“Would you consider playing guitar for the Boulevard BM Fellowship?” I asked Louis in Dec 2017.
Louis plays guitar in one of Faith Methodist Church (FMC)’s singspiration teams. A day before I had just learnt that one of our two guitarists (Hee Eng Gek) would be transferred to Paris come 2018. Two weeks later when I contacted Louis to ask for his answer, it was a “Yes”. No fuss, no conditions, just a simple yes. And an apology that he cannot sing, which is alright with us. God calls whoever He calls.
The Boulevard BM Fellowship has been running for three years since it started on 6 March 2015. It is a collaboration between FMC and Dennis Lee (a Boulevard CEO who is also an FMC congregation member). He wanted his Christian employees to have an opportunity to worship God because many of them have not attended Sunday church service for years. Weekends are busy times for shopping malls and supermarkets.
Now we have 4 to 15 Boulevard employees and 4 to 10 FMC members, depending on the “season”. When we first started, we had a good number of FMC members – at times we even outnumbered the Boulevard employees who came to attend the fellowship meeting. As time went by, we were left with a few who faithfully played their respective roles – five senior citizens took turns to buy food every Saturday evening, two guitarists took turns to play guitar two or three times a month, and the rest of us turned up to be among the Boulevard employees. We got the help of BEM pastors to give a short sharing twice a month.
“I can’t speak BM”, that’s the answer I receive from a large number of FMC members when I ask them if they would consider helping out in the Boulevard BM Fellowship. It surprises me that so many Malaysian Chinese do not speak our national language. Is it truly so? Not even some words of survival BM? Or is it an assertion of a strong Chinese identity, one that speaks of belonging to a monolithic Chinese community that cannot embrace our indigenous brothers and sisters? Never mind, God calls whoever He calls, and He gives just enough to keep the Fellowship going. We do not need to ask for extras to prepare for a rainy day because God will take care of the rainy day when it comes.
Why do I go around sometimes asking if new people would like to serve in the Boulevard BM Fellowship? Well, I am succumbing to pressure. Even my own sister has asked me to groom new ones to take over now that the Fellowship is stable. I asked her, “Why? This is where I want to be.” I am not looking for greener pastures in ministry.
I believe in the cause to provide the Boulevard employees with Christian contact once a week so that they stay with Christ. I know the pressure they are under to keep their Christian faith. I can speak BM although I have to resort to English words at times. More importantly, I can relate to them as another Christian because I do not employ maids/general workers and therefore do not see them as a different social class.
We have been told to apply urban Chinese Christian strategies to increase the number of Boulevard employees coming to the Fellowship.
Firstly, Christian brothers and sisters suggested longer meeting time for more spiritual input like in a church service. Perhaps another venue? Another day? Another time slot like after their 10.30 p.m. shift ends? We complete the Fellowship meeting in one hour – from waiting for the employees to come from their respective stations to completing their dinner. We stress that they need to clock in at their stations in time because it is good Christian testimony. Well, the input and rapport is built up over time, over 152 times, once per week since we started. Patience is the key; we cannot rush to see “results”.
Secondly, seeing tangible results the corporate style. We once had 20-30 at the Fellowship but shift hours and rest hours change. We ignore the pressure we are under to report a graph that climbs. Instead we look at how individuals are ministered to through the Fellowship. For example, Liston said he had always looked forward to the Saturday Fellowship and he was waiting for the Christmas Party to bring his son Michael to meet us. During the time we knew him, we have seen how God provided a way for his wife to work in another department at Boulevard. Previously she lived in Bau. This move has improved their family relationship. Some of us bump into employees who are now working in other malls, and make it a point to visit them once in a while and find out how they are.
Thirdly, using marketing strategies to promote the Boulevard BM Fellowship. We have done this too. Perhaps we haven’t prayed enough? Well, once when Peter Sii was distributing flyers to promote the Fellowship, he prayed for God to give him 10%. Indeed the next week God brought 3 new persons. Seeing this, I prayed for God to bring Selli back. She did, but not regularly because of her shifts. However, after testing God and knowing that God hears our prayers on this, we did not feel compelled anymore to pray for an increase in number.
Instead we look at the impact we make on an individual’s life. It is like the story of an old man walking along the beach and picking up stranded star fish to throw back into the sea. A child told him that he could not save them all as there were hundreds of star fish. “It makes a difference for this one,” said the old man as he threw one star fish back into the sea.
When I walk through the Boulevard shopping mall, sometimes I look at the faces of the employees and pray that God will bring them to the Fellowship for them to meet God. Some of them were with us before but had stopped coming for various reasons. They will come when God calls them; our job is just to keep the Fellowship going so that we are there when they need us.
Fourthly, empowering the Boulevard employees to take ownership of the Fellowship by slotting them into the duty roster. To our disappointment, they did not turn up on the day they were rostered. One evening, I went to shop in Boulevard after the Fellowship and met Elsie and Anjeli who usually came. They would rather pay for a KFC dinner that day because one of them was too shy to be the MC. It was not only one person who did not come but all their friends. After more than a year with us, one day Cristina agreed to pray and it was a moving prayer in Bidayuh. Urban middle class Christians such as myself do not realise that not everyone is like us. Not everyone holds a degree. Not everyone can stand in front to speak to a crowd, even though a small one. Not everyone feels a sense of belonging in this manner.
Do you know how their sense of belonging is demonstrated? It is when they tell their co-workers to come to the Fellowship. In August 2017, 42-year old Athiu had to resign from her job at Boulevard Hypermart to look after her sister Simun who was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She begged her co-workers to keep coming to the Fellowship because we had put in so much effort to do this for them and because she had learnt so much Biblical knowledge she did not know before. Both are well in Kpg Terbat, Serian although Simun cannot walk.
Besides, in the last six months some Boulevard employees have taken the initiative to serve food and to clean up. By doing this, they were acting as co-hosts with us. Saga even bought butter buns to share with us as thanksgiving. He is a special brother to me; I was moved to pray for him after he shared the turmoil of helping his cousin. I saw how selfless he was in responding to the needs of his extended family. During the two years that I have known him, I have “witnessed virtually” (through his conversation) his mother turning to Christ and his cousin coming back to him for guidance. His 42-door longhouse in Saratok is largely non-Christian. I have much to learn from Saga and Athiu, seeing how selfless they are in looking after the needs of their extended families.
We shall keep the Boulevard BM Fellowship going, as long as there is continued support from Boulevard management and FMC. We refuse to worry about the numbers to justify our existence or the money spent by FMC. It is God’s Fellowship and He will keep it alive as long as there is a need. God calls whoever He calls: And you shall have just enough.