Singapore is a relatively new country. A former British colony, it gained independence from Malaysia in 1965. At the time of independence, Singapore would have been considered a third-world country. Through strong leadership and multiple government programs, Singapore quickly developed into the modern, first-world country it is today.
Singapore is a city-state meaning the whole country is just one big city. Singapore’s land area consists of one main island and a few other smaller islands. You can drive across the entire country in about 45-50 minutes.
Because of its British colony roots, the main language in Singapore is English. English is the official language and also the heart language of many Singaporeans. Chinese is also spoken in Singapore and has a heavy influence. Many older Singaporeans will prefer Chinese while the younger generations will prefer to communicate in English. Malay is spoken by people of Malaysian ethnicity and Tamil is spoken by people from south India are also official languages.
Singapore is a place of great spiritual need. With a population of over 5.7 million, It is a place of many different religions but has few true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Buddhism would be the most popular religion and is practiced by about one-third of the people in Singapore. Christianity accounts for about 19% of the population. Muslims and Taoists are also very common as are people that would claim they have no religion. Of the 19% that claim to be Christian, many of them wouldn’t be truly born again as they would believe in some kind of works-based salvation. There are some churches preaching the Gospel in Singapore, but there is a great need for many more.
There is a good amount of religious freedom or tolerance in Singapore. Missionaries are allowed to get religious visas and do missionary work legally in Singapore. Churches are legal and allowed to meet freely. The only religious group that is banned in Singapore is the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are some restrictions for churches. Churches are only allowed to meet in places that get approval to be used for religious purposes and there is a lot of red-tape for new church registrations. Still despite some restrictions, there is a great opportunity for church planting to be done in Singapore.
As of 2021, we have found out of 11 Independent Baptist churches in Singapore, with two of them being pastored by missionaries, seven or eight pastored by Singaporean pastors, and a couple of churches without a pastor. These churches are not new church plants. Most of them were started 20-40 years ago. From what we have found out, it has been years since any new Independent Baptist churches have been planted. While it is encouraging to know of churches in Singapore faithfully preaching the Bible, the reality is many more new Bible-preaching churches are needed to reach the 5.7 million people. Would you pray for God to send men to start more churches in Singapore? Would you pray about what God might have you to do to reach Singapore with the Gospel?
According to an article by the Free RepublicChina’s military said on Wednesday the latest U.S. navy sailing near Chinese-claimed Taiwan was “extremely dangerous” The U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin sailed through the narrow and sensitive Taiwan Strait recently the U.S. navy said, in what have become relatively routine trips in recent months, though they always anger China.
China and Taiwan both claim sovereignty over the same island and while we do not know the future of Taiwan and who will control the government and people of Taiwan in the years to come, we do know that Jesus is coming back one day. We do know that he will set up a kingdom and rule the entire world. We do know that before this time comes, all the people both in China and Taiwan both need to hear the Gospel. Would you pray for both China and Taiwan? Would you pray for God to send laborers to both of these places with the Gospel?
China is facing massive flooding. According to an article by the Financial Times, China’s famous Three Gorges dam recently hit its record for the highest water level ever in its history. This has been caused by massive rainfall in China’s Sichuan province. The recent flooding has misplaced nearly half a million people, with thousands of people’s homes and property being destroyed.
Flooding is one of the many problems people in China currently face, but it isn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem people in China face is that they do not know about the salvation that Jesus offers. All people have sinned against God and Jesus is the only one that can save people from their sins. People in China don’t know this. Would you pray for God to raise up many missionaries to take the Gospel to China. Would you pray for God to open doors so that missionaries will have many opportunities to share the Gospel with people in China?
Recently there has been an outbreak of COVID-19 in Dalian China. As soon as cases started appearing the authorities began quarantining different neighborhoods. While the entire city has not been put on entire lockdown, different neighborhoods with cases of COVID-19 have been put on lockdown. Recently according to an article by the Poch Times it appears that in one of these neighborhoods fighting with the police broke out. In the article there is a video that shows some people clashing with the police because of discontentment with the lock-down measures.
It is not just COVID-19 that the police in Dalian are using extreme measures to try to stop the spread. Missionaries with Vision Baptist Missions have church planted and worked to spread the Gospel in Dalian China. The police have tried to stop the spread of the Gospel as well with persecution. Both missionaries and Chinese pastors have personally ran into persecution where the police have tried to stop the spread of the Gospel. One time in particular was very obvious. The police called in one of the Chinese pastors into the police station and told him specifically that he was supposed to obey the government and stop spreading the Gospel to some college students he had recently been witnessing to or he would face serious consequences. The police have tried to close churches and kick missionaries out of the country.
By God’s grace despite government persecution Chinese pastors are still carrying the Gospel forward in Dalian China. However in a city this large, it is only a scratch on the the surface. We need hundreds of more laborers to take the Gospel to Dalian China. Would you pray for God to send laborers with the Gospel to this needy city?
Persecution has been on the rise recently in India. According to an article by the Christian Postthere have been over 135 cases of persecution already in 2020. The most reported cases have been reported in the India state of Uttar Pradesh which is India’s most populated state. However the population of Christians in this state is very very low. About 80% of people that live in India are Hindu and many Hindu extremist groups are extremely aggressive towards Christians and often mistreat and persecute them in horrible ways.
Would you pray for India. They have almost 1.4 billion people and most people are Hindu and have never had the Gospel preached to them. They need to hear the good news of Jesus. Would you please pray for God to send more laborers to India? Would you consider what God might use you to do to take the Gospel to India?
