We spur one another to grow as disciples of Christ living out fully God’s purposes for our lives
OUR CORE FAITH VALUES
Rooted in the Living Word; Empowered by the Holy Spirit; Abiding in Christ only;
Daring to Hope and to Love;
Yielding Fruit to God’s Glory
Editor Jimmy Tan
Editorial Team Diana Chin, May Wong, Lim Seow Cheng, Jeanne Nah, Hwang Ching Yun Design and Layout Abigail Ng Printer Regent Printing (S) Pte Ltd
Views expressed in published articles are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Team or the Church Council.
Your contributions to READY are welcome and should be submitted to editor@bfec.org.sg. The Editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit any articles submitted for publication.
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Wedding of Mr & Mrs Lim Mah Tat at BFEC (1975)
CONTENTS
Foreword
We Bless You Now
ONE
咏颂主恩
Ode to God’s Grace
!anks for the Memories!
Coming Home
感谢神同在
God is Truly With Me
Spurring and Growing Me
God Comes to my Rescue
Dementia Diaries
Heavenly Witnesses
He Carries the Weight of the World
Re ections from the Void
!ank You, BFEC
TWO Seeds Sown
常青感恩之旅
Ever thankful for the Evergreen Ministry
Coming
We are a Priesthood
Continue to Study, Teach, Preach and Live Out !e Word
Why are you here at BFEC?
THREE
Building the Tabernacle
Better than Sacri ce !e Joy of Giving and Receiving Bibles
God is Trustworthy
Journey On
Blessings, Commitment, Kinship and Love
From Daughter Church to Mother Church, !ank You!
FOUR
Entering His Rest
!e End of My Search
From a Teacher to his Ex-JSS Students
From Daddy to Daughter, From Generation to Generation Press On in Sowing and Planting
BFEC - A Special Church
Bride of Christ Ready at His Return
Having Arrows that Shoot Well
FROM ME TO YOU
As you may know, 60 marks the diamond anniversary in a marriage and the year of completeness for some traditional-minded Chinese. But for a church at 60, how do you mark her spiritual milestone meaningfully?
Well, we decided, why not, one by one, tell the stories of God at work? So we prayed that 60 members of Bethesda Frankel Estate Church (a.k.a. Frankelites) and some friends would come forward to share something from the heart. !eir response is this special READY commemorative – their personal gift, a heartfelt “from me to you”.
!ese writings, pieces of art and poetry are poignant snapshots from our church family scrapbook, honest re ections from faith-diaries and prayer-lists for the years ahead.
What comes through is that unmistakable three-fold cord of faith, hope and love weaving a unifying thread through the diverse re ections. Like the Psalms of old, they are set against a backdrop of pleasant and painful memories, trials and triumphs, challenges and changes. We’ve organized the contributions under six movements.
But all the stories actually begin on that last Sunday of July 1958 (It was 27 July), when a group of faith- lled brothers, who came to be known as the Frankel Committee, purposed to o$cially launch the work at BFEC. !ey then called for the very rst Lord’s Supper service on Sunday 3 August the following week. Such a simple, ordinary start. !e rest, as we say, is His-story.
And so to each of them who came together to eat and drink from that rst loaf and cup on that rst Lord’s Supper service and others who have joined in since, may these stories, beyond anything you could have imagined, be our way of honoring your obedience and treasuring your fellowship.
To each of you we say, “thank you”… from me to you.
Jimmy Tan Editor
L-R: Elder Seet Poon Soo, Henry Philips, Elder Chia Hong Hoe, Hooi Cheng Soon, Elder Fred Sabapathy. They are the original members of the Frankel Committee
WE BLESS YOU NOW
As the Psalmist says, “One generation will commend your works to another” (Psalm 145:4). The fullness of who God is and what He is doing will take more than just one generation to bear witness to. He is writing a Grand Narrative that goes beyond the lifetime of one generation, one Church or one Nation; the story doesn’t just end with ‘us’. Jonathan Cho and Sharon Ngoo wrote this song in time for our 60th anniversary. They add, “As we celebrate what God has done through BFEC over the years, this song expresses our heart’s desire for the Church to see God’s ‘big picture’ and to commit to partnering Him in what He is doing and will do in the days to come, until Jesus returns.”
One generation is not enough
To tell of who You are
Each of us carrying the battle-stories
Of victories and the scars
You empower us by Your Holy Spirit
To dare for hope and love
You’re writing a story involving us in ways we don’t deserve
Lord we await Your return
And we ready ourselves as we yearn
We bless You now
Crown You with praise
Mighty King
Ancient of Days
We will come drawn by Your grace
We’re your people, the Bride
You’ve redeemed
We are moving forward with hearts ablaze
We testify of You
Staying rooted in the Living Word
Whose testament is true
Jesus keep us faithful and make us One
As we abide in You
Bearing fruit for Your glory, we honor You
In everything we do
Let the favour of God rest upon us
Establish the work of our hands
We pray God that You go before us
Lord, let us be part of Your plan
We bless You now
Crown You with praise
Mighty King
Ancient of Days
We will sing
Of Your glorious reign
We’re your people, the Bride
You’ve redeemed
Into eternity
ONE
All people will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. !e righteous will rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!
(Psalms 64:9,10)
咏颂主恩
ODE TO GOD’S GRACE
by 杜建华 Du Jian Hua and 张月征 Zhang Yue Zheng English Summary by Kuah Leck Ping
风雨飘摇六十载
父 居宝座掌权柄
道路崎岖祂引领 历经沧桑祂同在。
叶儿青青枝儿茂 壮弱童叟齐向主
心中喜乐恩满溢 多结果子感 耶稣 。
祈求 圣灵 常引领 门徒造就硕果结
差遣勇士传真道
世界各地有脚踪 前路漫漫凭信心， 不畏艰难和险阻， 口唱心和齐赞美， 荣耀归于至高神。
Our Heavenly Father is and has been in control. He has led us through our journey for the last 60 years.
Both young shoots and evergreens, strong and weak, we joyfully bear fruit for Jesus. We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead His disciples and send out gospel soldiers to the ends of the earth. Facing the unknown and challenges of the journey ahead with faith, let’s praise with one voice, giving the highest glory to our God.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Du Jian Hua(left), wife Yue Zheng & daughter Jie Yi (right)
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
by Alex Lo, Chairman and Elder
Before I was born I never knew if the world existed. Of course, I could not have known because I did not exist. But since I came into this world, I could observe and have learnt that many things do exist, even things I cannot see, feel or touch.
Life has been an amazing journey for me. Discovering science and engineering and later, art, poetry and deep questions of life, like philosophy and religion - all these discoveries or knowledge reside in my brain. Everything that has happened to me since birth and up to a moment ago is embedded in my brain as memories.
For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the !owers of the eld; the grass withers and the !owers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
(1 Peter 1:24 to 25)
So what if I were to become a great man or acquire riches one day? All my achievements or wealth will still come to an end one day. All my riches cannot be enjoyed by me after I am gone. So what if I have great knowledge and am able to lead large armies into great battles? I will not be around
long enough to be remembered by friends, family and loved ones.
!e life I lived will one day become a memory in someone else’s mind. But even so, their memory of me will not be eternal because they too will one day become memories themselves. Only the best, or the worst, among us human beings will make history. Sadly, even history itself is simply but a memory. Save for the few who knew us, no one will say, “!anks for the memories.”
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
(Ecclesiastes 1:2)
But should I despair over such meaninglessness? Should I give up on life altogether or is there hope? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Is there some way to grapple with this meaninglessness?
Before I existed, there was eternity. After I cease to exist, there will be eternity. Is there anything I can do during my short existence that can last an eternity so that my life will not be so meaningless and will count for something?
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
(Mark
8:36 - 37)
I thank God for sending Jesus into my life because knowing Him is the best memory in my life! Everything else pales in comparison. Jesus is God and He existed before eternity and lives for eternity. He is the Word of the Lord that stands forever. He gives meaning to life and eternity.
I now realise that the only thing I can do that will impact my life for eternity is to believe in Jesus. Before I accepted Jesus into my life, I was doomed to be in hell for eternity. But now that I have Jesus in my heart, I am alive in God and will be with Him in heaven forever. What a change of destiny! A change that lasts an eternity!
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
(Hebrews 6:10)
God never forgets and He will remember me for eternity. In heaven, I will no longer be a memory but very much alive and loved by God. When I get there one day, I will say to Him, “!ank you, Lord, for the memories.” Not only for myself but also for those whom He has ushered in; those lives whom He allowed me to have a part in at BFEC.
BFEC is 60 years old and holds many memories for those who came to know Jesus here. I pray for you, as I do for myself, that these memories - past and future - are the sort that will endure when He returns to bring us home.
Alex with campers at the 2017 Church Camp
Alex with other elders
COMING HOME
by Daren Tan
Mr & Mrs Seet Poon Soo with daughter, Ethel.
Some of you know me as the husband of Michelle Kuek but many of you also know me as one of the grandsons of Mr and Mrs Seet Poon Soo, one of our church’s founding Elders and his wife.
My story is very simple. I backslided after I entered the army in 1999 as there would be weekends when I wanted to sleep in due to the “exciting team building activities at Tekong Resort”. Worse, when I did attend church, I would nd some people asking me, “Why didn’t you come to church last week?” and “Went out drinking the night before, ah?” !is annoyed me, as I felt I was being judged harshly if I didn’t come to church every week. Moreover, I felt no one could truly understand all the struggles and temptations I was going through. Most people would say “Trust God” but could not o%er any concrete solutions. I was young and naïve and I was expecting too much.
So, I did not go to church for about 13 years. In that time, countless prayers were uttered for me by my parents, grandparents and concerned friends.
Turning Point
!en a few months before December 2012, I was asked to sing again with ‘Just Us’, an acapella group consisting of homegrown (overgrown?) BFEC boys. I had once been a part of this group. I decided to sing with them one last time at !e Great Big Christmas Giveaway (TGBCG) musical. I was a hair’s breadth from opting out of the musical as I felt uncomfortable coming back to BFEC and hearing questions like “Where have you been all these years?” and “Wah! Put on so much weight, ah?”.
But I decided to take the plunge and it turned out to be the best decision of my life as I would meet my future wife, Michelle, at the musical. I knew Michelle from Senior Sunday School since we were kids but we didn’t speak to each other much, mainly because she was super quiet. She had also stopped attending BFEC since her teens and Michelle later revealed to me that she too was a hair’s breadth away from NOT attending the musical due to other commitments and that if Sharon Ngoo had not invited her, she would not have come. (!ank you, Sharon. I owe you one!)
So, for those of you who think that your invitations for church events are not important, think again.
e rest, as they say, is history and Michelle and I got married in BFEC in October 2015. I never thought I would choose my wife from the BFEC ‘catalogue’ (a term I coined after seeing so many of our old friends married to fellow Frankelites e.g. Joylyn and Chee Seng, Sharon and Chih Yuan, Tim and Darlene) but I am so blessed that I did. Without God orchestrating TGBCG, would Michelle and I have come together?
I went through a really dark period during the 13 years when I didn’t come to church. I even thought of ending my life at one point and on hindsight, I can de!nitely say that the lack of spiritual nourishment from the Word, worship, sermons and the lack of support from brothers and sisters in Christ from the cell group really played a big part in me feeling lost and not doing things with God in mind.
Home with God at BFEC
I think what made Michelle and I come back to BFEC is that it has always felt like home for us. For me personally, seeing all the familiar faces around me makes me feel like I’m coming back to my second family. Everywhere I walk in church brings back fond memories from my childhood of playing Pepsi Cola 123 and using the microphone stands as machine guns as we ran around the kindergarten classrooms, now known as the Upper Room.
I would like to thank my best friend Aaron Tan for constantly reaching out to me during those 13 years and asking me to come back. If he did not do so, I would probably have never come back to BFEC.
I also never thought I was good enough to get married, let alone have a child, but God blessed me abundantly with a beautiful wife and a wonderful baby boy, Isaiah. So, I would like to encourage you if you are feeling worthless, or maybe feel you don’t deserve any of God’s blessings, to take heart. God loves us more than we can ever know. I am such a wretched sinner to God and yet He has blessed me so abundantly. I thank God everyday for this undeserving grace that he has given me and what has happened to me in my life is proof that these blessings can happen to you too.
My brothers and sisters, He’s waiting, He never fails. Would you return to Him?
I am such a wretched sinner to God and yet He has blessed me so abundantly.
Daren and Michelle and son Isaiah, with Daren’s mum, Ethel
I want to praise God with this simple sharing, to encourage you to continue trusting our Lord and to discover His Abundance in your life.
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
I was baptised on 19 December 2004 by the Chinese Ministry 13 years ago. I feel my words are inadequate to capture my 13-year journey as a believer but I will try my best.
It seems like it was just yesterday whenever I browse through my family photo album - pictures of my wedding day, the birth of my children, then of them growing up day by day. !e memories ll me with overwhelming joy and also sorrow. “How time ies!” I lament, ghting back my tears. Most people may say, “!at’s life, isn’t it?” But I thank God for giving me peace and for walking with me through thick and thin. !rough it all, I have faced life’s challenges and learnt to listen to His voice and follow Him. Whenever I am troubled, I will pray, “Dear Heavenly Father, I am just a vessel being moulded in your hand, and until the day of my eternal rest, I will not know what I may do, the wrongs I am still capable of committing. May You guide me in Your path, You who are in control all the time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
In 2013, I was considering a career switch to be a kindergarten teacher. I wanted to have more time with my children as they were growing up. I prayed that the Lord would prepare a way for me. As I was about to resign and start my teaching preparatory course, I initially chose school A because
its curriculum was less demanding and the school was nearer my home. Instead, I ended up in school B, which had a more di$cult program and was also further from my home. But I trusted the Lord‘s purpose and I chose to obey. !ank God, throughout those two years of commuting long distances to school B, I met many good friends and saw many Christian mentors serving faithfully, which paved my way to my present posting.
I had to look for a permanent school after the two-year course and again, I failed to secure a teaching position in the church kindergarten near my home but the Lord provided another kindergarten instead. It was very di%erent from what I had expected and it was rather stressful but I prayed, “Lord, you have arranged this so I think I should be able to manage.”
Two years have passed and now, I feel I have gained the con dence to manage all types of work. !is is how the Lord has been watching over me quietly. When my younger daughter started primary school, I continued to petition the Lord to transfer me to the rst kindergarten I had set my heart on. Praise God for answering my prayer! I walked into the place the Lord had prepared for me on the day I turned 40. How wonderful is the grace of God! I cannot hold back my tears of joy. Our God is truly alive and real.
Lastly, I want to encourage you with Proverbs 3:5-6:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
你要专心仰赖耶和华，不可 倚靠自己的聪明，在你一切 所行的事上，都要认定他， 他必指引你的路。
L-R Matthew, Grace, Gloria, Kai Lin & her mum
SPURRING AND GROWING ME
by Brandon Raeburn
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in the 22 years that I’ve been in BFEC, it is that we have a faithful God who is never far from us.
He has surrounded me with His spiritual mentors and prayer warriors since the day my parents rst brought me to this church. !e same aunties and uncles from my parents’ cell group (Haggai) who carried me when I was a baby were the ones who prayed relentlessly for me when I was sitting for my ‘O’ Level exams. !ey were also there to spur me on and pray for me before and during the Basic Military Training (BMT) phase of my army life. I’ll never forget how the late Aunty Bee Horng encouraged and comforted me over the phone during the three-week con nement period. It was at that very moment that
I realised that God had not forsaken me and that He still cared deeply about me.
To ensure that I’ll never cease to grow as a follower of Christ, the Lord has also placed wise and knowledgeable spiritual leaders in my midst to guide me in my walk with Him. I feel very blessed to have had teachers like Elder Roland and Deacon Jason during my time in Senior Sunday School (Grow@ Noon today). !ey have taught me invaluable lessons that I still apply in my life today.
Words cannot express how grateful I am for God’s guidance and faithfulness over the years. He has given me a wonderful family at BFEC and I pray that He will continue to shower His blessings upon it.
Brandon (Standing, last row, third from the right) with his Young Adults cell group
Little Brandon with his parents Shane and Chey Hoong
GOD COMES TO MY RESCUE
Have you ever felt you walked right into a bad decision, or were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Sister Ng Tjoh Dju, currently serving in the Leadership Development and HR Department of Cru Singapore, shares how when we do His will, and even in times of the unexpected, our God faithfully provides.
I felt the earth literally move under my feet. Someone shouted, “Run to the open !eld!” In my heels and tight skirt, I joined the crowd and ran to the !eld. A killer earthquake had struck Baguio on 16 July 1990. Later, we found out that it registered 7.7 on the Richter scale. e massive tremor wrecked havoc across a sizeable portion of Luzon, Philippines’ largest island, with Baguio City su ering the most devastating e ects. More than 1,000 were killed. Another 1,000 su ered serious injuries. Sitting on seven fault lines, an earthquake was not unexpected. But this was the most deadly. It was the !rst time I found myself in an earthquake.
is was my !rst overseas assignment since I joined Cru Singapore in 1980. I had arrived in Baguio four years earlier, in 1986. I taught at the International School of eology-Asia (ISOT*) - a seminary started by Campus Crusade for Christ in Baguio, Philippines on 5 October 1981. I served at ISOT, working among international students.
My apartment was situated on the slopes with apartments above and below one another, so it was too dangerous to stay there after the quake. For a week, my housemates and I took refuge in a Chinese church in town. We were blessed as most of the 100,000 residents slept outdoors on the street, too frightened by the threat of aftershocks.
Aftermath of Baguio Earthquake. (Photo used with permission from Art Tibaldo Newseum)
Teaching in Baguio
!e school, ISOT, had moved to Manila two weeks before the earthquake, by God’s grace and sovereignty. I, however, had stayed back in Baguio to do research on my thesis. How could I move to Manila from Baguio? !e three main roads linking Baguio to the outside world were blocked by massive landslides. And the highway leading to Manila was damaged by the quake as well, making road travel impossible.
But God provided a way I could not imagine. !e Philippine government o%ered to y foreigners to Manila! So my housemates and friends from Malaysia helped me move house -14 boxes of personal e%ects, including a gas burner and cylinder! I found myself in a helicopter heading to Manila - free of charge! We were packed like sardines, together with hundreds of other foreigners, in that
cargo helicopter. God not only protected me in the earthquake, He also provided a creative solution to move me from Baguio to Manila. Praise God for His thoughts are higher than my thoughts and His ways are higher than my ways!
I stayed on in this assignment till 2001. Whether overseas or here in Singapore, I have observed that in dramatic or ordinary ways, we can count on His unmistakable and gracious protection... till we complete His assignments.
*ISOT-Asia has been renamed International Graduate School of Leadership, IGSL.
But God provided a way I could not imagine.
Tjoh Dju (first row, second from left) at Restoration Healing Retreat with interns.
DEMENTIA DIARIES
The journey of faith leads us to situations we sometimes least expect, which we think only happen to others. Woon Chin Chang writes about his 88 year-old mum who has been journeying through the debilitating condition of dementia for about a decade. Though no one really knows what goes on in the mind of someone with dementia, yet having seen how she, now in an advanced stage of dementia, has endeavored to cope, he would like to o er the following imagined ruminations.
When did it even begin – 10 years ago? 15 years? “Where did I leave my keys?” ... “What was it that I was just about to do?” Just little memory lapses that didn’t seem to mean much at the time. I was otherwise perfectly normal and continued to do everything else that I used to do. I did my daily walk, (my son commented that I had more energy than he did!), cooked for the family, went out with my hubby of 50 years for our myriad medical appointments. Yes I was getting old, but that’s just about all it was. I was enjoying my retirement years in Vancouver, almost living the dream that most people of my generation dreamt of having. I’m most joyful when my children and their families come visiting – we’d have awesome times, making precious and lasting memories together.
But before you knew it, people around me seemed to be noticing more and more of such memory lapses, especially after we returned to Singapore permanently. Several times, I commented to my the family about how new apartment buildings seemed nowadays to be made of paper: one day they’re not around, the next they seem to have magically appeared, all fully-built. My third son would then ask me why I keep saying this when he had already told me before that the site took more than three years to be fully built. Whatever – I still think they’re made of paper!
And then it happened: I started to catch myself forgetting more and more things. What was going on with me?! Why am I becoming so forgetful? My anxiety built up to the point that my husband decided to bring me to have it checked medically. Phew! !e doctor said that it is nothing to worry about at the moment, but just to keep watch on how things progress. With that assurance, the family continued going about their own business as usual.
Chin Chang with mother, Madam Young Chi Seng
My third son used to work out of one of my bedrooms in our family home. !is is his “o$cial business address”. Being a caring and doting mother, I would constantly worry about his well-being, whether he’s missed any meals. So I would go into his room/o$ce and ask him if he wanted anything to eat….
My goodness! Why did he start raising his voice at me, telling me to stop disturbing him? Am I not being a good and loving mother, trying to make sure that my son is well-fed and healthy? I was shocked, dismayed, disappointed, despondent, confused …. so many negative feelings just overwhelmed me there and then. What did he mean that I had been in there just ve minutes ago and a few more times before that? I don’t remember having stepped into his room at all until then! Didn’t I raise him to be better than this? What’s happened between myself and this precious son of mine - to make him dislike me so much that he’d chase me out of his workplace?
Oh no! Where’s my husband and my helper? !ey were just beside me as we did our usual weekly marketing at Chai Chee. Have they abandoned me? Why did they sneak away and just disappear, leaving me all alone?! I don’t really know where I am – can’t quite recognise the neighbourhood! I’d better call my son and ask him to come get me. What’s going on?!
Later, they told me that I had walked away on my own. !inking I was looking at something around the corner, my husband and helper just stayed at the same spot to wait for me. When I didn’t come back, they went searching for me, as well as called my son to see if I had contacted him. !is is so confusing! I’m just glad that we found each other nally and went home safe and sound. I really pray that I won’t ever have to go through this again!
Nowadays I see portraits of my children on my family wall. It’s strange: I recognise the faces, but I keep getting the names mixed up or even momentarily forgetting their names. And that youngest daughter of mine – she went and studied in Vancouver after junior college (in the late 1980s); ever since then she seems to have just simply forgotten about me and never even bothered to keep in contact! Yet I see screenshots that my son showed me, of my daughter and myself having a Facetime chat (both our faces were on the screen!) – but I don’t remember when that happened.
And where is that husband of mine? Has he gone away somewhere?
I went to visit my eldest sister the other day … Oh no, what happened?! When did she become bedridden and almost unresponsive?! Didn’t we just go out together for a sisters’ day out not so long ago? Why are her children saying that she’s su%ering from cancer and has been this way for a couple of years already? And for some strange reason, I seem to be having a harder time remembering their names! Must be old age catching up!
I don’t know what’s going on much nowadays. Everything seems to be nothing but a blur. I often start to say something; but when I’m asked to clarify what I meant, I can’t even remember what I was saying just before that. I don’t like this at all! My children sometimes ask me to name them, and I have a hard time trying to even bring their names up to my lips. !is one is … but wait! !ese are not my children, they’re my younger brothers! And have you eaten? I don’t think I have. Why is my helper so slow in preparing lunch?! It’s a hot day – I better go and turn on the air conditioning in my room.
What were we talking about?
You want to dress me up? Because we are going to church now?
I love those songs! Makes me so happy! Fa-la-la!
Who’s in the car – my son? Why do I need to go into the car? He’s bringing me to his place? Oh ok.
Who are you? Oh, you are my daughter-in-law? … Where am I? Your home? Oh ok.
What do you do for someone who is su$ering from dementia
– who can barely string a sentence together or who apparently has a shorter attention span than a 2-yearold toddler?
- who takes us minutes of continuous coaxing before she will get o$ her favourite chair at home and get into the car?
- who can get pretty upset and shows it when you make her do things she does not want to; yet she is someone who will spontaneously laugh ever so heartily when you trigger her funny-bone?
How do you handle your own reactions and emotions, when you remember her as highly resilient, independent, the lady with the always perfectly coi$ed hairdo - even when there is no occasion for it? Yes, that same woman I call: “MUMMY”, who continued to look out for all her children and was ever ready to step in to help her children in any practical way, even though they already have families of their own.
My personal journey with Mummy has taught me a few precious lessons:
Don’t focus on her waning abilities; instead, continue to cherish and relish every ability that she still possesses.
Do things that will help keep negative feelings and emotions at bay (she may not say it, but you will know when she is feeling down or even depressed!); make her laugh – because there is much truth in the phrase “A joyful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). Joy is indeed good medicine, because it goes right into the human spirit!
!e best part of this journey? God continues to remind my family that He has not forgotten, that she is His dearly beloved child, that He will never leave nor forsake us. Recounting all these blessings, I am especially grateful to our Abba Father that :
He has provided for good helpers all these years. Our current helper is especially dedicated and gentle, and has gained our full trust in taking care of my mum with minimal supervision.
Mum did not turn out to be a “grumpy old lady”. In fact, she enjoys playful activities and will still engage if you catch her attention su ciently.
