Posted on 13-Nov-2014
Written by Sergeant Jack Lim Kuan Wei of 12th Kuala Lumpur Company
October 22nd, 2014
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms" - 1 Peter 4:10
Each and every one of us is born with certain gifts, skills and talents in certain areas. In the Christian context, being gifted means a person's ability is exceptional. It means that person has a special skill that many of us do not possess. Yet no matter how gifted an individual is in a particular area, rarely, if ever, will one individual be exceptional in every area of life. Nonetheless, no matter how good or talented, say the mechanic or artist is, he still must depend on other people to fix his car or paint his portrait. This is no less true within the church, or in our context is the BB.
Basing on the Scriptures, a spiritual gift is God-given. Through these gifts, God gives His people the ability to excel in particular areas of ministry in order to serve others and further His kingdom. As said in 1 Corinthians 12:27, the Apostle Paul teaches us, "Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it." Because Christ's church is made of many individuals with different gifts, God expects us to depend on others in the areas in which we don't excel. In 1 Peter 4:10, we learn that "based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God." Back in my own Company, I thank God for the many talents my Members possess and more so I thank God for each of them using their different skills, talents and gifts to serve for the betterment of the Company.
First and foremost, let me introduce some of the musically talented boys. Heading the Praise and Worship Department is Corporal Brendan Eu. He can play guitar and drum and has been playing the guitar in BB and also serves as vocal as well. Similarly, his elder brother, Corporal Brian Eu, also plays the guitar and drum and he is heading the Word Department. In fact, the Eu brothers are serving as musicians back in their church. In addition to that, Praise and Worship Department is open to any boys who would like to serve the Company as musicians or even to help out as Sound Crew or to prepare song slides. Initially we have some non-Christians serving on board as musicians as only Christians are allowed to be Worship Leaders. Praise God that as time passes by, some of these non-Christians, as they know more about Christ, have dedicated their lives to Christ. The team is doing so well under the leadership of Corporals Brendan Eu and Brian Eu.
Currently, besides Brendan and Brian as guitarists, we also have Lance Corporal Samuel Siew playing the drum and he has now picked up guitar playing too. Samuel has made himself a cajon to be used as a portable ‘drum box’ whenever the chapel is not available for BB event. When either Brendan or Brian is away, Samuel will volunteer himself to play the guitar.
We also have a few pianists on board. Our regular pianist is Lance Corporal Zander Cheah who, in fact can also play the bass guitar well too. Zander is serving in his church too as the pianist. Another pianist we have is Lance Corporal James Ng and this year, we also found out that there are two more boys who attend piano lessons. They are Lance Corporal Hoshea Tiang and Private Jorn Tan. However, because they have not played for the Company and therefore are not confident to play for the Company. We thank God that they have voiced their interest to serve on board as pianists – using their talents to serve God in this area.
Looking at the logistics side, we have our Sergeant Ong who is talented in handling logistics issues, especially pertaining to technical issues. He has been the first to reach the school during parade, making sure that the Chapel is set up before the Praise and Worship Team comes in to practise. He is usually the last person to leave the school after Parade ends, making sure all instrument is switched off, lost and found items are returned to the anchor room and the chapel is locked up properly. Wil Sern also walks around the parade ground and checking on the cleanliness before he leaves. Sometimes, some NCOs and Boys who normally go home late will also help him to check on the cleanliness too.
On the other side, we have some Boys this year who are good in their language skills. Two of them are our Year One Privates Loo You Qang and Tan Wei Chun, who can deliver a speech in or to narrate a story the national language so proficient. They used to be representing their school during their primary school days and they won in their respective categories. They also took part in the few language competitions held in the school and their oratory skill was just excellent.
In 1 Corinthians 12:27, the Apostle Paul teaches, “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.” Because Christ's church is made of many individuals with different gifts, God expects us to depend on others in the areas in which we don't excel. In 1 Peter 4:10, we learn that “based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God.” Our Great Captain is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the head of the body. We all form the body of Christ – some are the hands, some are the feet and so on. Hence, BB is also the body of Christ.
So, let us all the Members of The Boys’ Brigade Movement, serve using our gifts and abilities for the advancement of the Kingdom.