Facilitating Small Groups Online – Workshop for Sisters
As part of the “Sisters in Ministry Toolbox” series of workshops, Mrs Josephine Li will be conducting the session on “How to facilitate an engaging small group online.” This FREE ONLINE workshop will cover practical tips to engage learners through inviting physical and technical set-up and facilitation techniques specifically for an online setting.
This is a great training opportunity for yourself and/or other small group leaders in your church! ALL SISTERS are warmly invited to join the workshop!
Date/Time: 11 September 2021, Saturday, 3.00 PM – 6.00 PM (SG Time).
Registration deadline: 3 September 2021.
Mental Health Resources for Parents/Caregivers
Mental health of young people is a key concern for Singapore with recent events throwing a spotlight on it. For this #SaturdayGoodRead, EAST News reproduces a set of resources originally compiled for parents of youths at Grace Baptist Church (GBC). We thank Ms Hannah Yeo of the GBC Youth Ministry for graciously allowing us to do so. May it be a timely and useful resource for parents or caregivers to engage in ongoing conversations with their teenagers, not only for those who have signs of mental health challenges.
According to the Straits Times, “more than half of the young people polled by the National Youth Council [NYC] in the second half of 2020 said that mental well-being was a challenge for them, with some citing anxiety over the future, stress over finances, and worries about academic or work performance.” Even before the onset of COVID-19, mental health for youths was an issue flagged by NYC (see its April 2019 issue of Y+).
Tsubasa@Tokyo 2020: Failure & Faith
The newly released manga, Tsubasa: Searching for Wings, has been providentially timed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games season. Many athletes will be able to identify with the characters in the manga – seeking success and significance, fame and glory in winning (tsubasa is wings). Ultimately, however, one’s true joy can only be found in knowing Jesus Christ as the Saviour and realising one’s identity as God’s beloved.
The manga is based on a story of Reina, a reporter who is herself once a figure skating competitor who had to retire due to an ankle injury in her younger days. She had to interview three real life Christian Olympians and “research key to mental toughness” among these athletes – Brazil’s Paralympian Daniel Dias, American Sprinter and Bobsledder Lauryn Williams, and Japanese Taekwondo Athlete Yoriko Okamoto.