12 minute read
NOT THE TYPICAL TENTMAKER: PROFESSIONAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME
by Jason Chin, former Vice Chairman of the Singapore Mission School Board and a member of Christ Methodist Church.
The Singapore Mission School (SMS) in Laos began in 2010 as a playgroup for a handful of young children aged between 4 and 6 years. Since then, it has developed into what is now a kindergarten and primary school of choice for Lao parents wanting a mission school experience for their children, one which emphasises quality education and grounded values.
The work of starting and running a Christian mission school is, to put it mildly, challenging. Most will understand a “good school” as one which has a strong academic curriculum, led by dynamic leaders, and taught by inspiring teachers. However, from the organisational perspective, there are also factors related to operations, statutory compliance, human resources and finance that need to be developed to make a school truly “good”.
These elements can be especially demanding in jurisdictions outside of Singapore.
Through the years, the SMS, and indeed, many of our sister mission schools in the region, have been blessed by the work of specialist volunteers from Singapore who have contributed a unique but precious resource – their professional expertise. These “professional volunteers” not only visit to spend time in our classrooms, but commit to long-term activities to develop specific areas of school operations.
From the curriculum standpoint, volunteers with teaching and school management experience have contributed in areas of:
Mentoring teachers
Conducting training for teachers
Developing new aspects of the curriculum
Evaluating teaching processes
There have also been many nonteaching professional volunteers from accounting, management consulting, healthcare, and technical fields, who have helped on projects related to:
Conducting- audits related to risk, safety, and internal financial processes- training and professional development for administrative staff- health-based assessments for members of the school community
Providing input and opinion on work of local professionals
Documenting of operating procedures related to accounting, procurement and HR practices
Supplementing the local workforce during crisis or transition
These volunteers sacrifice time and offer professional expertise for a sustained period. Not all are from well-to-do backgrounds, and some even resolve to leave their families behind in Singapore for weeks. The common thread that weaves these individuals together is the shared belief that their secular vocations are their ministry to God.
The common thread that weaves these individuals together is the shared belief that their secular vocations are their ministry to God.
Our professional volunteers may not yet have decided to become full-time tentmakers like the Apostle Paul, but nonetheless, they commit to intentionally enable the work of missionaries in mission stations by bringing their A-game to the mission field.
The service of these busy and highly-skilled professionals from Singapore complements the work of pioneering founders and school staff, especially in domains where local professional expertise may be unavailable, or may not be at the level required to comply with the expectations of our stakeholders in Singapore. This is especially crucial where adaptations and revisions of processes are required for the missions endeavour to build capacity and develop long-term sustainably.
Many of our professional volunteers serve at their own expense, either choosing to put their career assignments on hold, or to make off-site work arrangements while in Laos. There are certainly material and personal costs in volunteering for weeks on end.
In an effort to support and enable the capacity-building work that our professional volunteers do, resources often come from fellow Christians in Singapore. These come either through personal financial support for out-ofpocket expenses, such as airfares and accommodation, or from structured short-term missions programmes instituted in Methodist Churches for their members.
These support mechanisms are invaluable, as they reinforce the message to both our local volunteers and workers on the ground that their work is not taken for granted, and that there are folks back in Singapore who continue to stand by them, in prayer and through sacrificial contributions.
To all our professional volunteers and enablers serving with us in the field - THANK YOU! You make a significant impact on the generations that come after us.
TESTIMONY
by Eugene Chew. He has been a teacher since 1988 and is a former Senior Teacher and Head of Department. After a weeklong mission trip to the Singapore Mission School in Laos in 2018, he availed of himself to volunteer for longer stints at the school as a teacher-mentor, curriculum developer and internal consultant.
I accepted Christ as a secondary school student in a mission school where chapel sessions were a weekly feature. During my National Service days, I had the opportunity to teach in my church’s Sunday School, and this greatly influenced my decision to become a teacher upon graduating from NUS. I found that teaching aligned with my interests and was also a good platform to serve Christ. I have now been a career teacher for more than 30 years, and I continue to teach in an international school.
My interest in Christian missions work was sparked by a speaker at one of my church’s Missions Sundays, who challenged us to allow our life’s circumstances and natural giftings to be used for missions work. This led me to sign up for a mission trip organised by my church.
In 2018, a mission trip was planned by Wesley Methodist Church to organise a Singapore Fair at the Singapore Mission School (SMS) in Laos. This was not a “traditional mission trip” as the country was considered a Creative Access Nation, but one which was focused on providing an opening to reach out to Lao people by exposing them to Singapore food and culture. Our team members had the opportunity to interact positively with the school’s staff, its students, and their families. It was a fun event, and many good links were made with local Christians and the surrounding community and also with local village leaders who attended.
At the end of that year, I spent a month in Laos with SMS to help out in teaching and staff training. This allowed me to have a look at the school close-up and to explore how I could contribute to its work.
Then, many of SMS’ teachers were untrained. Most teachers had a great heart to serve in a mission school, but had not undergone formal teacher training with an institution. As teachers, there is a constant need for in-service professional development and pedagogical training to keep our knowledge and approaches relevant, and I was asked to assist in mentoring and guiding the SMS teachers.
