10 minute read
IN FAITH WE MOVE, IN HOPE WE LIVE, IN LOVE WE EXIST
by Dr Cheryl Chen Country Coordinating Officer for Timor-Leste. On her second trip to Timor-Leste, Dr Cheryl Chen divinely met her husband who was serving as a missionary in the field. Together, they now serve as MMS non-residential missionaries supporting the ministry in Timor-Leste, and worship at Aldersgate Methodist Church.
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In Faith We Move
God’s work always begins with His call and mankind’s faithful obedience. More than 14 years ago, God gave MMS a vision to build a school in Timor-Leste. In 2013, God called David Chan to build a school without walls, to love the orphans and widows. In faith, David, his wife Jessie and their three children (Isaac, aged 14; Joy, aged 11; and Isaiah, aged 8) responded in obedience and moved to Timor-Leste in 2015. The family had embraced God’s heart for the Timorese and were sent as MMS missionaries by Aldersgate Methodist Church.
In 2016, the first Methodist school in Timor-Leste was born when David and Jessie started the first class with 18 Grade 7 students. St Paul Methodist School (SPMS) was established by MMS with the aim to provide quality, affordable, Christian-based education at Grades 1 to 12. Faithfully offering a Grade 1 and Grade 7 class every year, the school expanded as student enrolment increased rapidly. The school initially operated out of the Chans’ home and a rented Primary School, and eventually had to operate across 3 temporary locations to accommodate growing student numbers. Today, SPMS is a full 12-grade school with 779 students! Praise God for His faithfulness whenever we move and respond to His call in faith.
As the student population grew, MMS sought to acquire a piece of land to build a permanent home for the school and eventually leased a 3-hectare plot in Metinaro, a suburb of Dili, in 2021. Phase 1 of the school building project with 2 classroom blocks for 700 students, 2 hostel blocks for 60 students, mission trippers and missionary quarters, a multipurpose hall with canteen, admin building, and football field commenced in 2022. Phase 1 was completed in December 2023. On 7 July 2024, SPMS was dedicated by Bishop Dr Gordon Wong to the glory of God. More than 450 people gathered to celebrate God’s goodness with the completion of Phase 1 of the SPMS Development Project.
In his sermon, Bishop Dr Wong explained that Paul, the apostle, was quoting from ancient philosophers in the theme verse of the Dedication Service. “For in (God) we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.” (Acts 17:28, NLT)
This demonstrated that “truth about God can be learned from outside the Bible”. Bishop declared that students in SPMS could learn from everything good that God has created in the world by receiving a well-rounded education in Language, Mathematics, Science, Music, and the Arts. He said that this good education students received from SPMS would help them to learn the good truth about God: that we are all the offspring of God (Acts 17:28). He also reminded all parents and guests that God is nearer to us than we think, since “in God, we live and move and exist. In our living and moving from place to place, God is with us.”
Bishop Dr Wong ended his sermon with an invitation to sing along to an old song, “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, with the words “sweet love” replaced with “God’s love”. He prayed that SPMS would help the world find the greatest love of all.
In Hope We Live
In addition to local government leaders, students and their families, teachers and staff, more than 60 partners and supporters from Methodist churches and other denominations throughout Singapore made a special trip to Timor-Leste to witness this milestone. Most of the guests from Singapore had journeyed with SPMS since the early days when operations took place in the Chans’ missionary home, and the Methodist churches represented had sent mission teams, contributed time and resources in partnership with MMS to achieve the vision of building a permanent home for the school.
In Love We Exist
For this official Opening Ceremony and Dedication Service, volunteers from Singapore joined the SPMS teachers to plan for the event, working collaboratively to set up the sheltered space for 450 guests, prepare food for the dinner reception, and organise a tour of the school.
Of special mention is the dance team led by Sharon Liew, a member of Wesley Methodist Church. Even though Sharon had never been to Timor-Leste before, she had heard about SPMS and felt led to serve with her dance expertise for the service. Sharon single-handedly produced and choreographed eight dances which were performed during the 5-hour programme to portray the story of the school and God’s hand at work. For the entire month of June, she stayed in SPMS to identify and train the 250 student dancers. This required her to take a leap of faith and close her dance school in Singapore for that period.
Sharon also mobilised others to serve God with their gifts and talents, such as sewing costumes and producing videos. One of these volunteers was Lily John, a choir mistress who came to Timor-Leste for three weeks to set up SPMS’ first choir.
The team from Singapore had a glimpse of the wider kingdom work taking place in Timor-Leste when they had the opportunity to dine at a restaurant school set up by Brazilian missionaries, to train and empower vulnerable girls and young women with the skills to earn a livelihood. Guests also visited the site of Pelican Paradise Resort, Timor-Leste’s first five-star hotel with conference facilities. The resort is a multimillion-dollar investment by Singaporean Datuk Edward Ong to train and employ young people, with the hopes of reducing the nation’s youth unemployment rate.
There are many more missionaries and ministries labouring in Timor-Leste, and we give thanks that the Methodist community in Singapore is participating in God’s call to love Asia’s youngest nation!
We give thanks that the Methodist community in Singapore is participating in God’s call to love Asia’s youngest nation!
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Hear from SPMS partners and supporters
“I am awed by how much the ministry at SPMS has advanced and grown so quickly. Indeed, God is at work through the faithful work of David and his team. I’m inspired by the potential of this ministry and look forward to greater things to come!” ~ Rev Adrian ng, Wesley Methodist Church Pastor
"David Chan is equivalent to a Sophia Blackmore in Timor-Leste, and a David who conquers and kills many Goliath-sized problems. David has uprooted his family from a comfortable place like Singapore to start the school from ground zero, and he has made it. Praise the Lord!” ~ Joseph Lau, LAUD Architects, SPMS Development Project Consultant Architect who worships at Fairfield Methodist Church
“This trip amplifies the opportunities for churches either as a local church or in collaboration with other churches to be involved at SPMS, Sundermeier Home and Dunamis House (MMS hostels). I believe a Christian education will develop the young in Timor and will give this generation a hope for the future and open their eyes to know that there is a God who loves them.” ~ Mun Kwok on, Holland Village Methodist Church LCEC Chair
“I have been ministered to by the stories of faithfulness in tithing, sowing and waiting for God’s timing … I will continue to pray for the people who work the ground in Timor on a daily basis, long after the visitors have left— for their faithfulness and dedication to the work that God has called them to and also for the eyes of faith to see the Lord’s hand moving in the land.” ~ Loo Ming Yaw, Aldersgate Methodist Church Lay Leader
“The trip provided good exposure of the two MMS ministries, SPMS and Sundermeier Home (a student hostel in Gleno). Travelling by ground transportation on the challenging terrain between Dili and Gleno … helped me to appreciate the hardship that mission workers need to go through.” ~ Jacqueline Seah, Ang Mo Kio Methodist Church (TRAC) Missions Chair