I love that mum can still laugh! On this note, I – being the “clown” of the family – will make funny faces at her or sing with her whenever circumstances permit. (My wife does this well too!) !e reward: my mum’s silent but deep mirthful laughter that signals a simple, happy joy within!
I have wonderful siblings! We all proactively take turns being with my mum every day of the week, be it for a few hours or the whole day. Even my sister (who lives overseas) now makes it a point to visit twice a year and be with my mum for at least 2 weeks each time. !is is yet another major blessing in my view; it is exceptionally draining to be a caregiver and God knows we all don’t quite have the temperament to be full-time caregivers. !ank You Lord!
Mum is a child of God. As such, we are spared the burden of concern of where she will spend her life in eternity.
Love you, Mummy.
HEAVENLY WITNESSES
Through the years, many Frankelites have joined the heavenly cloud of witnesses. Even as they continue to be dearly missed, here are some of their life stories Elder Jimmy Tan would like to share with present and future Frankelites.
Dennis Koh
When our Disappointments are His Appointments
“...being con dent of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
!is verse leapt at me as I sat listening to the sermon on Philippians 1:1-11 by Elder Chua Soon Boon on Sunday 1 March, 2015. Earlier, I had learnt that a fellow church member, Uncle Dennis Koh Khek Cheow, had slipped quietly into glory that very morning in his ICU hospital bed, after spending the evening before with his wife and family.
Just a week earlier, on 22 February, Uncle Dennis had celebrated his 85th birthday. In fact, he was expecting to be discharged once he was deemed stable enough. He had needed a stent operation but His Heavenly Father had other plans.
I had visited him four days earlier. Strapped down by tubes to machines at his ICU bed, he could still chat with me, holding court rather energetically for a good 45 minutes. To my surprise, this rather soft spoken man (at least, it seemed to me) related how he was once very angry with God. He told me how, one by one, he had missed securing three precious scholarship opportunities - opportunities that would have made him either a pilot, engineer or doctor.
An Appointed Career in Education
It was with this unresolved, simmering anger that he drifted away from church as a youth on the threshold of young adulthood. “Why was God so
grudging to me?” he said. Not long after, he went into teaching. And after training, he was posted to Ra&es Institution (RI) for many years. One of his students included a certain student named Goh Chok Tong, who he says remembers him!
But RI wasn’t his last stop. As Singapore developed, so our educational needs became varied. He was handpicked to be part in the pioneering group of teachers at VITB (Vocational and Industrial Training Board), the precursor to ITE (Institute of Technical Education), a stint he didn’t think he could hack but, guess what, he did! !at’s not all. Somewhere along the way, he said he was also posted to a ‘notorious’ school in Geylang and another which was Chinese-medium (though he does not speak Mandarin!). He taught academic and technical subjects, sport (avid sportsman that he is) and was often discipline master. He said he really enjoyed his career in education, saying he accumulated experiences he wouldn’t have traded for anything else.
Mr and Mrs Koh on their wedding day.
And somehow, his anger dissipated, and he returned to his senses, to God. And to church. He said, “I realised God had led me each step of the way.” And while he thought he had good plans for his life, God had a better one. “He will never ask you to be what you are NOT!” he emphatically concluded... before switching topics to talk about other things.
Appointments with God
He spoke about how, when he was rst warded, God had immediately answered his desperate prayer to breathe easier. He spoke about how it dawned on him what being a church community was as members visited and prayed for him - people he would often only say “hi” and “bye” to on Sundays. And, nally, he spoke about really looking forward to joining in the Sunday worship service again once he had gotten his stent inserted.
Well, God had a di$erent venue for his worship service that Sunday. And I’m sure uncle Dennis Koh must be holding court swapping stories with all the other saints there. And one story would be that though he “missed” the three opportunities, his three children grew to become, would you know it, doctor, pilot and engineer!
And here’s another story - that it was in the teaching profession that he met his wife of 58 years, Doris Khoo. !ey were married 8 December 1956, ve years after his baptism on 6 August 1950.
Till we meet again, my dear brother (uncle) in Christ. And thanks for blessing us with stories from your journey with Christ that afternoon.
Matron Patricia Sabapathy Warrior and Child
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” ( John 14:27)
Whenever I read this verse, I can’t help but think of Matron Patricia Sabapathy, who was called home on 12 March 2015. Her trademark greeting, you may recall, was “Peng An”, Hokkien for peace. !e word “peace” is “shalom” in Hebrew – indicating wholeness. For the disciple of Christ, wholeness comes by rst being convicted of our sin, of our need for our Saviour. And then working out our faith convictions in service unto His glory. Conviction and distinction are two words I associate with dear Matron when I recall her legacy.
Living with Conviction
First, her conviction. Whether you totally agreed with her, she never did anything unless she believed in it wholeheartedly. A few times, when I was serving as Chairman, she had asked me about certain matters. I called to share with her my viewpoint. And in classic matron response, instead of saying “Yes” immediately, she’d say, seemingly with a pout, “Let me pray about it.” Looking back, I believed she did for she wanted to be sure. And I’m glad, in those times that I’m aware, she encouraged me by her godly conviction. Her convictions are sometimes expressed with wit, and, certainly, often when you least expect it. !is is a trait she shares with her husband, late Elder Fred, who would often, when “led by the Spirit”, say or do things which were rather spontaneous at worship services, much to the trepidation of the unaccustomed worship leader.
!ose of you attending our 8am service may recall how she would sometimes raise her hand, and from the back of the sanctuary, with or without microphone, suggest a hymn in response. Often, I noticed her choice was spot-on. Her last such “interruption” (if I can call it that) was to ask Noel Lean, who was chairing the service that day, why our intergenerational worship service was only con ned to the 10am service and did not seem to include the 8am congregants. She followed up with a call to me later, asking for clari cation she didn’t receive that morning. Hers was a most godly concern to
Mr and Mrs Koh with their grandchildren.
maintain the unity of the spirit of the entire church - in the bond of “peace”. She wanted no part of the Body to be left out in the expediency of logistical consideration. She did, in fairness to her, also apologise for possibly being disruptive too.
But she wasn’t just a woman of conviction.
Serving with Distinction
She served with distinction – in both big and small ways. She was pioneer or ardent champion of ministries that were often ahead of their time. Christian Outreach to the Handicapped. !e School for the Blind. Ladies Group. Flower Arrangement ministry. In smaller acts of service, she will be remembered for her charming smile, her gusto in singing hymns, yes, her trademark “Peng An” greeting, her handmade “!ank you” cards (of which I received quite a few), phone-calls to pray with you or inquire of you or apologise to you. And most dear to her, I’m sure, her distinctive roles on the home front as wife, mother, and grandma.
Yet beneath her passion, and some will say “tenacious, strong will”, were two other things, a heart of gold - something I’m sure many have personally experienced, and secondly, a tender, almost fragile spirit.
I recall once, in a whisper, she would tell me of those who were stumbled that she used the Hokkien words “Peng An”, saying it was not really Biblical. And of the time she caused a stir when she rst initiated ower arrangements for our sanctuary. “!ey said it was a waste of money, you know?” she sighed softly.
Peace, My Child
Looking back, underneath those remarks was a certain vulnerability and woundedness I have seen in servants of God, especially those who’ve served long and hard. It was certainly not unique to her and not unknown to those most passionate for the things of God.
I’m reminded of the lyric of the song by Christian songwriter Twila Paris, called, “!e warrior is a child”. It goes:
Lately I’ve been winning battles left and right
But even winners can get wounded in the ght
People say that I’m amazing (I’m) strong beyond my years
But they don’t see, inside of me
I’m hiding all these tears
!ey don’t know that I come running home when I fall down
!ey don’t know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just a while ‘Coz deep inside this armor !e warrior is a child.
Unafraid because His armor is the best But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest
People say that I’m amazing I never face retreat
But they don’t see the enemies !at drive me to His feet
1998 Mrs Sabapathy at a birthday dinner
The Sabapathys and the Seets
Matron, and others, may be “feisty warriors” for Christ but beneath the tough armour of God is still a child. And like any child who runs to daddy when wounded, she too has received much comfort and grace from her heavenly Father - in her transitions, frustrations, disappointments and sadness. Not surprisingly, she often declared that her favourite psalm was Psalm 23 – which reminds her often that her Lord Jesus Christ is indeed her strong yet tender-hearted Shepherd.
During one of my last visits, she thought I had deliberately skipped her bed to visit another in the next ward. She had seen me approach the ward from afar yet seem to pass her by. And she was so glad I had actually missed her bed by mistake. When I came to her side, she honestly admitted her near-disappointment, which on re ection now is most poignant, “Oh, and I thought you were going to visit somebody else!”
!e warrior is indeed a child. But now, she is recipient of His “Peng An”, His Shalom.
On her behalf, may I encourage you, whatever your trouble, sorrow, sin or regret, take her advice: “Peng An!” for you too can know and experience God’s peace. You too can know and experience peace with God (John 14:27).
!en you too will be His warrior and Child.
Marilene Seow
What if Jesus Came to Visit
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” we often ask, don’t we? Indeed, this talk was the most popular one at our rst run of Life’s Big Questions recently. But during that “Friday the 13th” night in April when Bishop Emeritus Robert Solomon shared, my mind could not help but go back to sister Marilene Seow, a church member who went home to the Lord nine years earlier, in September 2009.
How could anyone forget Marilene? A member of our church and the Peranakan Ministry for many years, she would faithfully accompany her mum, the cheerful and spritely Bibik Seow (aka Madam Tan Suan Jeong or Aunty Mina, as many knew her), to church each week. If mum decided to make some Peranakan kueh to bless others, as she often did, it was Marilene who would assist her. !ey were inseparable. So when mum became frail and homebound, it was Marilene who quit her day job at the factory to look after her in their three-room HDB at. (Marilene had two married brothers who provided for them. As she was single and had no other family responsibilities, I imagine it made natural sense for her to nurse mum. Not that she minded at all.)
Fervently Active
Remarkably, taking care of her mum didn’t deter her from coming to church or being active in her cell. She told me she’d get some breakfast done for mum, then hop on bus 32 to get to BFEC. And as the 8am service neared the end, she would quickly slip out the side door of the sanctuary and head on back to the bus stop.
Whenever one of her brothers could spare an evening to take her place, the rst thing she’d do was to join her cell, the “Hagar” cell group led by brother Laurie Chan. She was committed to stay plugged into the koinonia she had gotten used to and wasn’t about to take her membership for granted, whatever her circumstance.
But taking care of mum did take a toll on Marilene’s health. In the midst of doing all this good, Marilene was a$icted with cancer. Advanced
stage cancer. One Sunday a few months after the diagnosis, as I stood behind during the end of the 8am service, I saw her as she slipped out, as she always did, using the same side door. She had clearly lost more weight. I called out to her and asked how she was, and she smiled, “Ok!”.
“Going back to mum?”
“Yes. Goodbye!”
Fervent Faith
Doctors had treated her but the cancer just raged on in her body with a vengeance. Her cell group prayed fervently as did the rest of us who knew. If there was anyone who deserved to be healed, it was Marilene. She was only in her 50’s.
Touchingly, the other members of her cell group rostered themselves to keep her company when she became too ill to care for her mum, let alone for herself. She soon underwent palliative care at home. Marilene was in one room while her frail mum was in the other, unaware of what was happening to the daughter who cared deeply for her.
When I visited her on what was to be the week she was to be called home, the cell ladies keeping watch that afternoon told me she had kept asking about how her mum was doing, even as her mum was wondering why her daughter was nowhere within sight.
I steeled myself trying not to be shocked as I entered her bedroom alone, hoping to be of some cheer. She was gaunt, no, emaciated, but her eyes were wide open and alert to my presence.
“Hello, Marilene!” I chimed. She turned slightly. After brief small talk, I spied her CD player nearby and asked what her favorite song was. “As the Deer,” she said slowly, each word a breathless whisper. As I sang along to the CD, she mouthed the words too. I sensed the presence of the Lord very strongly as we worshipped amidst the gloom I saw around me. Suddenly, I found myself asking her a question. Looking around her bare but neat bedroom, the words tumbled out, “Hey Marilene, so…did Jesus come to visit you?”
!e moment I asked, I bit my lip in regret. What if Jesus didn’t?
“Yes!” she nicely interrupted, her eyes staring right up.
To overcome my incredulity, I went into my old journalist mode and decided to ask a followup question, again a rather parochial one, if one thought about it.
“Marilene, and what did Jesus look like?”
Without so much as a pause, she mumbled something. I drew closer, and told her I missed it. She took a di$cult deep breath and said, syllable by syllable, “A-ra-bic.” “But of course!” I thought. Jesus wasn’t the white man in the picture adorning many Christian homes in the 60’s. Jesus was born in the Middle-East, in Bethlehem and would certainly look “Arabic”.
I was emboldened. Seeing the excitement in her eyes, I just had to proceed. Gingerly, I asked the next question.
“Marilene, and may I ask, just what did Jesus say to you?”
!ere was a pause. !en she slowly said just one word, “Pre…cious!”
“He said you are precious?” I was now trying to hold back my tears. “Yes!” she whispered, rebuking my disbelieving ears.
!ere was need for one more obvious question. I drew nearer and whispered,
“Marilene, and what did you say to Jesus?”
I half expected to hear what many of us would have asked.
“Jesus, please heal me!” Or…“Why did this happen?”
But dear Marilene saved the four words for something she’d been wanting to ask her Saviour.
Fervent for Him
She told me she asked her dear Jesus this: “Teach me to pray?”
I could not believe my ears. If this was her lifeline chance, she sure blew it. Why would she ask Jesus to teach her to pray? I mean, she didn’t have that many days left on earth.
I probed further, trying to hide my bewilderment. Marilene spoke slowly but with conviction. In not so many words, I understood her simple explanation. !ough she was Peranakan, she wasn’t quite satis ed with her limited repertoire of Biblical words in her native language to convey what she truly wanted to express to her Lord.
“Marilene, oh Marilene,” I caught myself thinking, “here you are lying at the edge of eternity, in the shadow of certain death and yet your one question to Jesus when He manifested His presence to you was focussed not on you but on Him?”
Yes, incredibly, Marilene’s obsession even near death was not inward but God-ward. Not on “earthly things”, but “on things above”, as per Colossians 3:2. What faith! What astonishingly pure and child-like faith!
Shortly, I said goodbye after praying with her, asking God to have mercy on His su$ering child. In another visit soon after by Elder Joshua, she told him she was worried not for herself but for her mum. Who would look after her after she left? He wisely told her to trust God to handle that. She went home to her Jesus a few days later.
You Are Precious
My friend, what do you really need of our Lord? Health and wealth? Inner healing or physical healing? One day in that HDB %at, our Lord proved resoundingly to His dear child, Marilene, that His grace was indeed su cient for her, that her strength was made perfect in her weakness.
!is same Jesus assures you and me, in whatever situation we may nd ourselves in, that, “You are precious.” If that is so, what would your response be? Remembering that God is not some genie that would only grant three wishes, what shortlist of things would you train your prayer on?
What four words would you say to Him?
I’m thinking that a good one would be, “I’m coming home, Jesus.” !en see what He’d do next.
Marilene (fifth from left) with her mother (3rd from left) with some members of the Peranakan Ministry
HE CARRIES THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
by
I’m a wife (married to ) and an artist living in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City. I came to know Christ when I was 11 and was a member of another church until I attended a few services at BFEC and the Alpha course in 2012. I’ve been worshipping in BFEC ever since, with my sister, Fann.
!rough my work, I’ve come to learn that God desires for us all to experience the joy of collaborating with Him, of nding transcendent meaning of our lives in Him. Compared to ‘real’ events reportedly happening around the world, art, in its embodiment of beauty and creativity, seems frivolous.
However, when I look at Jesus, I nd my meaning as being His artist. Jesus’ work on the cross is ugly - the torture, the shame and the pain. Yet, it was through the cross that Jesus shows us a higher beauty, the beauty of salvation in Him.
In the brokenness and despair of this world, beauty can be revealed, and beauty comforts. Our God is the great Artist, a beautiful Creator, and beauty is a gift that He has given us all to discover, receive and steward.
!ank you for letting me share my artwork “!e Weight of the World”created in 2018 using
the medium of embroidery over chi%on and newspaper.
It is an ongoing narrative; I continue to work on di%erent newspaper articles using di%erent fabrics and colours of threads. !ey all form the story that I’m telling under “!e Weight of the World”.
‘!e Weight of the World’ is borrowed from a poem by Allen Ginsberg, called “Song”. Here is an excerpt...
!e weight of the world is love.
Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction the weight, the weight we carry is love.
Who can deny?
In dreams it touches the body, in thought constructs a miracle, in imagination anguishes till born in human-looks out of the heart burning with purity-for the burden of life is love,
but we carry the weight wearily, and so must rest in the arms of love at last, must rest in the arms of love.
!ough not written from a Christian perspective (and neither did I read it from that perspective when I was 17), as I revisit the poem time and time again, I come to understand that all humans have spiritual depth, and therefore, all of us de nitely have spiritual longings, which I think the author was unknowingly addressing.
And being Christian is truly a privilege because I get to know WHO meets spiritual longings and HOW they are met, and it’s something we will struggle to keep re- nding, in Christ, because we live in a fallen world.
As I know where to “re- nd” my answer, I think about the weight of the world on individuals who haven’t, who’ve yet to, and who didn’t (perhaps the author himself). And I feel altogether empathetic, burdened and hopeful that as God found me, they will all allow God to also nd them.
Clinton supporters for “The Weight of the World”
REFLECTIONS FROM THE VOID
by Evyn Woon
Many people including Frankelites have gone through the rite of passage called National Service. It has infamously challenged many. Each has a unique story, I’m sure. What was Basic Military Training (BMT) like for me? Well, in a nutshell, to be brutally honest, it was hell. It wasn’t the training or the physical parts I found bad. !ey were tiring to be sure yes, but the real agony was the isolation.
I was in the black sheep Platoon AND the black sheep section. Somehow I had problems with the people in the 16-strong section; four to ve had attitudes and mannerisms I didn’t take to; one of them was my buddy. !is friction between us for most of the 20 weeks of BMT made me dread my time there.
I made a few friends in my platoon but only two were in my section. !e others were just acquaintances. !is led to constant feelings of loneliness, and I dare say, borderline depression. I felt alone and isolated. It felt like a conspiracy. Calling home every night was one lifeline that kept me a oat in this dark void.
You’d expect me to have felt ne or, at the very least, better after book-outs every Friday. In many ways I did, but for some reason, Sundays just weren’t the same anymore. At rst, I was still chirpy and smiling as always. Over time, I began to be more withdrawn. I had hoped some in my cell group would notice and ask about BMT in more detail. I gave some answers, hoping deeper questions would follow. I never got a chance to really pour out what was inside me and even when I wanted to, it never came out right and the topic would soon be changed.
Increasing isolation
!e thing is, I didn’t just feel more alone. I felt abandoned by the very people I trusted to keep me sane. It was as though the one constant group of friends in my life had moved on and left
me behind. When you are going through this, it is very, very hard to stay logical and reasonable. I tried to stay “normal” yet my wanting to be left alone unknowingly pushed them away. !ey thought I needed space and time to myself. I became all the more withdrawn from cell and even contemplated leaving entirely. I didn’t know how to express how I felt. My mental state was so fractured; it was like thin ice. All they had to do was ask, I imagined. And if only they’d pry a little, I would be on the oor crying. But they never asked and I resented them more for it.
!en there was the dread of book-ins. I hated feeling this way and would often cry out to God but His replies seemed far and few between.
!e thing I was soon to realise and would like others, especially those entering NS soon, to know is this: All the negative emotions, thinking Tekong is hell, is a choice. If you make Tekong out to be your own personal hellhole, it will be. If you keep giving in to your bitterness and spite, you will feel miserable.
Where was God in all this?
One day, a giant rainbow stretched from one end of Tekong to the other and I felt God saying, “I’m still here. Even on this island that you call hell, I am still here.” At 6 a.m. on another morning, while it was still dark, I looked up and saw the stars. !ey were few in number but unmistakably clear in the open sky. Suddenly the lyric of a song from a Christian rock band popped into my head.
“If You could hold the stars in place, You could hold my heart the same. Whenever I fall away, whenever I start to break. So here I am, lifting up my heart. If You could calm the raging sea, You could calm the storm in me. You’re never too far away. You never show up too late. So here I am,
lifting up my heart, to the one who holds the stars. You’re the one who holds the stars.” (Skillet. Stars)
I wanted to cry. Every time from then on, when I saw the stars, especially when I could see dozens of them clearly lighting up the sky, I would tear up, sometimes even cry. !ankfully, it was still dark outside.
Later, when I was again going through hard times mentally and spiritually, I found another song. As I was sur ng Youtube in my bunk, the bridge of “Break the World”, another Christian song, made me do a double take. !is song is by the band “Nine Lashes” and the lyrics are (Chorus to bridge):
“Break the world I know, I fear I’ll never see the light of day. I need You here and now. Take the pain I hold, it’s crying out to be the end of me, but I can’t hear the sound. !ese voices choke away the light. And they infect me with their lies. !ey try to take away my life. !ey give their one way out. BUT I FOUND THE CHRIST. !e light in the sky. You’ve washed them away and now You’ve given me life. You’ve shown me the reason, the star in the night. So undeserving, now I don’t have to hide.”
God speaks again and again to me
God came through again and again when I thought I was at my lowest. !e songs kept coming. (Verse 1 to chorus) “I’m a mess of contradictions,
I’m a doubter who believes. And I try to hide the failures that I don’t want You to see. But You tell me that You love me, more than I could understand. You still call me, to come as I am. You want my faith, You want my doubt, the things I don’t wanna talk about. All that’s broken, healed and somewhere in between. I will lay it at your feet, and I won’t hold back anything. Cause what You want is all, what You want is all of me.” (Ashes Remain. All of me)
I was tempted to do a lot of things, like when I felt abandoned and wanted to give in. When I wanted to be sel sh like everyone else and only care for myself. When I questioned why I was su%ering, my mind fragmenting and my soul shattering. I contemplated suicide but that was too easy. I was tempted to join the smokers…but that was just committing suicide - only slower and costlier. I wanted to give up and give in to the void surrounding me.
!en came another a$rming song soaked in scriptural truth (First verse and chorus): “You’re not forgotten, you’re not alone. You think you’re worthless, but you’re worth it. And He calls you His own. Made in His image, you were made for more. You think there is no plan, that it’s all by chance, but don’t believe that anymore. Every time that you wake up breathing, every night when you close your eyes, every day that your heart keeps beating. !ere is purpose for your life. So don’t give up, don’t lay down. Just hold on, don’t quit now. Every breath
Even on this island that you call hell, I am still here.
It was when I was brought to my lowest point, mired in darkness, that His light shone the brightest.
that you take has meaning. You are here for a reason.” (Ashes Remain. Here for a Reason)
Being Instructed
What is the di erence between an error and a mistake? Anyone can make an error. It only becomes a mistake when the error goes uncorrected. Failure is an important teacher because when we fail, we learn why we failed and what our errors were. Likewise, trials and tribulations teach us what we would not have learnt otherwise. Head knowledge is one thing, like knowing the laws of physics. Applying them is another, like knowing how to use the laws to build something. !e same can be said for trials and hardships. People make the error of thinking it would be better if we never faced hardships. !eir mistake is in blaming God and others for causing these hardships to happen.
Why did God let me go through a season of darkness at Tekong? Wrong question. !e right question, “What am I supposed to learn or do?”
When we are facing trials and in darkness, it is easy to become prey to the enemy. Like an arrow shot in the darkness, the enemy shot me with Dread. !en he stabbed Despair like a dagger through my heart. !oughts of dread and despair consumed me. !en he brought the Scythe of Hate down on me. I festered with Hate. I hated others. I was angry at my predicament and with how unfair things were. I began blaming others and even God.
Overcoming
Dread and despair were, for me, easier to recover from. With hate, I feared that if I succumbed to it, everything would shatter because hate is the hardest to let go.
Dread can be overcome by remaining positive. I should have let a friend cheer me up. Having hope that the situation will get better did a lot for me. Despair is trickier. I remembered, “Listen to what you know, not what you fear.” !inking about what I fear can make me despair more, which in turn makes me dread my current situation more. Applying logical thinking and reviewing the facts is a great way to overcome despair as it shows us if we could be overreacting.
Lastly, hate. I needed to forgive. Forgive and stop blaming others for what they may or may not have done. Hate and anger would not solve my problems but only make things worse. By forgiving, I will calm down and can see things more clearly.
Second, Light shines brightest in the dark. Dark places do exist. I would never have really seen God and what He does as I did on a personal level during BMT. It was when I was brought to my lowest point, mired in darkness, that His light shone the brightest.
Let me end with a favourite phrase of mine: Accende Tenebris. It means “Ignite the Darkness.” You don’t ignite something and watch the re curl at its borders; you get in the middle of it, light it up and then watch the re spread outwards.
THANK YOU, BFEC
by Ng Geok Chye
BFEC is the only church I know.
I was invited to Frankel by a friend and prayed to receive Christ when I joined the Adults Training Class (ATC) in 1977. At that time, ATC was held in an open shed (where the Chapel and extended kindergarten block are currently situated).
