Our District Care in Sailing through storm: The Church’s Five-Foot Way

 Wrtten by Rev. Zheng on 23 January 2022

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
² It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
³ It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing
— Life forevermore.”

Psalm 133

This beautiful picture is a view of heaven on earth, a depiction of a true church (Acts 2:43-47)  and a powerful corporate testimony of the Gospel. It is what many lost souls are looking for. Blessed are children who grow up under the care of such a community of faith.

Thanks be to God that the church stands firm in the storm of Covid-19 as well as in the recent spiritual storm. Brothers and sisters did not waver in their faith in Christ and His church. On the contrary, many have responded positively to the moving of the Holy Spirit and they step forward to commit themselves to the further equipping and to the continual building of the church. Some of them have committed to serve in the District Care ministry. Praise God that because of their willingness to serve in this seemingly trivial ministry, our elders are relieved to focus on overseeing, teaching, and governing the church.

Better a neighbour nearby than a relative far away (Pro 27:10). Our District Care focuses on connecting believers who live in the proximate vicinity. In the past, every HDB flat has a long corridor on every level known as the five-foot way and there were always children playing. Girls loved to play skipping rope, big balloon, kuti kuti; boys loved to play ‘guli’ (glass marbles) or shuttlecock; mothers would borrow garlics or onions from next door on the same five-foot way; fathers would stand against the railing of the five-foot way and smoke. The five-foot way was always filled with children’s laughter and mothers’ call for their children to go home.

Our district caring is like a five-foot way. When a child of a nearby member’s family forgets to bring the housekey, you may offer your house as a resting place for him to do his homework so that he does not have to linger around; you can offer the love of Christ to a sick member by bringing over a simple meal; on weekends a few of you may bring your children and gather at the nearby park for a picnic, or at a nearby ice-cream parlor for an ice-cream treat; even better, you may also have joint family worship and thus help one another to set up the family altar, or invite the brother or sister whose house is inconducive for online worship to your home when in-person is not allowed.

We hope to maintain the vigor of life in the five-foot way under the restriction of Covid-19. So we make a new attempt to bring our five-foot way to WhatsApp group this year. A pilot run has been launched in the East district. If the Lord wills, we will implement it in the other districts.

We have a total of eight districts this year. If you are a regular worshipper here in the past three months and are willing to learn to be a disciple of Christ with us in Truth Baptist Church, you will be in the district care. Our District Care ministry has been 11 years old. It cannot be over-emphasized that district care does not and cannot replace pastoral care. Whenever you need help or spiritual guidance, talk to your fellowship elder or any of the pastors. They will be most willing to talk to you. We hope that through District Care you may be connected to the members of the church who live close by and get to know members of different ages. In this way, you will enjoy a richer and more complete community life in the church.