Wesley Tidings Newsletter Issue 04 2015

T I D I N G S

Bi-monthly magazine of Wesley Methodist Church (Singapore)

WesleyISSUE 4 | July - August 2015

MCI (P) 005/01/2015

He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about

the Lord Jesus Christ — with all boldness and without hindrance!

Acts 28:31 (NIV)

Wesley Tidings ISSUE 4 | July-August 20152

Yet do we brag about Him as we do our limited edition music album, car number plate or exclusive club membership? Do we value Him as much as the next coveted special edition item? Or is He just something that we store away and take for granted.

We should never be just one of the few members in His ‘membership club’ – for whilst He is exclusive to those who know Him, He did not come for just you and me. Whilst He should remain that ultimate edition, He should never be a limited edition known only to us. As Pastor Daniel Ho reminded those at Wesley’s church camp in June, we should urgently share Him with others – only then will He be able to transform individuals, our church, families, nation and beyond.

02 From The Editor

03 So Says Our PIC

09 Ministry Focus: Campus

ministries04 Wesley Church Camp

10 Missions

11 Christian Outreach & Social Concerns (COSC)

16 Witness & Evangelism (W&E)

on file15 GOOD Financial Education Workshop

spotlight18 Small Group Celebrates 30th Anniversary

26 Our Heritage

31 Transitions

32 Photo Moment

from the editorcontents

Peggie Chan

Today, people are obsessed by limited editions – watches, luxury villas,

Hello Kitty dolls, signatures of famous people – the list goes on. Limited edition items have evoked in some people a burning desire for ownership – so much so that they would pay heftily, queue endlessly and search painfully till they obtain one.

Largely a marketing gimmick, the concept plays on people’s fascination with being the proud owner of something not everyone can have, or had the opportunity or had the connections to obtain.

The ownership of such an item in turn makes one feel special in some way.

It’s an obsession and a pre-occupation with not having to share with others something you value having.

Christians have that one (very) limited edition – He is Jesus. He is the ultimate edition – He who came down to live amongst us and die on the cross so that we may be saved. In fact, God has made us most wonderfully and fearfully so that we need nothing else in our lives to make us feel special.

LIMITED EDIT

ION

LIMI

TED EDITION

EXCLUSIVE

(Very) Limited Edition

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If a Small Group is too daunting for you, then start a devotions group. Select a few persons whom you think you can get along with and invite them to a devotions

group. Every member of the devotions group will commit to the daily reading of Scripture, following an agreed Bible reading plan1. Once a week, the group meets for an hour. For the first 20 minutes of the meeting, everyone will read the assigned Scripture passage; in the next 20 minutes, write down what God has been saying to you – also called journalling. In the final 20 minutes, share with one another what you think God has spoken to you about through His Word. You can ask the group to commit to a period of six weeks and then revisit your commitment with one another. Perhaps in the course of those weeks, two or three persons may become your community of heart-checkers for you.

But even with the diligence of other believers, we may still not get into the true condition of our hearts. We need the only One who knows us better than ourselves – the Holy Spirit. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us when we do our personal heart checks. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to speak through others when we are in community. A great prayer to say regularly during our heart checks is taken from Psalm 26:2 (NLT), “Put me on trial, LORD, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart.” After all, in the verse following the declaration of the deceitfulness of our hearts, God says that He is the one who searches hearts and examines secret motives, as it is said in Jeremiah 17:10 (NLT), “But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Do you know the condition of your heart? Are you diverting daily, withdrawing weekly and abandoning annually? When was your last spiritual heart check? Has your heart been diagnosed correctly, confirmed by the community of heart-checkers and the Holy Spirit?

The Bible in Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” The condition of your heart determines the course of your life. Don’t wait till your heart gives way before you do your spiritual heart check. It is a matter of life and death!

Pastor Shih Ming

1We have a Bible reading plan for you on our church website www.wesleymc.org

so says our PIC

In the previous issue, I urged you to do a regular spiritual heart check using Rick Warren’s principles

to divert daily, withdraw weekly and abandon annually.

To divert daily is to take time everyday to pray, read the Bible and wait on the Lord – what is often called daily devotions. To withdraw weekly is to ensure you keep the Sabbath – a day of relaxation, re-creation, and resting in the Lord. To abandon annually is to take a few days to be in silence and solitude before the Lord.

To do a proper physical heart check, we need the help of others, like doctors, nurses and technicians. This need for the involvement of other people is even greater for a spiritual heart check because of the nature of our spiritual hearts.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT), “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Far too often, we deceive ourselves about the state of our hearts. When a person offends us, we would attribute that to the other person’s sinful heart. But when we offend someone, often we would attribute that to the situation, to a temporary lapse in the purity of our hearts, and even to the person whom we offended (that is, his behaviour deserved my less than honourable response). We are often reluctant to acknowledge the true state of our hearts.

One reason why God puts us into community is to help us see ourselves for who we are. I remember a week when I was especially busy and I brought work home to do. As I was working on my computer, my daughter came by and asked me to play with her. My immediate reaction was, “Daddy is busy. Please don’t disturb me.” Her immediate reaction was, “You are always working. You don’t have time for me.” In an instant I heard the Holy Spirit say, “You have a distracted heart.” I was distracted from God’s assignment for me. I needed my heart to be cleansed and recalibrated to what is really important in life and to God. God used my daughter to wake my heart up and set me on the road to heart restoration.

This was an unplanned heart check. If we want to have healthy spiritual hearts, we need to be intentional about letting others help us see the condition of our hearts. Do you have two or three persons in your life whom you have granted permission to check your heart? If not, how will you prevent self-deception?

One way to start cultivating your community of heart-checkers is to be in a Small Group. If you are not in a Small Group, just sign up for one and we will get you into a group where you will know and be known by other heart-checkers.

Heart Check II


Church to our Nation and Beyond12 - 15 June 2015 • Swiss Garden Hotel, Malacca • Speaker: Pastor Dr Daniel Ho

wesley church camp

This year’s inspirational speaker actually started life as an electrical engineer. Little

wonder that Pastor Daniel Ho – Senior Pastor of one of Malaysia’s largest Methodist churches – Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) – systematically brought us through the topic of transformation, dissecting each aspect with precision, and putting in place the ‘building blocks’ for the topic – to be transformed by Jesus, before transforming our family, church, the nation and beyond.

Of course, the thrust of the teaching was meant to feed into what I thought was a rather lofty camp theme “Church to our Nation and Beyond”, which suggested a “how to” in reaching out to the unsaved.

PHOTOS: NICHOLAS TAN, LIN XUNLIANG & HO TZIN YIH

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In reality though, the teaching was more about submitting and surrendering ourselves to allow Jesus to transform us, so that in turn, He can work through us to transform our families, our relationships, the community, and eventually to go forth beyond our nation.

Here’s my take on it. Transformation is like creating ripples.

Throw a small pebble into a pond, and gentle ripples are created. Throw a bigger pebble, and the ripples last a little longer and go a bit further.

What size and extend of ripples we can make for God’s Kingdom depends on how much spiritual weight we gain from allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Can we ever be like the spiritual giants of the Christian faith, whom God has used to trigger not just ripples, but spiritual tsunamis?

Where does personal transformation start?We must encounter the power of the Gospel, to believe that it is the only hope for the salvation of the whole world. It is the one thing that can change lives; it turns people from darkness to light and resurrects those who are ‘dead to the world’ back to the living.

Where do we start, and what’s the biggest obstacle?Our minds present the biggest obstacle. We are obstinate people – we are stubborn and close-minded, we are blind. It is only when we are surrendered to God’s Spirit, when we submit to His Word, that our minds can be renewed so that we can live out the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. Easier said than doneWe are a sinful and rebellious people. All through the Bible, God comes through again and again, pouring out His grace, mercy, blessings. Yet time and again, people respond in bizarre and seemingly unappreciative ways.

How true then that Pastor Daniel tell us in the first of his ‘nuggets’ that:

What happens may be only 10% of God’s will; 90% is how we respond.

Of husbands and wives And so the ripple continues. Transformation of one self can help to elevate the relationship between husband and wife. Pastor Daniel highlighted –

> More photos at www.wesleymc.org - Life@Wesley!


wesley church camp

husbands are to love their wives with a sacrificial, sacred and separational kind of love, according to Ephesians 5: 25, 27, 31.

What of the wife? She is to submit to her husband, according to Ephesians 5:22 – a point which Pastor Daniel made clear is not meant to demean, but rather instruct wives to work collaboratively with husbands to achieve common goals in life.

My view is that this scriptural verse is today a much misunderstood and misperceived instruction, and not always readily accepted by especially modern, financially independent women. Nonetheless, it is something to think and reflect about, especially given another one of Pastor Daniel’s ‘nuggets’, which upon reflection, is rather valid:

Submission is a problem of women, just as love is a problem of men.

Of parents and childrenParents are called to model for their children in life and living – in attitude and behaviour, in choices and lifestyle, in relating to people with dignity and respect, and in spirituality and holiness.

Children are to obey, parents are to teach, guide, discipline and not exasperate their children. And even in disciplining a child – never use a hand to discipline, as the same hand is meant to express love.

These are lofty instructions, simply because we are all work in progress. The process of transformation is life-long as we go through different seasons in our life. For me, the tension used to be between devoting time to building my career and spending time with my children. Today, the tensions are between spending time with my aged parents and my adult children, while (and this is the difficult part) resisting being overwhelmed by earthly distractions that take me away from God.

Yes, indeed, transformation is a ‘work in progress’.

A natural response: church, community, nation and beyondTransforming the church, our nation and beyond were the topics in the third and fourth sessions. But it was clear to me that that transformation must come from the power of a transformed life effected by the Holy Spirit.

