FEATURE ARTICLE: WHEN THE WORD BEARS FRUIT IN LOCAL MINISTRY
God's Word does not return empty. Whether spoken, sung, painted, memorised, or lived out, it accomplishes what He intends.
Across Singapore, in 2025, the Bible Society's local mission initiatives continue to testify that when God's Word is steadfastly sown, it bears fruit in restored hearts, strengthened families, and communities drawn closer to Christ.
Ten-year-old Ian, a Colours of the Bible (COB) 2025 participant, created an artwork titled Sermon in the HDB. In his drawing, Jesus is not on a distant hillside, but standing among rows of familiar HDB flats, right here in Singapore.
When asked why, he answered simply, "So that our neighbours can know more about Jesus."
Like the boy who offered his five loaves and two fish (John 6:9), Ian offered what he had, trusting God to use it to bless others.
God's Word is not distant, but present in the spaces we live and among the people we encounter each day. It is a quiet reminder that God's Word was never meant to remain on a page.
Jesus spoke of it as a seed. And when it finds a place in the heart, it grows—often quietly, but surely.
Through the COB and Bible and Chinese Culture Festival (BCCF) Combined Art Exhibition 2025, which had about 500 visitors, Scripture is expressed through art and culture—opening conversations, stirring hearts, and creating space for people to encounter the Word in a fresh way.
And in another space, we witness the same work unfolding.
At the BCCF Dialect Cultural Night 2025, Scripture is spoken in the language of home—the language people feel most deeply. And more than 400 hearts responded.
What was once distant to some becomes personal. Through worship, poetry, and cultural expression, people are drawn in—not just to understand, but to encounter.
"Calligraphy, music, poetry—they are also languages," Rev Dr Lee Chong Kau, an organising committee member of BCCF, reflected. "When used to express Biblical truth, they deepen faith and help spread God's Word to those who may otherwise find it distant." That evening, diversity did not divide; it united believers in worship of one Lord, bearing witness to the beauty of God's living Word across cultures.
For some, encountering God's Word means going deeper, returning to the very language in which much of Scripture was first written.
In the Start to Read Biblical Hebrew course by Sower Institute for Biblical Discipleship, taught by Bishop Emeritus Dr Gordon Wong, former Methodist bishop, participants took their first steps into the Hebrew Scriptures—not merely as a study of language, but as a deeper engagement with the Word itself.
Many begin with no prior knowledge. Yet, as they learn to recognise letters, sound out words, and read simple portions of Scripture, they begin to develop a deeper appreciation of God's Word—and what was once unfamiliar slowly becomes personal.
This same quiet work of the Word is also unfolding within families.
At D6 Singapore Family Conference 2025, the focus turned to where Scripture often bears its most lasting fruit—the home. During the conference, Bishop Emeritus Dr Robert Solomon shared Jesus' repeated question to Peter: "Do you love me?" Every act of service and discipleship flows from that love.
336 participants learned from keynote speaker Dr Timothy Paul Jones and a line-up of local speakers, including Rev Dr Christopher Chia and Rev Raymond Fong, that discipleship is not part-time or just for church programmes, but a daily, lifelong journey.
The online Chinese D6 Conference has also attracted participants from other countries to join in learning and putting these principles into practice.
Rooted in Deuteronomy 6, D6 equips parents and caregivers to weave God's Word into daily life, through conversations, routines, and the quiet example of living faith. When Scripture shapes life at home, the family itself becomes a place of witness.
That same spirit carried into a smaller, more informal gathering earlier this year.
On 31 January 2026, the DECLARE committee members and supporters gathered for a DECLARE Family Reunion. Prayers were lifted, reflections were shared, and fellowship was enjoyed around the table. It was simple, yet deeply meaningful—a prelude to DECLARE's 10th anniversary, a true Jubilee across generations.
From 21 to 24 May 2026, the main gathering adopted a new and accessible DECLARE format, where Scripture was read aloud in ways that enabled anyone, in any setting, to participate. Over the past decade, participants from more than 50 nations and across over 150 languages have been united in proclaiming God's Word.
Across art, culture, homes, and communities, the same story unfolds.
Throughout 2025, more than 150 events, gatherings, and conferences were held—each with a simple purpose: to help believers encounter, understand, and live out the Word of God more deeply.
Different spaces. Different expressions.
But the same Word at work.
God's Word is heard.
God's Word takes root.
And in time, God's Word bears fruit.
From Word to witness.
