NUS VCF: Christianity Awareness Week

From 29 March to 1 April, NUS Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF) held an art exhibition to communicate the message of joy, hope, and the good news in NUS. The organising committee wanted to bless the school with art and, allow students to enjoy the exhibition while taking a break. It was hoped for those who came through the exhibition to receive comfort through the art pieces and write-ups in this time of stress and struggles. The committee expected 200 visitors across the four days of the exhibition, but this expectation was already met by the second day.

Students and Graduates: A Poem

Serving, for that is our posture
as one stooped, on our knees
with cloth and basin
as the memory of Maundy, Good Friday and Easter looms large
that is how we enter
Into this space
Remembering

God, who makes all things new
Around whom we gather, re-gather and from whom we depart,
We are glad this day to pause and ponder the occasion
In commissioning and commemoration
A time and space to (re)-direct our attention
Though, not at length
but enough to say, amen and hallel

Among friends, those who walk with us,
Collectively witnesses
to this God of the Evangel
Oriented as his Church toward his abiding action
Together, bread broken and eyes opened, hearts burning with warm affection
Together, walking, nay, running, leaping, and dancing into the Future (or should I say, Futures?)
Partaking in our shared legacy of hope for the next generation

Students, yes, heirs of these 60-odd years,
Serving Christ, Engaging Campus, Transforming Society: so, our vision pervades
Yours is the call to re-member rightly: even as we step into this seventh decade
And perceive how now will you rise and take initiative,
in building this movement, having received this wondrous gift
Yours is the call to be living stones
Even, if yet, unpolished

And so, in this dazzling array
Of perspectives, life stages, denominations, and languages,
We trace what it means for us to be FES and GCF
Knit together, weaving a union with purpose
An unfinished wash-cloth, that reveals an unrelenting impetus
To be faithful…or better yet said,
Membentuk dan merpersiapkan para mahasiswa untuk berkarya bagi Tuhan
Or, 在校园建立学生，成为毕业生（校友）服事社会与教会

Graduates, so you see
Are critical to who we are and who we desire to be
Because while we seek to deter decay and righteousness emanate,
Our ministry does not cease on campus but advances beyond its gates
Which is a summons for you, me, us, to be bold
in stepping out of the shade to radiate an alternative way of being in this world
So that while indeed we may taste and see that the Lord is good,
We may also be a discernible fragrant aroma amidst life’s vicissitudes

In Singapore, thus will we continue in our mission
Serving God among both graduates and students
And with these who have risen to take their place,
We pray in the name of the Lord who sanctifies our imagination,
For wisdom and wonder, courage, and compassion,
humour and humility; …with cloth and basin
We pray in the name of the Lord, who stooped down, to Be with us.

– Prarthini M. Selveindran

(The above poem was recited by Prarthini, Head of the FES English Section, at the recent FES-GCF Commissioning
Service on 24 April 2021.)

Pray with Us

We give thanks for the FES-GCF Commissioning Service which happened on 24 April. Everything went smoothly
despite the limited time and space which we had. Remember and pray for this global, reconciled, and vulnerable
fellowship.

Staff Conference 2021 is happening from 5–7 May. It will be a period of intense discussion and deliberation over
strategic priorities and policies for student ministries at large. Please keep the conference and staff workers in
your prayers.

This is also the exam season for many university students. Most of the Christian Fellowships have had their AGMs
and leadership renewals, and very soon, we shall begin yet again a new academic year with a fresh generation of
student leaders and ministries. Please pray for fruitful times ahead with much blessing and guidance from our
Lord.

Finally, as part of being in the global fellowship of IFES, we have an urgent request from the student ministry in
India, UESI. Over 400 members have COVID-19 and 4 have passed away. Please pray for the UESI movement and
the country of India. Pray for enough hospital beds to hold the increasing amount of patients. Pray for the health
workers who are working around the clock to care for the sick. Pray for comfort for bereaved family members.
Pray that UESI would find strength and hope in Jesus during this trying time.