A life transformed for Christ is then testament to the power of God, through His Word and through the preached word. In response, transformed lives are key to transforming the Church through raising up strong disciples, raising leaders and in the process, strengthening relationships (for example, through Small Groups), shaping values, building character and reaching out to the unsaved and the disadvantaged.

And, bringing this to another level – through reaching out to the community, the nation and beyond, because as Archbishop William Temple says, ”The Church is the only society on earth that exists for the benefit of its non-members.”

Another Pastor Daniel nugget – and this time, a gentle word of caution:

Build ministries around the Lord, never build it around ourselves.

Pastor Daniel concluded the teaching sessions with a call to the Church to be a transforming agent for society and for global transformation.

For me, what was clear from the teaching sessions was the need for personal transformation. It starts with me. I am a work in progress and it may take me a lifetime to be transformed to any reasonable degree that will glorify the Lord.

Meanwhile, I am trying. Surrender. Submit. And allow the Spirit to shape me, mould me, transform me.

It is not a sprint. It is a marathon. We are growing oak trees, not mushrooms.

Christina Stanley

Wesley Church Camp 2016Date: 17 - 20 Jun (Fri-Mon) Speaker: Rev Dr Tan Siang YangVenue: To Be Confirmed

Mark Your cAlEndar!

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of Christ could let down its hair (or puffed up, in some cases, including inflated silicon chests and biceps and triceps) to come together in this memorable way!

Christina “Dahling, Just Call Me Cruella” StanleyChurch Camper and member of Family of God SG

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Fun Night

Transformations of a Different KindThis year’s Fun Night theme opened up great possibilities for interpretation. The theme was Disney – a company that has gone beyond its original franchise of Mickey, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Mermaid. It now includes a slew of businesses it has acquired over the years – companies like Pixar, Marvel Comics and Touchstone.

Spotted in the foyer and ballroom on Level Three of the Swiss Garden Hotel on Sunday night were Mr Incredible and Elastigirl from “The Incredibles”, Superman, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter, Snow White and her band of dwarves with of course, the evil Queen (in completely home-made outfits) in pursuit, a band of characters from “The Snowman”, several Annas from “Frozen”, some Kings and Queens, Peter Pan, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia from “Star Wars”, Princess Jasmine from “Prince of Egypt”, Belle from “Beauty and the Beast”, Pocahontas, Buzz Lightyear, Mr and Mrs Potato Head, with Woody the Cowboy and Jessie the Cowgirl from “Toy Story”, a very elegant and composed Cruella, and another more manic-looking Cruella with a band of compliant spotted doggies from “101 Dalmatians”.

Yes – it was ‘instant transformation’ for many sporting campers, who rented or made costumes from scratch to come together for an evening of laughter, fun, colourful and happy memories. How wonderful indeed that the Body


A First for the TohsEric Toh and his wife, Yuen Teng, together with their two children, Millicent, just over two years old and Mason, seven months old embarked on their maiden church camp experience this year, together with Parakletos, their SG. Here is their reflection.

This was the very first time our family has participated in the Wesley Church Camp. We felt that we could draw closer to God through the talks and discussions outside of our regular Sunday activities at church. The theme for this year’s camp was “Church to Our Nation and Beyond” with four keynote sessions: “Transformed by Jesus”, “Transforming our family”, ”Transforming our Church” and “Transforming the nation and beyond”. Pastor Daniel Ho delivered the message in a clear and candid manner.

We headed up to Malacca together with our Small Group (SG) Parakletos, which is most certainly not small now with three sub-groups, and still growing. Being a family with two young children – a toddler and an infant – we saw our SG members coming together to help baby-sit our infant so as to allow us to participate in the camp talks and activities. Our SG also lent us a vehicle complete with infant and child seats so that we can drive up to the camp venue. Our family certainly found new meaning in Romans 12:4-5: “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Through the camp, we have also gotten to know our SG members better and grown closer to them.

We didn’t manage to attend all the scheduled talks, but God spoke to me at the “Transforming our family” session. The session gave me new insights into how a relationship between a husband and wife, and parents and children should be, as intended by God. We had some issues with our marriage but through application of God’s principles, our relationship was subsequently transformed following the camp. I’m happy to say that we are drawing closer to God now and are able to connect better with our children.

Having the church gather outside of its regular premise in a retreat is a wonderful platform for people to reflect, gather their thoughts, and as a result, draw closer to God. If you have never attended a church camp, I would like to encourage you to go for one. We certainly look forward to next year’s camp.

Eric TohMember of Parakletos SG

wesley church camp ministry focus

First StepsCampus Ministry –

Campus Ministry is a brand new ministry rooted in the Lord with the mission of reaching out and raising up

strong disciples for Christ amongst the youths of today.The ministry was birthed on 4 November 2014 after

Wesley’s Pastor-In-Charge, Pastor Shih Ming, heard and responded to God’s call for Wesley to reach out to prebelieving tertiary students in campuses that are situated around Wesley. Campus Ministry hence seeks to engage our own Wesley campus students, help them recognise their strategic position in their campuses, and empower them to be of great spiritual influences within their communities.

Uniquely sited amongst several tertiary educational campuses such as SMU, LaSalle, NAFA, Wesley Methodist Church is strategically positioned to provide opportunities for students from these campuses to interact. A study hub is being planned and will offer study facilities to these students, believers and pre-believers, so that they can have an optimal environment to study, relax and interact.

Campus Ministry’s Chairperson, Joyce Lo, has tirelessly pursued the goals of Campus Ministry, to provide avenues for students to impact their school environment. As the pastoral care zone leader of the Young Adults zone within the Small Group Ministry, her unique gifts and passion for young adults and students in her zone, has equipped her to take on this additional role as the strategic leader of the new Ministry.

First Steps event on 16 May 2015 at 7Kickstart cafe @ SMU, with Jotham Lim, Pastor Shih Ming, Dinesh Dhillon, Joyce Lo and Henry Tan (from left to right)

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Campus Ministry’s goals is to tap into their youthfulness and gather like-minded youths from all walks of life so that we can impart His Kingdom values to the coming generations who will influence the future of our society. Indeed, we are called to be the salt and light of the earth:

You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father Matt 5:13-16 (NLT).

Michelle Sim and Charmaine Ee

Our very first event Campus UNIte was held earlier this year on 24 January to raise awareness of the ministry amongst Wesleyans. Subsequently, we started meeting up with various organisations like SMU Crusades, as well as teachers and students from the abovementioned schools to garner ideas and form meaningful relationships and collaborations.

Even more recently, Campus Ministry partnered with SMU Cru and conducted a career talk titled “First Steps” – a banker (Joyce Lo), lawyer (Dinesh Dhillon) and an accountant (Henry Tan), all from Wesley Methodist Church, gave students a glimpse into the working world through Christian lenses. More exciting plans are in the pipeline for believers and their pre-believing friends. We are also currently partnering other churches in planning a nationwide Campus Open Forum on 11 September this year.

God’s faithfulness has been evident in His provision for our needs over these past few months. Monthly prayer meetings have been held to pray for this new Ministry and seek His Will and blessings.

The youths of today are the generation of tomorrow. Many of our youths are brimming with a burning passion for God, and

Campus Ministry –

PHOTOS: TERENCE WEE & JOHNNY KOHFirst Steps event at 7Kickstart cafe @ SMU

Campus Ministry’s first inauguration event - Campus UNIte event on 24 Jan 2015


missions

Young and Yielded to God

How did God impress upon your heart that He wanted you to go to Nong Bua Lamphu?I think God began to give me a heart for Thailand when I went on my first missions trip to Isaan seven years ago. Before that, I was just curious about missions and wanted to give it a try. However, after I came back from Nong Bua Lamphu (NBLP), I started having a desire to return. I decided to test this calling from God by going on more trips to various locations and for varying lengths. In the end, I still felt a calling back to Thailand.

After working as an auditor for three years, I contemplated long-term missions. Since Wesley is supporting NBLP Methodist Church, I decided to come here to assist the church as well as to explore my long-term missions calling. What do you do in NBLP?During the youths’ school holidays, I teach English in church every other day. Now that the youths have started school, I teach English in church on Saturdays. I also teach English at a nearby school twice a week. Besides that, I help the church in administration and liaising with

Twenty-eight-year-old Jonathan Kong is on a one-year short-term missions in Nong Bua Lamphu, Isaan, Thailand. He hopes to help grow Wesley’s adopted church.

Wesley Methodist Church and Methodist Missions Society. I also mobilise and engage the youths here in programmes. What lessons has God been teaching you so far?I feel that God has been teaching me that despite everyone’s efforts to run the church, it is His church. I have learnt that our own abilities and strengths matter less than us resting before God and hearing the soft whisper of His voice. God has been teaching me patience and that everything works not according to our timeline but His. God has also been teaching me to move out of my comfort zone and challenging my thoughts that are at times more cultural than Biblical. God has been giving me a love for the Thai people and a desire for them to know Christ as Comforter and Lord of their lives.

What are your hopes for your time here?My hope is that I can assist the pastor of NBLP Methodist Church during my time here in any capacity that I can. I also hope to encourage the youths to continue to grow in Christ and be a witness for Him. Some of them are finishing school and moving on to other provinces to work. I hope to be able to understand the Thai culture and spiritual environment, as well as explore opportunities to help grow the church. I also hope God will reveal His will for me after my year in NBLP Methodist Church.

