Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

A Brief Report on the Annual Family Church Camp of Bethel B-P Church, Melbourne
Camp Site: El Kanah, Marysville
Theme: "Trust in the LORD with All Thine Heart" – (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The last time we visited Bethel B-P Church was in the year 2012. I was part of the ordination team to ordain Rev Paul Cheng and I was the camp speaker for that year. There is little change in terms of the physical premises but much has changed in terms of the people, the congregation. There are more babies and young children which makes the whole atmosphere very lively and vibrant. It is a healthy sign in terms of the physical growth of the church. About 15 to 20 years ago when I first came to Bethel to speak at the Young People’s winter camp in the middle of the year, there were many young people studying in the universities but very few children. These same young people are now parents with babies or young children and more babies are on the way! Thank God that these young people have stayed on in the church and I pray that by God’s grace they will become godly parents and God fearing future leaders of the church, if the Lord tarries.

Rev Paul Cheng, a graduate of FEBC, is the present pastor who succeeded Rev Stephen Khoo as the shepherd of the flock. His Korean wife Hye Young is also a graduate of FEBC. They have two young boys named Timothy (14 years old) and Silas (12 years old). Their Session has no elders yet. They have three capable deacons, James Nah, Jason Nah and John Meimaris, with Brother Kenny Cheong in their team as the fulltime worker. Rev Stephen Khoo is still listed as their associate pastor in the church weekly. They are united and thankfully serving the Lord together with one heart and mind, seeking only to exalt and magnify Christ according to Holy Scriptures. Some have left the church and there are new members. This is the common experience of every church. The unity and harmony between the leadership and the flock of God was delightful to behold. Rev Paul Cheng and the leadership seem to have a healthy symbiotic relationship with the congregation where the shepherd and sheep are in tandem as they seek to live for Christ together in these least days. Thank God for His mercy and grace toward His people.

According to the camp booklet, there were 116 campers. The camp theme was based on Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV), "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." There was a total of seven messages preached at the camp. They were: "The Way to Trust" (Prov 3:5-6); "The Tool to Trust" (Prov 22:17-19); "The Test of Trust" (Psalm 11:1-7); "The Life of Trust" (Psalm 20:1-9); "The Impact of Trust" (Psalm 37:1-9); "An Example of No Trust" (Jer 7:1-16); and "An Example of Trust" (2 Kings 18:19-19:7). Xiao Wei and Yi Jie ministered to the children at the camp. The message preached on 27 March was "O death, Where is Thy Sting?" taken from 1 Corinthians 15:51-58. The Lord’s day message preached on 3 April was "The Unceasing Three" taken from 1Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Camp site - El Kanah

The focus of the seven camp messages was on the Christian’s trust in the LORD. To trust in the LORD is to put confidence in the LORD. Confidence is dispensable in a person’s life. If a person lacks confidence he can be a nervous wreck. He cannot get anything done. He might not even have the courage to venture into the outside world for fear of the unknown. Confidence in a person’s life gives him the strength of mind, heart and character to get things done. He can achieve because he has confidence. The next important issue to consider is on the object of the person’s confidence. If his confidence is in man, he will be disappointed because man will fail him and man will die. If his confidence is in money he will also be devastated because money will make itself wings and fly away (cf. Prov 23:5). These temporal things will fail man, for they are like sinking sand. The believer’s trust must be in the LORD. The name "LORD" used here refers to the covenantal relationship the believer has with Jesus Christ. He is a child of God because he has accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour. If he puts his confidence in any other person or thing, it is a transgression. It is idolatry! The LORD died for him at Calvary! The LORD saved him from the bondage of sin and the penalty of sin which is death and hell! How can the believer turn his back on his LORD and trust in another! To trust in the LORD means to trust in the Word of the LORD which is the Bible. The Word of God and the LORD cannot be separated. Trusting in the LORD is not some subjective venture that a believer invents for himself. Trusting in the LORD is to believe in all that the Bible teaches and obey cheerfully with all his heart.

The manner in which the believer trusts in the LORD is with his whole heart. The LORD will not accept a trust that is half hearted; when the price is right that believer will leave the LORD and put his trust in another. The LORD will not accept a 90% trust but only a full 100% trust from all His disciples! A whole hearted trust is the only way that the believer will succeed and find the strength to fend off all the fiery darts of the evil one. To trust the LORD with our whole heart is the same as surrendering our lives to God whereby we are prepared to go to prison, lose family, jobs and property and even die for Christ. This is the only way to understand this phrase "with all thine heart." After experiencing salvation through Jesus Christ who gave His life to die, His precious blood shed for us, and rose from the dead for us, how can we do anything less than to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice back to God? That is why being prepared to die for Christ is the least that we can do when we put our trust in the LORD with all our hearts!

