Disciple Gold graduation sharing (20 November 2016) – Lim Re Gal
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 17 January 2017 09:30
- Written by Lim Re Gal
- Hits: 2048
Good morning, pastors, leaders, brothers and sisters in Christ. My name is Re Gal and I am one of the twelve (pun intended) who graduated from Disciple Gold this year.
My journey with Disciple course started in 2007, 2 years after I moved to Kuching. Back then, Disciple Red was still called Disciple 1; and I was still childless and enjoyed all its accompanying privileges (eg free time, freedom of movement and so forth). The same cannot be said now :D
When I joined Disciple Red, I knew that we had to complete 34 lessons and was only allowed to miss 4 classes. What I didn’t know was the rigor of the course – we were sometimes required to read through the whole book of the Bible (eg all 42 chapters of Job) in 5 days, and then attended the weekly 2.5 hours group study for further dissection of the book.
Punishing as it sounds, I enjoyed the course as I was able to scan through the whole Bible in 34 weeks, learn about the background and history of the books, and saw the common theme running through them. Another bonus of the course is - with over 30 weekly meetings, friendships blossomed. I started to make friends in this foreign land, and Kuching became more like a home for me.
After completion of the course, we were required to serve in a ministry of our choice. It was at that time that I was given the privilege to serve as a “scribe” in the LCEC. My firstborn came a couple of years later. Life was chaotic, but I signed up for Disciple Green in 2010. Once again, the Disciple course and fellow Disciple classmates helped me to steer myself to God in the hazy period of young parenthood.
Being a new parent, it was also at that time that I realized, in my mind as well as in my heart, the depth of God’s love to me – his fatherly care and selfless sacrifice to make me his child. And that realization, which coincides with the theme of Disciple Purple which I took in 2013, is chiselled into my mind – “Remember Who You Are”. Remember my identity in God (that I am a child of God, co-heir with Jesus etc – and the ransom paid is not cheap) and live my life worthy of Him.
Throughout the years, I am constantly reminded of yet another Disciple courses’ theme – “Into the Word, Into the World.” Some may impress others with eloquent speech and the wealth of Bible knowledge stored in their brains; nonetheless I’m more inspired by the embodiment of God’s love some of my Disciple classmates displayed. A sister works tirelessly for the special needs children, having a child with special needs herself. She remains faithful and resilient in spite of whatever hardships she has to endure. Another sister, a “foreigner” like me, made this fair land her home and taught us and our children faithfully over many years. A brother turned to God in his darkest moments and allowed God to make drastic transformation in his life. He now shares the gospel boldly and serves God faithfully. All these people and many more inspired me to remain steadfast and serve humbly in the ministries that I am in now, specifically Sunday School that I’m passionate about.
9 years after embarking on the journey, I finally completed my Disciple Gold, the fourth and last book of the series. And I am privileged to stand here today to share this – the Disciple course has reinforced my conviction of living not only as a believer, but as a disciple of God. Impacting lives and bringing God’s light into the world in our individual capacities. If you have not done so, I encourage you to take up the course next year and let yourself be spiritually nourished and challenged.
With this, I end my sharing. Thank you and God bless.