Jonathan (far right) with the youths at a church camp in Nong Bua Lamphu, IsaanJonathan (far right) with the youths at a church camp in Nong Bua

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cosc Christian Outreach & Social Concerns

Christians and Migrant Workers

“Singapore’s first strike in 25 years shines spotlight on racial tensions,”

declared The Guardian, a British newspaper, on 28 November, 2012. This report referred to a strike carried out by 171 bus drivers from China employed by SMRT who decided not to turn up for work. They felt discriminated against when they found out that their take-home pay was less than what the bus company offered to Malaysian drivers.

About a year later, on the night of 8 December, 2013, Singapore was shaken by a riot said to involve some 400 people. “Little India riot: 18 injured, 27 arrested,” so reported TODAY newspaper on 9 December 2013. That incident saw a police car being set on fire, an ambulance stopped from reaching the injured and projectiles thrown at police officers.

Without getting into the details of why the strike took place or the riot broke out, and whether the disciplines meted out on the striking bus drivers and the rioters were fair, the two unfortunate

events which happened a few years ago involved migrant workers. In some ways, they were incidents waiting to happen when we consider the large number of migrant workers who have flocked to Singapore to earn a living. These are guest labourers who left their homes in search of better employment which would pay them enough to support their families. While in Singapore, apart from working long hours, they need decent accommodations, public space to socialise and fair-minded employers who would pay them a just wage.

Unsettling PresenceWhile there are foreign talents who have been assiduously courted to work in Singapore because of their specialised skills and their sought-after professional qualifications, the majority of the migrant workers came to Singapore to take up menial jobs with low pay, such as construction workers, garbage collectors, bus drivers, factory hands, cleaners and

domestic helpers; jobs which Singapore lack people to fill or which choosy Singaporeans refuse to take up. In any case, it is usually the unskilled migrant workers who are more susceptible to be exploited both by unprincipled agents from their home country and unscrupulous employers in Singapore.

For some Singaporeans, the presence of migrant workers can be unsettling. Foreign nationals may be seen as competitors for jobs which some Singaporeans assume should be theirs. Such an assumption has made migrant workers easy targets for blame when jobless Singaporeans encounter difficulty in securing employment. Get into the social media, and we often read unkind remarks about migrant workers and the so-called “foreign talents.” Sadly, in the minds of certain xenophobic locals all over the world, migrant workers have been deemed not so much as persons but as parasites or replaceable economic spare parts.

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It is difficult to obtain a clear figure of the current number of foreign workers in Singapore. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-government organisation estimated in 2007 that “roughly two out of every seven workers legally employed in Singapore is a foreign worker” (www.twc2.org.sg). For the year 2000, Dr Brenda S A Yeoh of the National University of Singapore quoted a figure of 612,200 foreign workers employed in Singapore (www.migrationinformation.org). That figure constituted about 29 percent of the total labour force in Singapore. Unlike skilled workers and professionals who command higher pay and benefits and are better provided for, unskilled workers receive low wage and are usually housed in isolated and cramped dormitories. For a long time the majority of domestic helpers did not have regular day-offs and many of them arrived in Singapore with debts to service from loans taken from employment agencies in their home countries, way before receiving a full salary.

Occasionally there were reports of workers being promised jobs which were not available; employers failing to pay wages promised or failed to pay wages on time; injured workers without proper employment documentations left to fend for themselves with no pay, no shelter and no medical care; employers demanding their domestic helpers perform dangerous duties like cleaning windows in high-rise apartments without being properly secured; and workers being physically abused by ill-tempered employers; domestic helpers working long hours and given irregular and poor meals

Christians and ForeignersHow should Christians respond to the presence of migrant workers? Hopefully the migrant workers should not be seen as unwelcome competitors (in the case of professionals) or treated as ‘slaves’ (especially domestic helpers and unskilled

workers). It may help to remember that having migrant workers is not a modern-day phenomenon. There is a long history of migration among people. Many of them often have to leave their country of birth in search of a better life. Those who relocate voluntarily may be described as economic migrants. They accept the responsibility of finding a job overseas to take care of their personal and familial needs. Someone has to bring home the rice to feed the hungry mouths.

Putting aside criminals who may migrate to escape capture, once in a while we have people relocating from one country to another because they are forced to do so as a result of war, social upheavals, natural disasters or political persecution. In situations like these, those who have to leave their country reluctantly, more often than not would end up as vulnerable strangers in foreign lands.

The Bible tells us that Abraham and Sarah left their home to live as aliens in unfamiliar territory. After Joseph became a senior officer in Pharaoh’s court, Jacob and the rest of his family joined him in Egypt because of the famine at home. During the exilic period, Israelites became foreigners while they lived in Babylonia. Much later during the New Testament time, when Christians were persecuted and dispersed, many of them lived as aliens in different countries, both in the theological and political sense. Closer home, if we consider the history of Singapore, most of the present-day Singaporeans are descendents of migrants from China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

About the author The Rev Dr Daniel Koh Kah Soon, pastor at Christalite Methodist Chapel, is a lecturer at Trinity Theological College where he teaches Pastoral Theology and Ethics. He is also active in Christian social outreach, particularly with the Methodist Welfare Services where he is the Vice-Chairperson.

Loved by God tooWhoever the migrant workers may be, they are people with God-given dignity and therefore should be treated as persons loved by God to be loved by us, and not for us to mistreat them as mere economic tools or faceless slaves.

Ordinarily, migrant workers are vulnerable and powerless, easily exploited by the unscrupulous and callous. Like the orphans and widows whom God loves and seeks to protect (e.g., Deut. 14:29; 16:11, 14), migrant workers, as vulnerable people, have a special place in God’s heart as well. Just as God cares for the well-being of sojourners, we should care for the vulnerable migrant workers too; particularly the construction workers, the garbage collectors, the cleaners, and the domestic helpers in our land (see Ex 22:21, 23:9; Lev 19:34, 25:6; Deut 10:19).

Whether one is an employer of migrant workers or whether one is among the many households in Singapore – including many Christian families – that employ domestic helpers, we should listen to the counsel of God, “Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns” (Deut 24:14). Instead, as the Israelites were told, so we now remind ourselves, “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The aliens living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself …. I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:33, 34).

Rev Dr Daniel Koh Kah Soon

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Simple JoysA Day at the Carnival with Friends

Four Indian migrant workers wearing the winning team’s maroon-coloured

T-shirts were huddled at a corner, relaxing under the shade. They had just won the first prize at Talentime, and clearly had tremendous fun. I walked up to them and all eyes turned on me.

One of them spoke better English, and he soon became the self-appointed spokesperson. I could not make out some of his words, and was feeling mildly awkward. But he was determined to communicate. Within a minute of chatting, I found something in common between Kotishankar, his friends and me.

Wesley Methodist Church’s Christian Outreach and Social Concerns (COSC) Ministry, Asia Evangelistic Fellowship and HealthServe jointly organised the Carnival with Friends at Highpoint Social Enterprise Ark located in the heart of Geylang. About 400 migrant workers from nine dormitories all over Singapore attended the carnival on Vesak Day.

This was one “United Nations” festival, as Singaporeans would say. The guests were Bangladeshi, Chinese and Indian, and serving them were some 160 Wesley volunteers, as well as food vendors of different races.

Over six hours, the migrant workers enjoyed being the guests of honour. The food stalls served up a variety of ethnic foods: ladoo, putu piring, vadai, nuts, ice cream, roti prata, satay and so on.

The game stalls were a hit. Long queues of migrant workers snaked out from every stall, each eager to try their hands at a variety of funfair games like picking up marbles, paper cup slide and mini golf. The waiting time for the photo-taking

1 June 2015 • Highpoint Social Enterprise Ark

booth grew to a whopping 30 minutes at one point; yet, the queue continued to form. Workers held up handwritten messages like “I love my family”, “I love India” or their favourite items for the camera, and then waited excitedly for the photo printouts. Presumably, these photos would be sent back to their families; wives missing their husbands

would take comfort in seeing their loved ones, and children will not forget their fathers.

The energy and zest at the mass dance was infectious; and at Talentime, I saw pure joy on the faces of participants as they break-danced, twisted, shook, glided, and did about every unimaginably smooth dance movement like gymnasts on

sugar rush. I had never seen anything with such gusto, as groups of workers lost themselves in rhythmic movement at the throbbing of the music. And then there were those who impassionedly praised God with songs, eliciting “Amens” and “Hallelujahs” from the crowd. Those who know God love Him, and His praise

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PHOTOS: HENRY LIM



is always on their lips. As Rev Prabhu, President of the

Emmanuel Tamil Annual Conference, shared the Word of God with a crowd waiting for the results of the Talentime, the audience listened with rapt attention. There was a great deal of respect for the preacher and for the Word.

God was surely at the centre of it all. He brought that simple joy into the hearts of every guest and volunteer. He brought groups of people who would normally never meet, let alone mingle, together. Singaporeans and migrant workers played a friendly soccer match; Indians and Chinese cheered on their teammates together; Singaporean youths led the genetically dance-wired crowd in slick moves. I was told that some Chinese officials on an exchange programme at the National University of Singapore set up a Chinese calligraphy booth for the migrant workers on hearing about this carnival, and in spite of the language barrier, they were enriched and keen to do it again.

Every guest eventually received prizes in the form of supermarket vouchers for their participation; the winning teams were given more.

Kotishankar and his friends were a happy group for coming in first in the Talentime. They work at a shipyard in the Jurong Industrial Estate, the same one that my Dad had worked at for forty years to raise my brother and I. They, and many friends like them, do hard labour under the sun, contributing to the prosperity of our economy, so that Singaporeans like my Dad can raise families in our own country. A day like this is a simple joy for them.

In simple English, Kotishankar summed up his day: “This event is very good. They organise well and logistics are very good. They even have a live speech [referring

to Rev Prabhu’s sharing of the Word] and prizes. We are very happy.”

