Introduction
The Returnees' Ministry (RM) is a ministry of the Graduates' Christian Fellowship (GCF). It was previously known as Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) (UK Returnees), and was renamed Returnees' Ministry in January 2015 to cater to all overseas returnees from not only the United Kingdom (UK) but also United States, Australia, China and other parts of the world.
Aims
-To provide fellowship for the new returnees and programmes to help them adjust and integrate back to their country, church and marketplace
-To help the young graduates to assimilate with the rest of the fellowship eventually
-To encourage alumni to be active GCF members and promote participation in GCF's various professional groups
Ministry Focus
To achieve the above aims, the Returnees' Ministry organises a monthly prayer meeting on the second Wednesday of every month. All eligible returnees from overseas, especially those who have yet to return will be encouraged to join this GCF ministry. It also organises an annual conference at end of the year.
Brief History
The COCM was founded in 1953 by the late Rev Stephen Wang, who had left China a few years earlier for postgraduate studies in the UK. The original purpose of the mission was to minister to and evangelise Chinese restaurant workers and overseas Chinese students in UK. This work has now been expanded to include Eastern and Western Europe. There are now more than 100 Chinese churches throughout the UK and Europe. A few non-Chinese Singaporean and Malaysian students are also attending such churches. The COCM's headquarters is in Milton Keynes, UK which also houses the Bible school for Chinese-speaking workers. One of COCM's long-term goal is to evangelise the Europeans (as Europe and the UK have become a spiritually dark continent). Work has commenced among the British-born Chinese, who do not speak Chinese and who are virtually indistinguishable from the Caucasian British.
About 100 to 200 graduates in Singapore including three past GCF presidents and some current members were either converted through the COCM or have been actively associated with it during their studies in the UK.
The OCF Alumni (Singapore) was accepted as a ministry by the GCF council at its meeting on 12 February 2007. As an Alumnus of OCF Australia, it aimed to help returning graduates from Australian universities transit back to life in Singapore. The OCF Alumni (Singapore) was active till around 2010 when it list steam because of leadership issues and became dormant for a while. COCM (UK Returnees), which became a GCF ministry in July 2003, was renamed Returnees' Ministry in January 2015 to cater to all overseas returnees from UK, United States, Australia, China and other parts of the world. OCF Alumni (Singapore) became part of the Returnees' Ministry.