In 1978, I was baptised by our late elder, Dr Tan Ban Cheng, and my baptism verse, Psalm 119:11- “I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you” has been a constant reminder to me even to this day. I remembered being taught by our Elders, like Ernest Chew and the late Seet Poon Soo during Discipleship Training Class and had fond memories of the many ATC Camps and Christmas carolling. !ose were times when God brought brothers and sisters to encourage me in my faith journey.
I got to know my wife, Nancy, from church. She was serving in the Girls’ Brigade then and was also a member of ATC. !e late Elder Fred Sabapathy was not only the o$ciating minister at our wedding, but he and his wife (Mr and Mrs Fred, as we fondly called them) had also been a constant source of encouragement to us. !ey never failed to call us every year on our wedding anniversary, even when we were overseas.
My children were dedicated in church when they were little and they grew up, grounded in the teaching of God through their dedicated Sunday School teachers, like Gail, Ai Ling, Guat Ha and Adrian Ng.
I also remembered fondly learning under the leadership of Elder Lionel Ong and late Elder Yeo Oon Sek as I served as a deacon and church treasurer. Our late Elder Seet Poon Soo also showed me how to love, as I accompanied him during his prison visits.
BFEC introduced me to church community. I thank God for my rst cell group, which stayed together for more than 10 years. !e members were there when our children were born; we watched each other’s children grow up, get married and start their own families. Looking back, I am full of gratitude for God’s faithfulness in our lives.
As you can see, Frankel is very much a part of my life, my second home.
I am reminded of the lyrics of the National Day song, “Home” –!is is home, surely As my senses tell me !is is where I won’t be alone For this is where I know it’s home
And so, on this 60th anniversary, as I look back and re ect on God’s goodness, I am thankful for BFEC. If I could go back in time and start over again, I would still choose growing up in BFEC.
!ank you, BFEC, for nurturing me and giving me many faithful brothers and sisters who have walked alongside me through the ups and downs of my faith journey. It is God who has built BFEC so that people like me can nd our “home” on this side of heaven.
To God be the Glory!
Geok Chye’s cell group birthday celebration in 2000
Geok Chye (standing extreme left) at SSS Camp (1996)
TWO
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” (Matthew 13:16)
Re ecting on how the Evergreen fellowship began, it is amazing to see how our omniscient God had planned this Chinese ministry initiative even from my days as a student, preparing me with an education rst in a Chinese medium school and then in a SAP school. Back then, I often wondered why I was the only one in my family who attended a Chinese School.
!e basic understanding of both languages and cultures enabled communication with the respective ministries in church during the startup of Evergreen.
!e seed of a Chinese fellowship was also planted when I brought my Hainanese-speaking motherin-law to Holy Grace Presbyterian Church and when my father started attending Bedok BethesdaTampines Church and Bedok Lutheran Church Elderly Fellowship. Both of them accepted Christ and God opened my eyes to the blessings that would come from having a Chinese-based fellowship.
Starting with prayer
“ e Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” en Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10)
!e idea for the Evergreen ministry for BFEC remained just an idea for a long time. It seemed a daunting task and I did not feel up to the challenge. However, God was faithful and the Holy Spirit continued to work in me and guide me - showing me the steps that were needed to be taken and the people who were needed to start the ministry.
In September 2016, Elder Chong Kum Wah and Deacon Adam Tang Khee Lee were told about the idea for a Chinese fellowship for the elderly. We prayed about it. Our prayer was that if after three months God did not say ‘no’, we would go ahead with this ministry.
God leads us
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. !ese are the things
I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)
Our God leads us through unfamiliar paths; He lights our way and makes our journey smooth. God had opened the door for the Evergreen ministry and He was with us throughout the journey. We started preparing, planning and scheduling for the Evergreen Ministry at the beginning of 2017. It was a time that was both mentally and physically challenging. But during this trying period, God sent his gracious angels to comfort and pave the way forward.
!e prayers of these angels, their words of wisdom and the warm fellowship of these brothers and sisters in Christ will always be etched on my heart. !ere are too many of them to thank here, but their reward in heaven is great.
!rough the grace of God and with the help of these brothers and sisters, the BFEC Chinese Evergreen Fellowship was born on 8 February 2017.
United in one heart
“ en I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.” (Zephaniah 3:9)
Initial concerns about resources and volunteers for the Evergreen ministry were quickly forgotten when Frankelites from both the English and the Chinese congregations stepped forward to volunteer their talents and gifts. Language barriers were overcome as we served together as one family.
Miracles
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, God does far beyond what we expect.” (Ephesians 3:20)
God had planted the seed for Evergreen and through His Grace, the ministry soon bore fruit.
6 September 2017 - One Together 250 people gathered to fellowship and hear God’s Word.
On Easter Sunday 2018, the Evergreen ministry
celebrated as our second and third member of this fellowship were baptised.
We meet every Wednesday. On the 5th week of the month, we plan an outing. We praise God for this blessing and give thanks for it is only through His strength that these outings, involving elderly with wheelchairs and walking sticks, are possible.
e Evergreen ministry has so many things to give thanks for and we thank the Lord for always being there for us.
What is ahead?
“Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand But I know who holds tomorrow And I know who holds my hand”
A year has passed. At the end of 2017, I sent a whatsapp message to the Evergreen co-workers:
“ ank you for serving in Evergreen. ank you for all the touching and heartwarming moments in this ministry as we sow the seed of love. ank you for your understanding this year. ank you for grace and forgiveness. Next year I will learn to talk a bit slower, to walk a bit slower and to have fewer ideas.”
A wise and caring Elder in church also advised, I had to “be more like Mary rather than Martha”.
I thank God for all of you on this journey, and I will hold all your guidance and reminders close to my heart.
Please pray for Evergreen that we will only walk the path that God has prepared for us.
Language barriers were overcome as we served together as one family.
Evergreen Ministry Outing at Changi Airport Terminal 4.
COMING HOME AWAY FROM HOME
by Monika Ta
What can one contribute in a group where cultures di%er and sometimes clash, and where the competency in spoken English can vary so widely? How does one prepare an engaging Bible study lesson for both Christians and pre-believers? Can I be e%ective since I don’t even speak their native language?
!ese were some of my struggles when I rst started serving the sisters, and some brothers, from the Philippines and Indonesia with the International Fellowship (or IF), then known as the Foreign Workers Ministry, back in 2006.
Despite these real and perceived barriers, I’ve come to realise that the language of God’s love is far-reaching and barrier-breaking in IF, even as other nationals from Myanmar and Sri Lanka have since joined. I have seen God’s love touch and melt many a heart these 12 years.
!e result? A growing earnestness during Bible studies, a hunger for the Word no matter what personal or family background and such sincerity in seeking God, resulting in a number of baptisms!
As these fellow disciples-in-the-making grow in the Word and Spirit, they naturally come to a point where they seek opportunities to serve alongside other members of the BFEC body. One area that really encourages me is when we serve together at Cafe Leaf. !e team spirit and servanthood add a special avour to the dishes served. Could this be why it’s always “sold out”?
Besides Cafe Leaf, members of the IF regularly serve as stewards and greeters at worship services, alongside other Frankelites being rostered. During Social Action month, we also go out in pairs to bless other domestic helpers staying in and around our Frankel neighbourhood. When it comes to church
events or campaigns, IF will not want to be left out. At one recent carnival, our members came up with a brilliant way to raise funds for St Andrew’s Autism School. We sold pre-loved items and did simple massages. at was really enjoyable!
Our ultimate goal is to equip our members with spiritual truths, so that when it’s time to return home, they can take on leadership roles to serve their community. Will you pray with us?
IF is really a home away from home - where tears of joy and woe alike are shared and where lives are spurred on to live out His values in the various homes they serve. It is this vulnerability and receptivity that makes serving them for the three or so years they are here meaningful and beautiful. I am sure I’m not alone in realising this. It has been a real joy and privilege in this season of my life to serve alongside Seetoh Hui Ing, Lea Gonzales, Florence Ramos and Tan Fang Fang, not forgetting forerunners (in no particular order) like Lindis Szto, Anna Lau, Pamela Teh, Angeline Koh, Shirley Soo, Becky Lagman, Chong Mui Chin, Amy Tan, Ding, Ethel, Mariana and Ria.
May this simple sharing give you a better insight into the IF ministry. May it also encourage you to serve in any capacity you are led to consider, even for a stint.
Come, step forward and be encouraged.
Weekly Bible Study
Birthday Celebration
DO EVERYTHING IN LOVE
by Willy Ong
“Do everything in love” – 1 Corinthians 16:14
It was June-July 2012. My wife Sharon and I were staying up every other night typing furiously on our laptops responding to emails after our daughter was put to bed. !ankfully there was no Whatsapp back then! !ings were falling into place as the Social Action Committee and key church sta% and leaders worked together to challenge every single Frankelite to participate in at least one of the 15 social action projects over a period of 40 days. !ey ranged from cleaning up houses of low-income families to befriending foreign workers to ministering to the elderly, the sick, the blind and the poor.
!e anchor “Project Shoebox” was a highlight for many. We vividly remembered how parts of BFEC became an “assembly line and warehouse”, where brightly-coloured shoeboxes were stacked up like colourful walls, each lovingly decorated and packed with love.
It was a great encouragement as the congregation saw the shoeboxes accumulating every week right at the area under the Cross. 2,000+ Shoeboxes were eventually packed and sent to Cambodia. It was a season where the whole church was mobilised to impact communities within BFEC, in Singapore, and beyond our shores.
In 1 Corinthians 16:14, Paul exhorts the Corinth Church to “do everything in love”. Christ did everything in obedience to His Father, and out of love for every living person. Even to the Cross. During the 40 Days of Community (40DOC) campaign in 2012, hundreds of Frankelites put their faith into action by loving our neighbours near and far. 40DOC is long over and Project Shoebox might not occur again till another season. But the love of Christ continues to dwell in each of our hearts.
While we commemorate the 60th anniversary of BFEC, my prayer is that every Frankelite will continue to love their respective neighbours and to “do everything in love”, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Collection of the completed boxes
A sample of a completed box
Shoeboxes at the Cross
Submitting a personalised shoebox for a girl
Sealing of all the boxes collected
Celebration Sunday with the shoeboxes as a backdrop
Empty carton boxes waiting to be collected by Frankelites
Cell groups lovingly putting together the shoeboxes
A symbolic presentation of the shoebox to OM, Mrs Dawn Greenfield by Guest of Honour Moses Lim
THE JOY WHEN WE SING
by Lindis Szto
My dear brothers and sisters,
What a joy to sing with you in church on Sundays. I know that you don’t always feel like singing and at times the song may be unfamiliar. But do you realise something wonderful happens when we come together to sing - to God and to one another? No matter what our individual journey is with God, we are united by the same Spirit as our voices come together to sing. We all have the best reason to singto give thanks to Him for redeeming us from our sins and to sing His praises.
!rough the years, I have noticed many congregational singers who have come and gone. Some have gone home to be with the Lord. Some have stopped singing about Him altogether. Whatever the reasons, I do miss their voices.
!rough the years, I have also witnessed many singing projects in our church. Singing is such a part of our BFEC story. Apart from choirs that started way back in the early years of BFEC, we’ve also had Sunday School talentimes, ATCET (Adult Training Class singing team) performances and Youth Choir musicals. !ere were numerous Choir cantatas. !en there were the unforgettable evangelistic musicals like PHIL and TGBCG (!e Great Big Christmas Giveaway 1 & 2) that galvanized many of us. !ere was even a time when we had Cafe Frankeltino - held on Saturdays - where di%erent people and small groups sang. More recently, we
even organised opportunities where those who especially enjoyed singing served as worship ‘back-up’ singers at 8am and 10am services.
But before you get the idea that you need to be super-talented to sing, think again. !ough not everyone will enter or win “Singapore’s Got Talent”, I’m convinced that everyone who can speak can learn to use a singing voice. God is fair; not everyone can play a musical instrument but everyone has a built-in musical instrument. Everyone can learn to sing.
You are living proof of this. I remember how disappointed you were when you thought you couldn’t make the grade to join the choir. But you persisted and picked up simple skills in correct vocal techniques. You now know you can sing and have the con dence and ability to sing for the Lord.
I love to sing, but singing with others who love the Lord gives me so much more joy. Whether the voices are blending harmoniously, acappella or accompanied by some musical instrument, the sound of God’s people singing together is, well, heavenly!
!roughout my Christian life, music has lifted me from loneliness, discouragement, sadness, anxiety and added to my times of celebration and joy. I cannot stop singing! “I sing because I’m happy! I sing because I’m free, for His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for me”.
In ministry, both in church and abroad, hymns and spiritual songs with their strong, unchanging theological truths have always given me new strength and courage, especially when the going gets tough. Music breaks down cultural barriers, cuts across age di erences and denominational lines. Music binds groups of people together; there is a sense of camaraderie that gives us an identity as a speci c people group. Martin Luther was right when he said, “Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. !e gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through music.”
One day, dear friend, we will join our voices with the myriads of angels and the great multitude of believers from every nation, tribe, people and language singing:-
“Praise and honour belong to the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb! Glory and power belong to God for ever and ever!” (Rev 5:13)
What a Glorious Day that will be! Amen!
Singing with you for Him, Lindis Szto
Youth Choir
Choir in the ‘80s
Christmas (1968) Choir
Church Choir at the BFEC 50th Anniversary
WERE IT NOT FOR THE BOYS’ BRIGADE
by Je rey Goh (former Elder of Bethesda Bedok-Tampines Church)
Did you know I was introduced to BFEC way back when I was in primary school? BFEC was in her early years and I was still attending Bethesda Katong Church. I was looking for an ECA (Extra Curricular Activity) to join. I was told that the Boys’ Brigade (BB) was meeting at BFEC. I visited BFEC one Saturday and saw the BB training taking place. I took an instant liking to the BB uniform of blue with a white lanyard and beret. I decided to join but I could not a%ord to buy the uniform as my family was very poor. I brought this up to the Captain, the late brother James Ho, and he arranged for BFEC to sponsor my uniform. I was so grateful. Every Saturday, I would wear the uniform for training and continued to wear it at home for a while to admiring glances from the neighbourhood children!
!e BB taught me many Christian values when I was a young boy hungry to learn about Christ. As a result, when I was in Primary 6, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.
In the BB, I also learnt to blow the bugle, an instrument unique to the BB, and I also learnt to play the side drums. I was good at this and I vividly remember playing the side drums at the 1960 National Day Parade at the Padang! It was so memorable. Because of my musical experience gleaned from the BB, I was put in charge of starting a Brass Band when I became a teacher at Jalan Eunos Primary School.
!e BB also prepared me for National Service. I learnt how to march and other disciplines that later helped me adapt very well to the rigours of military life. I did so well in National Service that I was sent to
O$cer Cadet School and was commissioned as an O$cer in 1972. From the leadership examples of Captain James Ho, Captain Tay Cheng Kee and other Brigade leaders, I learnt how to motivate and lead my National Servicemen.
When I became an Elder in Bethesda Bedok Tampines Church (BBTC), I was privileged and honoured to be given opportunities to preach at BFEC and also to be involved in leadership development. I also started speaking at the Peranakan Ministry at BFEC. Although my command of Baba Malay is not uent, BFEC Peranakans patiently allowed me to practise the language with them as my “guinea pigs.” Whenever I step into BFEC, I sense a warm welcome, with warm “tau huay chwee” (soya bean milk) and lots of kueh (Malay cakes) and conversations.
Although I have since stepped down as an Elder of BBTC, BFEC leaders and members will always have a special place in my heart! May BFEC continue to grow and be a beacon of hope for the residents of Frankel and the neighbourhood, and live out the destiny God has for her now and in the future.
Je rey Goh preaching at the 2016 Easter Service at Parkland Green
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
In Old Testament times, the Israelites could not approach God directly. !ey could meet God indirectly via the priests. But in New Testament times, because of our Lord Jesus’ redemptive work, Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, no longer needed a human mediator - another “priest” - but can, as priests ourselves, approach God directly. For we are a royal priesthood and God’s chosen people - how blessed and privileged we are! However, let us not forget that we need to exhibit the virtue of the One who brought us out of darkness and led us into His wonderful light. We need to love and serve the Lord Jesus and preach the gospel.
As we go through di%erent stages of life, we will have various important matters to deal with. For young people, their time is occupied by homework and examinations. For those in the marketplace, they would be snowed under by work and busy with establishing a career and building a family. Once children come along, the family will become busier overseeing the children’s growth and schooling. When the time comes to reap the fruit of a stable career, the children may get married and along come the grandchildren. And so this goes on. We realize that our days are numbered and our physical body is ageing and weakening. But do we just want to get sucked into this kind of busyness and waste our lives? Have we forgotten to respond to our Lord’s calling?
As Christians, we believe God has given us eternal life. We may feel satis ed, thinking that it is enough to secure a place in heaven, without realising that our Lord has commanded us to do more. We are to live to bring glory to the Lord’s name and to ful ll His mandate to us – to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). We should take heed of Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
With the Holy Spirit’s leading, after reading the verses above, I was prompted to serve the church as camp commandant. At that time, my children were very young, between two to six years old. I also led a small group when my children were growing up. When I was near retirement, I found myself accepting the baton to become the Chinese Ministry chairman. I cannot rely on my own strength to do the ministry well and it is premature to judge whether I have done a good job or not. All I can do is to rely on our Lord who strengthens me and continue to be faithful as I serve alongside my coworkers with all my heart, my soul, my mind and my strength.
May the Lord give each of us grace upon grace and strength upon strength to stay focused on Him.
Chong Kum Wah with the Chinese Com 2016
CONTINUE TO STUDY, TEACH, PREACH AND LIVE OUT THE WORD
by Philip Satterthwaite, Principal, Biblical Graduate School of Theology (BGST)
My congratulations to you on BFEC’s 60th anniversary.
BFEC holds a particular place in my a ections, as you were the rst church in Singapore to invite me to preach to you, not simply on one Sunday, but for all the Sundays of one month (June 2001) on a book of my choice. As some you may remember, the book I chose to speak on was Ecclesiastes. I found it a great experience to study this book in some depth, and go through some of the Preacher’s musings with you.
Astonishingly, you invited me back to do the same thing in many of the years that followed. !is, in spite of the fact that I publicly warned you that I would accept such invitations! So I preached the series on Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Kings, Leviticus, Genesis 25 to 50, selected Psalms, Habakkuk, Amos and Jeremiah. I don’t know what you all made of my sometimes
excessively cheem (“deep” in Singlish) sermons, but preaching through these books was a great help for me in developing my understanding of them and how to apply them today, and therefore a great help to me in my work as an lecturer on the Old Testament at the Biblical Graduate School of !eology (BGST).
In the last three series you had the great idea of getting me to share the series with some of your young men whom you were training up to be preachers: I preached some of the sermons in the series but also helped these men to put together their sermons and discussed with them afterwards how their sermons had been received. !is was the most enjoyable for me. I thought this was a highly creative approach on your part, and one that showed your concern that the work of BFEC should continue to grow in the decades to come.
On your 60th anniversary I simply want to say “keep up the good work!” Continue to study, teach, preach and live out the Word. BFEC is probably di erent in many ways from what it was decades ago, but let this focus on the Word be something that continues to de ne what you are as a church. Many things may change in church life, and often rightly so, but let this continue to be a distinctive.
May God grant BFEC many more anniversaries, and may each anniversary see the work of BFEC prospering as you continue to bring the gospel to your fellowSingaporeans.
Philip Satterthwaite preaching at BFEC in 2015
WHY ARE YOU HERE AT BFEC?
“Why are you at BFEC?”, three cell groups led by James Sim, Kiang Tzy Peng, Tan Eng Gee and Poa Kheng Sin asked themselves. As they keyed in the reasons into a graphic-generating software, this design of words and phrases emerged. What do you see? What are your reasons for being in BFEC?
THREE
But Samuel replied:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt o!erings and sacri ces as much as in obeying the LORD?
To obey is better than sacri ce, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
(1 Samuel 15:22)
BUILDING THE TABERNACLE
Lau Ying Kheng shares this poem from a reflection that came to her during the 2017 Pulpit series on Exodus. BFEC started from a foundation of willing hearts, free will o ering and sacrifice. May BFEC continue to grow, thrive and be a pleasing aroma to God built upon the same foundation.
When it was time to build the tabernacle, God could have supplied His own silver and gold;
But He said, “Bring to me only what you have . . .” and “O%er at my altar what you own.”
When it was time to build the tabernacle, God could have forced, programmed or charged, “Do as I say or you will die!”
Instead He called, “Give of a willing heart.”
So when it was time to build the tabernacle, !e people responded – those whose hearts were stirred; Seven times it was said in Exodus 35, 36, “!ey came, they brought, they spun, they served.”
!e heart of the matter of the building of the tabernacle, Is, in my humble opinion, a matter of the heart. Teach, lead, speak, give – whatever you do, do it –
But don’t just go through the motions or play the part.
For when God calls us to build the tabernacle, He doesn’t care if we do little or much; Time, talent, treasure, He made them all –All He asks from us is a willing heart.
BETTER THAN SACRIFICE
What does it mean to be serving in the wider Body of Christ? How might we decide to be involved in this day and age? One of our longest serving elders is Advisory Elder Dr Ernest Chew. He shares his personal take of the various God-given opportunities he has witnessed or seized to be a part of in and beyond BFEC.
No sacri ce, no success. Yet there is something better than sacri ce. God through Samuel says, “To obey is better than sacri ce” (1 Samuel 15:22). If I make sacri ces “but do not have love, I gain nothing” (Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:3). BFEC has grown spiritually only as long as, and as far as, it has heeded the words of our Lord, the great commissioner: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...” (Matthew 28:19 to 20).
Examples of Church Planting
Jesus’ evangelistic and educational mandate was obeyed by Bethesda (Katong) Church leaders in establishing a kindergarten, a Sunday School, and an Assembly at Frankel Estate in the 1950s. After we became autonomous in the early 1970s, we planted a mission home in Sennett Road which has become Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church (BPMC). We also commissioned a missionary couple, Melville and Salome Szto, to serve under the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) in Japan.
In 1959, Aileen and I joined with other friends to form BFEC’s rst Young People’s Group. We were away in the UK in the late 1960s. When I returned in 1970 to teach History at the University, and joined the BFEC Church Council, I sought to obey the Great Commission on the campus, in our church, and in our young nation, and followed the examples of our Elders in their church and parachurch ministries.
My father Dr Benjamin Chew had set an example as President of Singapore Youth for Christ, Chairman of the Keswick Convention, and Chairman of the Singapore OMF Council (of which Elder Fred Sabapathy was also a member). Elder P.S. Seet was involved in mission work in the region, and in the prison ministry in Singapore.
One of the fruits of Mr Seet’s ministry was Neville Tan, who with his wife Anne became a missionary trainee, and a gifted evangelist who now pastors the Church of God (Evangelical) in Bedok. ey trained at Singapore Bible College, along with Kathleen and John Lee, who became our missionaries, and later led the outreach to Sengkang and Punggol, planting the River of Life Community Church there.
In 1968 Dr David Adeney had established the Discipleship Training Centre, and when a local Board was formed, he asked me to be its Chairman.
Mass Evangelism
I also chaired the Campus Crusade’s “Here’s Life, Singapore”, “I Found It!” evangelistic campaign in 1976-77, which was supported by over 100 churches. Many Frankelites participated, including Crusade sta!, like Roland Tan and Nancy Chuang, and there were many conversions. One of our deacons, Lawson Lau, edited YFC’s IMPACT magazine, which publicised this campaign.
!is was the precursor of a much larger personal and mass evangelistic movement, the Singapore Billy Graham Crusade of December 1978, which was supported by 237 churches. My father was was the Chairman of the Executive Committee; I was one of its 8 Vice-Chairmen; Elder Fred chaired the Hospitality Committee, while other Brethren leaders chaired and served on other functional committees, and the Advisory Council, alongside brothers and sisters from various churches.
More than 330,000 people heard the Gospel faithfully proclaimed at the National Stadium. Over 19,000 responded to Dr Graham’s invitation, and more than 11,000 received Christ into their lives for the rst time. Among those who made life-changing decisions were Robert Chua and Khoo Teng Cheong, now Elders of Bethesda (Katong). Elder Robert’s son, Harry, is a Frankelite who had served full-time in San Francisco.
!e Crusade brought nation-wide blessing and revival, and led to the formation of the Evangelical Fellowship of Singapore (EFOS) in May 1980. EFOS also led in other evangelistic events like the Luis Palau Mission in 1986.
e GCF, BFEC, and SLH
While encouraging unity in Christian witness on campus, I also served as President of the Graduates’ Christian Fellowship (GCF), which like our own church made representations to Parliament on the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Bill in 1990. !ese were taken into account in the Act itself.
!e GCF also pioneered the concept of an inter-denominational Christian home or hospital for the elderly sick, and as a result, St. Luke’s Hospital at Bukit Batok was opened in 1996. Its eight foundation members include Bethesda (Katong) and BFEC. I have served on its Board from its inception, and chair its Chaplaincy Committee. Our brother Dr Tan Lai Yong was also involved in the early stages of SLH before he and his wife served in Yunnan.