Will you come back again if there is another carnival next year?

All four heads nodded and said “Yes!”

Noelle Tang

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GOOD Financial Education Workshop

on file

27 June 2015 • Wesley Plaza Hall

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As part of the Getting Out Of Debt (GOOD) initiative, Methodist

Welfare Services (MWS), the Institute for Financial Literacy and MoneySense (a national financial education programme) jointly conducted a financial education workshop, with volunteer facilitators from Wesley Methodist Church. The workshop drew encouraging response from 30 participants of diverse backgrounds, all of whom wanted to develop sound management over their personal finances.

At the heart of this initiative is Leviticus 25:10 which calls for the cancellation of debts every fiftieth year – the year of Jubilee – so that everyone may be free to start life anew, and have the opportunity to lead full and meaningful lives. As Ms Yap Lee Lee, Director for Communications and Fundraising at MWS poignantly commented, “Debt is a symptom of a host of underlying problems in a person’s life. However, it is a crippling symptom that prevents the person from addressing the underlying problems.”

Participants were greeted by several friendly ushers before being led into Plaza Hall, where they met with Mr Tan Swee Chiew, Trainer with the Institute for Financial Literacy. After a brief introduction, Mr Tan proceeded to highlight the key learning points of the workshop which were: a) How to track spendingb) How to start a budget and savec) How to earn more incomed) How to cut down expenses and spend

money carefully

As the first essential step towards reaching a healthy financial situation, Mr Tan asked participants to record their monthly expenses by category, such as utilities, housing loan, insurance, transport and groceries. Participants initially struggled to recall what these items were, but the gentle probing by facilitators helped jog their memories. These expenses were then aggregated to arrive at the total monthly expenditure, which was then compared to participants’ monthly salaries. Mr Tan then explained that debt occurs when expenditures exceed income.

Next, participants were shown how to develop a monthly budget. From their monthly income, a fixed portion would be channeled into savings. Next, “must pay” expenses were identified and subtracted from the remaining 90 per cent. The rest of the money would be divided between four envelopes, each representing a week of the month. Participants were then advised that they should only be spending the amount within the envelopes and

delay expenditures until they had a sufficient of money available. Mr Tan showed participants how to know if they were over-spending. Helpful indicators included the following:

• Using savings to pay bills• Not paying bills on time• Saving less each month while income

remains the same• Borrowing from friends and relatives

As the workshop continued, participants were taught how to increase their monthly income. Facilitators played an important role during the idea generation exercise, using their knowledge of the participant’s background from self-introductions at the beginning of the workshop to suggest tailored and practical advice on how each participant could increase their monthly income.

Mr Tan then proceeded to teach participants about how to reduce their

Continue on page 30


At the end of the evening, about 100 people had signed up for the Alpha course, and more are on the way till the course starts on the week of 27 July – weekly for 10 sessions mainly hosted by various Small Groups on different days and time of each week.

witness & evangelism

Acts 2 Church Alpha Initiative

First Alpha Introduction DinnerOn 22 May 2015, more than 400 participants turned up for the first Alpha Introduction Dinner – over 300 for the English session and over 70 for the Mandarin session. We were encouraged by the turnout, and to see so many Wesleyans reaching out and bringing their pre-believing friends and loved ones to the event.

The Introduction Dinner had all the hallmarks of the Alpha course experience – warm hospitality, good food, and genuine conversation. Our speakers for the evening, Rev Miles Toulmin (for English Alpha) and Mrs Louise Fong (for Mandarin Alpha), addressed common questions that many pre-believers have about Christianity: Is it true? Is it relevant? Is it boring? There was much murmuring and nodding of heads amongst the participants as the questions were asked – these were perhaps pressing questions that they had, and they were perhaps relieved that they were not alone in having such questions.

Alpha Introduction Dinner 2015A follow up of the Acts2 Church Campaign

English Alpha

Mandarin Alpha

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Good Things Come In Twos – The Second Alpha Introduction Dinner The second Alpha Introduction Dinner was held on 10 July. It provided another chance for those who were not available for the first session. This was a rare opportunity as Wesley usually organises just one Introduction Dinner a year. A total of more than 300 participants came on that evening!

For more details and enquiries of Wesley Alpha Course, please go to Wesley Website www.wesleymc.org or email to [email protected]

Shareen Tan

Good Things Come In Twos – The Second Alpha

The second Alpha Introduction Dinner was held on 10 July. It provided another chance for those who were not available for the first session. This was a rare opportunity as Wesley usually organises just one Introduction Dinner a year. A total of more

For more details and enquiries of Wesley Alpha Course, or email to

Shareen Tan

It was not easy getting acceptances to my invitations to come for the Alpha Introduction Dinner. Out of seven persons whom I invited,

only one accepted and came with her husband. They enjoyed the casual dinner in a relaxed setting. The talk was also done in a relaxed manner and content was easy to understand without heavy Christian jargon. It helped to stir their curiosity and they agreed to sign up for the Alpha course at the end of that night! Praise God for hungry hearts and desire to know Him more!

Geok Cheng

Three Wesleyans share their experiences at the first Alpha Introduction Dinner:

We praise God for close to 400 participants registered for the Alpha Course and more than 30 Small Groups are hosting the participants.

After witnessing how God had touched my mum in accepting Christ as her Saviour through last year’s Mandarin Alpha Course,

I was motivated and encouraged to reach out to my father and two brothers. The Alpha Introduction Dinner was a good platform to let them know the purpose and contents of the course in a non-

threatening environment. I was also blessed to have my brothers and sisters in Christ from my Rejoice Small Group that helped me to attend to my brothers’ needs at the English session while I brought my father to the Mandarin session.

Serene

I invited my parents-in-law to the Alpha Introduction Dinner.

However, only Sherry’s mom could make it as her father had a last-minute engagement. She enjoyed the buffet, games and sharing session in Mandarin. Although she did not sign up for the course, she was singing along with the hymns and praises. We believe that God will continue to work through us to touch their hearts and will invite them again for the coming Alpha Course session. Their grandchildren, Faith and Emanuel, can be very persuasive and will hopefully be successful in convincing them!

Christopher

Extreme right: Geok Cheng

Wesley Tidings ISSUE 4 | July-August 201518 Wesley Tidings ISSUE 4 | July-August 201518

spotlight

1985 201530 YearsCELEBRATING


Our mission statement “Growing Groups That Bear Lasting Fruit” has served us well for the past five years. I don’t think

we need to change it. But I think we need to go deeper and ask ourselves these three questions.

1. Why bear fruit? 2. How to bear fruit? 3. What does it mean to bear fruit?

Why bear fruit?Firstly, it is a command. In John 15:2, the Bible says that “God cuts off every branch that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” In fact, the Bible even says that “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt 7:19)

Secondly, we are chosen and appointed by God to bear fruit. John 15:16 says “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you.”

Thirdly, it is our calling and purpose. Romans 7:4 says, “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”

How to bear fruit? The Bible says in John 15:5 that if we abide in Him, and Him in us, we will bear much fruit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Instead of commanding us to bear fruit, Jesus’ only command

was to “abide in Him.” Fruit bearing is impossible without abiding, but is inevitable with abiding. The quality and quantity of the fruit may differ, but the presence of fruit will be inevitable.

This is further seen in 1 Cor 3:6 which reads, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” Notice also the parallel with our three GNF strategies - Gathering (planting the seed), Nurturing (watering it) and Flowering (making it grow). Our Small Groups (SG) can gather and nurture, but only God can make us flower. So our groups need to be rooted in Christ and abide in Him.

What does it mean to bear fruit?John 15:8 says, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” By bearing fruit, we show ourselves to be His disciples. Isn’t this what we are called to be? True disciples of Christ.

In conclusion, we observed that in John 15:1-11, there are three categories of branches - those bearing no fruit, those bearing some fruit and those bearing much fruit. Which category is your SG in?

A Word From The Chairperson

Alex, Joyce and their daughters, Chloe and Audrey

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The Sixth Avenue SG is one of the earlier SGs in Wesley. It was formed in late 1991 right after our members finished

the Baptism and Membership Class (BMC). We began to meet regularly from early 1992. The group was initially guided by the late Mrs James, who was our BMC facilitator. At the start, our meetings were held at Allamanda Grove, or at Kingsmead Road where meetings are still usually held today! Both are near Sixth Avenue and are convenient locations as many of our

Growing in GodSixth Avenue SG

members still live around the area, hence the name of our SG.We began with about 12 members and over the years,

our membership has fluctuated. Attendance at meetings ranged from as few as four members - due to some dropping out for personal reasons or being away – to as many as 20 or more when new members joined or when all members showed up.

We give thanks to God for leading us and helping us to persevere as a SG despite our ups and downs, with seemingly uncommitted members at times. Through the years, we have seen God’s hand in helping the group grow. We have currently more than 20 members – not a very small SG!

I cannot recall exactly how long I have served as Sixth Avenue’s SG leader (SGL), perhaps 20 years or more. I wasn’t a regular member at the inception of the group and like many, had no desire to be a SGL. I only decided to play a more active role after some months. During one meeting, someone was invited to teach at our SG. However, certain differences in our theological inclinations left me feeling uncomfortable. It was

during this episode that I felt prompted by God to step up to guide the group, toggling leadership roles amongst two or three of the members. This incident highlights the importance of the oversight role and accountability of members.

Over the years, the group has seen many of its members grow in their personal walk with the Lord, along with some sadly falling away. Although none of the ‘original’ members (barring one) are still in the group, many of them have moved on to serve in various other capacities and ministries, both within and outside Wesley. We also had pre-believers (including spouses) who have become part of the group and some have become Christians and are growing in their relationship with the Lord.