I continued to engage with the school staff throughout the COVID period via Zoom. In 2022, as the borders started to slowly reopen, I was challenged by our Lord to take time-off professionally to serve for a slightly longer period in SMS. These were challenging times of uncertainty, but I thank God for the opportunity to serve in SMS as a MITE volunteer supported by Wesley Methodist Church for 3 months from March to May of that year.
In this capacity, my role in SMS was to help guide teachers by providing professional feedback on teaching, as well as to affirm and encourage good practices. Guidance on improving aspects of the school’s curriculum was also provided, as well as training on curriculum development and school evaluation. As important as these professional activities were, it was fulfilling to also be given opportunities to share at devotions with teachers and students.
Being a “professional volunteer” has helped me understand what missions work in our region actually involves. We can read about, or listen to, others tell their stories, but it can be difficult to connect with the challenges at the ground level, and with the impact of God’s work in the community.
Having said that, taking time-off professionally to serve overseas did pose some challenges. Missing my family in Singapore was difficult at times, and I thank God that they were pillars of support throughout my time in Laos. Also, the initial language barriers and different work and living expectations required some adjustment.
However, serving with selfless and dedicated brothers and sisters on the ground in Laos has provided me a life-changing insight into how our faith is lived outside of comfortable Singapore, and this continues to challenge me to live my life meaningfully in our Lord’s service.
this continues to challenge me to live my life meaningfully in our Lord’s service.
TESTIMONY
by Grace Ling. She retired from teaching in 2004 after serving more than 30 years as a secondary school teacher in Singapore. She is a member of Foochow Methodist Church and is concurrently involved with GCWSCS, where she once served as its Missions Coordinator, and is now Coordinator for Discipleship and Nurture. After her first trip to Vientiane in March 2023, she continues to avail herself to serve alongside the teachers for teaching and mentoring stints of up to 3 weeks.
I am a retired teacher, but still keep my professional knowledge relevant by taking up relief or adjunct teaching positions in MOE schools. My missions involvement with GCWSCS involves women’s ministry and working alongside students or children in the Methodist schools and agencies embedded in communities within our region. I consider Christian missions work to be part of my family’s heritage as I come from a family with up to 4 generations serving either as pastors or missionaries.
In 2013, the then-President of GCWSCS, Ms Dorothy Lim and I first met up with Mr and Mrs Yeow Kok Liang, the founders of SMS, over lunch with Col Quek from the MMS. That time, we were exploring how GCWSCS could come alongside the school when it was first developing its Primary programme. It was not until December 2022 that I was reacquainted with the school’s work through one of its Board members, who shared with me about the school’s ongoing development. This provided me with a clear description of the school’s work and its need for experienced teachers to share aspects of our professional work with teachers in Laos.
Up to this point, Laos was not on my list of places to serve, and I fervently sought the Lord to ask if this was part of His plan. I serve because it is He whom I am serving. Our Master truly knows best, and there was a sense of calm assurance about going to Laos, allowing for an initial 10-day stint in March 2023.
On this first trip, I was assigned to observe teachers teaching Mathematics and Science, and to provide feedback. With God’s help, I did my best to approach this task professionally and sensitively. It was a pleasant surprise that the teachers welcomed the opportunity to be given professional feedback about their teaching approach. More importantly, the interactions with the students in the classes, and engaging with individual students as they completed their class work caused me to bond closer with the school.
The School Principal rostered me to teach some lessons, and to conduct story-telling with some of the younger children, as well as to give remedial lessons on reading and pronunciation to the weaker students in the lower Primary classes. These were precious opportunities to directly interact with individuals who might one day become the country’s decision-makers.
When I returned after my first trip, I was truly excited and shared what I did with some of my friends. A few did not think that spending almost a fortnight on a volunteer mission was materially worthwhile, and thought that I had been paid to go. My response was that the Lord was my support, His grace is sufficient, and the school community’s hospitality was more than adequate to meet my needs. Our brothers and sisters in Christ serving in Vientiane are truly the inspirational individuals and were a constant pillar of support.
In October last year, I volunteered for another 3-week stint in SMS. This time, my deployment was to temporarily be with classes where the teacher was new to the school or on urgent leave. By now, I was more familiar with the school. The lovely tune of the Lao national anthem attracted me when the students and teachers sang it during the school assemblies. Without much delay, I tried to learn and memorise it with the help of Lao teachers. They were very encouraging and were very amazed to see this Singaporean sing with them, and I believe that this allowed a certain barrier to be crossed. Two teachers also presented me with the Lao traditional materials which I made into skirts of their culture to be worn on specific days. My students also taught me simple Lao words whenever I asked them, - they always gladly obliged!
Despite having already retired for 20 years, I am blessed with this opportunity to continue contributing as a teacher with our Christian brothers and sisters in the region. In considering whether “professional volunteering” is something you should consider, I believe that the key priority is to seek the Lord and stay close to Him as His ways are higher than our ways. In doing this, He will reveal His plans, and everything will fall in place. When I was in Laos, I found that there was an almost automatic urge to spend time with God, with my morning and evening devotions being unhurried and contemplative. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Rejoice in Him always and again I say rejoice. He must increase and I must decrease. To God be the Glory.
I serve because it is He whom I am serving.