To commemorate the 21st anniversary of SLH in October 2017, I wrote the lyrics for a new anthem, “Serving, Loving, Healing”, with music by fellow Board member Samuel Tan, a gifted composer.
The Billy Graham Working Committee. Elder Ernest is standing at the extreme left.
e IBCM, BNF, EFOS, and the Great Commission
Within the Brethren Assemblies, we organised in June 1993 the International Brethren Conference on Missions (IBCM), of which I served as Chairman, and Elders Lionel Ong and Edwin Lam played important roles. !is conference led to the formation of the Brethren Networking Fellowship (BNF), which continues its good work today.
From the beginning, BFEC has been fed and blessed by the ministry of God’s Word and our fellowship with other Brethren Assemblies and evangelical churches. For our pulpit ministry, we have not only home speakers, but also Bible teachers from other churches, and had our vision stretched and widened. Our leaders also preach and teach the Word in other churches and para-church organisations.
Apart from EFOS and St. Luke’s Hospital, I have the privilege of serving the Lord on the Boards of the Bible Society of Singapore, and the Singapore Bible College, with which BFEC has had close ties over many years. My prayer is that such connections will remind fellow Frankelites that “the Church exists for mission, as re exists by burning” (Emil Brunner).
It was through our corporate membership of EFOS that Frankelites participated in the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) in the new millennium, and then the Jubilee Day of Prayer (JDOP) in July 2015 to celebrate our nation’s 50th anniversary.
It will be through EFOS and the National Council of Churches, Singapore (NCCS) that BFEC will be taking part in the Celebration of Hope in May 2019 at the National Stadium.
While this service may involve making sacri ces, these would mean nothing if not for the love of Christ, which constrains and controls us (2 Corinthians 5:14 to 15) and our humble, loving obedience to His global Great Commission. To God alone belongs the glory, “great things He hath done” - and so we “praise the Lord” with this desire: “let the earth hear His voice!”
Elder Ernest with the other Elders of BFEC and Bethesda Bedok Mission Home (now known as Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church) in 1988
Ernest and Aileen Chew at Amity Printing Company in Nanjing, the largest producer of Bibles in China, and one of the largest in the world.
THE JOY OF GIVING AND RECEIVING BIBLES
by Ong Teck Chye
It was June 1989. I was in Beijing, China. I had brought some Bibles in, by God’s grace. But it seemed like I was in the right place at the ‘wrong’ time, for during the trip, I saw rsthand the student protests (27 May to 4 June 1989 ) at Tiananmen Square. And as I looked at the great multitude of students, the Lord gripped my heart and prompted me to not only think but pray about the need of these students - that they may come to know Jesus and read the Bible.
God sure remembered the prayers I uttered that day for the students. Upon the encouragement of my late sister Bee Eng, and the guidance and partnership of her good friend, Mr Kua Wee Seng (who had been involved in Bible missions work for many years with the United Bible Societies), God led me to organise the rst BFEC Bible Distribution Trip to China in 2011.
!e response from the BFEC English-speaking congregation was overwhelming. Immediately after the rst trip, a second trip followed. God is faithful; we have organised 16 trips (at least 2 trips a year) since then. Jehovah Jireh! !e Lord has never failed to provide all funds that are needed for each trip.
An average of 2,000 Bibles are donated and personally presented to poor believers who long to own a Bible in each Bible distribution trip. To encourage and assist them to read the Bible, a pair of reading glasses is also given to those who need them. Bible tools (reference books / concordances) are given to each Seminary student and nancial support to those who are very poor and unable to pay their school / tuition fees at Bible school.
We also had the opportunity to interact with the leaders of the Christian Council in each province to gain a wider perspective of their work, church growth and training programmes for church pastors and lay-leaders. We participated in other ministries such as village medical work, children’s sunday school, worked with the physically disabled, helped out in old folks homes and did Bible translation work.
Over the years I, and those who have gone on these trips have learnt many precious lessons:
First, the joy of seeing Bibles placed in the hands of the local believers. Upon receiving the Bible, tears trickle down their cheeks as they hug us with thankfulness to God for answering their prayers.
It never fails to prompt us to re ect on our faith when we see how the locals take God’s word seriously and treasure the Bible.
Secondly, the faith of believers who live in remote areas. !e believers who live in the remote mountain areas set o% for church as early as 5am. !ey deem coming late to church as disrespectful to God. !ey see worshipping God in church as essential for their spiritual needs and growth.
Believers received Lisu language Bibles with joy
It reminds us that we should not be late for church and worshipping God with others in church is of paramount importance to our spiritual growth.
Many people have wondered why there is a need for us to distribute Bibles in person – could we not just contribute money and get the Bibles printed, sent over and distributed locally?
Well, it is all about Relationship – or as we say in Chinese, “Guanxi” (關係).
Ivan Lim, one of our !rst-time mission trippers, says it well:
“One of the most important lessons I learnt on this trip is the appreciation of the term “Guanxi” (關係)。 “Guanxi” can be loosely translated as “relationship” in English but the traditional Chinese characters carry a bit more meaning. e character
“關” is equivalent to a pass or a gate. e character
“係” comprises a part that represents humans. us the word “Guanxi” together can be seen as establishing human relationships through open doors.”
e “關係”, the relationships that we build with the Chinese church and authorities, is built on love. We are able to love because God !rst loved us. And we praise God that through the tangible display of His love by the mission trippers and the Christians in China, many doors have been opened. One o%cial who was initially sceptical, was won over by God’s love as he travelled with the team. God’s love expressed over the years has also opened doors for one of the Chinese churches to be entrusted with the running of an old folks home and for the United Bible Societies’ proposals to be readily accepted and heartily endorsed by government o%cials.
Printing Bibles and having them distributed locally would de!nitely be more economical but that would have completely missed the point. Just as our relationship with God is a personal one, our Bible Distribution trip to China should be a personal one. As Singaporeans, we are in a very advantageous position to do this work. And now that the doors of China, which had been shut 50 years ago, are open, let us not forsake this “Guanxi” which keeps the doors open so that God’s love can continue to enter and !ll China.
Just as our relationship with God is a personal one, our Bible Distribution trip to China should be a personal one.
A tearful farewell at Hanzhong Christian Church, Shaanxi
GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY
by Melville Szto, Advisory Elder
!e night before our wedding, Salome and I spent some time praying, and we wept before the Lord as we realised suddenly the enormity of the step of faith that we had just taken. I do not mean our decision to get married – that was decided three years earlier when we got engaged in Adelaide, Australia. It was the nal step of a series of faith steps we had taken from the time of my graduation from university. Firstly, for me to give up a career as a chemical engineer to go to Bible College, then the commitment to go as missionaries to Japan, and nally telling the church about our call and asking to serve at BFEC for a couple of years for pastoral experience before we left to serve with Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF). Prominent in our minds was the question: how were we going to be supported?
!e church leaders hardly knew us. !ey knew perhaps that I had been an active YPG (Young Peoples’ Group) member before going to Australia for my studies. But that was eight years ago, in 1965. I had spent four years in university, one year working, and three years in Bible College, and came back to Singapore only one time in those eight years! Why should they commit to taking us on as missionaries in training? BFEC already had one “missionary” (as all full-time workers were called), our brother Mr Seet Poon Soo, commended in 1969. I returned from Australia at the end of 1972, and it was now 5 January, 1973. Support for full-time workers in those days was through personal gifts and an occasional o%ering taken during a church service.
Serving at BFEC before OMF
Praise God, the Elders, though I’m sure a little dubious, accepted us to serve in the church in preparation for eventually going to Japan. I was also invited by the Singapore Bible College to teach several subjects. We were commended as missionary designates, later joined by Neville Tan and, still later, his wife Anne. We were soon involved with teaching Sunday School, myself preaching, Salome helping the Ladies Group, advising the YPG, visiting church members, starting the church library, and starting a new work in Kampong Chai Chee which today has become Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church. We took the church young people out regularly to do tracting and personal evangelism, both in Chai Chee and on the beaches. !e Mission Board was formed at this time and we also started the Evangelism Board to oversee tracting and other evangelistic activities and follow-up. Where did our support come from?
!e rst issue of the monthly SCOPE newsletter was published in March 1974 (later the name changed to ‘Frankelite’, now ‘Ready’, but no longer monthly). !e second issue of SCOPE had this to say in the editorial written by Paul Seow, a church deacon, “Our average 1973 monthly collection for our missionaries before August was $220/(approximate). Our congregation was challenged to respond to increase our missionary gifts. Today our missionary gifts exceed $1,500 each month (averaging $2,053 per month the last six months, a nine-fold increase).” One year later, 1975, the year we left for Japan, the monthly average exceeded $1,800 although the total income received was more than this from personal gifts and honorariums received by the missionaries which were channelled into the mission fund.
God Faithfully Provides for Missions
How many missionaries was BFEC supporting in 1975? !ere were six missionaries, Seet Poon Soo, Melville and Salome Szto, Neville and Anne Tan and Kathleen Lee serving under the BFEC Mission Board, plus four full-time workers, Nancy Chuang and Roland Tan (Campus Crusade) and Florence Tan and Millie Tay (Navigators). How were such a large number of missionaries supported by this amount of o ering? God provided through many other people and other churches in those early days. Today our church mission fund o ering is about $1 million per annum, and our church missionaries are mostly supported 100%. Salome and I have now served 45 years in BFEC, 35 years of that with OMF, of which 27 years were in Japan, eight with Asian Cross-Cultural Training Institute (ACTI).
You might be interested in some statistics: In 1975 the church had 10 full-time workers out of a congregation of 300. !e annual missionary commitment of $3,000 per annum in 1973 had risen to $28,000 per annum. Between 1973 and 1975, we had 48 baptisms. By 1975, a Sunday School and worship services had also begun in the home of deacon Francis Lim in Kampong Chai Chee and the church had committed to buying property at Sennett Road to become the future Bethesda Bedok Mission Home, then Bethesda Bedok Mission Church, and now Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church.
How we joyfully testify, “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. !e Lord is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does.” (Psalm 145:13)
!e Lord is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does.
Commendation of Melville and Salome (1973)
Melville Szto with his autobiographies
Melville, Salome and mother, Mrs Kay Szto at Placeholders Arts Festival 2017
JOURNEY ON
by Joseph Chean, National Director, Youth With A Mission (Singapore)
Congratulations, Frankelites! What a joy it is to celebrate 60 years of God’s goodness.
In God’s perspective, 60 years is within the context of His timeline (Eternity). When God proclaims that He is Good, what He meant is “there is so much more potential you don’t know” and He invites you into a journey to discover who He is and what He wants to accomplish in and through you.
May you uncover God’s Goodness and walk in Oneness of Heart in your next assignment.
As you walk in faithfulness, the next generation will inherit the blessings of your obedience and God will take them deeper and wider into God’s future for BFEC.
May God’s peace and presence rest on you.
Joseph Chean at BFEC 2017 church camp
BLESSINGS, COMMITMENT, KINSHIP AND LOVE
by Elder Khoo Teng Cheong, Chairman, Bethesda Katong Church
On behalf of Bethesda Katong Church (BKC), and personally, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to wish all the members of Bethesda Frankel Estate Church (BFEC) a joyous and God blessed 60th anniversary! As I prayed and re!ected on the ongoing close relationship between our two churches in preparing for this article, I am grateful to the Lord that you have reached this wonderful milestone. rough His love for us in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, He has inextricably linked us in the following ways:
Firstly, by being a blessing to each other. All of us are familiar with the origins and history of BFEC. I believe it was my grandfather, Dr Khoo Peng Seng, who had the seed of an idea planted in his heart to start a Sunday School and kindergarten in Frankel Estate in the 1950s. Over the course of the next 20 years, Elders and members of BKC, under the guidance and by the providence of the Lord, laboured to realise the emerging vision of BFEC through generous giving and providing the initial leadership. Indeed, it was a great joy to see BFEC assume independence to chart your own God-led path in 1973. Since then you have seen great growth and been a blessing to the Frankel Estate community and more broadly across Singapore and the region. Here in BKC, we are especially grateful for the direct and frequent blessings we have received from BFEC over the years. Our congregation has been and continues to be edi ed by speakers from your leadership, including Elder Ernest Chew, Elder Jimmy Tan, Elder Joshua Quek and Dr Tan Lai Yong. And when we came to you with a new vision of our own BKC redevelopment project, you gave generously to help us realise the renewed vision for BKC, just as we helped start you o$ all those decades ago. We are deeply grateful for that generous act of love to us in our time of need. I pray that we continue to be a blessing to each other and build on our strong ties in the Lord’s love.
Secondly, we are linked by our mutual commitment to outreach and service to the community. BFEC started as a kindergarten to reach out to children in the Frankel Estate Community. To this day, you discharge that commitment wonderfully through Bethesda Katong Kindergarten. Both our churches have carried on the tradition of planting, or helping to plant other churches, in communities further a eld in Singapore to reach people who need to hear the Gospel and the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Leaders from both churches also served on the organising committee for the Billy Graham Crusade in Singapore in 1978. We are both committed to the Alpha Ministry. We also continue our outreach e$orts throughout the world by supporting our missionaries and other Christian causes in the region. BFEC and BKC are both foundation members of St Luke’s Hospital and our leaders still serve on the board there. We both are part of the Brethren Network Fellowship and work together with our fellow Brethren Churches to address broader denomination-wide issues. Let us continue to be linked by our passion to reach out and serve the community in the re of the Holy Spirit as part of our Christian witness to the world around us.
irdly, we are also linked by strong mutual bonds of kinship. From a personal perspective, I mentioned my grandfather’s role in establishing BFEC. I am also related to
your beloved Elder Ernest Chew, and also to your former beloved Elder, Dr Tan Ban Cheng, by marriage. My auntie, Mdm Tan Suan Lui, was the pioneering Principal of Bethesda Katong Kindergarten, of which I am an alumni. I mention this only to humbly illustrate the point that I believe our churches have been blessed and are joined by deep blood bonds of family and kinship. I also dare say that, like myself, many of our children and, possibly, grandchildren, have been brought up by the ministry of Bethesda Katong Kindergarten. !is serves to remind us that even beyond family blood ties, because of what God has done for us in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for all of us, we are bound spiritually, at a far more fundamental level, by the blood of Christ. Because of His great love and grace for us, “the Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). !rough our faith in His saving work for us on the cross, we are part of God’s family as brothers and sisters in Christ for eternity, even as we wait patiently for Him to come back again.
Last, but certainly not least, because of this great love for us, we are inextricably linked by our mutual love for our Lord and by our deep gratitude for what He has done for us and how He has blessed us through the years. “We love because he rst loved us” (1 John 4:19). Over the past 60 years of BFEC’s and the more than 80 years of BKC’s existence, we have enjoyed the Lord’s love and blessings in our lives, sometimes over multiple generations of our church families. We can only be deeply grateful for this great love and faithfulness to us. Just as He loves and continues to bless us, let us continue to be faithful to obey the commandment that our Lord Jesus gave us: “..love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Let us continue to worship our Lord passionately together. Let us continue to love one another, just as he loves us, not only in our own churches, or across our two churches but also to show that great love to the communities around us, so that all can know that we are disciples and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that all of us in BFEC and BKC, and indeed in the ecumenical Church in Singapore, can continue to bear witness to that great promise we have seen for ourselves through our church lives in Psalm 100:5, “For the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” All honour and glory to Him!
I thank God for blessing and walking with all of you in BFEC for the past 60 years as a faithful community in Christ. I pray He will continue to bless you, keep you and make His face shine upon you for the next 60 years, indeed the next 600 years or more! May your life be of continuing love, worship, praise and service to Him. Hallelujah and Amen!
Early elders and deacons, most of whom came over from Bethesda Katong Church.
FROM DAUGHTER CHURCH TO MOTHER CHURCH, THANK YOU!
by Senior Pastor Kenny Fam, Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church
Congratulations, leaders and members of Bethesda Frankel Estate Church (BFEC) on the joyous occasion of your 60th anniversary!
!e theme of READY’s commemorative issue
“From Me to You” reminds me of a song from !e Beatles:
If there’s anything that you want
If there’s anything I can do
Just call on me and I’ll send it along With love, from me to you.
I’ve got everything that you want
Like a heart that’s oh so true
Just call on me and I’ll send it along With love, from me to you.
Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church (BPMC) has been the recipient of such practical Christian love from BFEC on a number of occasions. We are deeply grateful to the leadership of BFEC for their foresight in supporting the church plant in the new Chai Chee and Bedok housing estates as far back as 1973. Ten BFEC Young People’s Group (YPG) members formed a Bible Study Group with Melville Szto as their leader, meeting in the home of Madam Leonie Tay in Chai Chee.
!is group later met in the home of Francis Lim and the rst worship service was held there in August 1974. Chia Hong Hoe was the rst Elder assigned to start the new work at Chai Chee. BFEC also played a key role in paying for the property at 2, Sennett Road. !is resulted in the founding of Bethesda Bedok Mission Home (BBMH) in December 1976. Francis Lim was appointed as Elder to assist Elder Chia Hong Hoe in the new church.
Elder Edward Oh reminisces, “I remember BFEC’s generosity in practical assistance to start the work in Chai Chee and to help fund our move to Pasir Ris. !ey gifted the property at 2, Sennett Road to us. We are forever in debt to them. May God continue to use BFEC mightily in the years to come.”
Your generous demonstration of practical love as our mother church helped us through those challenging transitions in our edgling years as a church. May the Lord continue to empower BFEC to be salt and light as you seek to advance His kingdom in your community and beyond!
BPMC in the early years as BBMH
BPMC today
FOUR
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will nd rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28,29)
ENTERING HIS REST
by Tan Fang Fang
God is full with faithfulness
For He promises His rest And His promise stands today With His Son to lead the way
For tested in the wilderness Is-ra-el refused to trust In the God who set them free From this wretched slavery
But lo, behold! Hope emerges In the midst of this wilderness
A Christ also tested in every way Yet was not held by sin’s dread sway
is is Christ gloriously fair! Became esh our sins to bear Bore our troubles on the cross Gained our lives in His great loss
Now we approach with con!dence e Son who learned obedience is is God’s beloved Son is, the Christ who will lead us home.
“For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
(Hebrews 4:8 to 10)
THE END OF MY SEARCH
by Bernard Lim
For most of my life I searched for meaning, happiness and success through spiritual or supernatural means. I was a strong Taoist for 62 years. But at di%erent times, I was also involved in several other conventional religions but worst, witchcraft. In fact, at 18 years of age, I was a medium for two years, having been in uenced by my uncle, himself a practising medium.
My father was an opium addict. He chased my mother out of the house. To avoid bad luck, he gave away my sister. When my father died young, within one month, three other relatives died. One of my brothers sadly lost his mind after he committed his life to a deity spirit. It possessed him. My life and my family background was also marked by involvement in the occult. By now you get the picture.
In my mind, however, I knew all along there is only one God and that the rest of the so-called deities are not God – I recall that even Buddha said that he is not God. But I sought out religion and the spirits of deities in order to get what I thought were basic needs - good health and more wealth. I mean, who doesn’t want health and wealth, right ?
If there was anything that prevented me from getting what I wished, I wanted to know, “How do I tap the power of the deity to clear the obstacle?” For example, I would often take a ight out to Bangkok and return within a day just to perform the rites to a certain deity there. You name it, I did it.
But two things were soon to happen to change my life.
First Life-Changing Point
!e rst was this. For 20 years, I was a disciple of a lady practising witchcraft. I called her my “godma.” She was very powerful in the use of cosmic evil forces and predicted things accurately. She had many followers. But one day, when she was in her late eighties, she suddenly told me she wanted to stop her practice saying she was getting old. She said it was time for me to nd another master. I felt very lost. When she stopped being my “master,” my health immediately took a turn for the worse. My kidneys failed and I needed dialysis. My business also su%ered very badly.
Some time later, I received news she had died. I went, with her many disciples, to the wake. We came armed with joss sticks and o%erings to burn.
But we were shocked. What we saw was a Christian wake! “What? She has become a Christian?!”. I was confused and upset. is was the woman who had often told me – that so long as I sought her power, I must NEVER associate with Christians. How did this happen?
Her sister, who wasn’t a Christian then and was looking after her, related the story. She said that prior to her death, my witchcraft godma was hospitalised. One night she had a dream. In her dream, she had fallen o! the hospital bed. As she cried out for help, she said that all the deity spirits she had been loyal to did NOTHING to help her. However, only a man dressed in white came to her rescue and carried her up from the oor. She knew instantly this was Jesus. When she awoke, she summoned her sister and told her to do two things. First, quickly get a pastor to baptise her. Second, make sure her funeral is according to Christian rites. My witchcraft godma died within a few hours of her baptism.
When I heard these stories at her funeral, I was not moved. In fact, I was simmering with anger at her betrayal.
I decided, “No choice – I just had to carry on my search!” By this point, many people had already been sharing the Gospel with me at the shop where my wife Geraldine and I ran our business. One of them was my client Rosalind who attended BFEC. But nothing went into me.
Second Life-Changing Point
en the second thing happened to me. My wife had come to know Jesus through her friend and her back was wonderfully healed. Instead of being happy, I told her NOT to share with me anything about Jesus. I would give her three months; I told her if there was no result, she had to come back to pray to the deities with me. On that $rst Sunday, she went to BFEC. She came back after the church service and didn’t share anything with me. But on the second Sunday she came back, she said she wanted to be baptised. I told her, “Huh? So fast? Please lah, wait for three months!” But her mind was made up.
One afternoon, I was sitting alone in my shop, desperate for God to answer me. My usual practice is to ask for health and wealth. So I prayed, “If you say you are God, please help me - grant me health and wealth.” In my heart, I said to myself, “Don’t bullshit. It’s just another religion to console myself.”
To my surprise, almost immediately, I experienced a peace I never received before. No words can describe it. is inner peace was a miracle to me and it totally changed me. I knew it was from God, not any of the deities I had been seeking. God showed me His love and joy. My frustrations in life, my burdens, my anger, jealousy, desire for more and more material things - all were gone! I was so happy – this was a kind of joy I cannot explain. ere and then, I believed in Jesus. I just knew my life would never be the same.
I stopped praying to my deities for four days. en I removed all of the idols, amulets and charms from my house and my shop.
Bernard and wife Geraldine
Baptism and Transformation
!e rst Sunday after that, on 12 March 2017, I went to BFEC with my wife. I felt the presence of the Lord very strongly. I immediately joined my wife in her baptism lessons. !ere was no turning back.
On 16 April, barely six weeks after my encounter with Jesus at the shop, my wife and I were baptised. It was on Easter Sunday at the Sunrise service organised at the East Coast Beach. As I came out from the water, I looked up to the heavens. What was God telling me? I re ected on my life, how I was following the witchcraft godma. God impressed this on my heart – “Whatever she had promised you is nothing to what I have in store for you. Forsake what she had o%ered you for that is not the right path. As you have sought after her, now you must follow after Me.” I didn’t fully understand that. All I know is I am so thankful God chose to love me and reveal Himself to me.
Indeed, the best part about being a Christian is that I can call God “Father,” a relationship neither my family nor other religions had o%ered me. I now have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. From then on, God has heard and answered my deepest prayers. I started reading the Bible which is God’s Word. Two brothers, Pee Keat and Tzy Peng had weekly Bible Study with me to nurture my faith.
In the past, well-meaning Christians gave me many Bibles. But I couldn’t understand a thing. Now with His Holy Spirit living in me, I began to understand God’s teachings and to walk with Him. I have since renounced all other prior connections with the spirit realm.
And despite struggling with health issues, I am no longer bothered whether He eventually heals me. I have also an unmistakable peace knowing that even the future of our business was in His hands. I am just so thankful that God has chosen to love and save me.
My friends, we don’t come to God to meet our needs for wealth and health. I must come to God to meet my greatest need – to have my sins forgiven. !e Cross where Jesus had died was meant for me, for us. Good Friday is therefore the most sad day for me. Jesus did not deserve to die. But it is also a most happy day. He died for my sins! I pray you will also discover this joy and peace. I believe I have found what I’m looking for. May God also reveal Himself to you in your search for meaning and eternal life.
Bernard getting baptised during Easter 2017
HOW GOD SAVED GRANDMA
by Karen Lim
I remember praying for my grandmother’s salvation for many years since I became a Christian in my late teens. As I was partly raised by my grandmother, I was very attached to her as a child and even as I grew up, I remained close to her. However as she was a devout Buddhist, she would often turn down my invitation to bring her to church.
When she was stricken by a massive stroke in September 2016, I was completely distraught. As she was discovered only the next morning more than 10 hours after she had the stroke, she could not be operated upon. !e few doctors who saw her told us that she had a very slim chance of survival over the next few days, and even if she did, she would be in a severe vegetative state. I remember huddling over her in prayer, late one night when I was all alone with her at the hospital bed, and asking Jesus to appear to her in her semi-conscious state. !e thought that she would pass away without having received salvation was unbearable.