The composition and dynamics of the group have also evolved over time. Meeting formats have

been modified through the years and will continue to be ‘improved’ on. Our members have grown closer to each other and are able to share more openly in recent years.

As we are a rather large SG, we have had to manage having visitors. With more than 20 members in our group, we didn’t really intend for more members. However, during last year’s Meeting Jesus in the Gospels (MJC) campaign, God led three new members to us. It was very clear that they were meant to be with us then, and even more so now. How God orchestrated this still amazes us. We also thank God that during the Acts 2 Church (A2C) campaign this year, some of the earlier or absent members re-joined the group.

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SGM is celebrating our 30th anniversary this year. We started in 1985 with eight groups. By end 1998, we had 69 groups. In 2009, we had grown to 138 groups. As of July 2015, we have a total of 203 groups. We are thankful that God has blessed this ministry tremendously. We are indeed thankful for the numbers but what is more important are these questions:

1. Are our SGs healthy and vibrant?2. Are our SGs bearing fruit?3. Do our SGs exist for community or do our SGs exist in

community for Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, Outreach and Worship?

Alex Lai

Here are stories from some Small Groups:

First SG meeting in 2015


spotlight


In 1987, a close friend of ours invited my wife and me to attend Wesley Methodist Church. We did so, and we soon felt quite

at home. One of our first priorities, after transferring membership to

Wesley, was to join an SG. I was an SG leader in our previous church, and we knew that being in an SG would help us to have fellowship with other church members, grow spiritually and develop a stronger sense of ‘belonging’ to the church.

The SG nearest our home was Telok Blangah SG, so named because the meetings were held in a member’s home in Telok Blangah. In those days, SGs were named according to their geographical locations so that one could determine immediately which group was nearest.

Our group leader was Mrs Chen Swee Soo, and we had about eight members. At each meeting, we spent some time in worship, and Mrs Chen led us in Bible study. Then we prayed for one another, and ended with some light refreshments. Over

Telok Blangah SG

time, our group developed close bonds which we would not have been able to do by simply attending church. This is especially so when we shared our personal cares and concerns and prayed for one another.

In 1990, Mrs Chen handed over the leadership to me. In a simple ceremony, the group members laid hands on me, and prayed for our Lord’s blessing.

In 1993, our ‘host’ member transferred to another church, and the group moved its meetings to our home in Lower Delta Road. We were glad that we could offer our home to be a blessing to others through the SG ministry. We retained the name “Telok Blangah Small Group” for sentimental reasons.

At that time, the pastor-in-charge was Rev Isaac Lim, and he was very supportive of the SG ministry. He taught the SG leaders personally during the SG leaders’ meetings. We still remember him teaching us the book of Romans. Likewise, Rev Wee Boon Hup was also very pro-active in the ministry. During the SG Leaders’ retreat, he would engage all the leaders in open discussions regarding the growth, improvements and planning of the ministry.

In those days, Wesley had around 50 SGs and it was at this time that the idea of forming groups out of Baptism and Membership classes was introduced.

As to challenges we face as an SG, I would say it is in the area of attendance. When attendance dwindles, it reminds us of how stressful working life is, and how it can crowd out our spiritual life and commitment. There were times when we had only three members attended, but we still carried on for we knew it was the Lord’s work and the important thing was to avail ourselves for His service. The Lord is faithful – now we have an average attendance of eight to ten.

A significant part of SG life is the close ties we have developed amongst ourselves over two decades, the support we give one another as well as the many answered prayers (including the salvation of one of our member’s relatives). As SG leaders, we feel really blessed and we are very appreciative of the members that the Lord has brought to us.

This year, as in the past three years, our SG intends to be one of the hosts for the Alpha Course. Since the Act 2 Church (A2C) Campaign, we have started praying for friends and relatives whom we will be inviting for the Alpha introduction dinner. Some may ask, “Why would a mature group do Alpha?”

The answer is that it is the mature groups that have all the more reason to do Alpha as their maturity and experience can speak volumes to the Alpha participants. Through Alpha, the Lord can also rejuvenate the SG with an infusion of new blood – three of our current members are actually ‘graduates’ of Alpha that we hosted.

Admittedly, hosting Alpha does take up considerable time and effort, but it is only for the duration of about 10 weeks. The

It is the Assistant SG Leaders’ and my prayer that Sixth Ave will continue to bond in fellowship and to serve God and one another in the various ministries. One of our latest activities was serving in collaboration with Christian Outreach and Social Concerns Ministry (COSC) to organise games for the elderly at a Christmas dinner for the residents of Bethany Nursing Home last December. We went to bless and we were blessed in return.

This year, we are now exploring ways to serve more regularly as a group in outreach programmes and should have begun even as you read this. As the members grow within the group, we also pray that more will reach out to spawn new SGs.

Elaine Cheo

Telok Blangah SG Christmas dinner gathering

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I had an opportunity once to talk to a great scientist and inventor colleague, who told me that breakthroughs often

come from starting things without knowing exactly where you will go. One thing leads to another, like a chain reaction until

A Leap of FaithFOG SG

blessings and joy of seeing people accepting Christ and growing in faith far outweigh the cost. Alpha is also a good place to start to reach out to pre-believing relatives. Through Alpha we have seen our nephew re-commit his life to God and his pre-believing girlfriend accepting Christ.

Although most of our members were too busy to commit to 10 weeks of Alpha, we decided nonetheless to go ahead and host Alpha for the past three years. By God’s grace, He provided us with two other members who stepped up to help us. The others, of course, though not physically present, supported us in prayer. During the 10 weeks of Alpha, our usual meetings were moved to another weekday so that we could hold Alpha on Fridays. This meant that after the Alpha course ended, we could resume our meetings on Fridays and invite our Alpha ‘graduates’ to join us.

One cannot over-emphasise the importance of SG in the life of the church. It is easy to get lost in a big church like Wesley and never really know fellow church members. But being in a SG is akin to becoming a member of a family – one that helps us in our spiritual journey. So to all those who are not in SGs, I strongly encourage you to give it a try and find a group in which you feel comfortable, and allow yourself to experience God’s blessings.

Ong Lin

suddenly a gem appears – something more wonderful than you had imagined.

When my wife and I joined our SG, Family Of God (FOG), I had no knowledge nor prior experience of what an SG is. Nevertheless, we were moved by the pastor’s sermons and church announcements to seek one out.

We never imagined we would find a group of people who are willing to offer help and pray for our smallest or largest needs, and who constantly renew and create joy in our lives.

During our regular SG meetings and fellowships, it was apparent that the fruit of the Spirit are manifested in my brothers and sisters in the group. This is in spite of our diverse background, experiences and interests. This diversity is truly blessed, because it has brought us many new friendships and experiences – Bible insights, food, outdoor activities, outreach projects etc. Being with my SG breathes life and conviction of the truth of the Word for me.

For a number of years, my aged mother had been immobile and unable to communicate because of advanced dementia. Like many with pre-believing parents, I was anxious about her salvation and requested for prayers during one of our SG meetings. Through an increasingly wondrous and almost unbelievable chain of events – enabled by intercessions from my SG leader, Geok Cheng, church missionary Mrs Louise Fong and pastors – my mother came to know and received Christ earlier this year. She passed away two months later, a child of God – something I had not imagined possible. Throughout the wake and after the funeral, my brothers and sisters from FOG were my emotional and spiritual pillars.

I now know that my colleague was really describing leaps of faith in how he creates breakthrough inventions. I thank God for directing me to take a leap of faith to join our SG, which in turn has led me to grow my own faith and trust in Him.

Chok Si Chiang

FOG SG outing at MacRitchie Treetop walk


spotlight


God’s Clay SGThe Beginning“There will be many more people coming to your Small Group.”

“As for the long-time members, remember to take care of one another. It’s easy to hurt each other’s feelings, and it is the small things that hurt. Careless words. The things you should have said, but didn’t say. The things you could have done, but didn’t do.”

“And don’t worry about who stays or leaves. Just love one another.”

These were the last thoughts on my mind before I drifted to sleep on the night before our SG retreat in December 2012.

I didn’t know where the thoughts came from, but I remember agreeing with them. I thought to myself, “I should tell the SG about this tomorrow... I will tell the SG tomorrow. And thank God I will have something to say at the retreat!” Having to lead a retreat always scares me.

And at this retreat, everyone gamely smiled and nodded, even though I nagged them to love one another, which is a well-known command in Christianity, and I had little basis for my belief that more people would come to my SG. None of us could see then how our SG would grow. We had seen only each other’s faces for the last ten years. We rarely thought about including new people in our weekly activities, and the concept of outreach and evangelism was as foreign and uncomfortable as speaking Chinese is for some of us.

And then we grewBut fast forward three years to the present, God’s Clay has grown so much that we have had to multiply to form three smaller groups.

At first, people joined us randomly, without our planning. Wen Hao brought Avril, and she brought us to all the wonderful

places beyond Dhoby Ghaut to eat. Gifford, whom Ben had been stubbornly ‘chasing’ for three years to know Christ, through a series of events, made an unexpected decision on a bridge outside Trinity Theological College to follow Christ. Teresa searched for a SG through the Small Group Ministry, and we nearly ‘missed’ her when I did not reply to her email for weeks. Teresa then brought Joel, her old SG friend, who met Cherie. Cherie had been studying overseas, but has been in our SG group she was fourteen. They fell in love and are now engaged.

Then in 2013, we decided we would host the Alpha Course as an SG. It wasn’t because we had a vision or a wish to expand. It was because we had been reading the same books for so long, that we wanted to step out to do something different together. I remember what it was like when we made the decision: Joel was filled with determination, reminding us how often we had said we would step out, while the rest of us looked at each other, wondering who would be the first to object.

