Lunchtime Bible Talk

Singapore Chinese Ministry, Meow Siang

Hello my dear sisters, greetings from the Singapore Chinese Ministry! I am honoured to share with you today about a platform I tapped on to create and build a community: I started a lunch time bible talk over Zoom in April 2020 and the weekly session has continued and is still on-going to-date.

Why Lunch Time Bible Talk

A few years ago, I had regular lunch time bible talks with my colleagues in the corporate office on a monthly basis. It was a wonderful experience as it opened up doors to reach out to co-workers, inject spirituality and godliness into work relationships, and even have fabulous worship as colleagues would bring guitars and shakers to help our sing-alongs during the lunch devotions.

One of the colleagues even began to to study the bible. We have kept studying these past few years and she has persevered through many obstacles. She and I have forged a trusting friendship and we will keep on building on her faith. Bible talk discussions over lunches are possible and do-able, not limited by space and venue.

As the world fights a pandemic and Singapore had gone through Circuit-breaker for a few months in the year 2020 and now into Phase 3, with many still working from home; I thought about countering the negative news flooding our social medias and minds. It is my conviction that God's Word is the remedy to balance our mind and God's Word is the true GOOD NEWS that can inspire people's hearts. Instead of spreading negative news, Christians can spread prayers, scriptures and life sharing. Lunch breaks are a 'legitimate time' for people to take a break from work and chores, just like how in the past I would go to lunch with my ex-colleagues to unwind and have a mid-day breather.

Community

Since we are sheltering in place or trying to avoid going out and currently trying to figure out how to live in the new normal, I felt the need to find a new space to meet and interact in a safe and non-threatening manner. The lunch time bible talk is a "place" for people to do so virtually. This is an avenue for the Christians to bring their friends, like a "community centre" space for friends to mingle with Christians. I made the sessions “unclassified"—that is, all are welcome, young and old, singles, marrieds, parents.

Hurdles

I came up against a few hurdles with the lunch time bible talks. Although many are working from home these days, many have also become busier with numerous online work meetings and lunch time became irregular compared to in the good old days. It can sometimes be difficult for Christians and friends to find time to join the bible talk. For others, they had a phobia of facing screens all day long, so some people are apprehensive about attending another online meeting. Time management is another challenge I faced, in terms of balancing the contents with depth of Scripture and life sharing, and in making people feel at ease and welcome.

Practical

Regarding the structure, we have an overall duration of 30-minutes and I design the study to be quick-paced, factoring in 4-5 minutes at the start for chitchat and fellowship as a warm-up. As far as possible, I try to start off the fellowship on a somewhat similar topic to what we would be discussing about during the bible discussion. Next, I will call upon one person to pray and have one other person read out the scriptures, followed by having people respond to what they think the verses mean. I give them collectively around 5-7 minutes to share their life stories related to the verses shared; and I make sure to post open ended and non-judgmental questions to encourage open sharing.

At the beginning I tell everyone they each have 1-minute or 30-seconds to share. This is so that everyone, including the quieter people, may have some “air-time” and be able to participate. I find it important to balance between being spontaneous and watching the time. When I am better at gauging the timing, more people can share, but I have to make sure I do not come across abruptly. Next, I have a concluding verse and/or paraphrase the main body scriptures to summarise the whole bible talk session, then three minutes of open feedback on what people learned or how they benefitted from this session, hoping they will internalize more that way. Towards the end, we have a closing prayer and three minutes of chitchatting before bidding good-bye.

Learning Points

What are the learning points? I have learnt the need to be mindful about the time factor, and to respect the cut-off point, as we had earlier on agreed to keep the Bible talk to 30 minutes. To make the 30 minutes worth the time and be fruitful, I have learned to be quick-paced with relevant topics, for example, handling crisis, managing time, love, security, and emotions. Keeping the bible talk lean, participants (both Christians and friends) feel they are able and willing to commit to join the sessions consistently. The lunch time bible talks will definitely happen, rain or shine, work day or public holidays. Christians and friends have since given feedback that the sessions had helped them as they felt energised and inspired. The sessions have really drawn friends into our Christian community. They are opening up and participating in the sessions. I am personally energised to lead the lunch time bible talks and feel encouraged to see God's hand working as His Words are being preached.

The past months have proved to be win-win as it benefits both Christians and friends. Truly God’s Word will not return empty and seeds of faith are being planted and watered; in God’s good timing we will reap a harvest.

Amen, thank you for staying with me as I humbly share.