IL 62040

618

877-7120

-

1429

Norwood, Granite

City, IL 62040

A LOOK AT SINGAPORE EVENTS

CHALLENGE

FOR

1990

I t has been

nearly e ight

years ago

since a

Singaporean

f r iend of

ours

approached

Diane

about

t eaching an English

c la s s to

a

s t u d en t of h i s . Seems a s if

o u r

t e a che r

f r iend

wanted a

month

hol iday and

needed

a

f i l l - i n .

Reluctant ly , Diane

agreed to

he lp

fo r

a

s ho rt d ur at io n. Consequently,

our f r iend

r e tu rned , found

he

was

too

busy

to resume

the

ext ra

hours of teaching ,

wished

Diane

wel l ,

and s a i d , Don ' t worry,

you ' l l enjoy

i t . One th ing led to

another ,

o r

should

we

say ,

one s tuden t

led

to

another

un t i l t h i s

day.

Through

these

p as t y ea rs , what has been a small area of

ou t r each fo r the gospe l has sudden ly

tu rned

in to

a

major

one

fo r both of

us .

Diane

had

g iven

herse l f

th ree

days a

week

to devote to teaching and

he lping

in

the

Japanese

community.

The r e s t of

the t ime

had t o be left f o r loc l c h u r c h work and

serv ing

the

Singaporeans . Also, as

you

may remember, our home i s a hote l , near ly

a

fu l l - t ime

opera t ion ,

to

t ake care of the

n eed s o f

t h o s e

m i s s i o n a r i e s and C h r i s t i a n s

passing

through

o r

vis i t ing Singapore;

p lu s

a haven

o r

s h e l t e r

fo r th e

Singaporean

Chris t ians and non-Chr is t ians

who

need

counse l ing , a

quie t place

fo r

ref reshment ,

and

encouragement in

t h i s

e v e r s o

h e c t i c

u rb an e nv ir on m en t we l i v e

WORKING

AMONG

THE JAPANESE

The

Japanese are

emerging

as a dominant

world power. There

i s

a

f e rven t

demand

fo r

speaking

English among

these

people .

Most

claim

to have

no

r e l i g ion . Most have

no

r e s t r i c t i on s abou t teaching

C h r is ti an it y t o

the

chi ldren .

Through

persona l

contac ts , our

phone r ings

cons t an t l y want ing

Diane ' s

teaching.

A

r epu ta t ion has been e s t ab l i s h ed .

With a l l of these

f a c t s

cons ide r ed , it

seemed

as

i f

th e Lord

had opened wide a l l

these doors fo r

us

to ge t i n to

t h i s

min is t ry .

had put of f , prolonged,

delayed and shu t

ou t

His d i r e c t i on .

Fina l ly ,

a f t e r

much,

much prayer , we

d e c i d e d t o f o l l ow and se e w here and how

t h e

L ord w ou ld

le d

On

March 3,

we

began c l asses

in E ng lish

a t

o u r c h u rc h . We

had

dec ided to move

slowly,

slowly

a favorite expression

here) with songs

and simple

Chris t ian

teaching. As it was

near

Easter-t ime, we

in fo rmed

th e

mothers t h a t

we would l i k e

to

bring

in a

special

teacher to t e l l

the

group about the

rea l meaning

of

Easter .

We had Summie Yokouchi in mind. Sumie

works

with

the Japanese

Church

in

Singapore.

Having

l ived here

fo r 26

years , her command of English was superb.

She agreed to

come and

t e l l

the Eas te r

Story

in

Engl i sh

and

do her own

t r an sla tio n in to

Japanese. This

was the

wonderful par t , as there was

a

c l ea r

message with

no

misunderstanding

because

of

language

ba r r i e r s .

One

mother

asked,

Can th e

mothers a t t end

th e Eas t e r S to r y ,

too? You know,

we moth ers h av e

never

heard

the r ea l meaning of Eas te r , e i t he r .

Sumie

did

a

f an t a s t i c job . She

t aught

two

act ion songs;

Walking

With Jesus ,

and

The

Cross.

In

her

message, she

h igh l igh ted

the c rea t ion , Adam and Eve ' s s i n , the

b i r t h o f J e su s ,

th e

dea th o f J e su s ,

and

His

ascens ion .

After

the

message she

asked

ques t i ons

to make

su re

the group

understood.

There was

qu i t e a

l i ve l y

response . In h er q u es tio n in g to

make

them

understand about

s i n , one

small boy sa id ,

Yes , he

unders tood.

He s a i d , No mat t e r

how much you wash yoursel f with soap

ou ts ide and even

i f

you swallow a lo t

of

soap to

wash

and c lean

yoursel f ins ide ,

th e

soap wi l l never be

able

to reach

and

c lean

your

hea r t .

had 37 in

our

Saturday program

the

day

be fo re

Eas t e r

Sunday,

exac t ly s ix

weeks

a f t e r ou r c l a s s e s

had

begun.