The decision was a major turning point. As it turned out, Alpha yielded so much for us, even though we had only one guest who joined and stayed with us for the entire twelve weeks – Pei Qi. Pei Qi had been a Christian for only a few months when she joined us, but she infected us with her love for God, for learning about Christianity, and her ability to share the Gospel in the most sincere way. From then on, we decided, as an SG, never to close our doors to new people again. Previously, we had been as stale as the Dead Sea, and we didn’t realise it. Now, we were blessed by streams of living water and have changed in irreversible ways by the people who kept joining us!

In the three years that followed, God showed us the joys of keeping our doors opened. We attended the SG Discovery in late 2013, and met Calvin and Justin. Meanwhile, Myra and Andrea strolled in. Then, we prepared ourselves for newcomers during the MJC in early 2014, and ‘found’ David, John, Michell, Felicia, and Anabel. In late 2014, we met Zhi Xiong, Nico and Yi Zhen after The Saturday Service. Pearlyn and Sherilyn came to us on a friend’s recommendation, and Sandra found us through Wesley’s Welcome Corner soon after arriving in Singapore.

By 2015, there was a sea of change. God’s Clay had multiplied into three groups, and almost every one of our new leaders and retreat organisers were individuals who had joined us in the last three years – people we had once called “new”.

Each person brought with them a special love and life that kept affirming our decision to always keep our doors open. There are many more who visited and blessed us with their company but ultimately did not stay. Through it all, God encouraged us with the same reminder: Don’t worry about who stays or leaves. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. Just love one another, and keep loving one another.

God’s Clay during their 2014 retreat

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God is always with usIt isn’t always easy being part of an expanding SG. As we grew bigger, our resources were stretched. Leaders couldn’t oversee everyone. SG meetings felt rushed and superficial. People were left out. The solution was to multiply, but that had its own problems. How should we split? Should we assign people to separate groups? If we let people choose as they please, would we be allowing popularity to rule? Do we have enough leaders? What if people get angry and leave? We planned. We argued, as different personalities tend to clash. Wiser individuals prayed for one another. Then, we became silent again, and it seemed that we had dragged each other around in circles for nothing.

But, then, an amazing thing happened. People who were once welcomed, started to befriend the newcomers and the lonely. People who were once led, saw the stress lines and started to step up by initiating worship and prayer, and organising activities outside of the SG. Unexpectedly, just one week before A2C started in 2015 and we were no longer thinking about the problem, multiplication happened naturally. And with that, we were in time to receive more people. Within the first three weeks of A2C, our first group had 17 new members and was up and running. Our second group consisted of a happy mix of existing and new members who laughed more loudly and enjoyed each other’s company more deeply. Our third group was small in number but was made up of introverts who quietly relished the experience of being in a truly small SG.

It didn’t happen because we planned it. It didn’t happen because we had heard God and then excellently executed a given blueprint. It happened despite our ignorance, through conflict and periods of confusion and silence, and much patience, wisdom and laughter from each other. God’s message, which was the same from the beginning to the end, had in the process become imprinted in us with increasing certainty: Love one another. Trust Him. Obey Him. And never be afraid.

Wong HuiminGod’s Clay SG Leader

God’s Clay 2012 - New friends! And making things with Joel Ang’s handmade design

Serving Our CommunityZone 1 SG Outreach

It was a few years ago through an informal poll done in a Zone 1 leaders meeting, that we realised that many of the leaders

in our zone have had little exposure to participating in outreach activities in the community we live in. And thus we realised that many are missing out on the joy of serving in this way! So our PCZL, Ai Mei, and our APCZLs Elaine and Andrew, started to encourage our leaders to take that first step into doing outreach work.

Our first event was to bring them together to paint and clean up the one-room flat of an elderly lady in Indus road. Although it was hard work as the place hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, it was fun and some of us learned quite a bit about painting. The biggest challenge for the ladies was the discovery of bed bugs and cockroaches! But our brave and gallant guys rose to our rescue and squashed them as soon as they saw them!

The following year in 2013 we encouraged our Zone 1 groups to come together to serve the needy and wheelchair-bound elderly in Bethany Nursing Home. We had about 25 members from eight groups participating, with a number of young children. We catered a buffet lunch for the residents, and members of the SGs came together to serve food to the residents, and mingle and talk to them. We also had a photo-taking session in which we took instant photos of them, which they appreciated. The talented members of WtT (Walk-the-Talk) SG also entertained the residents with songs and playing the ukulele. It was a joyful and rewarding afternoon at the Home.

Having had this experience at Bethany Home, we encouraged the Zone 1 groups to come together to visit and befriend the residents more regularly. It is only through regular befriending

Zone 1’s first event at Bethany Nursing Home in 2013


spotlight


The SGM organised a get-together in which leaders from six SGs (see table on page 25) shared their experiences

of leading an SG. This meeting was unique in that it brought together leaders of three ‘old’ groups and three new groups. Telok Blangah SG, Upper Paya Lebar SG and Toa Payoh SG were formed when the SGM started in 1985 some 30 years ago, and D’Light SG from Youth Ministry, A Community to Serve SG and BMC 1 2015 Group 4 were formed recently, one of which, as recent as after the A2C campaign earlier this year.

One of the aims of the meeting was for leaders to understand how the changing roles of an SG leader over the years. Yet, it was clear that some essential qualities of an SG leader remain the same. The group identified three such qualities:

1) Making oneself available to serve Many people shy away from stepping up to be an SG leader

because they feel they are not ready. However, it was surprising how even after 30 years, leaders are not ‘found’ by their depth of spiritual maturity but because that they have made themselves available to God and were obedient to be in His service. Desmond Yiong from ACTS SG shared that he was actually going through a challenging time in his life and did not think that he had a capacity to lead; but he took a step in faith anyway to be a leader and only realised some time after that leadership was what God had prescribed to minister to him and to lift his spirits.

3 Plus 3A Get-Together for SG Leaders

visits that friendships and relationships can be forged, and the love of Christ be shared with these residents.

With this aim in mind, we started our first visit to Hope Ward (an all-male ward) in August 2014 with about 25 members. The members rallied together to bring food, sing songs, play bingo, chit-chat and mingle and befriend the “uncles” in the ward. We were truly blessed to have the opportunity to liven up the atmosphere in the ward and to just spend the afternoon with the residents. We prayed for those who were bed-bound and could not participate in the activities. Andrew, our APCZL, led by example by bringing his whole family to the Home and introducing his young children to the outreach ministry too.

We have since made a commitment to Bethany home to visit the Ward once in two months for a year, and we thank God that we have been able to continue with the bi-monthly visits thus far. However, one challenge we do face is that our members have busy schedules and many are sometimes not able to commit on a longer-term basis. Although the turnout has not been as big as on our first visit, I am encouraged by those who have been able to participate more regularly. They are, in turn, encouraged by the joy in the faces of the residents during their visits. I am also encouraged by some of the “uncles” who ask us, “When will you be back again?”

I trust the Lord is using us to make a positive difference in the lives of these residents. Let us continue to find time to ‘invest’ in helping the poor and needy, so that having forged friendships, we may one day ‘invite’ them to receive Jesus into their lives.

Elaine SohAssistant Pastoral Care Zone Leader

WtT SG serving the residents with music and song while they had their lunch

Leaders in a discussion on handling absenteeism in the SGs

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2) Having a serving Heart Angeline Yang from Upper Paya Lebar SG said that the

leadership of the Upper Paya Lebar SG was thrust upon her by her mother and that she felt she wasn’t prepared for it. But as she took it on, she felt that being an SG leader did not mean having a special talent but to have a serving heart that enabled her to look out for members and to foster a safe environment in which they could share their joys and struggles in confidence. Piao Lee from BMC Group 4 shared that while it is only human to be anxious about disappointing one’s SG, it is important to remember that: In all that we do, we only seek to serve and glorify God.

3) Being humble Some people are uncomfortable being leaders as it connotes

an awe-inspiring responsibility but in God’s kingdom, humility in spirit is what God looks for. Doris Chow from Toa Payoh SG, who was away but through a written testimony, shared that being humble and always dependent on the Holy Spirit brought many surprises from God – she has discovered the strength and capacity to share, care, disciple and mentor future leaders.

In addition to the roles and qualities of leaders, the group also discussed about how SGs come together as God’s community to support each other and to be the beacon of God’s love to the world. Although society has changed rapidly with time, the SGs have been sustained by three consistent ‘attitudes’:

1) It’s God’s Time SG members must take individual and collective ownership

to set aside time to meet. Wong Sook Ling shared the amazing story of how her group was put together for the A2C campaign and after studying the Word and sharing their experiences, everyone realised how much they have been distracted by the world and that they wanted to come back to a closer relationship with God and with Christians. This led them to take a leap of faith to start A Community To Serve (A.C.T.S) SG. Jeffrey Yang from Upper Paya Lebar SG reminded the group that when one makes SG time for God, one should also trust God to use it for His purpose. He shared that he was once tempted to cancel an SG meeting when only one member showed up, but God revealed that this member had a special need and that it was a divine opportunity to minister and pray for the person. In Jeffrey’s words: “You have committed the time to serve God, just be there and God will use you.”

2) Being understanding and showing flexibility It is all too easy to judge how well an SG is doing by its

attendance. But the truth is SGs also exist to be available to those who find it hard to be there regularly. The challenge over the years has always been for members to eke out time from their busy schedules to attend meetings. SGs should thus always try to be understanding and show flexibility by staying in touch with members and covering them in prayer when they are absent.