God sent us many angels in the time when my grandmother was in hospital - semi-conscious and in critical condition. !ey came in the form of the doctors and nurses, brothers and sisters in Christ who came to visit and to pray for her, family members who rallied around her in prayer; and even fellow patients at her ward who always gave us a smile despite their own pain and physical su$ering. Over the next few weeks, I would say that her recovery was nothing short of a miracle of life itself. I saw before my own eyes her faculties slowly being restored - rst her sight (she was semi-conscious for nearly a week), then her speech (she could not speak for nearly a month) and nally her ability to swallow (she was initially on tube-feed). From an initial prognosis in which chances of survival were less than 5% given the extent of her stroke, my grandmother has since
returned to her physically modi ed home and is now able to enjoy some of her favourite activities like watching TV, eating carrot cake and going around the neighbourhood in a wheelchair. !e family has since hired a full-time helper cum caregiver to look after her.
It is funny how we might forget but God never forgets. He answered my desperate prayer, more than 6 months after she rst had a stroke, for my grandmother to have a vision of Jesus Christ and to receive salvation. One day out of the blue, my grandmother told me that she dreamt of Jesus. Even though I believe she had not seen any pictorial representations of Jesus, she was somehow able to describe him in a most vivid manner, including His hair, garments and expressions. In her dream, she shared with me that she asked Jesus to heal her. Since then, my grandmother had for the very rst time in her life, on her own initiative and accord, asked me to take her to the Hokkien Service at Bethesda Bedok-Tampines Church (BBTC). She lives behind the church and praise God that the entire way is wheelchair-accessible. I thank God that He has indeed joined all the dots together for her. Years ago, I attended BBTC brie y, thinking that it would be great if my grandmother could one day attend the Hokkien service that the church held every Saturday for elderly folks. All praise to God! I am continuing to pray that God will open her eyes to His care and love for her and that she will grow in faith.
God has shown me through my grandmother’s journey the importance of always praying and never giving up. His mercies and love can touch even the hardest heart, and there is nothing too di%cult for Him. I pray that she will continue to grow in her faith and to experience the fullness of joy that comes from a living relationship with Jesus Christ.
Karen and her grandmother Mdm Tan Woo Neo after a Hokkien Service at BBTC
ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS
by James Chong
For those who know me, I am an introvert, a man of few words. I normally avoid social events even though friends or colleagues would be present. Even if I did attend, it was just to “show my face” before I quietly disappeared.
In 2004, both parents and both siblings had come to faith and I was the only one still sitting on the fence. My parents signed me up for the Alpha course organised by BFEC, a series of talks for prebelievers to nd out more about the Christian faith. I didn’t know anyone in church and nor anyone attending the course. So since I’m an introvert, you would think I wouldn’t attend the course - but I did.
As the day drew closer, the introvert me came up with many excuses not to go. !at fateful day, while walking from the train station to church, I was tempted to turn around and go home. But somehow, I told myself, “Just try one session, give it a chance.” One chance was all God needed; I attended all 10 sessions, came to faith and was baptised.
My Creator God
“Does faith contradict reason?” was a topic at BFEC’s Life’s Big Questions. It would seem so, because it was almost impossible that I would attend one Alpha session, let alone all 10. Upon re ection, however, I don’t believe it does. My primary driving force was my search for answers to two fundamental, age-old questions of life:
Q1: is there a Creator God? Logically speaking, simply putting two cells together cannot result in a perfectly formed human being nine months later. It is akin to saying that leaving two or more pieces of metal in a garage for some months will result in a fully functional, perfectly engineered Mercedes Benz S Class.
Moreover, if you are the creator of the car, would it be easier to replicate the same design or produce a customised design for each car? Look around you; we all have two ears, two eyes, one nose and one mouth yet we all look di%erent. God has created each of us to be unique and only occasionally does He create something similar e.g. such as identical twins.
I am neither a medical doctor nor a scientist but my simple mind tells me there must be a Creator God. Look at our amazing human body with its ability to heal itself, e.g. if you have a cut, your blood will clot and your skin will heal on its own. If you break a bone, your bone will also heal on its own. But the very expensive Mercedes Benz S Class car cannot self-repair, whether it’s malfunctioning wiring, a broken window or even a small dent or crack.
Q2: why was I created and what is the purpose of my life on earth? Logical reasoning would have us ask what the end goal is. We cannot be on Earth for no reason and that our achievements count for nothing when we die.
If we believe in a Creator God, then the best way to understand why you have been created is to ask the Creator Himself. Recently my family went on holiday and tried archery for the rst time - hitting the bull’s eye is so di$cult! – and it was a timely reminder that we are very fortunate to be born in Singapore; a tiny red dot barely visible on the world map yet having rst/world class standards in education, public housing, medical care, airports, seaports. It is like hitting the bull’s eye. You are where you are surely by design. !e divine Archer has placed you where you are; it is part of God’s deliberate, well-thought out plan and purpose for you. Logical reasoning would lead to a faith in a Creator God.
My Creator God’s Purpose for Me
No Regrets Knowing God
During my growing years, my introvert nature often led me to give up, do things halfway or not even start at all. When I was younger, my father often brought me to a club to swim. I was quite a good swimmer and the swim coach asked my father to let me join the swim team. I attended one training session and never returned.
In primary school, I signed up for taekwondo class and won a silver medal in a competition but after I obtained my yellow belt, I never returned.
In secondary school, I acted a character well during a class drama project. My teacher asked me to join the drama and debate team. I attended one session and never returned.
In junior college, I played soccer rather well. e soccer coach asked me to join the school team. I attended one training session and never returned.
Do I regret all the opportunities and experiences I passed up? Perhaps. But I am so grateful and thankful I did not pass up the single most important opportunity – to attend Alpha, to know about God and to know Him.
Let me end with this.
In the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”, contestants have to answer a series of questions to win the grand prize of one million dollars. ey have three lifelines to help them50/50 (take a chance), poll the audience or call a friend. ese lifelines depict life because when we encounter di%culties, we often resort to the same methods – we take a chance (50/50), or solicit opinions (so easy now with social media), or call a trusted friend for advice. May I o$er a better option? Ask the God who created you, the God who loves you and who already knew what He had in mind for you before you were born. Psalm 139:16 tells us “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Get to know this awesome God.
James and Ai Hua with daughters Sophie and Zoe (right).
IT’S NOT TOO LATE!
by Jeanne Nah
My mother became a Christian through little nudges from the Lord.
!e rst nudge came on 6 July 2016 when my mother’s eldest sister was baptised. A few days earlier, the extended family had gathered to celebrate her birthday and also to say farewell as she was su%ering from endstage kidney failure. She had been a diabetic for many years. My mother was very happy over my aunt’s baptism. My aunt went home to the Lord in August that year, at the age of 88.
!e second nudge came on 22 January 2017. !at day, my mother kept throwing up everything she ate and had to be hospitalised at SGH. Tests showed that her liver had thousands of harmful enzymes. !e doctor said it could be due to her taking Chinese medicine which could have poisoned her liver. My cousin, who works at SGH, visited my mother and she agreed to him praying for her.
!e third nudge came on 25 January when my mother was to have an ERCP procedure done. !e doctor was going to insert a tube to remove gallbladder stones blocking her duct and also put in a stent to open the duct to drain the toxins. My cousin visited my mother again that morning and later texted me to say that my mother had said the sinner’s prayer! !e night before, I had knelt and prayed that the Lord would heal my mother, physically and spiritually, because at 83 years old, anything could happen during the procedure. My cell group, relatives, and friends from as far away as Canada were praying for her too.
God Paves the Way for Physical and Spiritual Healing
!e next morning, my mother had jaundice and her blood pressure suddenly plunged. !e doctor advised me to inform my relatives that she was in grave danger. Many doctors and nurses rushed into her ward to pump saline into her to raise her blood pressure. !ey eventually stabilised her and went ahead with the procedure - but they only managed to put in the stent to save her life.
!e fourth nudge was the caring doctor my mother was blessed with. He saved her life by watching over her all through that night. Her kidneys were not functioning well either and she had to be put on dialysis in the middle of the night. All I could do was kneel and pray, and wait for the sun to rise.
!e fth nudge came the next day, on Chinese New Year Eve, through brothers Letchumanan, Francis Soh and Edwin Tan. I had gotten to know them better during our trip to Sutera Home in December 2016. !at morning, I left a message with the church o$ce and also texted Francis and Edwin to inform them that my mother was very ill and if they could visit her. I knew everyone would only work half day because it was Chinese New Year Eve but I hoped my mother could con rm in front of others that she had said the sinner’s prayer of her own free will.
Indeed, God works in mysterious ways because Letch, Francis and Edwin turned up at SGH. I am still very grateful for their
support. As her condition was critical, all four of us were allowed to see her, while dressed in surgical gowns and masks. My mother said the sinner’s prayer again and agreed to be baptised by Letch. You could hear the angels sing in heaven.
On Chinese New Year itself, my sister, who lives in England, arrived. We were worried my mother would be on dialysis for life but her kidneys began to function after only one round of dialysis. In fact, things began to look up after my mother’s baptism, despite her also coming down with pneumonia due to excessive water retention. She was in hospital for 19 days. It was an ordeal but she was grateful that my cell group members, relatives, Christian colleagues and friends visited and prayed for her. Lindis visited her at home during her recuperation and Salome and other church members also prayed for her recovery. Indeed, the Lord heard their prayers and showed His mercy and grace to my mother.
As my mother regained her health, the stent and some loose stones in her duct were removed. She was !nally discharged in November although some stones remain in her gallbladder. At the moment, she is reasonably well. Praise the Lord!
irsty for the Lord
My mother with her simple faith thirsts to know more about God and His workers in the mission !eld. She has read books by Philip Yancey, CS Lewis, Melville Szto, Tan Lai Yong and Bishop Solomon and also biographies of Hudson Taylor, Eric Liddell, Fanny Crosby. I have borrowed books from friends and dug up books I had bought over the years, and she has read them all. Now I visit the church library to borrow more books for her. Indeed, my mother’s faith reminds me of the verse: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).
My mother’s hospitalisation taught me to “Be joyful in hope, patient in a iction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). God reminds me through my maternal aunt and mother that it is never too late to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).
Editor’s note: Mdm Katherine Tan went home to be with the Lord after subsequent illness on 2 July 2018 as this issue was going into print. Even as we o er our condolences to Jeanne, we thank God for His sovereign will and timing.
Jeanne and her mother, Madam Katherine Tan
WHAT MONEY CANNOT BUY
by Luke Roy Tan
Family Background
I am 43 years old and work as a driver, with the bulk of my business from limousine services. I come from an average income family but was very pampered by my late mother, two elder sisters and maternal grandmother. !ey always gave me what I wanted and I was blissfully unaware that we were nancially tight.
Since young, I’ve always longed to be rich but I didn’t know how to achieve it. I wasn’t good in my studies but still managed to pass my GCE “O” levels with three credits. When I had to enlist for National Service, I didn’t want to join the army because it was “siong” (“terrible” in Singlish) and the allowance was low. So I signed on with the Singapore Police Force as a full-time o$cer on a ve year bond. At least it was full-time paid employment.
However, my salary wasn’t enough to support my lavish lifestyle. My late mother used to say, “You earn $1 but spend $2”. I was constantly borrowing from everyone and repaying them on my pay day. !is went on throughout my Police Force days.
More income, more pride
I had the opportunity to join the nancial industry when my bond was almost up. !e manager told me I could earn a lot of money, travel for free and live lavishly. He brought me to many vestar restaurants to persuade me to join him. I was convinced and resigned from the Police Force.
I earned double my previous salary in just a few months and bought my rst car at 23 years old. As my income grew, my appetite for the good life grew even more. I became very arrogant; I felt my success was all due to my hard work.
However, I was still borrowing because I had never learnt to manage my nances. I had no savings. My back-up plan was to apply for multiple credit cards and credit lines. I prided myself for being smart and hardworking, a self-made entrepreneur - until the crash came.
e Big Crash
In 2008, I was hit by the global nancial crisis. My income dropped by 90%. I couldn’t repay my credit card bills, car instalment, apartment rental.
I panicked! My rst instinct was to borrow more to pay o$ my debts and I even hated those who refused to lend me money. I managed to carry on till 2010 when my borrowing got completely out of hand. My creditors sued me and nally, I was declared bankrupt and lost my job.
!at same year, a friend suggested we set up a transport company together to provide limousine services. I agreed because this meant I would still be a boss. Business was quite good. I regained my con dence and was soon spending lavishly again. Life was looking good when I got into a civil suit with a previous creditor.
More Ups and Downs
I went to a lawyer, Quek Mong Hua, for legal advice. We both knew mine was a tough case. Mong Hua told me he was a church elder and o$ered to pray with me as God was in control of everything.
At this time, I was introduced to the Alpha course. My two sisters and my girlfriend attended the introduction dinner. After that, my elder sister, my girlfriend and I decided to continue with Alpha. Eventually, we made the decision to believe in Jesus Christ.
God was good to me as the outcome of my case was extremely favorable. I felt my life was given back to me. However, although I had accepted Christ, my relationship with God was very transactional and I did not fully submit to Him.
I decided I needed to make money fast to repay my debts but in my eagerness to expand my business, I made many wrong decisions and soon ran out of funds to sustain daily expenses. I didn’t want to trouble my family because they had already done so much for me. So I went to loan sharks. I told myself I could surely repay because my business was pro table but this wasn’t the case.
My loans skyrocketed rapidly from $10,000 to almost $100,000 in less than 6 months. I was frantic. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t sleep. I was scared whenever the phone rang. My head felt like it was going to explode each day.
Disclosure and Despondency
Finally I broke the news to my family. !ey were completely shocked and in pain beyond words. I had hurt them yet again. We had no idea how to repay the loans. I almost wanted to kill myself but told myself I had to deal with the mess I had created.
!is time, I was completely broken and desperate. I cried out to God to help me. I submitted everything to God and told Him I would be completely obedient. I was very grateful for my family too. Despite the hurt and anguish I caused them, they rallied around in full support.
God’s Sovereign Way in My Life
Elder Mong Hua and his wife Bee Poh also came to help and motivate me. By God’s divine arrangement, Bee Poh shared my situation with Dr. Andres Panasiuk, a speaker from “COMPASS - Finances God’s Way”, a ministry teaching biblical nancial stewardship. He was in Singapore that weekend and was hosted by the Queks. She arranged for him to meet me as my condition was critical.
I was given a crash course on how to handle my nances and had to list all my personal and business debt. !e total was about $923,000. I was shocked! I had been in denial all along and never wanted to know what my total debt was. I now realized why I was in trouble; I learnt I had no contentment and that I was a very bad steward of God’s resources. My actions and decisions were not Christ-like and Christ wasn’t in the center of my life. Step by step, with wisdom revealed by God and God-sent friends like my girlfriend Gine, Elder Mong Hua and Bee Poh
and my family, I slowly climbed my way out of my pit. To them, I will forever owe a great debt of thanks.
Currently, I am running the same business as a one-man operation. I live according to my means and as amazing as it sounds, even after giving a portion of what I earn to God regularly, I still have enough each month to repay my debts. Truly, I do not have to be anxious for He has provided and blessed me with good customers, sustainable income and su$cient rest and sleep. A joyful experience indeed!
!e last 20 over years of my life was disorderly until I came to Christ. God never intended to harm me. All my problems were created by me, yet He walked with me throughout.
Friends, I hope you never experience the problems I had but whatever you are going through, I do want to share that the decisions we make have consequences but God loves us passionately, wholeheartedly and unconditionally. However much we have messed up, it is never too late to turn to God. He will accept you and embrace you as a loving father embraces a lost child. And God never gives up on us. He is with us ALL the time, even when we don’t acknowledge Him.
I thank God deeply for His grace to me. I once was lost but now am found. I live each day for Him and my relationship with Him has become very close. I know it sounds very cliché but truly, that’s something money can never buy.
AND GOD SHOWS UP
by Koh Pee Kiat
“Is there a God? Is God real?” And if so, “Who is this God?”
ese questions bothered me when I was an undergraduate, back in 1979. But as a student at She!eld University in England, there were other things that bugged me more that year.
You see, that was the time Iran and Iraq were engaged in a proxy war involving the world’s superpowers. China and Russia were backing Iran, while the United States and the United Kingdom backed Iraq.
ose days, we only received updates about the war through traditional news media, like the newspapers and nightly television broadcasts. I anxiously followed the developments and many speculated that it might escalate to World War III, with a mortality rate far higher than the rst two World Wars.
One day, a local undergraduate reading theology invited me and another PhD student from Brunei (there were very few Asians staying in my hall) for an overnight stay in a cottage near Yorkshire. It was all quite spontaneous. We were not sure what to expect but we accepted the invitation. e cottage was at the top of a small mountain far from the city; it looked like a stable. ere was no electricity and water. I remembered it to be very cold. But I also recalled, fondly, the cloudless night sky, which was peppered with countless stars.
God Responds Personally to My Prayer
While I was there, I was shielded from any updates about the war. But that did not stop me from worrying. Should tensions indeed escalate, I would be far away from my loved ones, especially my mother and siblings, who were all in Singapore. Even though I was not a Christian then, I prayed this before I slept. Questioning God, although I did not know Him, I asked, “God, since you created this world and all of us, why would you allow war to destroy your creation?”
When we returned to our university hall the next day, I knelt at my bedside before I slept and prayed the same prayer.
at very night, a man with long white hair dressed in a long white robe appeared at the top of my bed and said in a loud voice to me, “Why are you worrying about war? It has to happen. When you wake up, read Mark chapter 13 verse 7.” Strangely enough, in my dream, I argued with him, “Why Mark chapter 13 and not Mark chapter 14 verse 7?”
He replied, “If you do not believe me, just go and read Mark chapter 13 verse 7 when you wake up!”
Just as He replied, I was jolted from my sleep and quickly $ipped through a tiny Gideons’ Bible given to me by the campus. It said exactly what he had told me, “And when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.”
I Respond to God Eventually
I was amazed. After staring at the verse for several minutes, it dawned on me that it must have been God who had appeared in my dream. I shared this encounter with the Bruneian student at breakfast, but he casually dismissed it as mere coincidence, because he told me he had dreamt of exam questions before and they later appeared in his test papers! I pondered over what he said and reasoned that out of 31,102 verses in the Bible, it was extraordinary that God would speak to me personally and con rm it with a verse even though I was a pre-believer. Later, I found verses in the Bible reinforcing my conviction that the One who appeared in my dream was indeed God. Matthew 28:3 says, “And His appearance was like lightning and His garment as white as snow.” I was quite sure that it was not a coincidence.
What happened next, you may ask. Many of you would think that I would have immediately become a Christian. However, I was a stubborn guy who wanted more con rmation from God. I wrestled with Him for another 10 long years before accepting Him as my personal Lord and Saviour.
So, is God real? Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Yes, God is real! I hope you will draw near to the living God and allow Him to reveal Himself to you in his own way and in his own time, just as he did with me.
!ank you for allowing me to share how I came to believe in the Lord and also how He has led me through various life challenges.
About 12 years ago, an English-speaking Christian boarded my taxi. !roughout the journey, he kept asking whether I wanted to believe Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour. To stop his endless discussion on Christianity, I just said I agreed and followed him as he led me in saying a simple prayer. As soon as he alighted from my taxi, I felt relieved and forgot all about the prayer that I had just said.
At this point I want to say that we can become Christians because God had called us and not only because we chose to. After I said that prayer to receive Jesus as my personal Saviour and Lord, He prompted my neighbour Philip Ong to guide me in my spiritual walk. He introduced me to a small gathering hosted in a home that belongs to a sister in BFEC. My neighbour also knew that I had to sacri ce my driving time and income in order to attend the small group, so he compensated me with love-gifts.
!us I was able to continue to attend the small group and even Sunday service in BFEC. In that year of church life, I also participated in a church camp in Cameron Highlands. I was baptised on 12 December 2008.
Nurtured by His Word
In order to nurture my spiritual life, I was active in Bible study. I sought help from my church seniors and I read the Bible through twice. I found the Bible is like an exciting novel that gave details of the life of Jesus. It also helps me understand how God saves the people of the world through Jesus Christ. One verse that was impressed in my heart was “!e fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)
I am now studying the New Testament with Brother Du Jian Hua. I feel I am drawing closer and closer to God. !e church leaders also encourage me by allowing me to lead worship and the Lord’s Supper.
His Provision and Protection
I have also experienced God’s omnipresence and protection all these years. He has provided streams of customers and protected me from a few accidents. He also took care of my wife and my three children. Now I am learning to apply what I have learnt from the Bible in my daily life. I am also learning from the example of the people who share the gospel with me, by praying for pre-believers and my pre-believing family members. Whenever I have the opportunities, I also share Bible messages with them.
Our life does not become smooth sailing once we become a Christian. We need to be prayerful and entrust everything to God. But I am certain of thiswe all have eternal hope! May we be encouraged.
Je rey Tan (Seated, at extreme right) at the Shepherds and Leaders Appreciation Lunch (2017)
SAKURA
by Daniel Lau, our missionary in Hanamaki, Japan
Psalm 90
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We are consumed by your anger and terri!ed by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we !nish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we y away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have a icted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
!e Sakura (cherry blossoms) is one of the most popular symbols of Japan. It rst begins to bloom in Kyushu in the south and makes its way to Hokkaido in the north. People from all over the world would come to witness an event that lasts only a week in the year. Soon, the pink Sakura petals would all fall into the wind and be no more. Many people enjoy the beauty of Sakura but some also look at the philosophical signi cance behind it. In Japanese culture, the short-lived Sakura is a reminder of the brevity and transience of life.
In Psalm 90, Moses reminds us that the years of our lives are seventy or eighty, but they are soon gone and we y away (verse 10), much like the Sakura owers ying away in the wind. Having passed the rst forty years of my life, I now consider myself rmly rooted in the “mid-life” category! !ese days, I contend with recurring backaches and lengthy tooth procedures. A recent stomach bug that forced me to stay in bed for a few days also reminded me that I am a mere human - inadequate, frail and shortlived.
At forty, the Grow@Noon youth would think I am old, but the Evergreen folk would say I am still very young. No matter how young or old we are, I believe it is important to ask ourselves: “How are we using our time? Are we spending too much time in our work? How much time do we devote to our relationship with God, to our families, and to physical rest? I am thankful for time away from my busy schedule now and then to have a much-needed time of personal re ection.
!e Sakura is a symbol of brevity, but it is also a symbol of things to come. It usually blooms in early April, and this coincides with the start of the Japanese calendar year. Students begin a new school term, and many professionals begin work in a new location after a job transfer. !e Sakura may remind us that life is short but it also reminds us that each new season brings excitement and opportunity.
Daniel and Joylyn with (left to right) Faith, Samuel and Grace in Hanamaki
It is an understatement to say there was plenty of excitement in Moses’ life. He spent the rst forty years as a prince, the next forty years as a shepherd and the last forty as a prophet. We know the Lord guided him through each stage of his life and used every opportunity in Moses’ life for His glory. !e Lord will also do the same for us in every chapter of our lives.
No matter how old we are, let us make time to have personal re ections, so we may gain wisdom to make the most of our days (v12). Perhaps the Lord may be telling us to realign ourselves to him, or to challenge us to new opportunities. We only need to make the time to listen to Him.
May the Lord add not only years to our life, but life to our years.
FIVE
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
(Psalm 23:6)
FIVE HAIKUS FOR MY FATHER
A haiku is a Japanese poem of 17 syllables in phrases of 5, 7 and 5. Priscilla Soh prayed for inspiration to write something that would honour God’s love and God answered when she was at a silent retreat.
Calling and searching You gather us from afar Chosen, pre-destined.
!e weight of the world
Carried on Your shoulders but I’m not too heavy.
!e palms of Your hands
Marred by ugly nail-bored scars Carry my very name.
Crimson ran aground Restoring, healing, cleansing Your blood shed for me.
I lift up my eyes
And in the twinkling of Yours Know I am much loved.
Photo of Mt Yarigatake taken by Mr Ito Tetsuya, Priscilla’s colleague
REMEMBERING GOD’S DAILY GRACE
by Pauline Wang
29 June 2010
Dear Nate,
You are one year old today. Well, at least in terms of your birth age. According to your corrected age, you are only nine months old. !e rst 78 days of your life were spent at KKH Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and SCN (Special Care Nursery). Mummy did not manage to hold you when you were born. !at’s because at 28 gestational weeks, your lungs were not fully developed. At birth, your lungs collapsed and you needed resuscitation. Subsequently a ventilator was inserted to help you breathe. Each day is a daily grace from the Lord. Your Chinese name is hence 怀恩，Huai En (remembering God’s grace).
Mummy still remembers the rst time I saw you. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. You were so tiny. I think the tubes, monitoring equipment and CPAP (an apparatus which pumps oxygen to help you breathe) were heavier than your 1 kg frame. Silently, I wept. !e NICU soon became a familiar place during the con nement. We thank God for a senior nurse at the NICU. She would walk over and pray for you daily. You had quite a bad case of jaundice. !e nurses would strip you naked and sun would bathe you. !ank God your liver started working actively and after two weeks, you were o% phototherapy. His daily grace.