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Singapore

Canaan

Chr is t ian

Church (where

our

col league Rich

Sheeley i s minister ing)

has supplied

teachers

fo r us, along with

those of our congregat ion.

We have e ight

teachers a t th i s point .

Par t

of

the

teaching inc ludes teaching the

Singaporeans

how

to teach

the

Japanese .

I t i s a

r e a l chal lenge to say

the

l e a s t .

J

Our future plans

for

this ministry wil l be

to

bu i l d on th e

founda t ion we have

es t ab l i shed

t hus f a r .

We

want

to teach

the

Singaporeans to commit themselves to

this ministry, which

goes hand-in-hand

with our to ta l

leadership t r a in ing and

mission

outreach program

fo r

the

Singapore

churches .

We

have worked

f e r ven t ly

towards t h i s end. We a re now exposed

to

nearly

30 Japanese

famil ies.

Our

churches

must r ea l i z e t h a t t ime

i s

no t on our s i de .

Singapore i s

the

l as t completely

open

country tO thff Gospel in South- Asia.

Then, bear in mind tha t during the l as t

few

months, the

government

here has

begun

putting restrictions on

Christian

act ivi ty . are

not

free

to openly

proselyte. A

prominent

Christ ian

organization has jus t l i s ted

Singapore

as

a threatened country

fo r

the

Gospel.

We

m ust w ork h a r d e r

than

e ve r b efo re I

SR I LANKA

Bob went

to S r i

Lanka on June

12 th

fo r tw o

weeks

to

teach,

encourage,

and t rain

le ad e rs in our t h r ee churches

he

has

helped

to e s tab l ish in Sr i Lanka. As you

may remember

because

of

th e

c iv i l war

in

Sri

Lanka,

i t has been dangerous to t ravel

in

that

country. However,

there seems to

be

a moment

of peace

a t

th is t ime, so

we

pray

i t

will

continue.

The churches have

been

neglected because

of

the

violence

of

fr :

[ i inSTQi

the f igh t ing

and

the dangers of t r ave l ing

in

th e

a r e a s where

the

chu rches a re

l o ca t ed .

NEW WORKERS - GUEST WORKERS

We

were

very exc i ted tha t

the

Doug Pr ies t ,

J r .

family was ab le to be

with

us

here

in

Ju ly .

Our

t ime here fo r freedom

to

preach

i s shor t and we need a l l

the

help we can

ge t . Please pray

fo r

more l abo r e r s

On

June 7-11 , Dr.

James

D.

S t r auss and

h is

wife were v i s i t i ng

from

Lincoln

Chri s t i an

College. He held a th ree

day

seminar

fo r

our

churches

in Singapore .

Jim bapt ized

and

encouraged

Bob

to go to

Lincoln

Chri s t i an

Col lege .

He a l so

preached Bob s

ord ina t ion

service .

We

were

encouraged by h is con t r ibu t ion

he re .

Larry D oggett, M iss ions

professor

a t S t.

Louis Chr is t ian

College,

and Richard and

Josephine

Wong

(Singaporean

s tudents

a t

S t . Louis

Chri s t i an

College) were here

July 3 through 16 working

with

our

churches .

was a r ea l

joy

to

have them

come, and especial ly good

to

have Richard

and Josephine

back

home

fo r

a

shor t

t ime.

They

have two

more years

to

f in ish the i r

s tudies a t S t. Louis Chri s t i an

College.

They

wil l

then

be re tu rn in g to

Singapore

to

work with th e Singaporeans .

Preparat ions

fo r

events of th i s na tu re are

hec t i c ,

but God has g iven

us

s t rength and

encouragement

th rough

these wonderful

people .

STATISTICS

TO

CONSIDER

Five fami l i es working

in

t h i s area

r ep re se nt in g t he Chr is t ian

Church/Churches

o f Ch r i s t have

acce s s

t o f iv e c o u n t r i e s

with a

t o t a l

populat ion o f a pp ro xim ate ly

316 mil l ion , which

i s

about

63

mil l ion

people

per

missionary

family. In th i s

region,

we have (a t the present) two

missionary famil ies in

Singapore.

Our

immediate

out reach

i s

to a popula t ion of:

Singapore 2 ,600 ,000; Malaysia 17,000,000;

S ri Lanka 17,000 ,000 .

A fu r t he r

out reach

to P ak is ta n o f 1 00 ,0 00 ,0 00 .

Indonesia has p resen tly th re e missionary

famil ies doing evangel is t ic work among a

populat ion of 180,000,000.

We are 30

minutes by boat from

Indonesia .

These f igures are s tagger ing. The harves t

i s t ru ly passing away.

Won t you please

come

and see fo r you rse lf ; walk a

ki lomete r in

our shoes ; sha r e our

v i s ion

fo r the l o s t ; help

us

ca r ry the

burden?

