sigafoose robert diane 1994 singapore

8/11/2019 Sigafoose Robert Diane 1994 Singapore

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Robert andbianeSigafoose

50 Monk s Hii

Road

04-50

Singapore

0922

Republic of

Singapore

Serving in Singapore

/357

Forwarding Agen

Delmer Rhodebec

1429

Norwoo

Granite City, IL

6204

(618)

877-712

1429

Norwood,

Granite

City, IL 62040

Dear

Friends in Christ,

On September 7, while on a ten-week

mission

trip

to Australia,

Bob

suffered a

heart

attack He was able to get help right

away and was taken to the hospital by

ambulance. He was hospitalized for nine

days, three in I .C.U., and then was moved to

a private home for

rest

for six more days.

Diane

flew to Tasmania to be w ith him until

he was able to travel to Singapore.

On September 30, (Bob's birthday) he

entered the hospital in Singapore to undergo

an angiogram test to assess the damage. Test

results showed

that one

artery

behind

the

heart had been damaged 30

per

cent. The

artery

is

stil l st rong enough not

to

warrant

angioplasty and is being treated solely with

medi ca t i on .

The doc to r s ta ted th at she

was

convinced

that

the

hear t

at tack was caused

by cold weather shock which Bob received

in Tasmania .

We want to thank all of you for your prayers

and concern by way of cards and letters of

encouragement during

this time. Many have

been received. I t

is

such

a

comfor t

to know

that people all over the world are praying for

us. We want to thank our dear Singaporean

friend,

Audrey

Lim, who is

working

in New

York City, for advancing the money

($8,000) to have the medical testing and

possible angioplasty done. We must pay in

advance in Singapore.

Praise to God and the Fa the r

o f

ou r Lord

Jesus Christ the Father of

compassion

and

the

God

of

all

comfor t

who

comforts

us

in

al l our troubles, so that

we

can comfort

those in t roub le with the comfor t we

Bob

had been asked by the churches

of

Christ in Australia to speak to

them about

the opportunities for mission work in

Southeast

Asia.

The churches there

thought

Bob's experience of working with the Asian

people would benefit

their

mission program.

Many

of

our churches in Australia support

foreign mission work through a mission

society and have little or no contact with the

people they support. During the time Bob

was to be in Australia,

one

month

was

to

have been spent in Sydney teaching in

theological school and doing a seminar on

family enrichment. He was to spend the last

week in October speaking to the Churches

of

Chris t convent ion in Toow oom ba. Bob was

hoping to generate interest from churches

there for the work in Malaysia as well as

the

rest of the region, which so desperately

needs to

know

the Gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Last April Bob rushed back to the States to

be with

his

father

who was

diagnosed with

cancer for a second time in a year. He was

able to be with his dad during the radiation

treatment. The response to the trea tment

went

well,

so well

in

fact,

that Dad had

to

hurry home from the treatments to get his

garden

in for the season.

Diane is still

doing

quite well,

although

in

August

she was

given a PhD (Perm

anent head Damage)

from her doctor,

who t hi nk s t ha t she

should not complain

but

be grateful

and

thankful that she survived since it was

miraculous

that

she l ived from

the

fall. She


2/6

R E P O R T F R O M S I N G A P O R E

After completing five years

of

study in the

U.S. Richard

and

Josephine

Wong have

returned to Singapore to take the full time

ministry of the Singapore Christian Canaan

C hur c h.

Ri c h a r d

h as re ce iv ed his Ma s t e r s

degree from Lincoln Christian Seminary.

W e p ra is e God fo r the dedication and hard

work

of

this young Singaporean family. The

members of the congregation ar e looking

forward to his ministry with them.

Yo u

may

remember that

we

reported

that

the church building of the Singapore Gospel

Church which is owned by the government

may

b e

torn

down in 1993.

Recently this

congregation was given two years to find

another place to worship. The officials have

o f f e r e d to

se ll th e

l a n d

back

to

the

church

for

4. 8

mil lion U.S. dollars but

then

they

would still have to build a new building.

Th e

only alternative

that

seems feasible is to

s e n d t h e s e m e m b e rs to th e othe r tw o

churches in Singapore.

R E P O R T F R O M MALAYSIA

Praise th e Lord Thank you for your

prayers. Th e

church

is

doing

very well in

Malaysia. A very successful eight-day

seminar was held by Larry and Roberta

M c M i l l i a n from

th e

O x f o r d C h u r c h

o f

Christ Oxford

Indiana.

Fifty five

attended

the Sunday evening service and eight were

baptized the last day. Twelve have

been

baptized _

into

th e Lord

Jesus

Christ this

year.Ten transfers have come to help in the

work

of th e

Lord. Bob an d Larry

built

a

baptistry from plywood an d installed a

waterproof liner. It worked Eight people

were baptized.