At about one week after your birth, you needed blood transfusion. Subsequently, you went on to have another two rounds of transfusion because your red blood count wasn’t exactly fantastic. A dentist had to be called in as a pre-natal tooth decided to make its appearance. It was rather wobbly and with the ventilator inserted, they did not want to risk having a loose tooth go missing in your airways. !e dentist was extremely nice. He told daddy and mummy not to worry about the alignment because God made all things beautiful and when you grow up, the teeth would form up nicely and naturally. His daily grace.
Pauline and Nate in 2009.
Towards the end of August, daddy had to go overseas. It was also during this time that we were noti ed of a lump near your groin area. Hernia. A surgery was scheduled. !e uncles and aunties in the cell group and church prayed for you. !ey love you very much, you know. !e operation went very well. His daily grace.
You were discharged a few days later. After 78 long days in the hospital, we could nally have you home with us.
Nate, mummy wants you to remember His daily grace in our lives – especially yours. You were discharged with a whole list of problems: Retinopathy of prematurity stage II (abnormal growth of the blood vessels in your eyes), poor post-natal growth, congenital muscular torticollis (‘twisted’ neck) and anaemia. But God helped you overcome them one by one as you grew older by the days and weeks in the hospital. You are a ghter.
Nate, you are one year old today. !ere are many milestones you still have to reach. Some are easier and some may be a little more challenging. But mummy knows that you will overcome them because of His daily grace in your life.
Blessed one year old birthday, Nate.
Love, Mummy
Nate in 2017.
JOURNEY OF A “MIDDLE!OLD!TIMER” FRANKELITE
by Agnes Tan
As I was contemplating what to write for the BFEC 60th Anniversary publication, I was prompted on 11 March 2018 when Jimmy led the ‘old’ song ‘Be this my joy’. I know the song because I had served in Sunday school in the ‘70s and ‘80s together with Jimmy. I decided to share these fond memories not only out of nostalgia but with hope that it would shed some light on how the Lord has brought many incidents and people together for our personal and collective growth as the body of Christ at Frankel.
My involvement with BFEC began in 1977 when I was in secondary one at Tanjong Katong Girls’ School. A secondary two student came to my class and introduced the Girls’ Brigade (GB) as an extracurricular activity. She was very enthusiastic and I became interested. I joined GB 12th Coy, which was based at BFEC.
It was at GB that I rst got to know Lindis and her sister Christine Szto who served as Lieutenants in the ministry. (Elder Fred Sabapathy was the Chaplain.) At the time I joined GB, I wasn’t a Christian. I accepted Christ later in August 1977 when someone shared the gospel with me at school though I don’t recall any follow-up. At GB, I played the bagpipe. I recall Patrick Lee playing drums with the Boys’ Brigade 20th Coy, also based at BFEC. I played piano for a musical staged by GB. Unfortunately BB and GB have since ceased operations at BFEC.
Sunday School at BFEC
In 1979, I joined Senior Sunday School (SSS). Soon after, I started playing piano for Sunday School worship or ‘Singspiration’.
It was at BFEC that I fully understood what it means to be a Christian. I was baptised in 1980, as the rst in my family to attend BFEC.
My memories of my years in SSS include Bible quizzes (I had a very good memory at the time!), Talentime (singing competitions – I attered myself that I could sing but never won anything) and camps. For me, the highlight of the camps was the ‘initiative tests’, where groups were assigned problems to solve but the best way was almost always not the most obvious one. Later, I had the opportunity to serve in the worship service (I played the Electone) and as choir pianist.
I thank God for those early years in Sunday School and Adult Training Class which were formative, both in terms of my journey in Christ and the foundation of my music ministry. Among my Sunday School teachers was Mona Fong, with whom I still keep in close contact.
Agnes (extreme right) with friends in a BFEC Senior Sunday School musical
Journey Overseas and Return to BFEC
I left for the US in 1986 to pursue a postgraduate degree in Chemistry. I attended Park Street Church in Boston, which was recommended by Elder Ernest Chew and played piano for the International Fellowship there. I also played piano at an independent Bible study group. At Park Street Church, I met Clara Yip, a soprano from Hong Kong, a Master’s graduate of New England Conservatory who had won the Handel prize there. I was blessed with the opportunity to serve as her accompanist for a year as she sang at various churches in the Boston area.
It was in the US that I was !rst diagnosed with the illness that I have been !ghting ever since. After a few years of trying to recover, I walked away from God for a while. ( at was the worst thing I ever did. Everyone, please don’t ever do that.)
After spending about 8 years in the US, I had to return home because of a bad relapse of my illness. At my father’s encouragement, I came back to God, started to attend BFEC again, and subsequently joined a worship team. I praise God that Worship Team A is still serving together after all these years.
e initial years at BFEC after I returned from the US were to me di$cult and awkward, partly because of my illness and other personal struggles. I probably stumbled quite a few people over some things I did and/or said. If I have stumbled anyone who is reading this, I apologize and ask for your forgiveness. I have sought and found forgiveness from God.
anksgiving for BFEC
Nevertheless, there were many at BFEC who were aware of my struggles. I thank God for the many people who came alongside me with prayer support as well as practical help. I am especially grateful for friends who have seen me at my worst yet extend God’s love to me, and who have the guts to ‘scold’ me when I was wrong and hence set me on the right path. I would like to speci cally thank Mong Hua and Bee Poh, Cheng Kee and Mona, Jimmy and Monika, Worship Team A, Jason Sin and cell group, Susan Cheok, Joyce Cheong, Tang Hui Kheng, Amy Lim, Lindis … and others I may have inadvertently left out (my apologies!).
Fong Cheng Kee found a part-time job for me. I have been working there for about eight years. I am very grateful to him and Mona (who have been praying for me a lot), as well as my bosses Mr Koh Soo Keong and Mr Sim Poh Choon, who have been very patient with me as I struggle with my illness. I would also like to thank my colleagues, Alice, Fiona, Audrey and Hazel, who have been a source of support and encouragement.
For me, what marked the end of those “awkward” years was three years ago at the church camp (Dr Tan Soo-Inn was the speaker) when I publicly acknowledged that I had fumbled. God is faithful and gracious; I received and experienced His forgiveness afresh and He started the process of inner healing. I am still on that journey.
I would also like to thank Frankelites for their love and help in coming alongside me and my mother Lily during our bereavement with the loss of my father (Kelly Tan) and brother (Leonard Tan).
In the nal analysis, what I consider most signi cant in my journey is God’s love and faithfulness in spite of my failings; this includes love shown to me by various Frankelites. I also thank Him for equipping me for the music ministry so that I can serve Him.
It is my prayer that BFEC continues to be a bastion of love and service.
With respect to all in the BFEC family.
Soli Deo Gloria!
God is faithful and gracious; I received and experienced His forgiveness afresh and He started the process of inner healing. I am still on that journey.
Agnes with mother, Mrs Lily Tan
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
by Benjamin Lim
God may not call every believer to be a preacher, but He gives all believers the honour and privilege of sharing our faith. ere’s a saying that claims a cat has nine lives. If I were a cat, I’m pretty sure I would have used up my nine lives many times over. God has been merciful and gracious countless times towards me throughout my life, from birth till today, something my beloved parents would attest.
I thank God that all this is most de!nitely due to the relentless, fervent prayers of my family and all my brothers, sisters, aunties and uncles in Christ. You see, despite being born and bred in BFEC, I had been a pew warmer at best.
is sharing is greatly di erent - no arm-twisting from home, from brothers Timothy, Arene or Alawn. No one told me to do this; I’m led to share with you.
On 28 February 2017, what was initially a routine visit to the GP quickly escalated to an emergency admission to East Shore Hospital. After a routine chest X-ray, the doctors found a tumour approximately 12 cm in diameter compressing my heart and lungs. e medical team said that it could be either thymoma or lymphoma.
Chances of lymphoma were high due to the symptoms and my age bracket, as thymoma normally a ects older people. Regardless, Lynn, my wife, and I were in a state of shock. I lead a health-conscious lifestyle. I don’t drink anything besides water and co ee, don’t smoke, rarely eat fast or processed food and exercise daily.
Lynn called my parents and they immediately contacted a close friend and brother-in-Christ, Dr Luke Tan at about 6 p.m. Dr Tan was in my ward by 6.20 p.m. and signed my discharge papers to move me to another hospital where he could monitor my situation more closely. (Unknown to us was that he had already arranged for a ward to be ready for us that night, that he had also arranged for PET scan the very next morning and a CT biopsy immediately after. Dr Tan also assembled a medical team that he trusted to attend to me.
1 March 2017
!e barrage of tests, x-rays, scans and biopsy began. To say I was afraid and confused was an understatement. !ere was an instance during one of the scans where I started to get extremely claustrophobic, but I wasn’t allowed to move or the scan would have to be done all over again. I thought, “Let’s sing a hymn.” So, after a long and hard search in my brain’s backup hard drive, “As the Deer” (one of my favourite hymns when I was growing up) cropped up and when I was about to start singing it in my head, I realised with shame that I couldn’t remember the lyrics. I started to get desperate and agitated but settled for a “kiddy Christian” song that my two boys would often sing, “!is Little Light of Mine.”
Despite feeling normal, I was given a high-risk patient tag, which meant I wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital; I couldn’t even walk 100 m to Paragon, which was nearby, for a meal. !e hospital and ward really felt like a prison. While in the hospital, every night, I would cry myself to sleep. As an early riser, when I woke up in the morning, I’d realise that it wasn’t a bad dream and I would start to cry as well.
2 March 2017
I woke up and started to cry again. But this time, remembering how well the hymn worked the day before, I thought maybe if I sang a hymn, it would comfort me. Amazingly enough, “!e Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases” immediately came to mind and I didn’t even have to google the words. !is hymn stayed with me throughout this trial. !e good news started streaming in after the test results came out.
It was a thymoma, not lymphoma. And the thymoma was not thought to be aggressive.
!en came the not bad, but hard-to-swallow news. !e surgery was going to be complicated, as the tumour had compressed against my heart and lung. !e lead surgeon requested another thoracic surgeon to work together on the operation. It wasn’t a procedure that would inspire con dence.
!en there were the statistics. To be sure that none of the cells of the tumour remained, there was a 80 - 90% chance that I would have to go through radiation. !ere was an 85% chance that they had to remove part of my lung; there was a 85% chance they had to replace some valves with biomedical parts and a 80% chance they had to scrape the lining of my heart. It was going to be a half clamp shell operation. Best-case scenario was a 5-hour operation if everything went well. !e fear set in.
Looking back, I believe every doctor selected was one whom God had appointed and hand-picked for me. In particular, was the anaesthetist, Dr Monica Woo. When she rst came to check on me the day before the operation, Lynn and I were both very concerned. Outwardly, her actions seemed ‘clumsy’ to me, even unprofessional. She really looked nothing like a doctor. We were a little worried. But as you will soon read, I was wrong.
3 March 2017
Meanwhile, Friday, like our Singapore Election day, was the “cooling o ” period. Lynn and I were given a day to spend some time with each other without any tests and just prepare ourselves mentally. We were so surprised when we returned from our daily walk around the ward – some of our church Elders were waiting for us in my room and were ever ready to lay their hands on me to pray for me.
4 March 2017, Saturday morning 8 a.m.
I was wheeled in to the operating theatre. It was cold and bright. Here is where the anaesthetist unknowingly played a crucial role. As the medical team started to prep me for the operation, she started to say all the right things to comfort me. Before she started, I looked at her squarely in the eye and said, “Dr Woo, I am scared” and like a mother, she comforted me by cradling my face as she inserted 6 IVs in my hands and a central line to my neck. Can you imagine if one of the male, professional-looking doctors were to cradle my face in his hands? It would have been terribly awkward! I would not have felt any ounce of comfort!
Praise God that despite the need for blood transfusions (because of clotting issues), the operation was completed in 2.5 hours and not the initially-planned 5 hours! Not only that, they managed to remove the tumour easily because it was fully encapsulated, (if you were to compare it to an egg, it was hardboiled and not soft-boiled) and they did not need to scrap my heart lining or cut part of my lungs out or even replace any of my arteries or valves. !e tumour they took out was 12 cm in diameter and weighed 1.04 kg. Yes, I’m now 1.04 kg lighter. I was in the ICU for 2.5 days.
Benjamin in ICU for 2.5 days
Miraculous Recovery Twice Over
!e doctor said I would be able to walk a few steps on the fourth day. Again, God made my recovery a miracle. Lynn and I walked up and down the corridors of the ward about 20 - 30 times to the astonishment and applause of the ward nurses. As every breath hurt, I prayed hard not to sneeze. And God answered that simple prayer –my rst sneeze was four weeks post-op. More blessings followed - the doctors discharged us by Day 5. (!e initial plan was 10 days). And by Day 7, I was brisk walking 6 km and climbing about 6000 ft daily in the gym.
One of the hardest things about this whole ordeal was being separated from our two boys (Jesse had just turned four and Julian, two). !ey had moved to my parents’ home to allow Lynn and I to recuperate. Two weeks after the op, the doctor was amazed at my rate of recovery. I stopped all pain killers. He even gave us an “open date” to return for our next check-up. We were so happy and decided it was time to bring the boys home. We did just that and planned to take them to their favourite restaurant for dinner that night.
But just as we were about to leave for dinner, I developed a fever and rash. Puzzled, I called the lead surgeon to update him. By early the next morning, my doctor, Dr Wong, requested that I be ‘re-warded’ (What an unfortunate pun!). I was upset. !e boys had just come home. I asked God the question I am sure everyone has asked Him before, “Why, God?” When I returned to the same ward, the hospital tag they placed around my wrist felt like handcu%s. When they started to insert the IVs, I just broke. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was happening. My new-found faith in God was brought to its knees.
!e next four weeks proved challenging. Despite the tumour being removed, certain indicators were unexplainably way o% the charts –white blood cell count, C-reactive protein and Ferritin were dangerously above normal. All the doctors could say was it might indicate an autoimmune disease. !e only solution, if the levels remained high, was to administer steroids which, once started, I may need to take for God knows how long. But as it turned out, God does know better and He surely knew my still-fragile heart. Helplessly, I could only wait and rely on the prayers being uttered on my behalf. After the rst week, the levels decreased – not back to normal – but an encouraging sign. Doctors said to give it more time. Indeed, during the next few weeks, the levels bounced up and down like a turbulent stock-market. Only on 17 April was my doctor, Dr Leong Keng Hong, happy and relieved that the levels nally seemed to be on a downward trend to normalcy. My heart is truly humbled and amazed.
!is is not coincidence; this is not luck; this is not fate. !is is God’s evidence of His abundant Grace upon me, and His perfect work in our lives.
Defying the Odds
What are the odds a 12 cm, 1.04 kg tumour would defy statistics and probability to turn out encapsulated, so that its removal would not a ect my lungs or my heart? What are the odds that the biopsy said not to be benign initially after biopsy would turn out to be benign in the end? What are the odds that the surgeons could complete the surgery in half the best-case scenario time? What are the odds that radiation postsurgery is not needed? What are the odds that the doctor discharged us on the fth day after the operation, and not the initially-determined timeline of 10 days?
!is is not coincidence; this is not luck; this is not fate. !is is God’s evidence of His abundant Grace upon me, and His perfect work in our lives.
What has changed since God took this journey with me? My faith is strengthened; my life has become more purposeful and my hope is more anchored on Him. I pray that we continue to keep the faith, hold on to God and believe in His goodness. !e Lord is good and we are truly blessed to have journeyed and witnessed God’s small miracle in me. !ank you so much to all who have been and are still praying for us.
Benjamin and Lynn with sons Julian (left) and Jesse (right).
By Julienne Tan
Notes:
3310s: Nokia model. OOTDs: Outfit of the Day
GGs: the girls in my batch- that’s what we were eventually called
GIVE OF YOUR BEST TO THE MASTER
by Irene Wee, Principal (1998 - 2017), Bethesda (Katong) Kindergarten
“Give of your best to the Master” - this hymn was frequently sung at Chapel services in the Methodist Girls’ School during my primary and secondary school days. Little did I realise that these lyrics would come to have so much impact in my working life in the years following. !e words took on a whole new meaning and I wanted to make them my motto in my service to God, rst as a teacher, coordinator, Vice-Principal, and then Principal, at Bethesda (Katong) Kindergarten (BKK).
In the course of my working life, I have learnt early to depend on the Lord for His wisdom and guidance to discharge my duties e ciently and in a manner pleasing to Him. I had to trust and obey what He says and know that it is not simply a one-time decision, but to daily trust in His mercy and strength. Furthermore, I have a desire and commitment to trust Him with my heart and not depend on my own understanding and learn to acknowledge Him in all my ways and His promise of leading the way (Proverbs 3:5 and 6). In the process, God gave me the understanding to grasp this truththat “Jesus is my Saviour” and “Jesus is my Lord and Master” are inseparable.
As a Principal, my e$orts were not limited to ensuring that children were developed holistically. Parents who were struggling with marital issues also got my attention as I know the impact of the family on a child. I would o$er my time and attention to the parents, giving them a listening ear and, when due, my advice and perspective. During such times of crises, often overwhelmed by stress, I have learnt
to rely less on my own ability and e$ort, and to turn to Him often. !is has helped me in my spiritual growth and in developing my strength of character (Romans 5:3 and 4).
I remembered vividly an incident where I was awakened in the wee hours of the morning to pray speci cally for a couple and not knowing why. !e very next morning, the wife of the couple whom I was praying for, walked into my o ce and informed me that she was taking action to annul her marriage and instructed me not to let her husband take the children from school. It then dawned on me why I was awakened to pray for this couple. I was dumbfounded for a moment and knowing that she is a Christian, I shared with her how the night before, I was awakened to pray for her and her husband. She replied adamantly, “I have already signed the papers” ignoring what I said.
I was upset and troubled and questioned the Lord, “Why, Lord? Why, Lord?” When I calmed down, the very essence of trusting His ways convicted me (“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55: 8 and 9) and I continued to pray for this family. Indeed, many a time when I have become discouraged or fallen, God in His mercy, grace and steadfast love, has picked me up, restored me back to the joy of my salvation and led me on.
In the following months, I found the couple’s children appeared happier and more chatty. Tears of joy lled my eyes when I saw the couple celebrating together at their older child’s graduation ceremony at our Annual Concert. !e restoration of this couple’s broken relationship is made possible only by our Almighty God’s intervention and healing. I am glad to learn that they and their family have since become regular in worshipping and participating at a local church! Praise the Lord!
It often seems impossible to see the fruit of my work. I want to believe I’m contributing to God’s Kingdom and serving His purpose in my life. In such times, I am reminded of His presence, promise and the power of Jesus’ resurrection and be certain that God will make my work fruitful by His power. I have learnt to rejoice in His power and presence which is the key to a rich and ful lling work life.
!roughout my service in BKK, I have learnt, through my understanding of God’s Word, that my serving - be it the children, parents, teachers or those in authority over me - is a form of worship and that work is worship too. At work, I recognise that Jesus is at my workplace and He is the real reason I carry out my duties in a manner that honours God, by serving with enthusiasm and looking forward to Kingdom reward which is everlasting (Ephesians 6:5 to 8).
I am thankful to the Lord for blessing me with understanding bosses in my 37 years at BKK. I am even more thankful that He is my Boss.
Ms Wee in the BKK o ce
Ms Wee with BKK children before the change of uniform to the current one
HALF TIME, FULL FAITH
by Wong Lee Pin, Principal, Bethesda Katong Kindergarten
It was not an easy decision to make. I am successful in my teaching career - I am valued by my organisation; I have good friends among my colleagues and the respect of my superiors and subordinates. Why would I leave all these for something that I have never ever considered? e journey to joining Bethesda Katong Kindergarten (BKK) was indeed a life-turning point!
About a year before this decision, while studying the book, “Half Time” by Bob Buford with my cell group, some questions kept playing in my mind. So what if I have had a successful !rst half, can I say the same of my second half? If all things were possible, what would I be doing with my life in this second half? at was when I opened my heart and told God I will do what He wants of me.
I had the sense of being divinely led as events unfolded in quick succession. I met Ms Wee, the Principal of BKK, at the Eye Centre when I accompanied my mum there for her checkup. ough we did not know each other well then, while waiting, she shared about the work of BKK, the joys and challenges. It was then that the thought of going into BKK took root. It is a ministry to the young children, an age group that to me is not only cute and adorable but teachable and mouldable. It is a ministry of my church, a church that has helped me to grow and given me opportunities to serve God. Could this be another such opportunity?
Indeed the decision-making process was not without struggles. ough I thought I had submitted my will to God, many insecurities surfaced and it was a faith journey for me. Will BKK want me? What if I cannot adapt to the new job, new environment or new culture? Will the teachers, children and parents accept me? Because of my years in the teaching service, it will inevitably mean taking a pay cut. What if it led me to not having enough for retirement?
Journeying
It was a long journey of praying and con!rming. I am thankful that my cell group members and some close friends partnered me in this adventure. rough it all, God showed He understood all my insecurities and con!rmed His will through my personal time with Him, community time with fellow believers, circumstances and gave me a peace that is beyond my comprehension.
One passage that He showed me during my personal time was 1 Corinthians 2: 9 to 12.
ese verses came after a visit to a friend who was then managing her own centre. Ironically, after showing me around, she ended with the advice not to enter the early childhood sector as it was tough! What a joy it was to be reassured that God’s secret wisdom is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, not something that our eyes have seen or our ears have heard.
...“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love Him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
Con rming
God has planned it in a marvellous way; He spoke to me in the community of believers. e theme of the church camp was Faith. I remembered clearly the camp speaker, Pastor Benny Ho’s injunction – if God puts something in our inner man and it refuses to go away, we need to act. We must be faithful so that faith can grow, not wait for more faith before being found faithful. A song that was sung during the camp brought tears to my eyes and has remained one of my favourites. When I sing the song, “Find Us Faithful”, I like to change the pronoun to “me” so that as I remember past men and women of faith, I
too will remember to pass the baton on to the next generation. It is a heritage of faithfulness that I am exhorted to pass on.
“Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let me run the race not only for the prize
But as those who’ve gone before me
Let me leave to those behind me !e heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives”
In another instance, God opened the door for me, in a supernatural way, to go for the Christian Education (CE) Retreat (or ‘4-14’ Retreat) organised by BFEC. Due to some scheduling error on my superior’s part (quite unthinkable), I was free to attend the Retreat at the last minute. !e areas of concern discussed at the Retreat resonated with my own and God gave me another peek into the work He wants me to do.
Finally, after handing in my resignation, even though BKK had not then o%ered me anything, I felt a new sense of peace – peace of being divinely led. I am able to echo the words of philanthropistturned-missionary William Borden, “No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets”.
It’s been 6 years since I joined BKK on sta% Today, the promise given in Joshua 1:9 rings true for me as I experience and witness God’s presence daily. Truly my Jehovah-Raah (!e Lord is My Shepherd) leads and guides lovingly.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
What a joy it was to be reassured that God’s secret wisdom is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, not something that our eyes have seen or our ears have heard.
Ms Wong teaching at BKK
A PASSION FOR SOULS
by Esther Liew
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour in 1978 and was baptised in BFEC in July 1981. Little did I guess that my journey with Him in reaching out to others would be so faith-stretching.
Our late Elder P.S.Seet was my role model. He brought me to our church prayer meeting (CPM) every Friday from 1978 -1990. After that, I went on my own. He taught me how to study the Bible, pray and visit church members and to evangelise. I joined our church cell group (known then as 3Cs or Christcentred cells) in 1986. Elder Seet was my cell leader.
I was a icted with a kind of gland problem that caused me to lose at least three to $ve kg every week. For six years, I had to eat a lot of fat and protein to replace my weight loss but it was unsuccessful.
Satan put doubts and fears in me. I struggled in my new-found faith. My mother said it was because “you left your religion and worship the western God, that’s why you are a icted with this serious illness.”
I prayed, “Lord Jesus Christ, release me from my fears and give me Your Peace that transcends all understanding.” I was very weak and I blacked out very often. !e doctor told my husband that I had to endure the pain and su ering till I die.
I pleaded with God, “I am the only Christian in the family and I am not ready to die yet, at least not until all of them have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.”
Planting the Passion for Evangelism
One night I was in great pain. I screamed at God, “Are You there? I am in great pain!” !en, I fell asleep and had a vision. God spoke to me, “Be still and know that I am God. Wait upon Me. I will heal you.” I tried to catch hold of God’s hand but He left me and I woke up.
I pondered over the vision and told myself that I needed to be still, spend time to read the Bible, be rooted in His Word, learn from Him and grow.
I was so weak and sick that I couldn’t get out of the house, except to do household chores. I spent two hours every day meditating on God’s Word and I started reading the book of Psalms. My relationship with God was so close that I could experience Him holding my hand. In a way, God was preparing me for this Divine Passion of Evangelism. !e Holy Spirit touched my heart and I felt the strong urge to reach out to pre-believers.
Passion in Action
I brought my two children (Kin Soon and Wei Li) and two nieces (Grace and Tracy) to Sunday School. One night after our 3Cs meeting, I brought Elder Seet to share the Good News with my husband, Teck Seong (TS). He prayed the sinner’s prayer and was baptised in 1983.
