Wesley Methodist School Bandar Seri Coalfields

Dear Parent Community of Bandar Seri Coalfields,
We thank Almighty God for this joyous and memorable milestone with this Completion of Construction Ceremony of WMS Bandar Sri Coalfields. Construction began after Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Council of Education of the Methodist Church in Malaysia signed the MOU on 25 Aug 2016 at the KLK Damansara Perdana Office.
The occasion today is made even more significant against the backdrop of the much celebrated blessing of a “new Malaysia” post the 9 May 2018 GE14. It would seem that Almighty God is commissioning us together, using the words of the Old Testament prophet inNIV Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
I am reminded of another historic ground-breaking moment when the sovereign enabling hand of the Almighty, is responded to by the heart and hands of humankind.
When the Apollo 11 landed on the moon on 20 July 1969, the first man out for the moon walk was Neil Armstrong; he was followed by Buzz Aldrin. Buzz Aldrin had been reported to have written the following that “captured the moment” for him–
“Nevertheless, in an effort to remain calm and collected, I decided that this would be an excellent time for a ceremony I had planned as an expression of gratitude and hope. Weeks before, as the Apollo mission drew near, I had originally asked Dean Woodruff, pastor at Webster Presbyterian Church, where my family and I attended services when I was home in Houston, to help me come up with something I could do on the moon, some appropriate symbolic act regarding the universality of seeking. I had thought in terms of doing something overtly patriotic, but everything we came up with sounded trite and jingoistic. I settled on a well-known expression of spirituality: celebrating the first Christian Communion on the moon, much as Christopher Columbus and other explorers had done when they first landed in their “new world.”
I wanted to do something positive for the world, so the spiritual aspect appealed greatly to me…So, during those first hours on the moon, before the planned eating and rest periods, I reached into my personal preference kit and pulled out the communion elements along with a three-by-five card on which I had written the words of Jesus: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” [John 15:5] I poured a thimbleful of wine from a sealed plastic container into a small chalice, and waited for the wine to settle down as it swirled in the one-sixth Earth gravity of the moon. My comments to the world were inclusive: “I would like to request a few moments of silence … and to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way.” I silently read the Bible passage as I partook of the wafer and the wine, and offered a private prayer for the task at hand and the opportunity I had been given. ….[But] at the time I could think of no better way to acknowledge the enormity of the Apollo 11 experience than by giving thanks to God. It was my hope that people would keep the whole event in their minds and see, beyond minor details and technical achievements, a deeper meaning — a challenge and the human need to explore whatever are above us, below us, or out there.”
May Almighty God, the Sovereign Maker of heaven and earth, continue to help us as we gather today to celebrate the technical and building excellence achieved at this Service that celebrates the Completion of Construction of WMS Bandar Seri Coalfields which will be operational come January 2019.
But let us also “see beyond technical details and achievements to a deeper meaning” In this challenge we, KLK Land and the Methodist Church in Malaysia undertake to serve our community in touching and transforming young lives in this generation and the next, by providing education with mission, excellence and compassion through the WMS Bandar Seri Coalfields.
In the perceptive words of the great Nelson Mandela who throws light on this challenge from another perspective: “Destroying any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs or the use of long range missiles. It only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in the examinations of student.” He had also said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.
We, in the Methodist Church in Malaysia, thank Almighty God for this opportunity to partner with a renowned corporation like KLK Bhd, a business organisation of international repute that has operated for over 100 years, to build and to serve our nation through this school, especially in this opportune fresh season of a “new Malaysia” that God has so graciously granted to us.
As we together respond to – NIV Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you” –may the Almighty and Sovereign God bless and prosper the continuing journey of WMS Bandar Seri Coalfields, as well as the total venture of KLK Land project of developing this area of Bandar Seri Coalfields.
Thank you.
Bishop Dr Ong Hwai Teik
Chairman of Council of Education, The Methodist Church in Malaysia