Rev. Dr. Quek Swee Hwa flew in from Singapore to be one of the guest speakers of SMO’s 31st Anniversary held last August 17, 2008. Close to 370 students, pastors, and alumni filled the grounds of the SMO Youth Center in Bacolod City and listened to Dr. Quek speak on the importance of being together in the proclamation of the gospel. This year’s theme is “Together for the Gospel”. Prior to his message, some alumni and church leaders shared their partnership with SMO in their personal lives and the church life as a whole. Pastors present were duly acknowledged and given tokens of appreciation. Dr. Quek and his church has been a ministry partner of SMO for nearly ten years now.
The other speaker was Pastor Brian Golez Najapfour, a young Masters in Theology student. During the anniversary, he preached the Gospel message after students of SMO Bible Training Institute (BTI) presented a pantomime with a gospel theme.
Song numbers were given by the Afterglow, young people of Faith Baptist Church, alumni Ephraim Sabordo, and Ivah Mae de los Reyes with her sisters. SMO members and the alumni came up front to be together in singing the final song that day titled “We shall Stand”.
Ten schools and eight churches were represented during the event.
The following day, August 18, a special one day equipping event was held at the youth center. Dr. Quek, principal of Singapore-based Biblical Graduate School of Theology and a licensed tour guide and lecturer in the Bible lands, lectured on Biblical Archaeology. While Pastor Najapfour, who is finishing his Masters in Theology at the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, gave a lecture on Bible Versions and Dynamic Equivalence. Sixty pastors, Bible students, youth leaders, and lay people participated in the event which was held at the youth center.
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