I invited my siblings and their spouses to our church evangelistic lunch at Spring Court Restaurant. !e speaker was the late Dr Tan Ban Cheng. I also invited them to TS’s baptism thanksgiving celebration to hear of the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I visited TS’s cousin and gave her a Chinese Bible. I told her to read the Gospel of John while I prayed for the Holy Spirit to help her to understand His Word and touch her heart to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. Praise God! She prayed the sinner’s prayer. She is now 97 years old and still healthy.
I have been praying without fail for TS’s family members. When I heard his mother was a icted with stomach cancer and that it had spread to her lungs, I felt a heavy burden and told Elder Seet to pray God would increase my passion to share the gospel with my mother-in-law.
I pleaded with God, “I am the only Christian in the family and I am not ready to die yet, at least not until all of them have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.”
With husband Teck Seong and the late Bob Koh
Esther with Lai Yong’s mother (after her baptism) and other Frankelites
I found an Elder from a Presbyterian church who spoke Hakka and he made the trip up north with us to share the gospel with my mother-in-law. !ree weeks before our trip, TS went for an emergency operation. I know it was spiritual warfare but the evil one cannot defeat us. God is our Captain who will ght for us. We made the trip but the evil one tried to stop me from sharing the gospel and telling Bible stories to her. We also faced opposition from her non-believing daughter. Although she didn’t pray to believe in Jesus Christ, she told me she enjoyed listening to the Bible stories.
Back in Singapore, I continued to pray for her. I asked God to give her a dream as she believed in dreams. Two weeks later, God gave her a vision. He brought her to heaven and showed her that heaven was awesome, carpeted with gold. !ere she saw Jesus Christ in a white gown. God also brought her to hell. !ere she saw Satan being burned with others in the hot sulphur. When she woke up, she called her grandson to bring a pastor to her and he brought a European missionary who could speak Hakka.
Praise the Lord! She prayed to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. She went home to be with our Lord Jesus on 3 November 1985. During her wake, I shared the gospel with her eldest son and his wife. A few years later, they too prayed to receive Jesus Christ. His wife testi ed, “!ank God for you who brought us the Good News.”
Physical and Spiritual Healings
God is faithful. He doesn’t leave us or forsake us. He found a surgeon to operate on me on 3 December 1988. I fully recovered in April 1989. To God be the Glory for all that He has done for me!
In 1994, I was meditating on the Gospel of John. I told God, “If You want me to share the gospel with Bob Koh, send me.” Lo and behold, his daughter Angel called and asked me to look after her very ill father, since he did not want to see any Christians, Elders and missionaries.
I said “Yes” and asked God to protect me from his “bug.” I looked after Bob for two weeks and had to massage him from the neck down every day. He asked me, “Why do you risk your life to look after me?” I replied, “Jesus Christ loves you. He asks me
to take care of you.” Bob broke down in tears. He knows the gospel. I asked him whether he wants to pray the sinner’s prayer with me in the presence of his wife. He did. I encouraged him to use his wonderful voice to sing for the Lord. !ree of us rejoiced in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord (PTL)!
One night, I had a dream about Chong Swan Sek (TS’s friend) being ill. I found out that he had had a bypass. I encouraged TS to visit him with me. !e gospel was shared and he prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.
!en someone brought Joel Ti (TS’s old friend) into our lives. We brought him to church. Elder Seet shared the gospel with him and he prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.
One Chinese New Year, Lai Yong brought his wife, children and mother to visit me. While I was having fellowship with his mother, suddenly God anointed me with the Cantonese tongue. God prompted me to share the gospel with Mrs Tan in Cantonese. I asked her whether she understood what I had just shared. She said, “Yes and I saw a very bright light (I can’t explain it) around you and your face was radiant.” I asked her to pray with me to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. She prayed with me in front of Lai Yong. PTL!
Once my brother-in-law Lawrence’s mother collapsed in their house and was hospitalised. I felt very strongly that I should share the gospel with her. I prayed and asked Tan Chin Koon (from the Chinese Ministry) to come with me to share the gospel with her. As we walked towards her, we saw her beaming smile. I knew the Holy Spirit had prepared her heart for our visit. Chin Koon shared the gospel with her. She prayed to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. PTL!
My home at Jedburgh Gardens belongs to God. Two relatives stayed with me while they studied here; both of them and their families are now Christians.
My next mission, till He calls me home, is to bring taxi drivers and elderly folk into the Kingdom of God. As He has used me, I believe He can use you too. We all have the same Holy Spirit who empowers us (Acts 1:8). Why not trust Him?
!e joy of the Lord is my strength. AMEN.
HIS GRACE MAKES EACH DAY COUNT
by Kiang Tzy Peng
In May 2016, I got a call from my doctor.
You know, when you get a call from your doctor, it’s never ever good news.
I had just gone through a regular colonoscopy and stomach scope the day before. It was my rst time., just following advice that men above 50 should do a routine scope. During my stomach scope, my doctor detected an ulcer on the stomach walls. He took a biopsy and sent it for testing.
!e test result came back positive. It was an aggressive strain of stomach cancer. In ltrative and di%usive – meaning, you don’t actually see a tumour but the cancer cells had in ltrated the walls of my stomach. Like the “tip of an iceberg”, so says my surgeon. He could see the tip (in the form of an ulcer) when he did the scope but as to the extent of the spread, the only way he could know would be when he cut up the stomach.
Mei Ling, my wife, and I were totally unprepared for this news. !is was meant to be a mere routine procedure, not a life-threatening exercise! What transpired in the next few days was a urry of
activities – scans, consultations, more tests… Surgery was prescribed. !is is a typical treatment for stomach cancers.
My oncologist recommended six rounds of chemotherapy (chemo) followed by surgery and then another six rounds of chemo. !e rst rounds of chemo were intended to shrink the cancer cells and the later rounds, to wipe out all traces of the cancer.
Ulcer and Stomach Reduced in Size
For most cancer patients, what is dreaded most is chemotherapy. You are essentially injecting highly toxic drugs into your system. !ese are meant to kill the malignant cells and along the way, many healthy cells as well. In warfare, we call this collateral damage. !e loss of hair was the least of my worries. !ere were the other side e%ects - stomach cramps, diarrhoea, loss of taste, lowered immunity and overall loss of strength and stamina.
But you know, chemo wasn’t what I feared most. I just couldn’t imagine life without a stomach.
So during the three months of chemo prior to my surgery, I was praying that God would remove all signs of cancer - such that when my doctor scoped my stomach before the surgery, he wouldn’t !nd anything. If there’s nothing to be found, then there’s nothing to cut away. Wouldn’t that be an amazing testimony of God’s miraculous healing?
My request wasn’t granted. e ulcer in the stomach remained though it had certainly shrunk in size. And in the surgeon’s words, “If I didn’t search hard enough, I would have missed it altogether.”
My next prayer then became, “Lord, if it’s possible, let them not remove my stomach entirely.” And praise God, the doctor needed to remove only 80% of the organ. You don’t know how thankful I am for the remaining 20%. Today, sometimes, my wife says I eat like I hadn’t gone for any surgery.
It’s been almost two years now, since my !rst diagnosis. At the start, my oncologist placed me at stage three cancer. e statistics say that four out of !ve don’t make it beyond !ve years. After my operation in August 2016, I was downgraded to stage one. For stage one stomach cancer patients, three out of ten don’t live beyond !ve years. ese are 2012 statistics. I’m pretty sure medical advancement has improved the survival rates considerably. But you know how it is for cancer survivors… we’re as good as our next check-up. My last full check-up was August last year. So I’m good to go for another four months.
Life-changing Lessons
ere are three lessons that I’ve learned from this episode. ese are personal, heartfelt and much treasured lessons for me.
is has to do with my human frailty – I am not invincible. I have a shelf life.
My comfort comes from a precious Book - the enduring Word of God.
My healing comes from the love of Christ – as extended to me by God’s people.
First lesson. ese days, whenever I get frustrated with life or I get annoyed with people, I just have to remember that the days in my life are numbered
(Psalm 90:12). So, if I know I have only that many months to live, I look at the problem, and conclude it’s really nothing. What is more important? How can I make the most of the remaining time that I have here on earth? We have only so much time left. Let us make it count.
e second lesson for me is about the deep assurance that I felt during the nine months of my treatment – the feeling that God was in full control of my situation. He didn’t just leave me to sort out the crisis on my own. And how do I know this? I believe that God had been speaking to me through the words from the precious Bible. And He had assured me many times that things will be alright.
I remember this very troubling dream I had when I was about a month into my chemo. I won’t go into the details of the dream. But I recall waking up in the middle of the night feeling totally overwhelmed by a deep sense of frustration, anguish and aloneness.
at same day, I read a passage from the Bible. is was the account of the apostle Peter – one of Jesus’ trusted disciples – it was an account of Peter walking on water amidst the waves. e words of Jesus spoken to Peter spoke to me in a most personal way. Jesus said: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” is is just one example of many accounts of God speaking to me through His word.
Tzy Peng while undergoing treatment
!e third lesson for me is about the healing that I’ve received.
It’s not only about people who prayed for my healing. Many did. And I’m really grateful for each person, each prayer.
But it’s also about people who came by to show care and concern. !ey extended to me the love of Jesus Christ. Every word, every card, every text message, every gift was an expression of Christ’s love. And I am so convinced that it’s the love of Christ expressed through God’s people that has healed me – in ways much, much bigger than my physical recovery. !e love of Jesus heals. And it heals in a much deeper way than the physical.
Ready Always to Testify of God’s Goodness
When rst invited to share at ‘Life’s Big Questions’ on the topic “Why do bad things happen to good people?”, I wasn’t quite sure. First, because I’m not “good” enough. Second, I’m also quite sure what I went through wasn’t “bad” enough. I have read so many accounts of really bad things that have happened to really good people. I don’t quite qualify.
But you know what? In preparing to share, I went through my journal – just some quick notes and thoughts which I typed out on my phone during the entire period of my nine-month long treatment. Here’s one of the rst notes I wrote - on 24 May 2016. Day 1. Chemo. “I am open Lord, if you wish me to be ready always to testify of Your goodness.”
!ank you for yet another opportunity to testify of God’s goodness to me.
May you also experience His goodness in your life.
We have only so much time left. Let us make it count.
Tzy Peng and Mei Ling with Wen Wei and Wen Jen
THE INVITATION OF A FRIEND
by Hwang Ching Yun
!e Lord brought me to this church 40 years ago through my classmate, Violet Soh. She is the sister of Tony Soh, one of our Frankelites. She worships at Bethesda (Bedok-Tampines) Church now.
I became a Christian when I was about 14 years old, but I did not come to this church till I was 16. Being painfully shy, timid and an introvert, I just found it very hard to be comfortable around a lot of strangers when my friends brought me to church. Hence, I never attended any church regularly until God brought Violet into my life.
A Classmate’s Invite
We were classmates but our paths did not cross until one day our teacher made us sit together. We were not happy about it but we eventually became best friends.
When I rst came to this church, I felt very uncomfortable and I did not want to continue attending but Violet was very persistent. She would tell me that she would wait for me at the playground till I turned up, and so I had to go with her.
I then got involved in a Senior Sunday School (predecessor of Grow@Noon) activity and got to know people and began to feel more at home, so I stayed on. And now, I have been here 40 years. God sure works in strange ways. By prompting our teacher to seat Violet and me next to each other, I eventually ended up at BFEC.
Away and Back
But there was a time when I stopped going to church. !is was when I left Sunday School and went to Adult Training Class. Violet had gone overseas to study. By then I had backslidden because I started doing things without considering God. I did what I wanted to do without asking God whether it was His will for me. !en I started to feel that God is a very demanding God, and that He wanted too much from me. I wanted to do my own things, enjoy life, and have fun. So I stopped going to church and avoided my church friends.
But God is not one to let us go so easily. He brought me back to church through my sister’s illness. I was so desperate and afraid she would die and go to hell that I cried out to God. I realised that in spite of everything, I still believed in God and turned to Him in times of need. !at led me back to BFEC. By His grace I am still here. !anks be to God!
Ching Yun (2nd from right) and Violet (extreme right) with other Frankelites at SSS.
FROM HIM TO ME ... WHAT AN ADVENTURE!
by Diana Chin
June 2018 marks eight years of my most wonderful faith journey with our Almighty, loving Heavenly Father at St. Andrew’s Autism School.
Actually, the adventure began earlier. Father God has a marvellously magni cent magical way of orchestrating the path He would have me take.
I was a happy vice-principal (VP) in a primary school. It was a spiritually enriching stint. I was contented to be used by Him there.
On one rst day of school – and you would know such a time is both exciting and also stressful for both the kids and teachers, Principal and VP – I received a phone call from the Cluster Superintendent. “I have this opportunity for you. Just say Yes.”
Huh, this instruction in the midst of supporting primary one kids as they walked up the stairs with their heavy bags and ushering parents to a rst-dayof-school brie ng!
Superintendent (Supt) repeated himself – the ear and the mind had to make sense of those two short, loaded sentences. And he told me where I may possibly be seconded to. Mustering poise and buying time, I replied, “May I call you back in an hour’s time, please?”
In the midst of the busyness, I surfed to nd out more about the special school. Ah, Supt did not get the name quite right - or maybe I didn’t hear it right! So I have to gure out if I am looking at the right website. (!ese were early days of the special school so there wasn’t much information anyway).
Humbly reminded whenever I look out onto the school grounds.
Petri ed, Digging Deep
And how does the Holy Spirit enable me to reply “Dear Supt, I am willing to be considered for the posting”? It would be an intensive, faith-stretching six months of grasping what it is to courageously follow His leading and obey Him.
I faced !ve men at the interview. I hardly knew anything about autism or leading a special school. I did not get adequate preparation and brie!ng for the interview (again, early days of such postings of public service education personnel to special schools; it’s much better now).
I said “No” to Supt based on some technicality mentioned at the interview. But even as I said No, I could not rest well and was not truly at peace. When the matter was clari!ed; I was asked to con!rm my Yes. Immediately, fear and trepidation, inadequacy and doubt overwhelmed me.
I desperately searched for God’s word and assurances to me. “Please speak your special, direct, personal word to me, Lord.” I immersed myself in retreats, prayer, extended times with Him.
I pleaded for Father God’s deep assurances for me (I daren’t ask for signs as I am not con!dent of spotting and interpreting them!), His loving assurance that this is what He would have me do, His promises of being with me and enabling me to do this His way.
And how does the Holy Spirit enable me to accept the unanimous endorsement of my current and future senior managements for the appointment?
Supt informed me when I am in the midst of a rigorous training workshop in the Orchard Road area. (He sure has a knack for contacting me at demanding moments!)
Heading home, I walked down Orchard Road almost in a daze with the !nality of the news. “A rm Your assurances to me, Lord”. And behold, I received three such sure reassurances that I will not live happily ever after IF I did not say YES to His leading!
Overwhelmed with Even More Assurances
is deeply-moving episode can be another story of “From Him to me”! In essence, here are the three reassurances:
First, a woman with half her head caved sat in the middle of the pedestrian walkway, begging. It was startling. Many pedestrians walked a little away from her; they were uncomfortable, they stared and weren’t sure what to do or how to respond.
I witnessed a mother and child walking by, then turning back; the mother led her daughter back to hand some money to the needy woman. e girl was gently assured and approached the needy individual with compassion and con!dence.
Next, a clear strain of “When a Child is Born” from a trumpet $oated in the air. It was not the Christmas season. I looked all around but cannot locate the source of the poignantly-rendered piece. I was startled again - the Child is for the needy children.
e !nal reassurance came. I was totally shaken up - already swept away, staggering into a building to look for space to catch my breath and dry my tears. An encounter with a grand display of an item I had asked God to show me whenever I needed to be joltingly reminded that He is thinking of me.
e Adventure Continues
My faithful, loving, heavenly Father has showered His wondrous assurances and promises to me since the day of that momentous phone call. I would never have, on my own, volunteered for this leadership position. It is too intimidating and scary, and beyond my imagination. It has been and continues to be His amazing, sovereign orchestration.
And how does the Holy Spirit enable me to do His work all these eight adventurous years? It’s another story of His marvellously magni!cent magical ways! “ e Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” Psalm 113:23.
FROM US TO YOU
– WE LOVE OUR
PLAYGROUND
St. Andrew’s Autism School (SAAS) received S$50,000 from BFEC’s Community Carnival, “Come Walk With Me”, in July 2014. The school topped up an amount to construct a playground for the children. The playground equipment was chosen to address the areas of development that the children needed. For example, to build up skills in social interaction and communication, and group play, the see-saw, merry-go-round and swings accommodate more than two persons.
Here in a collection of drawings and scribbles, the SAAS kids share what they like about the playground. It is their simple, child-like way of saying thanks to all of you at BFEC.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterised by challenges in communicating and interacting in socially appropriate ways. Other characteristics include repetitive and restrictive behaviours, with sensory issues. It is a neurological developmental condition with an unknown cause and also no cure. Early and clear diagnosis, e!ective interventions and education enable people with ASD to have a higher chance of leading more independent lives. As ASD presents itself in a spectrum, there are varying degrees of severity manifested. Extreme ability in one/some areas and higher to moderate ability to mild to severe learning challenges are attributed to di!erences in IQ and the presence of other, additional medical conditions. St Andrew’s Autism School serves children and teens of the high support pro le. ey are aged 7 to 18 years old. ere are currently more than 250 of them and more than 100 teachers.
Access info about SAAS at: http://www.saac.org.sg/index.php/programmes/standrew-s-autism-school
If you wish to volunteer, access: http://www.saac.org.sg/index.php/partnership/ volunteering-with-saac
A LETTER FROM MARGATE, UK
by John Sherwell
You don’t know me but I remember you. I am 84 this year and living in Margate, UK but I can never forget Bethesda Frankel Estate Church, the church where I was baptized 52 years ago.
At the age of 29, I served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at Changi, Singapore from August 1963 to August 1966. !at was when the British forces were still in Malaya.
I was privileged to be at the Opening and Dedication Service of your brand new church sanctuary on 21 November 1964. I still have the invitation card which was issued to all to attend that service! I also have the printed order of service and, in fact, I was also playing the organ accompaniment! I recall that Dr. Benjamin Chew, Freddie Sabapathy, Dr Khoo Peng Seng and T.C. Koh and others were there. Fond memories indeed! I also remember Oh Swee Eng during my time in Singapore.
I was baptized in BFEC on 10 Apr 1966 and I still have the very Bible given to me, signed by Elders: Freddie Sabapathy, Dr Khoo Peng Seng, Chia Hong Hoe, Seet Poon Soo and from another assembly, R. A. Mitchell.
In January 2008 I visited Singapore for the rst time since I abruptly left in August 1966. Later that year, I found you on your church website and connected with Elder Jimmy who promptly responded to my email. I have sent over to him copies of the pages of my baptism Bible (with all the signatures) as well as the order of service and invitation.
I am making plans to go to Penang and Singapore in 2019. I hope to visit BFEC, God-willing, when I travel in January 2019. Hope to see you then.
I have only good memories of my three years at Changi, and especially of Bethesda Frankel Estate Church and the love shown by all of you.
May God bless you all as you celebrate your 60th anniversary. !ank you for keeping up the witness in Frankel Estate and for blessing people like me all those years ago.
John and Norman Sherwell
John’s memorabilia from BFEC (1964-66)
SIX
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:23-25)
UNENDING SONGS
by Jonathan Cho
Sixty years have quickly passed, and we’ve sung countless songs; songs of joy, pain, adoration and love to the One God whom these praises belong.
We look back only in gratitude, not in nostalgia or regret, because You’ve been leading us all the way, O Father, we will not forget.
And as we look forward in time to the rest of our days as Your Church, Lord Jesus, we know that You are faithful and You will never leave us in the lurch.
For You loved us before we acknowledged You, and by Your sacri ce, You make us Yours. So Spirit touch Your Church in Frankel, And may it be Your kingdom, not ours, that endures.
FROM A TEACHER TO HIS EX!JSS STUDENTS
by Matthias Ong
Dear Ex-JSS Students,
How is life treating you? With two kids now in tow, I haven’t had much time to have meaningful conversations with you. Or ask you about your experiences over the last week, just like I used to in JSS every Sunday. I hope you are doing well. Time certainly waits for no man.
You know, I am glad to see each one of you grow up. Some of you have grown so tall. Some of you have been through the army, and some even have jobs. And there are those that I don’t see at all. Just looking back at those times in JSS years ago, when you !rst stepped into JSS ready to say the sinner’s prayer at the teacher’s leading, you were so small. If life hasn’t changed you since, I would be very surprised. I constantly wonder, “Has that seed planted back then grown? Is it bearing fruit yet?”
rough the years, despite not having much time to talk to you, I have still been able to take a glance or two to see what you’ve been up to! Sometimes, I do also hear from your parents or others - a little bit about how you are doing. I can see that there are some of you who enjoy church greatly. But I also know that some of you are struggling. e weeds and thorns of life are strangling that little plant within you. Some of you feel lonely and crowded out in church. And, some of you have left church.
Amidst the circumstances that you are going through, I also know that “faith is con!dence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1). And, beyond what I can see, I know that God is with you and walking alongside you each step of the way. No matter where you are or what you are doing right now, I hope you take a momentary pause to read about the road to Emmaus
(Luke 24). It is a road many of us also walk and that you might be walking now. e many voices of today may be telling you di erent things and !lling you with many doubts, but as I told you back in JSS, Jesus is real and He is alive. He will not hurt you but save you. He is also willing to discuss these struggles with you.
Have hope and have faith. You are not children anymore, and neither are you my students now, and so I might not be able to teach you much more as you !nd other teachers in life. Take time to pray. And if you have still more time, I could share some more of my life’s experiences of God with you, though I also sincerely hope that you could teach me a little bit more about walking with Jesus too.
Emmanuel, Matthias
Matthias (standing, at extreme right) with his class in 2009
FROM DADDY TO DAUGHTER, FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION
by Jonathan Cho
“Generation after generation stands in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts. Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking; I compose songs on your wonders. Your marvelous doings are headline news; I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.”
(Psalm 145:4 to 6), MSG
My dear child,
As our Church celebrates a major milestone in this year’s anniversary, I rejoice at the thought of being able to partake in it with you by my side. In every sense, we are at this moment, both a part of the same generation – living in the same appointed time, with the purpose of knowing God and making Him known.
!ere will come a time however, when my life will pass and I will go to be with the fathers who have gone before us. I have learnt a great many things from those who have fathered me in the faith – Sunday school teachers, elders, deacons, older brothers – many of whom have poured out time, love, energy, and tears to build this Church, in the belief that God is using her to usher many into the faith. I have bene tted from this, and so have you.
By then, you would have formed part of another generation, and you may nd yourself standing at the same spot I am at today. I pray then, that you would have come to know God personally, learnt to relate to Him, and to love Him wholeheartedly. I pray too, that our Church will still be celebrating with gratitude, yet another anniversary of being able to partner God in the work that He is doing, and that you would have given all that you are to loving His Church and His people, pouring your life out to serve those around you. Remember that your life in the Church is not just about you, and it is not just about the Church itself. Seek to understand the ways of God and how He is moving all around the Nation, and in the World, from one generation to the next.
My child, I believe that God has hidden a mystery in the Holy scriptures: that one generation is not enough to declare how good He is and what He has done for us. !e expanse of the in nite love of God will take my lifetime, your lifetime, and the lifetime of many future generations to fully canvas. Even then, we may still fall short. But that is the extent of His greatness and goodness. May you catch a glimpse of this through your life in our church family at BFEC; may you tell stories of what God has done in your life, write songs about who He is, and love others with such extravagance that they will want to know too, Who it is that rst loved you.
I leave with you not (just) an inheritance of money or wealth, or even a building and its resources, but more importantly, an inheritance of faith and the stories of a life of having walked with God. Of all the things that I can give to you, this is of greatest value and worth because there is truly no life apart from God. Take these, and learn to chart a journey of your own with Him. My prayer is that you steward these treasures well; build on that inheritance and grow it into something that you can then leave behind for your children, and their children’s children. Sing the songs of adoration and worship that I have taught you and write new ones that express who God has shown Himself to be to you. Stand tall, so that the next generation can sit on your shoulders and cast a vision for the Lord that goes further and higher than you or I could have ever seen.
My child, I pray that you would follow my example, but exceed me in all matters of faith, hope and love – and I pray that your children will exceed you in the same.
With love, Papa
My child, I believe that God has hidden a mystery in the Holy scriptures: that one generation is not enough to declare how good He is and what He has done for us.
Jonathan, Dorea and little Zoey
PRESS ON IN SOWING AND PLANTING
by Kenneth Wong, itinerant preacher (Bethesda Hall, Ang Mo Kio)
Genesis 26
12 en Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.
22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
28 But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you…”
It has been my great joy and privilege to be a friend of BFEC over these many years. I have fond memories of the many occasions of ministering the Word of God among you since 1999, as well as the many Frankelites I have come to know.
