5 minute read
OVERCOMING GIANTS
by Yu Chin Fun, member of Toa Payoh Methodist Church. To the students in Sundermeier Home, she’s Aunty Fun. Her good memory was put to the test in her bid to remember all the students’ names and faces. And she succeeded!
I learnt what it is to live life simply and to trust God for His provision.
On a hillside in Gleno, Timor-Leste, stands a lovely home with 16 girls and 18 boys, two cats, some lorikeets, and a dog named Ash. It was my home for four weeks in October 2023 and where I learnt what it is to live life simply and to trust God for His provision.
My journey began with an email to MMS after reading about its search for volunteers to serve as houseparents for its hostels in Timor-Leste (Harvest Force 2023 Issue 2). I was told that Sundermeier Home’s missionaries Joseph and Grace Mannar were coming back to Singapore for two months and stand-in parents were urgently needed. Since I was available, I stepped forward and was given the go-ahead by MMS and endorsement by Toa Payoh Methodist Church, my home church. I was assured of spiritual support from my church, cell group, and intercessors from my Friday prayer group. Such support was needed especially during my first week at Sundermeier Home. It was a challenging one, with several students coming under spiritual attack. God provided two Indonesian ladies, who were on a calendar-making project with the students, to help me.
After the spiritually exhausting first week, I began to enjoy the cool mornings and evenings in Gleno, the daily interactions with the students and the simplicity of life at the Home. It wasn’t long before I got used to the day-to-day activities - helping to plan the lunch and dinner menus, going marketing with the students, and mobilising them to water their garden plots.
As the school gave little homework, I taught students who were keen to learn English through story-telling and word games in the morning and afternoon. Some ten students would come for the lessons - usually the SMA 1 students who are about 15 years old. The sessions culminated in a story-telling contest based on Aesop’s fables and a word-formation competition which the students thoroughly enjoyed. Meanwhile, the SMA 3 students were preparing for their national exams. It was clear that God was very much a part of their lives when they came to the houseparents - Loh Han Chew was the other stand-in houseparent - for prayer before they left for school during the exam week.
Devotions were done in the mornings and evenings. I shared devotions on two nights - overcoming the “giants” in our lives from the slaying of Goliath by David (1 Samuel 17:43-50) and the prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). The students know that even if they go to university, they will have difficulty finding work, and might end up selling “tauhu” in the Gleno market which, according to them, are what some graduates are doing. I hope that my sharing will remind them that their hope is in God and He has a wonderful plan for everyone. A morning devotion by me taken from James 1:22-25 was to remind students to heed God’s word after a stealing incident in the boys’ dorm - not an uncommon occurrence.
One highlight was the birthday celebration of Zeck and Leo - two of the most helpful and likeable boys in the Home. They shyly basked in the moment as the birthday song was sung and two plain cakes, not some cream cakes, were cut which the children enjoyed tremendously ... even the crumbs were kept for the next day!
All too soon, a surprise farewell was held, with a tai (a traditional woven cloth) presented to me, a beautiful reminder of my time at the Home. It was a touching moment as I received the students’ prayers. I left them with a bible verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I felt this was key to thriving in the harsh environment the students are in.
My final full day in Timor-Leste ended on a bright note as I met up with David Chan and his family. David, the principal of St Paul Methodist School, shared his journey of how God called him to conquer the education “mountain” in Timor-Leste; a truly inspiring journey of a man who obeyed God’s call, and the school is the fruit of that step of faith. It was uplifting to hear from him how the different churches in Singapore are working together in Timor-Leste. There are many opportunities to serve here - volunteer stand-in houseparents included.