3) Growing a family relationship SGs are opportunities to build trusting relationships. Ong Lin

from Telok Blangah SG shared that SGs are like families who build trust in each other and pray for each other constantly even when members do not attend meetings regularly. He stressed that strong relationships based on spiritual values will hold the group together. In addition, as highlighted by Peter Chow, SGs encourage each other as a family to get involved in community outreach like going for mission trips and extending compassion and support to the needy in society.

Through the lively discussions that day, it was evident that God’s grace and His Hand are constant through the passage of time. Our faithfulness, to trust and serve Him, will enable His blessings on the SGM. As Susan Ong from Telok Blangah SG said so succinctly: “As long as we are willing and have a heart to serve God, just lift up everything to Him!” Amen.

Thank you to the leaders who were present for 3 Plus 3.

Upper Paya Lebar SG • Jeffrey & Angeline Yang

Telok Blangah SG• Ong Lin & Susan Ong

Toa Payoh SG • Tony & Rosalind Ang • Peter and Doris Chow (shared through a written testimony)A Community To Serve (A.C.T.S SG) • Wong Sook Ling • Desmond Yiong • Cecilia ChowD’Light SG • Benedict Tay • Genevieve TanBMC1 2015 Group 4 • Piao Lee • Darrick Lieu

Wilson Tan


In the first instalment of this series, we met the missionary pastors who shepherded Wesley Methodist Church until the Japanese Occupation. In this instalment, we shall read more quick sketches about the remaining missionary pastors who served at Wesley Methodist Church. Although the timeline ends with the last of the missionary pastors posted to Wesley Methodist Church, we can already see the steps being taken to transition to local pastoral leadership over the years. Yet all these pastors, local or missionary, were pioneers, taking steps in faith, whether to cross oceans, learn new languages, establish new institutions, or challenge established norms.

1946Paul Harold Schmucker and Waldo S ReinoehlRev Paul Harold Schmucker was a veteran of Malayan missionary work by the time he pastored at Wesley, having served since 1934 in Klang and Kuala Lumpur. In 1939, he and his wife volunteered to move to Kapit, Borneo, to work with the indigenous groups there (Straits Times, 11 Jan 1939). Not much is known about his time in Wesley after the war.

Waldo S Reinoehl was born in 1906 in Indiana and moved to Malaya in 1932. There, he met Lorinne McLaughlin, a teacher who herself was the child of missionary parents in Malaya. They married in 1933. They served in Malaya for 10 years, including at Wesley, before needing to leave because of the war. A Straits Times article (23 Jan 1947) mentions that he completed two years of graduate study during the war years. He then returned to Malaya and stayed until 1967. After leaving Wesley in 1951, he pastored churches in Malacca and Ipoh.

Rev Reinoehl was known for his passion for evangelism and served on the Conference Committee on Evangelism. During his time in Singapore, he also took on other roles such as serving as Boy’s Brigade Chaplain for the company based in Wesley, and sitting on the board of St Andrew’s Mission hospital. He also spoke out against social ills such as gambling, making it a point to mention it in his farewell sermon at Wesley (Straits Times, 10 Jul 1951). Rev Reinoehl passed away in 1987, survived by his wife Lorrine, who herself passed away in 2004 at the grand old age of 101.

In August 1946, the Combined Malaya Annual Conference, which was instrumental in getting the churches back up and running after the war, was held at Wesley.

1948Waldo S ReinoehlThe church interior, which had been completely wrecked during the Japanese Occupation, was repaired. The church was rededicated on 16 May 1948 and the service included the consecration of

the restored organ. The local newspaper reported Dr H. B. Amstutz, then the principal of Trinity College, preached the sermon and “gave the history of the reconditioned organ, the Cross, the altar furnishings, the choir pews, pulpit furniture, church pews and new Bibles” (Singapore Free Press, 14 May 1948). It would be wonderful if we could eavesdrop on the history he shared that day.

1951Waldo S Reinoehl and Theodore RunyanTheodore Runyan had previously pastored churches in Penang and Seremban, having been a missionary since 1930. He also served as Principal of both ACS Ipoh and Methodist Boy’s School in Penang. During the war years, he was a US Air Force chaplain (Straits

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The Rev Reinoehl with evangelist, the Rev S Selvaretnam of the Christa Seva Ashram during his preaching mission in Singapore in 1961

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New York (Straits Times, 7 Jan 1955). Moreover, he was nominated for Bishop in both 1956 and 1964 (nearly 10 years after he left!) even though he had communicated that he would not stand for the election.

In his subsequent post as Administrative Secretary for the South East Asian Board of Mission, Rev Jones continued to serve the mission field even when based far away from South East Asia. In the years after he had left, he still came to visit Singapore multiple times, giving talks and learning about the situation on the ground. He also wrote a book on missions – “Our Mission Today: The Beginning of a New Age” – that sold over 300,000 copies. After his retirement, Rev Jones became a professor at Drew Theological Seminary, and he also gave his time to his local church and organisations such as Habitat for Humanity.

Rev Jones passed away at the age of 92 in Dec 2009.1

1952 saw the introduction of pledge cards and the Young Adults’ Fellowship.

1954Tracey K Jones Jr and Ronald Butler-WhiteRonald Butler-White was born in 1927 in Karagpur, India. He joined the Methodist Ministry in 1949 in India (Singapore Free Press, 9 Jul 1955) and only retired in 2013. While serving in Singapore, he also studied for his B. A. at the University of Malaya. He later served in other places such as Ipoh before returning to the United States (Straits Times, 13 Dec 1961). He passed away on 21 May 2015, aged 88.2 There is a church building named after him, the Ron Butler-White Bible Education Center, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.3

In 1954, the Senior Fellowship and Wesley’s Methodist Adult Fellowship were formed. The 7.30am service was started the year after. The church

Times, 27 Sep 1951). Rev Runyan was also appointed to be on staff at Trinity College (the predecessor of today’s Trinity Theological College) at the same point as his appointment to Wesley and he would later leave Wesley to become principal of Trinity College. In his speech to open the Department of Chinese Studies at Trinity College, he “challenged Christian churches in Malaya to train workers from within their own ranks for full-time ministry and service” (Straits Times, 30 May 1952).

1952Tracey K Jones JrUnlike many of the previous pastors who had long experience in Malaya before taking up appointments at Wesley, for Tracey K Jones, being at Wesley was his first visit to Malaya. His first sermon was on 6 Apr 1952, on Palm Sunday.

Tracey Jones was born in Boston in 1917; his father was a YMCA missionary and he grew up in both New York and China. He received his B.A. at Ohio Wesleyan University and his B. D. (Bachelor of Divinity) at Yale University. His first wife, Martha Jones, was also from a missionary family. By the time he came to Singapore, he spoke fluent Mandarin as, in addition to the boyhood time in China, he had spent five years in China as a liaison officer.

He proved to be a popular and effective pastor. The Straits Times reported that over 300 people came to bid him farewell to him and his family when he left Malaya for his next posting in

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The Wesley Homemakers, a fellowship group for newly weds and young families, celebrate Rev Tracey Jones’ birthday in 1956

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also received a new coat of paint and driveway. In another part of Singapore, the beginnings of what would become Trinity Methodist Church started to meet.

1956Craig S Wilder and Yap Kim Hao (Associate)Rev Craig S Wilder arrived in Singapore from Indiana, in 1954, aged 29, with a wife and two children (Straits Times, 25 Oct 1954), but was only formally confirmed as pastor in Wesley in 1955. He seems to have been passionate about social causes. He “preached from the pulpit” against the introduction of lotteries, the newspaper reporting that: “According to him, lotteries destroy character, corrupt the people and are most harmful to society.” (Singapore Free Press, 25 Aug 1955) He also wrote a letter to Martin Luther King Jr mentioning his support for the civil rights cause and that he would be sending some money to support it.4

Rev Wilder later pastored churches in Penang and Petaling Jaya.

Yap Kim Hao was the first full-time local associate pastor appointed to Wesley and would again break new ground when he became the first Asian bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia and Singapore in 1966. This would be a challenging time of transiting to full autonomy.

1958Oscar A Guinn Jr and Yap Kim Hao (Associate)Oscar A Guinn Jr was born in Georgia, a third generation Methodist preachers who studied at Emory University in Atlanta, receiving his B.A., B.D. and Th.M. degrees from that institution. He served as a missionary in China (and was held by the communists for 15 months) before heading to Malaya and then to Singapore (Straits Times, 6 Sep 1960). He returned to the US to further his studies, and later he continued pastoring churches until 1992, passing away in 1999 at the age of 77.5

In 1958, church membership exceeded 1000.

1959 Oscar A Guinn Jr, Gunnar Johan Teilmann Jr and Dennis C Dutton (Associate)Gunnar Johan Teilmann Jr came to Malaya in 1949 and pastored churches in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang (Singapore Free Press, 20 Sep 1960). During World War II, Teilmann had served as a US Army Chaplain for invasion forces in Europe and he was awarded a Silver Star after the battle

of Normandy. He was also a prisoner of war in Poland and Germany. According to his wife, it was partly because of his experiences during the war that he became a minister (Singapore Free Press, 21 Dec 1960).

During his time in Wesley, he emphasised the need for outreach and care for the community. Later on, Teilmann took on other roles such as Director for Counselling Service for the Methodist Church (1966). The counselling service soon became an inter-denominational project and actually spun off the Samaritans of Singapore. The first meeting of the Samaritans was held in 1969, with Dr Teilmann as its acting director.