John Millason the minister of the Malaysian

church his wife Shanti and his family have

had many health problems this year. It is

thought that

John

may have an ulcer and

Shanti is also having stomach problems.

The government doctor is

no t

positive

of

the

diagnosis on either of them because

of

the

l i m i t e d

me dic a l

facilities.

T h e r e

a r e

n o

funds to go to a private hospital with better

equipment.

Shanti must

wait

at

least

three

more weeks to see th e government doctor.

We would like to take this opportunity to

introduce you to a few of the very special

workers in the Malay congregation.

If

any of

you have ever been instrumental in starting a

new congregation yo u

know

the hard

work

t h a t

is

involved. T h e r e is so m u c h

work

to

be done by so few. Jaya and his wife an d

three boys have come from a Methodist

background.

Paul and

his sister Anna a

school teacher both single come from a

Catholic background. They have become

very act ive

in

th e

work. Sur ia and

his wife

have a new baby_ boy Simeon a name

chosen by Bob. Isaac a single man and his

sister

Ruth

have

been

very helpful to the

work. There ar e many others wh o have

helped in so many ways. We praise Go d for

e a c h

o n e .


3/6

y l CWXJ i

Robert and Diane Sigafoose

50 Monk s Hill Road

04-50

Singapore 0922

Republic of

Singapore

J3^ l


Forwarding Agen

Delmer

Rhodebec

1429 Norwoo

Granite

City, IL

6204

(618) 877-712

1429

Norwood, Granite City, IL

62040

Dear

Friends and Co-workers in Christ

Jesus:

Greetings in this new year

of

1994

Many

of

you were expecting some news from us

during Christmas. We thought a

New

Year's letter

more appropriate this time. It seems already that the

newyear is going to prove to be yet another exciting

one for us and hopefully for all ofyou as well.

Christmas here in Singapore found us cooking the

more

t radit ional foods of

the

Midwest

t ha t w e

are

familiar with such as, turkey, dressing, cranberry

sauce, etc. As usual, we had two separate dinners.

We prepared one for our American colleagues, plus

Singaporean and Japanese church families, and the

other

fo r th e staff and families

o f

the

Christian

Book

Stores that Diane has begun working with. It is

always amazing to see Singaporeans tasting

unfamiliar food. They love the adventure

of

it all.

Now, we are still busy in the sun among the palm

trees and skyscrapers

of

this far away land of

Singapore. These days added rainfall from the rainy

season does bring about cooler temperatures. A

person wouldn't believe it, bu t a

daytime

temperature

of 86-88 degrees makes living a little more refreshing,

almost as good as a snowfall.

Last year seems nothing more than a whirlwind when

we stop to ponder

and

remember the highlights of the

year. With Diane still attempting to recover to

maintain a normal life after her life-threatening fall in

September 1991and Bob having his heart attack

September 7, two years later, one would think we

bothwould have

lost

some

wind in

our

sails. Well,

we did, but the wilderness experience of it all has

dollar, we feel we financially

can

no longer stay in

)01

The independent churches we have worked with in

Singapore are now operating on their own. Richard

Wong, our Singaporean who graduated first from St.

Louis Christian College with a bachelor's degree and

then from Lincoln Christian Seminary with a master's

degree, is back in Singapore and now the full-time

minister of

the

Singapore Christian Canaan Church.

The other three independent churches we were

working with are all growing

with

strong leadership.

A Timothy from the Singapore Gospel Church has

now started an independent Christian church. This

will be our Chinese (Mandarin speaking) chtirch. It i

located on the northeastern part of the island and

already has about twenty-five in attendance.

The Malaysian churches are striving to be self-

supporting during this year, although they have a long

way to go. We have exhausted every avenue trying

t oge t am i s s i ona r yv i s a i n t oMa l ay su . We

canno t

While many ofyou reading this letter will be

disappointed at

our

leaving Singapore,

le t

us share

with you some new developments that have transpire

just

these past few months.

Wehave given thought in recent years to

ways andmeans ofentering China to

establish the Church, Our aim was,

of

course, to help someone else

go

with

no

thought at all

ofour

going. As you

probably

know, it is impossible

for

missionaries to

ge t

into China. In seeking God's wil lfor our

lives these

pastfew

months,

doors have been

openingfor us to go in.


4/6

individuals,to come to share their skills and expertise

with the people ofChina.

Bob and David haveworkedon the ideaof a training

school from time to time, but for some reason it did

not materialize. There se em ed t o b e n o interest or

initiative from those to whomthey talked. The school

would link-up with one or more schools from the

States to insure a diploma. As an extension

of

this

school

a legal church would

be planted.

Moreover when Bob

had

his heart

attack

last

September, David was thoroughly shaken. He

realized, as we did, that time was short for

proclaiming the Gospel. A few weeks later David

quit his lucrative job as General

Manager

of a leading

company in Singapore and decided to devote himself

to fu l l t ime serv ice to China. David

has t rave led

to

China many times during his work with various

companies. He has

made

many contacts

with the

Chinese in China. Many

of

those he met were at high

office

levels.

