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Dear reader,
All glory to God who has blessed Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church with the opportunity and honour to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to men whose lives have been wrecked by drugs and crime. Nothing works so gloriously in the salvation and transformation of a sin-wrecked soul as much as the wondrous Gospel. We are so profoundly convinced of the power of God that works through the Gospel that we have given ourselves to its preaching. Hence, The Gethsemane Care Ministry (TGCM) was established and nurtured by the church for the last six years. Leaders and members of the church were most delighted to support this ministry through prayer
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7).
The Gethsemane Care Ministry gives God, our heavenly Father, praise and thanksgiving for the commemoration of her sixth anniversary and for His untiring love, grace, longsuffering and faithfulness towards the ministry.
I shudder at the thought of what I would be today if not for the grace of God that pulled me out of the pit of destruction. I was sinning so gravely that at times, I wondered if I could ever lead a normal life again. Fear crept in and I was living in such a state for a number of years. As I recapitulated those days when I was in the Boy’s Home: on an occasion, when a group of missionaries spoke to me and showed me the picture of Jesus carrying a baby lamb, and they said, “Don’t be afraid! Jesus loves you. He will carry you like that baby lamb.
I am the youngest child in my family and my parents doted on me. I grew up always having my own way. During my teenage years, I mixed with others in my neighbourhood. We would hang out at void decks to play. I started smoking cigarettes and this gradually led to glue-sniffing. Progressively, I moved on to smoke marijuana and consumed different types of barbiturates in order to reach a higher state of euphoria. I even switched to smoking heroin, believing that I would be able to attain a greater high. From that moment onwards, I led the life of a drug addict…
The Gethsemane Care Ministry, Cebu, has now been in existence for over a year. Without the sustaining grace of our Lord God Almighty, TGCM would not have come this far. TGCM has its objective as “A Haven of Rest and Transformation” through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
TGCM employs the Bible as the very foundation in its counselling. The activities of the ministry continue just as they have been implemented from the very start of its operation. Brothers undergoing the programme constantly receive instructions from biblical teachings and hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are exposed to the different activities of the church such as prayer meetings, fellowship groups, evangelism, worship service, camps and outings.
“And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” Luke 4:17-22
We thank the Lord that in His time, He has raised up Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church to take up the burden to start this Christian work, The Gethsemane Care Ministry, in the year 2005. This ministry stands squarely on the belief that man can only be transformed by the power of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is only through Him that a person can be delivered from the penalty, power and presence of sin that is the underlying factor in one’s addiction to drugs. Through the past four years, God has done a wonderful work in transforming the lives of the people who have walked through the gates of The Gethsemane Care Ministry. The present leaders of this ministry were raised from its very own ranks, people who truly understand and share the sentiments of the drug addicts.
Who has done this to my sofa? You know how much it costs? It must be you! Why must it be you again!” All kinds of expletives would fly out from his mouth that would keep ringing in my ears. I was too young then to comprehend what it all meant but in later years, I realized how damaging and how serious the tone was and how ugly it could have ended, if not for my mother bailing me out.
“Ouch! Ouch! Arrhhh…!” I bit my tongue as another swing from a knotted wet hand towel hit my scrawny legs. This kind of corporal punishment was precipitated each time I did something wrong. My stepfather had a violent temper and he greatly despised me. I was only a young boy then and you don’t expect a 5-year old child to know the difference between right and wrong...
Ask someone to tell a story about himself with a happy ending and he would perhaps be more than glad to do so. But try asking him to tell a story about his shameful past with a sad ending, and he will most likely shun that. With no reservation but with much conviction, I’d like to testify how God has worked in my life and granted me the hope which people in my situation would have given up long ago.
My name is Goh Eng Siew Ricky. I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters and both of my parents have since passed away. I’ve been abusing drugs since 1975 and was first incarcerated in 1976. But that never changed me at all and I have continued abusing drugs.
Gethsemane B-P Church is instrumental in establishing The Gethsemane Care Ministry. From a humble setting at Lorong Lew Lian back in 2005, we are now blessed with a capacious, cosy and conducive abode at 202B Ponggol Seventeenth Avenue. With just a rental lorry to facilitate our work projects back then, we are now blessed with two 14-ft lorries, fully paid through the sacrificial giving of God’s people. Not being supported by any government arm nor affiliated to any charitable organization, we solely rely upon the hand of the Lord, praying earnestly and working diligently in order to be self-sufficient and not relying on handouts. As such, we provide services such as house/office removal, disposal, transport, painting, gardening/landscaping and cleaning to generate funds for our upkeep.