The scope of the believer’s trust is in all his ways. This refers to all the areas in the believer's life such as his family, school, work, church, recreation, etc. No area of his life must be excluded in the scope of his trust in the LORD. Any area that is excluded will become the target of Satan and he will attack that area until the believer stumbles and falls into sin. He will lose his holy witness for Christ when that happens. The believer has to be squeaky clean so that even when his worst enemy scrutinizes his life and turns it upside down, he will not be able to find any dirt on him. The only way to ensure this is to repent of all known sins and live a Bible abiding life. God will then guide the believer in all directions as he sets off one step at a time trusting in the LORD to see him through all the struggles and vicissitudes of life. Satan will throw everything at him but God will be there to lead and guide him through the mine field that Satan has set for him. The method that God teaches is that the believer study the Word of God and live his life in light of God’s truth.

The remaining six messages develop on this truth set forth in Proverbs 3:5-6:- "The Tool of Trust" is the Word of God and the heart; "The Test of Trust" challenges the heart and the foundation of the believer and how righteous he really is; "The Life of Trust" is a life of faith where the believer turns his head knowledge into heart or experiential knowledge. This will avail him a mountain full of wonderful memories to lean upon when he faces daily trials sent by the evil one to seduce or tempt him into sin. He will endure with renewed strength as he remembers the goodness and mercies of God's past deliverance; "The Impact of Trust" will be stillness of spirit and he will not fret. He knows His sovereign heavenly Father is in total and absolute control. He will be very contented in his heart knowing that he is walking along the narrow pathway that his LORD has set for him. Regardless of how he is persecuted he will not turn to the left or to the right. He stays the course until he arrives Home, for he knows that awaiting him at the end of his life is life eternal; "An example of no trust" was the generation of Jews who lived during the time of Jeremiah who warned them to repent of their sins and do what is righteous. They came to worship but their lives were wicked and evil and they bullied the poor, widows and the orphans. This kind of double life has to be repented of immediately. They did not repent after many years of warning. Finally the LORD warned Jeremiah to stop praying for them, for their judgement was sealed. Soon the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar, came and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple; "An Example of Trust" was the people of Judah during the time of Hezekiah - Rabshakeh, an envoy from Sennacherib the King of Assyria, came to taunt Hezekiah and the Jews in Jerusalem to surrender or die! They kept their faith and their mouths shut and did not enter into a dialogue with Rabshakeh. Instead, they cried to the LORD in sackcloth and pleaded with the LORD to help them and to defend His holy name. The LORD did. In one night, 185,000 Assyrians died b y the hand of the LORD!

There were three sessions of Q & A and questions from the campers were answered.

The camp site is called "El Kanah." This name is found in 1 Samuel 1:1 which was the name of Samuel’s father. It means "God has created." There was a fire four years ago that destroyed the town called Maryville where the camp site is located. Many people died in that fire. It was reported that more than half of the town’s people did not return. The town and the camp site have since been rebuilt. The town is small and quite quiet. However, during the winter months the town would be bustling with people who come to ski on the mountains slopes which is how the town survives annually. The few motels will be fully booked and El Kanah will also be fully occupied. It is a quaint two storey motel. There are 23 rooms in the main block, 11 units on the ground level and 12 units on the upper level, and 10 village cabins about 50 to a hundred meters away from the main block. It is very basic with the meeting hall on the ground level and the dining room on the second which can seat about 120 people. It is perfect for Bethel BPC's use. The food was good by Chinese, Indonesian and Australian cooks.

The spiritual fellowship was even better. We were able to catch up with old friends and familiar faces. It was good to share how we are growing in the LORD and also the many challenges that we faced and are still facing today. It is sad that a few have left Bethel because they allowed the evil one to succeed in drawing them away from Christian fellowship and worship. Thank God for new friends whom we met and the encouragement we received as we were told of how they came to know Christ and to Bethel BPC.

I thank God for the privilege of ministering the Word of God to God’s people. We pray that the Word of God will take root and bear fruits in their lives, that they might put their trust in the LORD with all their hearts all the days of their lives until the LORD’s return.