I had been reading Genesis 26 when I learned of BFEC’s 60th anniversary this year. In Genesis 26:12, we read of a remarkable year in an otherwise uneventful life of Isaac. While they had traditionally been mostly nomadic herdsmen, they nevertheless sowed and planted, sowing by faith instead of sticking to the safe. And God blessed them with reaping a hundredfold harvest in the same year. !e extent of God’s doing often far exceeds our expectations (Ephesians 3:20).
Nevertheless it wasn’t a year without its challenges. It was also to be a year of hard digging in an arid area for wells to water the crops and herds. !ey encountered contention (v20) and opposition (v21). But in pressing on without becoming weary in well doing, they found their ‘Rehoboth’, the Lord’s provision of a place with space to grow and be fruitful (v22).
!e resultant e%ect was the indisputable testimony in the eyes of others that God was indeed among them (v28). It was cause for much thanksgiving and glory to God.
May this 60th year be a precious year for BFEC as you step out to sow what you have not sown before, and reap a hundredfold as you have never reaped before. May the Lord graciously grant you room to grow and ourish. And may the torch of your testimony shine ever brighter that many will see and acknowledge that truly God is with you!
BFEC ! A SPECIAL CHURCH
by Dr Tan Soo-Inn and Bernice, Graceworks
It has been a privilege to be a friend of BFEC and on the occasion of your 60th anniversary, we rejoice with you and thank God for you. No church is perfect but a church can be faithful. Your faithfulness through the years has touched many, many lives. What are the strengths of BFEC? Let me name three.
One, the church is rooted in the Word. !is is one of the strengths of churches in the Brethren movement. !e Christian faith is based on God’s revelation and a faithful church, like BFEC, understands that their life and ministry is shaped by the Word properly interpreted. Second, BFEC is committed to boldness in ministry. With time, churches especially older churches can become inward looking or minister within their comfort zones. BFEC continues to seek the Lord as to how they can minister relevantly in each generation. !ird, the church has been blessed by good leaders. A Brethren Church understands the importance
of every member of the church. Yet the laity can maximise their potential only if they are led by godly, competent leaders who lead with commitment and a servant heart. Based on the Word, bold in ministry, blessed with good leaders --- three reasons why BFEC is a special church.
!ese three qualities will be much needed as the church moves into the future. !e world is changing rapidly and the ministry landscape is changing too, both in Singapore and beyond. BFEC and the other churches in Singapore need to seek the Lord afresh as to what He wants us to do and how. Such an exercise must be rooted in the Word even as it seeks to connect to the real world. And for this to happen we need godly leaders. So, on the occasion of BFEC’s 60th anniversary, we challenge the church to press on in her life and mission and rejoice that the Lord has given her the key resources to do that.
Dr Tan with Bernice at Camp 2015 (Come Walk With Me)
BRIDE OF CHRIST READY AT HIS RETURN
by John Lee, Pastor-Mentor, River of Life Community Church (ROLC)
Blessed 60th anniversary! Congratulations! On behalf of the Council and River of Life Community (ROLC) Church, we rejoice with you as you count His blessings in your celebrations.
BFEC’s vision is “To be the Bride of Christ ready at His Return.”
!is vision has three implications. It describes BFEC as the Bride of Christ in the past, present and future dimensions.
In the past, BFEC was the Bride purchased by the precious blood of the Lamb before the foundation of the world. In the words of Paul, “For He chose us (BFEC) in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In Him we (Frankelites) have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:4,7)
Presently, you are the Bride waiting for the Bridegroom’s, the Lord Jesus’ Return. While waiting, you are preparing yourself as a holy bride, ready and eager to meet the Return of your Lord and Lover, your spiritual Bridegroom to usher you to a greater celebration - the Wedding Supper celebration. Like the wise virgins, you long for the Lord’s Coming by engaging in the works, worship and warfare of the Lord as depicted in the Early Church. Keep on devoting yourselves “to the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42) as you long for the Bridegroom’s imminent Return.
In the future, the Marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) will be your greater Celebration. !e apostle John wrote, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Revelation 19:6-8)
!is present celebration is a call for all Frankelites to rekindle your love for the Lord and His church. It is only right that BFEC renews her dedication to do greater works in His Name (John 14:12), thus widening her in uence and impact in Kingdom life and ministry. Each member of BFEC must aim to make an IMPACT for Christ. One personal IMPACT is for each of you to declare “I Must Plant A Cell Today”. With two to ve cells together, you can have a greater corporate IMPACT - “I Must Plant A Church Today”. Planting individual cells and corporate churches are two-fold ways to literally ful ll your vision for BFEC - “To be the Bride of Christ ready at His Return”. !at was how ROLC Church was birthed - through planting two cells and then birthing a daughter church by the Holy Spirit through Frankelites. With this, we sincerely pray that BFEC will be the spiritual mother of more churches and bring forth in uence and impact as we look forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Happy 60th anniversary! May the Lord watch over all His saints at BFEC.
In the future, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be your greater Celebration.
John Lee (far right) with other Frankelites in 1985
HAVING ARROWS THAT SHOOT WELL
by Michael Mak
As BFEC celebrates her 60th Anniversary, I am reminded of the need to pass on the baton for the next 60 years, God-willing.
I refer to Psalm 127:3-5
3Children are a heritage from the Lord, o spring a reward from him.
4Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. ey will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
Verse 4 says, “As arrows in the hands of a warrior, so also are children born in one’s youth.”
Quiver full of arrows
We need to ll our quiver with arrows as we go into spiritual warfare. In other words, we need more children (go forth and multiply!) and they must be trained, rooted in God’s word. !is will ensure that when we “shoot” them, our children are able to ght the enemy on their own and not fall short. We must pass on the baton and teach the next generation, else the war will be lost in our generation if we fail to position our children as arrows in our quiver.
Overcoming arrows
!e younger generation may be lost in the daily busyness of work. However, we must hold rm to
the truth that it is the Lord whom we are working for. Before the Fall, in the garden of Eden, work was a pleasure and worship unto the Lord. As believers lled with the Spirit, if we adopt the same attitude in our workplace today, people around us will see our approach towards work is di%erent and be prompted to “come and ask,” thereby creating opportunities for us to share God’s love and the Gospel with them.
We must be liberated from work stress as a result of unbiblical nancial pressures of our own doing. Only then will we be free to serve God while still in the marketplace.
Arrows for life
!ere is no retirement in God’s kingdom work. !e Great Commission does not end when you are 55 or 65 years of age! In fact, doing God’s work in ministry is His providence to keep our minds engaged, especially if you have stopped doing paid work.
I have been blessed by BFEC and so I seek to help in whatever ways I can. I had previously led a Young Adults (YA) group for four years till 2010from the time they were university undergraduates till they started work. Some are in ministry in BFEC now, while others have joined other churches. I was also a strong advocate of marriage and of going forth to multiply, as in Psalm 127:3 to 5, to the YA group I led.
As others in BFEC continue to engage our young adults, I have since been serving in the Financial and
Evangelism ministries. I have also been equipped by the Compass Ministry to equip others to manage one’s !nances in God’s way. One of the topics is “Work,” which embraces what I have stated above. I have also had the privilege of facilitating this course with Young Adults from other churches. It is my hope that our young adults can embrace the vital truths regarding Biblical stewardship, and in doing so help bring BFEC into the next 60 years.
Praise God for blessing BFEC for 60 years. As we pass the baton to the next generation, may we each continue to bless others and bring more into the kingdom in the next 60 years.
ere is no retirement in God’s kingdom work.
VOICES OF OUR YOUTH
Five of our Grow@Noon youth, Augustine Koh, Kung Ye Fay, Summer Walters, Daniel Teo and Josef Tan, signed up for internship with BFEC during their school break from November 2017 to January 2018. What did they discover about God and themselves? What can we learn from them?
Daily Devotion and Quiet Time
Summer: I learnt about spiritual leadership, e.g. how to lead and facilitate discussions, and ways to analyse the Bible to gain a deeper understanding, e.g. through the use of the acronym O.I.A (many observations, one interpretation and multitudes of applications).
Daniel: !ese regular sessions helped me better understand God’s Word in greater depth and also helped improve my relationship with God as I started to pray more. As I don’t regularly keep my devotional time, they served as good reminders and practice for me personally.
Ye Fay: Life is complex and not everyone is dealing with the same issues. Applications from the Word of God provide pivots for our faith.
Discipleship Training School, YWAM (one-week course)
Summer: I gained greater insight into youth pastoring and youth ministries, e.g. the di%erences in children, youth and adult ministries, and the di$culty in transitioning between the di%erent ministries. I was exposed to di%erent denominations through the discussions at the sessions. Ordinarily, I would have little chance of gleaning lessons from other denominations. I learnt about the di%erent ways we can serve God. We also met pastors from overseas, whom we ordinarily have little or no chance to interact with.
Augustine: I discovered how other churches run their youth ministries. I also enjoyed meeting new people whom we shared our experiences with. It was heartwarming how the people at YWAM were so friendly and welcoming even though we had never met before! I even met a guy from Fiji.
Chinese Evergreen Fellowship
Augustine: Although we were only with them for two sessions, I really experienced how God had worked in this ministry as all the seniors enjoyed the fellowship, outings and messages given by the various speakers. I also heard how some of them wanted to get baptised even though they had joined for only a few months. !is was really a testimony of how God can touch the lives of our older brethren.
Summer: We witnessed their service which we teenagers do not usually actively engage in. It was very interesting to be involved. It engaged members through music, exercise, health, spiritual talks and encouraged them to socialise with one another. As our population ages, we must modify our services to include them, as well as tackle problems they may face, such as loneliness and depression. Evergreen is so important. As youth, we can play a part in this programme, perhaps by encouraging others to take part in a few sessions, to give their programme more variation.
Christmas party at Simei Care Centre (now Anglican Care Centre, Simei)
Summer: We had to prepare a Christmas Program. !e $rst time I heard about it, I was apprehensive as I had no prior experience interacting with people with mental health issues. However, this opportunity allowed me to learn more about them, and eliminate my fear, making this a valuable and enlightening experience. !e visit also showed how we can reach out to people who need spiritual help to go through di cult times or face their mental health issues. And how we can continue to spread the Word of God to them as they would have fewer chances to learn about the Word of God.
Josef: I had to lead a game and spoke in public for the $rst time. It was a small group and I believe it not only went well but turned out to be a good warm-up and preparation for the other challenges during my internship.
Augustine: I was initially worried when I was told Simei Care Centre was a place for mentally ill people. However, Fang Fang (who regularly helps out at this Centre) was very encouraging. She assured us that it was all going to be ok. She went through with us the schedule and activities we were going to conduct. When the actual day came, everyone there was so friendly and happy to see us. I even made a new friend, Faith, who was very friendly and shared with me how God was telling her to go to the mission $eld. I felt really encouraged by her. All in all, the Christmas gathering was very fun and encouraging. I also felt very happy as I saw that the people really had fun and we also invited them for Placeholders, our 2017 BFEC Christmas event.
Placeholders Arts Festival (16 and 17 Dec 2017)
@ BFEC and 10, La Salle Street
- raising funds for Kampong Siglap Life Skills and Retreat Centre
Ye Fay: !e team of interns under the leadership of Kelvin Ng took part in the cleaning of the old Siglap Primary School, the other venue of Placeholders besides BFEC. We were tasked with the initial cleaning of the classrooms to enable the artists to install their art creations. !ough the process was tiring and hot, I enjoyed the overall experience. I really bonded with the team as we worked tirelessly to clean up the place in time for the event.
Josef: Long hours in the sun painting the mural and the even longer hours cleaning the appalling, abandoned building at 10 La Salle St, which was covered in dust and falling apart, with bits and pieces of interesting leftovers of the past lying around, was well worth it. With just brooms, dustpans, mops, buckets and water, we worked hard cleaning the rooms till we achieved an acceptable level of cleanliness.
Daniel: I helped with one art work by our very own resident artist, Abram Tan, until 11 p.m. and also helped in the creation of some art pieces in the rooms. From this event, I learnt to have the heart to serve and help others. It taught me to be resilient and not give up. One highlight for me was giving out Placeholders %yers outside Temasek Polytechnic. As this was my $rst time, I had negative expectations and the task seemed extremely daunting. !us I had to depend
on God that the whole operation would run smoothly. Surprisingly, I was able to garner courage and spoke to about 30 students about the Arts Festival. !is particular incident taught me to have faith and to be brave in the face of unfamiliar circumstances.
Augustine: I helped John Teo set up the tech/sound system. It was no easy task to run cables from one end of the tarpaulin to the other, hanging them on the frame at the same time. I think the time when everyone “panicked” was the night before Placeholders. !ere were still a lot of things to be done. Everyone scrambled and worked through the night. It was really amazing to see people from the neighbourhood attending this event.
Summer: I saw how much we can do to help even if we do not have speci c skills to do specialised tasks, such as creating art installations. We can still contribute to the greater project. I have come to appreciate the sheer amount of time and hard work that go into big projects such as this. Now that I have had this experience, I am encouraged to contribute to future projects in any small way I can.
Grow@Noon Camp - Camp Lit
Daniel: !e Camp taught me how to be a more e%ective leader and how to adapt to an everchanging scenario. I was appointed a group leader as well as one of the secondary Camp Commandants. As interns, we were involved in planning the camp. I was in charge of organising the bus rides and buying the camp bandanas. I had never chartered a bus before so it provided me good experience on how to deal with people professionally.
Josef: !ere was a day when there was no breakfast catered due to miscommunication. !e other interns had to rush to the nearby Mcdonald’s to purchase 60 burgers for the 40+ campers within 45 minutes.
Summer: I participated only in the planning stage as I was overseas during the camp. Together, we planned a game, where campers had to pick Biblical references from a Superman movie “Man Of Steel”. It was an interesting experience, as we had to pick out subtle details from the movie and references that ordinarily we would have missed. !en we looked for corresponding verses or events in the Bible and we learnt to view from a new perspective. It allowed us to come closer to the one true interpretation.
Augustine: We were assigned di%erent roles. I had the role of Camp Commandant / Worship In-charge. At the Camp, I enjoyed interacting and fellowshiping with the younger Grow@Noon youths, as well as the JSS children.
Youth Alpha
Daniel: For the nal week of the internship, we were tasked with planning the Youth Alpha series. We put into practice what we had learnt since November. We went into greater detail in planning and thought through the process and the ow of events to the point where we were comfortable. !is helped me gain experience should I plan for any future events whether in church or for an external event.
Ultimate Training Camp (A four-day, threenight Sports Intensive Camp)
Daniel: !is camp focused on training athletes to use their sport to worship and praise God. From the camp I learnt diligence, accountability, discipline and perseverance. Above all, I learnt how to worship God in my life. For example, whenever | would play sports such as basketball or football, I would pray before I enter the court. !e 20-hour Sports Marathon taught me that pain has a purpose and I should always give my best whether I win or lose. It ultimately taught me to welcome God more into my life and to talk to Him more.
Ye Fay: Although this was a sports camp, and I am not the most physically t person, I managed to pull through and took away many interesting Christian principles I found really useful in my daily life. !e 20-hour S.P.E.C.I.A.L., though long and tiring, was made enjoyable with the support of the new friends we made. Most of all, it was comforting to know that God had our backs no matter what the situation is.
Josef: It was a gruelling camp and it pushed me further than I have ever pushed myself. It revealed to me many things about myself that made the pain all worthwhile. I made some good friends in the teams I was in. I drew closer to God in the camp, learning to depend on Him and knowing that He is there to carry me at any time.
Welcome session for the Grow@Noon new Senior Ones
Summer: !e objective of this is to ease the transition of JSS students into Grow@ Noon and allow them to feel comfortable and welcome. To plan the activities, we used a planning method introduced by Kelvin, P.E.P.S.I. (prayer, establish objectives, programme, schedule, investment). We prayed for the event and people, set goals so we would be able to determine success, created a plan to follow to ensure it is done on time and gured out the logistics and resources. We learnt that logistics is an integral part of most projects. We need to plan and organise early, with a timeline and goals to ensure that all materials are prepared on time, such as contacting the speaker.
Josef: We prepared for this event very well and ensured that everybody was aware of their assigned roles and how they t into the whole programme.
L-R: Interns Josef, Auguestine, Daniel, Kelvin (Grow@Noon ministry leader with Theo), Ye Fay and Summer (with Caleb Chong)
NATIONS AND GENERATIONS, AND RIGHT NEXT TO US
by Dr Tan Lai Yong
I rst came to BFEC in 1974 when I was studying in Siglap Secondary School. At that time, BFEC was one of the few churches in the area willing to open its facilities to our school’s Youth For Christ club (YFC). We had over 200 students attending our evangelistic rallies and YFC anniversaries. BFEC welcomed us and did not charge us any rental. !us when I was looking for a church to join, it was natural that my classmates and I joined BFEC. I thank God that BFEC has been my church since I became a Christian.
Concern about the Fruits
One of the rst times I served in church was to help plant trees. Our Senior Sunday School teacher, Tay Cheng Kee, and our dear brother, Jimmy Koh Chee Tat (now with the Lord) led this e%ort. Jimmy hired a pick-up truck and drove us to buy a few mango trees from a nursery in Bukit Timah. We brought the trees back and planted them along the fence at church. And we discussed, “What if neighborhood children came and steal the mangoes?” We concluded that the Lord will bless them too.
Years later, I heard these mango trees had been cut down. Anecdotally, not only did no one steal the mangoes, but apparently some were concerned that the sap, owers, birds’ droppings and especially the mangoes might fall on parked cars, dirtying the cars and denting some. So a decision was made to remove the trees.
I felt quite sad that our cars had become more important than the mangoes. As we celebrate BFEC’s 60th anniversary, we need to think through our priorities. What are the fruits we want? What
projects should we do more? Who are the people we should nurture? What are some things we should do less of? Are we unwittingly stopping fruits from growing because they sometimes bring inconvenience?
Reaching Out
As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” !e crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”. Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Matthew 20:29-34)
is story from Matthew reminds us not to rebuke the marginalised nor silence the needy. Instead we should, following our Lord Jesus, be ready to reach out to listen and to heal.
e Apostle Matthew records that after the blind men were healed, they followed Jesus. I assume they followed him all the way from Jericho to Jerusalem. Jericho is an ancient town about 250 metres below sea level and Jerusalem, a city on a hill about 750 metres above sea level. e journey of discipleship can be a hard climb but it is always done with the Lord Jesus Christ in the lead; no longer the blind leading the blind but a journey of redeemed people who have been touched by the Lord.
Making Space
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of
those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.” e blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. (Matthew 21:12-14)
Here, we read of Christ’s Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. e people in Jerusalem welcomed Jesus with singing, waving palm fronds and laying their cloaks on the road. In a dramatic actioncharged scene, Jesus then enters the Temple area and chases out the money changers. He overturns the benches of those selling doves. But these money changers and dove-sellers were actually providing a needed service to the pilgrims.
Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.”
It is signi!cant that after Jesus cleared the temple, the Gospel says that the blind and lame could come in. ere is more space and more freedom and thus the invitation to the marginalised to enter into the temple court to be with Jesus.
e accounts in Matthew chapters 20 and 21 remind us of three action platforms for the church:-
A) Jesus reached out to the blind - we need to be at the forefront of care and compassion.
B) Jesus cleaned the temple courts where business was thriving – we need good market place ministries, transforming our hearts so that we can in$uence our work place through prayer and purpose.
C) Jesus created space in the temple for the blind and the lame to enter - we must put in place policies and priorities where the marginalised can come into community.
Across the Road, the Nations, the Generations
Moving ahead, may I suggest three concepts to guide our planning, actions and resource allocation:
A) Across the Road
B) Across the Nations
C) Across the Generations
Across e Road
!e Lord has brought the Kampong Siglap Retreat and Life Skills Centre project to our doorstep. !is centre is designed to care for some of the lowest-income families in Singapore. !e retreats and camps will be opportunities for single mothers and their children to be nurtured, encouraged, equipped and empowered in life-skills; and we can serve them right at our doorstep.
BFEC used to have thriving Girl’s and Boy’s Brigade Companies. With their closure, we have lost an outreach arm. I came to BFEC because the leadership then allowed youths to use the church and its resources on weekdays. We haven’t done so for many years. We should not wait passively for young people to come, but go out to meet them. !e Kampong Siglap Project is a wonderful opportunity to do so and it will be a grievous loss if we miss it.
Kampong Siglap can also be a community hub for volunteering. Imagine secondary school students from the East Coast and Bedok areas coming on weekdays to volunteer, run projects to care for senior citizens or participate in activities to appreciate and nurture the environment and volunteer in tandem with community needs.
We need to respond to the Kampong Siglap initiative.
Across e Nations
!e Lord has given us a country strategic in
location and economy. As Christians, we must bring God’s love across the nations. !ere are good strategies like “!e 10:40 Window” and “Unreached People Groups” to achieve this. However, they mostly describe the external. When we look across the nations, we must allow the Lord to look deep into our hearts. Matthew 6:33 - “But seek rst the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (ESV) - is still true and should spur us to live above and beyond the pervasive materialism in Singapore, to live with hearts ready to serve the nations.
!e rise and in uence of China gives us food for thought about how to complement major worldwide trends with sharing God’s love. China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR), a global plan to bring Chinese businesses across the world, should spur us to think about being servants of God’s love, ready to be scattered and placed for the Gospel as needed. We can think about sharing and learning, bringing expertise and building connections along the OBOR.
But we also face intense challenges and opposing forces - like the rise of nationalism, our own xenophobia and global terrorism threats. We need to seek God, think hard, count the cost (of doing and not doing the Lord’s will) and so be wise and be brave in our lifestyle choices.
!e Lord has brought many nations into Singapore. I visited a neighbourhood primary school recently and found there were students from eight nations in one class alone. Sadly, no local families were actively reaching out to them, to immerse them
We need to seek God, think hard, count the cost (of doing and not doing the Lord’s will) and so be wise and be brave in our lifestyle choices.
in our culture or welcome them to a home-cooked meal. !e nations are right here but many Christian churches have failed to reach out.
At our 60th anniversary, we should ask ourselves, “If there are millions of foreigners in Singapore, why aren’t our churches lled with them?”
Across e Generations
We need to serve across the generations. Looking at ourselves in BFEC, it is obvious we do not have good connections with our youth and young adults. Age-wise, our church population shows a sunken “middle”. We have many children and seniors but a drop in the 20 - 45 age group.
I became a Christian in 1974. At that time I had no idea how to witness to my parents. It was the same for many of my peers. We were mostly Englishspeaking while our parents spoke dialect. We had no clue to how to share the gospel with them. We prayed much.
My mother became a Christian in 2004, 30 years after I became one. At that time, many of us rallied around to pray for our parents. !e Billy Graham Crusade came and went in 1978. We took time to share the gospel with our parents. We needed to reach across the generations.
God has shown Himself to be faithful to our prayers. In the rst 30 years of BFEC’s history, church growth in Singapore was mainly among the English-speaking. But in the late 1900s and
early 2000s, many dialect churches and Mandarinspeaking congregations sprang up and grew. Now BFEC, and many local churches, need to pray and win the younger generation, including those born in “Christian families.” We need to be fervent in our commitment to bring the gospel deep into their hearts.
!e youths need far more than creeds. !ey need to see that the gospel is authentic. We need to connect them to God. In tandem with Protestant work ethics, many Singaporean Christian families have grown better o$ economically, but have become overly busy. We place priorities on everything and anything that society demands. So our children are busy; our teenagers are busy. We forget to bring them before the Lord in quietness and in stillness, to nd their con dence in God and not in achievements. We have to reach across the generations again in prayer and priorities so that our young people know God. We can start the journey across the road, at Kampong Siglap, where youth and nations can come together to serve and to learn.
As we celebrate our church’s 60th anniversary, let us remember that “!e Church is the only society that exists for the bene t of those who are not its members.” (William Temple, Bishop Church of England 1881-1944).
Lai Yong with Grow@Noon youth at HealthServe
SUNDAY
Worship Services:
English - 8 am & 10 am
Chinese - 9.30 am
Creche, KSS & JSS (Children): 10 am
Grow@Noon (Youth): 12 pm
International Fellowship (Indonesian & Filipino): 10 am
9214 (Seniors) Bible Study & Fellowship: 10am
MONDAY
9214 Frankel Lights: 10 am
TUESDAY
9214 Table Tennis: 6 pm
Ladies Group: 8 pm
WEDNESDAY
9214 Evergreen Fellowship (Chinese): 10.30 am
Jesus Club (Special Needs): 7.30 pm (Alternate weeks)
THURSDAY
9214 Table Tennis: 3 pm
FRIDAY
Church Prayer Meeting: 8 pm
SATURDAY
Peranakan: 4 pm (2nd & 4th Sat)
Foreign Indian Workers’ Fellowship (English Class): 8 pm (except last Sat)
WAG: 7.30pm (Last Sat of month)
Our Cell Groups (for Adults & Young Adults) meet in church and members’ homes throughout the week.
4 La Salle Street
Singapore 456930
Tel: 6448 1800
Fax: 6448 0831
Email: bfec@bfec.org.sg
Web: www.bfec.org.sg
READY N0.7 July 2018
A publication of Bethesda Frankel Estate Church | MCI (P) 124/01/2018