Dennis Chandraraj Dutton of Kuala Lumpur was born in 1935. He studied at the Methodist Boy’s School there before coming to Singapore to study at Trinity College. He became the first Trinity College graduate to be appointed to Wesley. He was strong academically, winning scholarships to study in the US for both his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity. Later, he returned to Malaysia and became the President of the Singapore Malaysia Chinese Conference and eventually the Bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia (Straits Times, 14 Nov 1973).

In 1959, the new church hall and educational block were dedicated and a new amplifier system was installed in the Wesley tower.

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Dennis C Dutton (1970-1976)

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1960Gunnar Johan Teilmann Jr, Dennis C Dutton (Associate), Lim Teng Huat (Assistant) and Kenneth Lau (Assistant)

1961 Gunnar Johan Teilmann JrIn 1962, Sermons on Tapes were introduced. The Newsletter also became a regular monthly publication.

1964 Robert Fielden Lundy, Christopher H. Smith and Tan Eng Seng (Associate)Robert Fielden Lundy, like Rev Guinn, was born in Georgia and was also the son of a Methodist preacher. He initially worked in churches in the United States, but before long, he and his wife felt God calling them to look overseas. Their original intention was to go to China, and he even studied Mandarin for two years at Yale, but circumstances led them to Malaya, and they started their overseas ministry in Klang. Besides pastoring churches, Rev Lundy edited the Methodist Message.

In 1964 he was elected Bishop by the Southeastern Asia Central Conference, making him the youngest ever Methodist Bishop in Singapore and Malaya (Straits Times, 24 Aug 1964). This election was not without controversy, as there had been some expectation that a local Bishop would be elected. However, the delegates overwhelmingly

voted for him. However, Rev Lundy chose not to stand for re-election after his first term of four years was over, believing that the next Bishop should be a local, not a missionary pastor. After his death in Jan 2003, his wife wrote a letter to her “Dear Singapore Friends” after his death to express her gratefulness for their concern and care and the letter was broadcasted through the Methodist Message. She wrote: “He felt like a brother among you. His time with you was very meaningful for him. He always prayed for the Church in Malaysia and Singapore, and kept informed about news concerning the Church and the country.”6

Christopher H. Smith had served in Yunnan before coming to Singapore. He taught in Trinity Theological College for 10 years and served as pastor at Trinity Methodist Church for 2 years before being posted to Wesley (Straits Times, 13 Sep 1964).

The Associate Pastor assisting Rev Lundy and Rev Smith was then Tan Eng Seng of Penang.

In 1964, a small group of Wesleyans started Faith Methodist Church in Queenstown with the support of $25,000 from Wesley.

1965 Christopher H. Smith and Tang Kin Wah (Associate)

1966 Christopher H. Smith and Michael Wong (Associate)Michael Wong was from Kuala Lumpur, and he too came to Singapore to learn at Trinity Theological College. His first posting was at Trinity Methodist Church and he was ordained as deacon in 1965. He pastored at other churches in Malaysia as well as at Wesley. He was involved in the planting of Toa Payoh Methodist Church. Rev Wong retired in 2003 after nearly 40 years in the ministry.7

In 1966, a new Sanctuary organ was ordered.

Dr Khoo Oon Teik speaking at the inaugural meeting of the SOS. On the extreme right is Dr Gunnar Teilmann

Dr H B Amstutz discusses an issue of the MM with incoming editor, the Rev Robert F Lundy in 1955


Rev Kenneth Chellappah would become the first local pastor in Wesley in 1970 (84 years after Wesley Methodist Church was established), taking over from Rev Smith, who was the last of the missionary pastors posted to Wesley.

In 1968, the new Sanctuary organ was installed.

Abigail Huang

Other References1. By My Spirit by Lana Wong2. Forever Beginning: 100 Years of Methodism in Singapore by T R Doraisamy3. NewspaperSG database, http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/default.aspx4. “Milestones of Grace”, Wesley Methodist Church website. http://www.wesleymc.org/!main/content/view/36/56/5. “Wesley Methodist Church, 1945-1974” by Kenney Tan, Tidings 2010 Quarter 3, http://www.wesleymc.org/!main/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/

gid,414/Itemid,/

1 Ohio Wesleyan University Distinguished Achievement Citation, Tracey K. Jones, Jr. Class of 1939. https://community.owu.edu/pdfs/awards/DAC/Jones.pdf & “Jones, Christian Mission leader, dies at 92”, United Methodist News Service, http://archives.gcah.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10516/1975/7786227.htm?sequence=2

2 Ron Butler-White Obituary. http://www.floralhaven.com/obituaries/H-R-Ron-Butler-White/#!/Obituary 3 Ron Butler-White Bible Education Building [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wALx2hqfBOo4 Boston University Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Dr Martin Luther King Jr Archive listing. http://www.bu.edu/dbin/mlkjr/collection/search.php?query=path%3A680

53%2F%2Fname%3A44092%2F%2Fname%3A437395 “Obituaries” South Coast Today, http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/19990415/NEWS03/3041599226 “Letter from Mrs Elizabeth Lundy”, http://htmlsite.methodist.org.sg/feb2004/mrslundy.html7 “Michael Wong’s 39 years in ministry recognised”, http://htmlsite.methodist.org.sg/jan2004/michaelwong.html8 Annual Report 2008, Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home, www.cslmch.org.sg/CSLMCH_AR2008.pdf

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Our heritage1968 Christopher H. Smith and Kenneth J. Chellappah (Associate) In the meantime, Wesley continued its efforts in the community – in 1968, Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home was opened by the First Lady Puan Noor Aishah and dedicated by Bishop Yap, in a ceremony presided over by Rev Smith8.

Rev K J Chellappah (1960-1963)

true cost of hire payment schemes, as well as implementing several changes to their lifestyles and daily habits. Among many, the suggestions included the following:i) Cutting down and eventually eliminating habits like

smoking, drinking and gamblingii) Turning on the air-conditioning only in the initial hours of

the evening, and switching it off once the room has become cooler

iii) Switching off the main power supply of electrical appliances as electricity is still being used when the appliance is in a standby condition

iv) Using free wi-fi instead of drawing on their own data plan

Finally, Mr Tan provided a comprehensive overview of the basic CPF insurance schemes available to participants. These

included Medisave, Medishield, Eldershield, Dependents’ Protection Scheme and the new Medifund.

Let us continue to support debt management programmes as through them, Wesley Methodist Church can make a lasting difference in peoples’ lives for God’s glory. The giving of our finances allows for participants to be relieved of their chronic debt condition, while the giving of our time as facilitators enables participants to have a greater level of engagement with the workshop material and consequently a higher likelihood of applying the financial management concepts to their lives.

May we also support MWS with our prayers; that God will continue to bless them with wisdom, unity and empathy, as they continue to help families who are struggling with debts of everyday living to manage their finances better and build assets.

Ivan Lim

...continued from page 15 - GOOD Financial Education Workshop

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Wesley Tidings is published bi-monthly by Wesley Methodist Church, Singapore for internal circulation to members of the Church | Views expressed in the Wesley Tidings are the contributors’ and do not necessarily reflect that of the Church or the Editorial Board. | Materials in the Wesley Tidings may be reproduced with permission from Wesley Methodist Church or the authors. | Unless stated otherwise, all scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Contributions and enquiries are to be addressed to: The Editor, Wesley Tidings, 5 Fort Canning Road, Singapore 179493

The Editor reserves the right to make changes to the contributions if necessary.

Printed by Craft Print International Ltd

Pastor-In-ChargeRev Dr Kow Shih Ming

EditorPeggie Chan

Editorial TeamJulie EeKevyn LaiCatherine LimOng Joo HiangTan Kee CheongTham Soo Hian

ContributorsRev Dr Kow Shih Ming, Christina Stanley, Eric Toh, Michelle Sim, Charmaine Ee, Jonathan Kong, Rev Dr Daniel Koh, Noelle Tang, Ivan Lim, Shareen Tan, Alex Lai, Elaine Cheo, Ong Lin, Chok Si Chiang, Wong Huimin, Elaine Soh, Wilson Tan and Abigail Huang.

Photo ContributorsNicholas Tan, Lin Xunliang, Ho Tzin Yih, Terence Wee, Johnny Koh and Henry Lim.

T I D I N G SThe Magazine of Wesley Methodist Church, Singapore

Wesley Tidings is also available at www.wesleymc.org

transitions

CONDOLENCESto the family & loved ones of those who were called home.

DeathsDeaths

JUNE 2015 04 Mr Andrew Quek08 Mdm Lai Kwi Song

09 Mdm Po Chwee New10 Mr Cheng Siong Yu15 Mdm Kang Poh Kee22 Mr Lee Liang Kwang26 Mdm Tio Sai Tiang

Marriages

JULY 2015 02 Mdm Chew Geok Hong

03 Mdm Yip Siew Woo05 Mr Roland Lee Yew Chuan

07 Mdm Ng Sui Heng26 Mdm Joycelyn Ling28 Mdm To Koon Inn

28 Dr Hu Tsu Teh31 Ms Ann Lee Choon Boy

JUNE 2015 06 Mr Wayne Ong Ju-Hui and Miss Leia Ang Ai Jia27 Mr Alfreds Ravindran and Miss Jane Xie Zhen

JULY 201504 Mr Donovan Long Hing Cheang and Miss Kwun Jai Joy Batzinger

11 Mr Adriel Gwee En Zhu and Miss Emmerie Wong Phaik Yen

Mr Wayne Ong Ju-Hui and Miss Keia Ai Jia

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Mr Donovan Long Hing Cheang and Miss Kwun Jai Joy Batzinger

Mr Alfreds Ravindran and Miss Jane Xie Zhen


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Wesley Tidings Newsletter Issue 04 2015

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Transcript of Wesley Tidings Newsletter Issue 04 2015