Good

News

Chr i s t i an Miss ion

1429

Norwood

Granite

City, IL 62040

MISSION

SER ^] E

BOX 2427

KNOXVILLE

37901

Address Correction

Requested


3/4

Robert

and

Diane

Sigafoose

50

Monk ' s Hill Road

#04-05

Singapore 0922

Republic

of

Singapore

/y2 .

ftpAil iViO

Forwarding Agent:

Delmer

Rhodebeck

13f I

1429 Norwood

Granite

City, IL 62040

618

877-7120

1429

Norwood,

Granite City, IL 62040

Dear Friends

In Chr i s t ,

Another year has

begun and

Mhat

i t

holds

in

s t o r e f or us

we

do

no t

know.

How

can I

repay the

Lord -for

all

his

goodness to

me?

I wil l l i-f t up th e

cup

o-f sa lva t ion and

call

on

t h e name

o- f

th e Lo r d . I

w i l l

fuHi l l my vows to

the

Lord in

the

presence

o-f

a l l h is

people.

Precious

in th e s igh t

o-f t h e

Lo rd

i s th e d e a th o-f his saints 0

Lord, t ru ly I am your se rvan t . (Psalm

1 1 6 : 1 2 - 1 6 )

le-ft

Singapore

on November 16th and -flew

t o

th e

Un i t e d States to be

wi t h

ou r

oldest

daughte r ,

Debbie,

dur ing

a t raumatic

t ime.

On

November 14th ,

a

baby g i r l ,

named

Al i c i a , was s t i l l - bo rn to Debbie. Grave

s ide

r i t e s were

conducted

on

November

18 th ,

(wh ich we were ab l e

to

be home

-fo r) by

Dale

Ba rt sc he r, m i ni st er o-f the F i r s t Chris t ian

Church

o-f

Mitche l l , South Dakota.

A

decis ion was

made to

s t ay

with Debbie,

her

husband Damon

and t h e i r

t h r ee

yea r o ld

daughte r .

Amber,

-for

a -few weeks

because

o-f

th e nea rnes s

o-f

th e ho l i day s eason .

Other than the sadness

o-f

the s i tua t ion .

It

was

a

r ea l bless ing

-for us

to be t oge the r .

Laurie

-flew up

to South

Dakota -from Waco,

Texa s . Th i s was

th e

- f i r s t

t ime

t h a t we

have

been in the Sta tes

together

( including

son-in-law

and

granddaughter) a t Christmas

t ime

-for nine

yea r s .

It

was

such

a

wonder fu l and

dose t ime f o r

all

want

to

thank

those

who

gave

us

prayer

su pp ort d urin g t h i s

t ime of sadness . I t

gives

g re at s tre ng th to

those in

need,

and

g r ea t

peace

In

the hear t s of

those

who

knw

th e l ove

o f

J e s u s ou r Lo rd .

Upon

our re turn to Singapore

on

December

27th we found it d i f f u c u l t to b e l i e v e t h a t

we

had

endured

minus

50

de gre e w ea th er

in

South

Dakota, when we were met

with

warm

balmy a ir of 85 degrees or so . Someone

made a passing comment,

I ts

been

cold

s ince

you ve

been

gone.

How cold was i t ?

75 .

NEW GUEST FACES

Last yea r was one

busy

hous eho ld fo r

us and

we n e e d to

mention

a f ew o f o u r

c o nt rl bu ti ve g u es ts .

D r. L ew is Fo s t e r and wi fe Be t t y were he re

for

ten

days. Brother

Foste r

accepted

our

i nv i t a t i on to speak

in three

d i f f e r en t

churches. Topics

were: Baptism, Coping

with St re ss the Chris t ian Way,

and

a

wonderful expos i t ion of

the Book

of

Hebrews. Such an encouragement

they

were

t o al l o f u s You w i l l

be

Interested t o

know

Brother

Foste r

was

wri t ing

a new

commentary on Co r i n t h i a n s

whi l e

he was

here .

A few

chap te r s were wri t t en

on

our

very own

open-a i r

back porch.

Leonard

Thompson, an Indian

national

mis s iona ry was here fo r one

week . He

i s

current ly evaluat ing oppor tuni t i e s fo r

Indian

Chr i s t i an s

to work among

the

TA

Indian populat ion of Singapore .

Another American Pro fesso r , Dr. Medford

Jones of Pac i f i c

Chr is t ian

College

held a

Seminar

fo r

a

group

of

25

Aust ra l ian

ministers

and their

wiv e s

f rom

th e

Chu r c h e s

o f Ch r i s t in

ustralia Bob was

a s k ed t o

speak

one

evening to the group.

They

were

in Singapore

fo r

one week.


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NEW

RECRUITS

Doug

and

Robyn Priest will

be joining us

here In Singapore in

July

o f th i s

year .

sigafoose robert diane 1990 singapore

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