Serving with Love

SERVING WITH L VE

A Digital Mission Trip to Shwepyithar,

Myanmar. By Janice Lim

For most of us, the year 2020 has been a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about massive changes to the way we live, work, study, socialise, attend church and travel. However, even though it brought numerous businesses and activities to a standstill, our Sovereign God has continually shown that He reigns, His work never stops and His Word is not chained.

It is indeed by God’s generous provision that we, together with our partners in Myanmar,

were able to conduct our first ever Virtual Mission Trip for the children’s home in Shwepyithar, Myanmar via Zoom on 26-27 December 2020. COVID-19 may have hindered us from travelling to meet our Myanmar friends in person for the year, but God gave us the technology, manpower, expertise and equipment to share His Word and love with the children and youths in the various homes.

In keeping up with our previous Acts 1:8 trips, this virtual trip included a Bible camp with the theme, “Meeting God Face to Face – Serving with Love”, as well as home visitations.

Planning a Virtual Mission Trip

In early October, the team leaders and our missions ministry volunteers met over Zoom to plan the programme, with much thought being given to how we could overcome the constraints posed by a virtual setting. Hence, we planned the programmes such that they were creative, could promote engagement and interaction over Zoom, and prepared Bible lessons that our young Myanmarese friends could relate to.

We were also mindful of logistical challenges, including the observance of safe distancing measures in both Singapore and Myanmar. We had to ensure that the five orphanages had Wifi network connection with sufficient

bandwidth and adequate IT equipment to provide optimal participation for over 100 children and youths. We also made contingency plans in case of power outage (which is not uncommon) at the orphanages. Finally, we arranged to have IT enablers and translators who could provide support before and during the 2-day event.

With the above considerations in mind, the team decided to pre-record various segments of the Bible camp: Bible lessons, worship, and skits. We played the recorded videos that came with simultaneous translation during the event itself. This meant more systematic preparatory work was required of the organisers, orphanage home leaders and volunteers from both countries.

Spreading God’s Love

By the grace of our generous God, this virtual mission trip is

now our testimony that with God, all things are possible!

After weeks of meetings, preparation, synchronized prayer sessions and rehearsals, the big day finally arrived. Besides the participants from the five homes, we had 21 volunteers (20 in Singapore and 1 from Canada) calling in on Zoom with much anticipation. The program started promptly at 10am Singapore time (8:30am in Myanmar).

What followed was a full day of Bible lessons on the theme of God’s Love, shared by several Singapore volunteers via video or Zoom. The Myanmese children also recapped their learning points and shared with us their takeaways. It was heartening to hear many of them share about their deeper understanding of loving God through their actions.

“Visiting” Singapore from Myanmar

The highlight on the second day of the virtual trip was a video called “All About Singapore”, a compilation of short videos contributed by our Singapore volunteers and slickly stitched together by one of our ministry volunteers, Zhimin. This 10-minute video was meant to bring the Myanmese children on a virtual trip to Singapore and see what our day-to-day life is like.

The children had the chance to view Singapore’s places of interest, schools, wet markets, hawker centres, parks, Faith Methodist Church, how we commute, where we exercise and pursue our hobbies. The

media team also worked really hard to put together a summary video of the activities from Day 1, showcasing the children’s happy faces and their craft works.

After watching the videos, we proceeded to our virtual home visitations by going into breakout groups with the five orphanages. During the breakout sessions, we managed to improvise familiar activities which we would usually conduct during our actual trips, such as, song performances by the children and games. We also had a dialogue session where the children shared their reflections, testimonies and thanksgiving.

Here are some reflections from the participants of the two-day virtual trip:

Reaping in Joy

It was a joy hearing so many thanking God for His protection and granting them the opportunity to delve deeper into His Word or spend time with their families during the lockdown. On the other hand, some also shared how they felt isolated and bored when schools were closed for most of 2020. We are indeed thankful for the opportunity to continue to serve with love and to connect with our Myanmese field partners despite the challenges of 2020!

I have found this year’s Bible lesson, craftwork and home visit held over Zoom really helpful. The children could experience and apply the lessons learnt in practical and spiritual ways. Pastor Kyaw San, Orphanage leader of FCC

The most important lesson God has taught me is to love God with all my heart. Cherry, 14-year-old girl from Makarios Home

I learnt to love others even though we are not physically present with them. Lee Lian, regular Acts 1:8 tripper The most important lesson God has taught me is, if we have the skills and knowledge to help others, it is useless without love. So even if we have no wealth, we still have the strength to act on the basis of love to help others. Cherry, 16-year-old girl from FCC

Be intentional in serving God when doors open for us to serve, especially giving away our time. Jessie, regular Acts 1:8 tripper

Janice is a regular Acts 1:8 tripper to Shwepyithar, Myanmar. She is part of Grace Vision Small Group and enjoys travelling and reading.