“The gospel must be given free of charge. That is a very important principle of Alpha.”
Nicky Gumbel, Pioneer of Alpha and Vicar of HTB, London
n 20 November 2020, we hosted our very first online fundraising dinner, BRIDGE 2020. Around 120 participants from various churches and organizations attended that night. We had the great privilege to share about our new initiatives to build bridges in bringing about the evangelization of the nation, revitalization of the church, and the transformation of society. In other words, to ‘Bridge Lives, Bridge Churches, and Bridge Malaysia’.
The night started with ‘Bridge Lives’, featuring an interview with Nicky Gumbel (Pioneer of Alpha and Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, London) conducted by Miles Toulmin (Executive Director of Alpha Asia Pacific), where Nicky shared about the purpose of Alpha and how it adapted to an online environment because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After that, we had the privilege to hear live testimonies shared by Alpha guests Shoba and Suteen, and Alpha practitioners MeiXin and Reverend Markus. They shared their Alpha experiences and how it impacted their lives.
“And in God, finally I found happiness and truth in life.”
Suteen, Alpha Guest, PJ State Methodist Church
The night continued with a short play directed by the talented Andy Gomes (local director, writer, author, and lecturer), starring several Alpha Malaysia staff. It portrayed a group of friends exploring together about the role that churches play during a pandemic. The purpose of this ‘Bridge Church’ segment was to emphasize the importance of unity across all church denominations.
Later on, Datin Kathleen Chew (Chairperson of Alpha Malaysia), came on to give a speech on ‘Bridge Malaysia’.
“Now is the time. Now is the need. These are the three things that please God; Pray by giving Him praise, Serving by doing good, and Giving to share with others”
Datin Kathleen Chew, Chairperson of Alpha Malaysia
Finally, we had Bishop James Wong, Archbishop Simon Poh, and Pastor Chris Kam end the event with a time of corporate prayer.
This online fundraising dinner was a memorable one. Thanks to the generosity of our guests, the total amount of donations raised was RM435,000 and part of the donations were given to the work in Alpha Asia Pacific.
Our mission at Alpha is to serve and equip the local church in its mission to help people to discover and develop a relationship with Jesus. We are immensely grateful for the support and partnership from generous donors to continue this mission.
