My church's youth evangelism committee pioneered a project for us youths at the start of this year and termed it 'Five Beloved.' We had to choose five of our non-Christian friends to reach out to by inviting them to our monthly fellowship gatherings, having intentional conversations with them, passing them welfare packs prepared by the committee, praying for them - your choice actually, but basically anything you saw deemed fit for your Five Beloved! Personally, I made it a point to at least be up-to-date with their lives throughout the year.

I decided to write this because I realised I have never said much regarding my Five Beloved and there was a tugging in my heart to share, especially after this weekend.

Throughout the year, I have grown to love my Five Beloved a whole lot more. I know this because I would never invest that much time in a person unless I... love them. As most of my friends know, I am - or rather, used to be - busy 24/7, though, ironically, my love language is Quality Time lol. There was simply no time to spare for people because I was delegating all my time to activities - assignments, work, teaching drums, rugby, camps, unimportant gatherings or meetings that I can't even remember for what, etc. etc. etc. Hence, it wasn't easy to be faithful and committed regarding these 5 dear friends of mine because there was just A. LACK. OF. TIME. Or so I thought.

For this sharing, I would like to just focus on one of my Five Beloved - Wen Ying (-: When WY told me that she was going to stay in Singapore for the next 4 months after Summer, it was also around the time that our church was publicising for Alpha 18, so I took the chance to send the invitation to her and 2 of my other Beloved friends without thinking much of it. The other 2 rejected the invitation, but WY said she was extremely free and she was more than glad to spend time with me every week - she said yes!

Just then, I felt overwhelmed by the thought that my Saturdays, which btw were always fully utilised every Semester to catch up with all my leftover weekday readings, were now going to be taken up by Alpha in the afternoon and then Cell Group at night. However, I recalled this verse in Luke 15:7,
The thought of heaven rejoicing - though I can't fully comprehend - is very encouraging and extremely heart-warming. It helped me to trust that God's faithfulness will hold through and that He would definitely provide.

Needless to say, over the next few Saturdays, I found myself being able to cope sufficiently well. Knowing that my Saturdays were taken up, I attempted to work harder and more diligently during the weekdays. My roommates can testify for that. In the first few weeks of school, everyone lepak-ed while I studied HAHAHA. Let me add that I'm not saying this to make WY or anybody feel guilty in any way. But rather, it is really proof of God's faithfulness, because I would never have been able to do this on my own strength. Of course, there were times when I did struggle - suffered from insomnia, fell behind my readings, didn't understand two hoots in Statistics tutorial every week, BUT there was never a time when I felt broken or hopeless. There was always His peace, His hope, His light shining on me - it was all within grasp.

This allowed me to not feel any sense of bitterness about sacrificing my Saturdays, because in fact, it gave opportunities for His peace and joy to wash over me every single week, without fail. Gradually, I realised that on my part, it was no longer wilful obedience as His child, but a deep-rooted desire to set aside time for God, simply because He loves me. What an honour it is to be able to come into His presence every weekend. Not everybody possesses this privilege of spending uninterrupted time with God.

Furthermore, the time WY and I spent together gave me multiple chances to share His love with WY. I've gotten opportunities to pray aloud with her, share my personal testimonies, and talk about our struggles, pain and weaknesses. I continue to treasure those moments we shared. I urged her to download the Solid Joys app - a daily devotional app written by John Piper. Just last week, she told me that she has been reading it and praying every single day! Rejoice!!!

As with every relationship or friendship, it is always a two-way street. Spending time with her and bringing her to Alpha every week has strengthened me as a Christian as much as it has taught her about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The foundations of Christianity were deep in the recesses of my mind - I think I may have practically forgotten everything - and so it was very refreshing to understand 'Who Jesus Is?', 'Who Is The Holy Spirit?', 'How To Pray?', 'How To Read The Bible?' etc. through the discussion and the Nicky Gumbel videos.

This weekend was the Alpha Weekend Away, and even though WY did not accept Christ, it was clear that God had answered my prayers. She shared an intimate moment with God and I believe that He will continue to work in her life just as He did in mine.

Over the past 8 weeks (there are still 4 more weeks to go), I have seen how God has worked in in WY's life and that His faithfulness, His love, His peace is very, very real. Similarly, He has been so faithful to me and continues to lift me up with His Word every single day, i.e. Psalm 112 - but alright, that's another story for another time.

To wrap it up, there are 3 things I would like to share with the youths reaching out to their Five Beloved. (Disclaimer: This is written based on my personal experience, so you should not take it to heart because I am also learning just as you are.)

1. It takes time. 
On your part, you would have to invest time. God will work in you and your friend’s life! Definitely! However, you too have to be willing to put in the time as well. You may be thinking, huh, time is very precious these days, I can’t even finish my own work, but you expect me to bring someone else to Christ? Trust me, I know. Time never seems to be on our side, yeah? - studies, projects, endless list that can’t even be completed. Truth is, time will never be on our side. There will never be enough time for anything - seriously. But there will be enough time only if you PUT in the time. Set aside time for God. Set aside time to be obedient to His word. Set aside time for the people around you, especially for the 5 friends that you have chosen. If you don't know how to manage your time, ask Him to help you, just as David did in Psalm 90:12, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

2. Obedience, not readiness.
I was also afraid of sharing Christ because I thought I wouldn't know how to answer a lot of questions and that I would end up saying all the wrong things. So I invited my friends to church or to attend Alpha! Because that is where the pastors and ministry leaders are. That being said, they too don't know the answers to everything, but they will definitely help in relieving you of the load of introducing the fundamentals of Christianity, and addressing mind-boggling questions such as, "Why did God give humans free-will if ultimately He is going to destroy those who don't obey Him?"

The point I want to make, really, is that even the most spiritual-ready person (if there is even such a person), will never be enough. Jesus is the one who works. Not us. NEVER us. You will be the instrument, and He will be the musician. You will be the chess piece, and He will be the chess player. He looks at our hearts, not at whether we are the most eloquent or spiritually equipped person to share His Word. If You are willing to be obedient and surrender to Him, He will use you. He will use you to touch the hearts of your Five Beloved. Remember that it is His work, not ours.

John 14:15, "If you love me, keep my commands."

Matthew 28:19, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations; baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

3. We cannot define success.
Are you looking for an end-point? Are you hoping that, OK, the moment my friend accepts Christ, my work is done! Sad to say, that would be the wrong attitude in approaching things. You aren't looking to complete a goal or tick a box off your checklist. You are looking to be a friend. You are looking to share Christ-like love with others. Even if your friend rejected the invitation of sharing Christ with him or her, it's okay, it doesn't mean you suck as a Christian. We may be able to rehearse the process of sharing Christ with our friends one thousand times in our head, but somehow it wouldn't turn out the way you would expect it to. The fact is, we cannot understand the ways of our God, as He declared in Isaiah 55:9, "As the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Similarly, the way we look at success if very different from the way God looks at success. We are clouded by very human thoughts. Trust in the Lord that He will work through you in reaching out to your friends. And honestly, the experience is going to be irreplaceable!

May He draw you with His love! (-: