PICS stands for Photographers In Christian Service (I still have to thank Malcolm for helping me craft the name back in 2009) and as the name suggests, we serve God through the means of photography. We provide high quality photography for weekly Sunday services, baptisms, church camps and other various community events.

As the saying goes, “A picture speaks a thousand words”.

And if you dwell on this thought a little longer, you would realize exactly how powerful a photograph is (and can be) because of its unique ability to capture and freeze an exact moment and emotion in time. It captures a part of a story, locks down a memory and at the right time evokes an emotion with the one who encounters it. Riding on that same train of thought, you would be amazed at how God can use a photograph to comfort a broken soul, lift up a burdened spirit or ignite joy in a hardened heart.

At Team PICS, we don’t just see ourselves as photographers but we are also storytellers. Taking photos of church gives us an amazing opportunity to tell the world the story of church and what it is all about. A simple shot of people praying for each other, sharing a good laugh, or even the expression of liberation seen in baptisms helps others to see God’s love and have a glimpse of what being in God’s family feels like.

Mavis, our 3:16 Productions video chief once said something about putting the stories together and giving them legs. I say Team PICS captures these stories and give them wings!

Speaking of stories, let me tell you a story about a certain mineral. To the uninitiated, they would view this mineral as nothing more than a dull rock, not worth anything and would likely throw it away.

But give it to the miners and those who are about to see its full potential. They will take it back for thorough processing, put it under immense heat and pressure, followed by another cycle of processing and cleaning. When all these processes have completed, you have what the world calls a woman’s best friend – diamond. You would think that God would have created diamonds in its beautiful, sparkling form but instead He had hidden this gem, waiting for someone to find it.

The lesson here is to first view things with its fullest God-given potential, then invest time and effort to polish it, place it under the heat and pressure, and if the diamond is genuine, it will form and sparkle even under these difficult circumstances.

This brings me back to my team. Judging from the photographs on the church’s website and social media platforms, you would assume that all the pictures were either taken by myself, professional photographers or at least professionally trained volunteers. But that is far from the truth.

Many of the photographs were taken by volunteers who have never had any professional photography training or experience prior to Team PICS. Some don’t even own a DSLR. All they had was passion, an eagerness to serve God and a desire to learn.

Being an official photographer (whether in 3:16 Church or elsewhere) may seem prestigious, but the prestige comes with hard work and big responsibilities. The team went through on-the-job training, assessments and were introduced to various photography skills and equipment. The photographers had to learn to operate alone and in pairs while understanding the importance of optimizing angles too. Practice is key and a humble spirit for continuous learning is vital.

I am very proud of our team as they have not only mastered new skills but have also embraced the right attitude as we concluded the training phase of 2016 on a high with 2 major events over the Easter season.

The team’s passion to serve, dedication to excellence, resilience to pressure and diligence in service have helped them to become the diamonds they are today. The team has come a long way and I am excited to embark on a new milestone together in 2017.


R.Y.
Chief Photographer and Communication Designer, 3:16 Creative

The post Photographers In Christian Service first appeared on 3:16 Church.

3:16 Internship 2016

Our Class of 2016 was a blast! Our interns journeyed through the Bible, served quietly in the Social Media Team and even learned how to produce a video. And little did we know that these small steps of faith would be the seeds that birthed the 3:16 Productions team and the 3:16 Stories video series.

3:16 Praise Retreat

Photographs courtesy of Joan Lim

Our worship team, 3:16 Praise, had a short retreat. It was a time where they learn more about worship, do a little technical workshop and also to bond together.

Sisterhood

Photographs courtesy of Sisterhood

The ladies in the church came together as a Sisterhood. There is so much strength and beauty in them.

Strong & Courageous Leaders Retreat

Photograph courtesy of Mandy Lai

Our youth leaders gathered together in May for a time of seeking God and hearing about the ministry direction for the second half of the year.

Strengths Finder

Photograph courtesy of Eric Tham

There is strength in our differences. Our leadership team came together to participate in the first ever 3:16 Strengths Finder course, conducted by Eric Tham. There they learnt and discovered about the strengths and personalities of themselves and one another, learning how these differences can compliment one another.

Hillsong Conference

Photographs courtesy of Mavis Huang and Friday Night Live

6,302 km from always-summer Singapore, our young adult and youth leaders were in chilly Sydney for Hillsong Conference!

E-Campaign

Photographs courtesy of Tabitha Tan

During missions’ month, our team of youths and young adults flew over to The Philippines to participate in E-Campaign. Now think of this, speaking publicly and preaching the gospel in front of over 50 people for the first time in your life! Now that’s faith in action!

The post 7 Things You May Have Missed In 2016 first appeared on 3:16 Church.

2016 was a year where the praise and worship culture took a dramatic shift. I will never forget the one Sunday where God simply unlocked the worship culture at 3:16 Kids, it was a Sunday where the kids were totally engaged in the worship experience; they were jumping around, hands raised, eyes closed, kneeling and praying on the floor… It was awesome. It was a great victory for the ministry after taking the kids firstly through sing-along video worship with dance moves, then the big decision to worship together with the main congregation and finally a Bible Teaching Series on “Worship”… I believe all this laid the good soil for our worship tree to bear fruit.

2016 was also a year where we began to see the kids take on more spiritual ownership. It was a year where we actively encouraged the kids to embrace their spiritual gifts and exercise them. In line with 3:16 Church’s Year of Kingly Influence, we saw the kids pray and prophesy more over each other, sharing their dreams and visions and they interpreting it for each other. I recall one Sunday where I could sense that the Kids Teachers weren’t spiritually aligned with God and hence not ready to serve the kids, so I called the kids to form a circle around us and asked the kids to lay hands on all the teachers and pray over us. Sure enough, the spiritual atmosphere changed after that. What a wonderful picture, that it was no more a norm for teachers to pray for kids, but for kids to pray over their teachers.

In the second half of the year, we also taught and trained the kids how to share the gospel using a simple colour method, and we witnessed kids using this method to share the gospel with other kids… Amazing!

There were many other highlights but I will share just two more that were big victories regarding one of our core values. At 3:16 Kids we firmly believe in the importance of family in shepherding kids. We believe that parents are the first and most important shepherds in a child’s life. Two events encapsulated this perfectly. Last year we saw five of our kids being baptised. At our baptisms, we had the parents baptising their own children. This was to recognise the role the parents had played in bringing their children to Christ: What a wonderful joy and privilege for any parent to have!

The second event was when we had our 2015 Christmas outreach at Paya Lebar Square. We had several families going around, blessing strangers and giving out Church invites and Christmas cards to strangers. As a ministry leader, I was so happy to see the parents setting such good examples for our kids to follow, and the kids must have been so proud of their mummies and daddies, it was extremely encouraging and a wonderful memory.

One of the main challenges we faced in 2016 was manpower. I am so thankful for the faithful 3:16 Kid Volunteers like Lydia, Heather, Daniel and Malcolm who served continuously throughout the year, but many times we didn’t not have enough volunteers to rotate inside a month, resulting in Meishan and myself having to serve most of the time.

One of the personal challenges I had was how to build a team around me for the ministry. It was only after our Strengths Finder course that the tide started to change. The Church leadership sent Dawn Teo, a dear sister whose Strengths and Personality are very different from my own, to “coach” me on how better to lead the ministry. Despite our differences, we actually seemed to complement each other pretty well. The Lord also moved in another sister’s heart during the Strengths Finder course, Jan Ng, a gifted teacher, to come alongside me and join the ministry. Towards the end of the year, Jessie, another sister whose “Includer” strength (one that I lack) really helped bring in more labourers for our ministry. So as you can see, Strengths Finder was a key milestone in helping the ministry, not just in it’s timing but in application.

I really thank God for my wife, Meishan who has been a constant support and a willing listener to any problems I had. With her support and encouragement, I was able to press on. I remember a counsel she gave me late one sleepless night, a word she spoke over me unlocked and exposed a lie that had a big stronghold in my heart… It was a very important personal breakthrough. Of course my personal thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the best gift God gave me last year, Faith, our daughter. The personal joy and happiness of being a father is a completely new one. Thank you Jesus for such a beautiful and cute baby girl.

Lu Zhenyuan

The post 2016 Year In Review: 3:16 KIDS first appeared on 3:16 Church.

Thank You for being so faithful throughout this year.

You know I’m feeling a tinge of surreality as I think about what has happened in the past one year. There were just so many significant moments and experiences that words couldn’t describe. I remember day one of the year 2016; wasn’t it You who put in my heart to prophesy and claim that it would be a year full of challenges but also a year full of joy? No doubt that it surely has been one challenging joyful year!

Remember those prayers we offered to you over phone calls? I know You have been so faithful to answer them. I recall the exclamations of answered prayers over our WhatsApp groups.

You really did come through for us time and again, and often in unexpected ways!

Let me think, there wasn’t any outdoor event we planned and prayed for that You failed to keep the weather ideal for us. If there was an outreach event planned, we never fail to see new friends joining us because You chose to bless us!

We did question whether we were doing things right when our life group attendance remained small. But You told us to keep being faithful with whoever You brought and to be strong in this.

We also faced discouragements when youths we invested in over a period of time stopped showing up. But You said that nothing is wasted and we can trust in Your bigger plan.

And I know God there are still pending “come home” prayers for those who had wandered away, that You are in the process of answering.

You brought us through different personal issues and battles. We laid hands over one another to pray, sang songs over different individuals, we performed prophetic acts that declare our unity and our stand with You for our generation.

We laughed and celebrated together. We also wept alongside each other.

You were there through it all.

We all do have a fair bit of battle scars to show for in this one year. How You have grown us through these!

This year, You gave the youth leadership the title “Mighty Giant Slayers”. I remember that time when a group of us stayed up till 4am to “slay” giants together in our prayers. That was one crazy morning.

Isn’t it You who wants to give us all we need to become what we have been called?

I thank You for an epic “Momentum” youth camp. On the very first day when I saw how leaders cared their hearts out for the youth participants that came, I know it was You saying to me “none of your labour was in vain!”

You have not let us down and You never will!

Oh yes, the fasting! Back in the middle of the year a group of youth leaders rallied ourselves to commit to a period of fasting. 30 days. You gave us personal breakthroughs and I remember how we saw those previously thought unreachable reached during that period. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that at the camp, we saw a total of 30 youths coming together to encounter Your Presence! God You really do give us more than we can ever pray for or imagine.

I knew it was You who wanted me to ask for Your heart and also cause me to seek understanding of our unique destiny as a youth ministry. I did keep on asking and seeking. So I see You using this “Momentum” camp to show me the “unsearchable things that I do not know of”. You showed me youths of different races, different nationality, different backgrounds, even different churches, living in harmony and dancing together to the sound of heaven! This is the blueprint of heaven!

Glory to You for all the salvation decisions made, and the steps of faith taken by individuals to follow You through this camp!

I am especially thankful for giving me a team of great people – my youth leadership team. Thank You for such a privilege to be able to journey together with them for the past one year. They have become very much my pride and joy just as they are yours. I so enjoyed getting to know each of them and being able to develop friendships that I know will last for the rest of our lives until eternity.

I am also grateful to You for the partnerships that have been developed over the year especially that with the “Young Adults” and with “The Love-Aid Project”. Behind these “terms” are names of individuals whom I have personally forged strong and precious friendships with which I so delight in. You really know how to orchestrate divine appointments and connections God.

You have been really good to put me as a member of a great pastoral team with brothers whom I really respect and look up to and whom I know is watching my back. What a year of plowing together for Your Kingdom!

Thank You for my parents who stood by me and were willing to be understanding and supportive of what I did. I never felt I deserve their amount of love but through them I understood Your grace even more.

God, I also really appreciate Mavis. Thank You for this girlfriend who was willing to make sacrifices together with me and adjustments in our relationship for the work of ministry. You saw our trying moments, our quarrels into late nights, the foolish arguments and You came to redeem these situations every-time. Thank you for being the wonderful Counsellor in our relationship and helping us to grow individually to love each other in a more Christ-like way!

My heart is made full by these hearts so dear to mine as I know mine to theirs.

I want to thank You God for those many other list of things that I know You know that I am grateful for.

Thank You Jesus for wooing me back time and again this year whenever I veered off Your path for me. Thank You for fathering me and including me in Your process of making Your church greater and stronger and more courageous than before.

I am grateful for a glorious year that has passed and a more glorious one that You are directing us into. I pray that You would prepare our hearts. Won’t You fill them with wonder and anticipation of what You would be doing in the new year? As we all take time to reflect on what You have done, let us gather treasures of memories that would remind us of who You are and what You are able to do. Let Your healing soothe wounds and Your life restore souls as we finish the year. Close the loops for us and prepare us for another lap as we see the end draws nearer and soon, Jesus, we shall see Your return!

In Jesus’s name,

Amen!

Pastor Joel Peh
Youth Pastor, 3:16 Church

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Strong And Courageous | Momentum ’16 Photo Gallery

The post 2016 Year In Review: Pastor Joel first appeared on 3:16 Church.