Jus t s ince B ob h ad h is hear t

attack

doors

fo r

China

have been opening so fast that it seems unreal

David and Bob

have

met

with many people in

Singapore about the cost

of

setting up such a training

center.

All contac ted s ee me d t o b e interested and

excited, but no one has come forward to financially

support the project as yet. It will take a great deal of

thought and prayer and financial support for such a

project. We estimate the minimum cost to set up the

school to be $150,000.00 U.S. There is a great wealth

of

knowledge to gain from Singaporean Christian

professionals. They will be a great help in opening

doors wide r

than

we could.

Bob and David have also met with an official of the

mbassadorfrom China

to Singapore concerning

theseplans Thefirst survey trip intoChina on

January 17will begin in Shanghai, then move to

Suzhou.

As it is the

beginning

of a newyear Bob is nowsixty

years ofage and Diane will soonby fifty-five. We

feel t ha t we need to make new

directions

i n our lives.

Even thoughwe have lookedforward for so long to

being back with our families and enjoying our

grandchildren before too late in life, it seems God still

h as w o rk

for u s to do on a

mission

field.

Through many times

of

prayer and discussion, we put

all

o f this

into the hands

o f

the Lord. Often the

scripture from Psalms 55:23 came to mind, But as

for me, I trust in you.

Proverbs 19:21 says, Many are

the

plans in a man's

heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Please

be

praying for us that we will continue to

walk

with God in this endeavor to spread the Gospel, that

we conduct o u rs e lv e s a s G od w o u ld h a ve and not act

solely out

of

personal desire.

As we close this newsletter, we want to say thanks to

all ofyou for the cards and letters over the past few

months. We were so encouraged and given strength

from each one we received. What a blessing it is to

have family and friends

OP F RAT ION

CHI NA

Non Profit


5/6

and iane S gafoose

5 Monk s

Hill

Road

04-50

Singapore

0922

Republic of

Singapore

May 1994


1429 Norwood, Granite City, IL62040

Forwarding Agen

Delmer

Rhodebec

1429

Nonwoo

Granite City, IL 6204

618

877-712

Dear

Friends in Chr is t Jesus :

Greetings in the name of our Lordand Savior.

May

the Lord richly blessand keep you inHis loving

c re

Manythings have developed since our January newsletter reached you. The opportunity for Diane

cffid

me to move to China continues to improve. Developments in Singapore reached the point that

it beccimenecessary for David Chang and me to go to the States to

mcike

contacts for import-export

businessopportunities in China. A Singapore company paid the

ciir

fare to the U.S.

A business/commercial sponsor isneeded in order for us to

geiin

entrance into China. I feel

confident that an agreement can be reached that

will

allow us to work eunong the Chinese people,

developing the Church in much the same fashionas we have done in Singapore. As in the past, we

will

continue to be dependent upon

financieJ

support from the States in this new venture. Dieine and

1

will

be making a trip to Shanghai, China, in June to obtain more concrete information and

determine justwhere we

will

live and work. We plan to move to China early in 1995.

There are

1.2

billion people

living

in China. Many know about the church, but they do not know

the

Lord Jesus Christ. I have been invited to worship and work with a church in China. I would be able

to preach to some 30,000 people in the immediate area. There is also a verygood possibility of our

being able to erect a new church buildingin the area. There

are still

many things that we do not

know, but we

hope

to obtcunmuch

more

information while on our trip in

June..

I have also taken advantage of the time in the States to be with my father and brother. Both of them

have lung cancer. My father is quite ill cuid has been in and out of

the

hospital during

the

last

several months. At one time he needed a chest tube suction to draw th e fluid from his lungs and

now is

on

oxygen deiily Mybrother is now undergoing chemotherapy.

The

treatment is working

and the cancer is disapF earing. Please pray for both of them as they go through this most difficult

t ime


6/6

Diane and Iwill be returning to the States for a planned \^it with all of our supporting churches

September

1994

through February

1995.

At that time we

will

provide you with as much

information as we can

This new work is a big undertaking for us Even though the door in China is opening there are still

many things that we do not know We certainly need your prayers that God

will

giveus wisdomand

guidance in this endeavor We

will

also need to raise

some

additional support for moving cindinitial

operating expenses.

We appreciate your expressions of love and concern and look forward to being with you in person

this f^.

In Him

Bob

Sigafoose

Good News

Chr is t ian

Miss ion

4 9 N o rw o od

Granite City IL 62040

Forward an d Address Correction Requested


MISSION SERVICE

BOX 2427

KNOXVILL TN 37901

Non Profit

U.S.

POSTAGE

PAID

Granite City IL

62040

Permit No . 51

sigafoose robert diane 1994 singapore

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