Christian Ministry in Schools

Today I was able to visit a dear sister in Christ, Ms Grace Kwee, at MWS Bethany Nursing Home. She served the Lord as a pioneer Christian Ministry Staff (CMS) since 1977 in at least 5 Methodist schools. Below is the letter that I wrote to her, as a testimony & thanksgiving to the Lord and Ms Kwee for her impact on my life & ministry.

Dear Ms Grace Kwee,
I’m not sure whether you still remember me, but over all these years, I have always carried this hope to thank you for your life & service to the Lord, & how you encouraged & inspired me towards serving the Lord myself.

I studied at ACSI from 1990-1993 (the school was 2 years at Barker, then later “went” independent, & we all moved/shifted to the new Dover campus). You were the CMS then, overseeing the Christian Fellowship, co-ordinating chapels, Religious Emphasis Week (REW), & pastoral counselling. I remember you fondly especially in CF as I with others attended each week. It was time at CF as well as youth group in church that really began to contribute to my spiritual growth (even as a 2nd gen Christian growing up in a Christian environment). I was also beginning to serve at CF & there were plans for me to be the vice-president of the CF committee.

Sometime in 1992, when I was Sec 3, there was an incident in our class where we were playing with the fire extinguisher during lunchbreak. Through the dares of classmates, I foolishly pressed & discharged the entire pressure-based extinguisher, & we had to evacuate our classroom as it was caked, engulfed with a slake-lime powder. In panic, we all frantically tried to clear, clean all the powder from our desks, floors, fans, before the resumption of class lessons & our teachers arrived. Coincidentally, the next day, there was a written note on our whiteboard asking the class rep to go to Estate Office to account for the extinguisher (they had just done a random pressure check). Naively, maybe too innocently, I went to “surrender” myself & confessed to being the culprit. The teacher-in-charge was quite surprised & didn’t really know what to do with me. In the end, I was presented with 2 options: (1) public caning; or (2) 150 hours of detention. I chose detention, mainly as caning would also involve a black mark on my report book. For most of the Nov-Dec year-end school holidays, I was back in school for 8 hours a day, reporting to the Estate Office, doing odd jobs (“sai gang” in Hokkien), like sorting, changing locks/keys of lockers for the 4 levels of classrooms, etc.

It was truly a challenging year for me, also mainly because my parents officially separated, & eventually divorced 2 years later (when I was in JC1). When I was “caught” & punished for this silly mistake/prank, I also began to question my faith & identity as a Christian. Why am I a Christian? Why am I going to church? My experience at detention was pretty bad too, as I felt bullied & persecuted by the supposedly Christian staff. It all climaxed to the point that I decided to skip (zao) school, almost for 2 weeks, until my form teacher contacted my mum.

When my mum confronted me, I told her, “God is calling me to be a missionary!” Why study, when I should/can serve God? My mum didn’t know what to do with me, so she dragged me to my then-pastor, who took me under his wing to mentor along with 3 others for a few years. Through those 2 months at the end of Sec 3, I would spend sleepless nights talking to God & crying myself to sleep. It was a pivotal milestone in my Christian journey as I really began to feel God’s presence, the Holy Spirit, as a counsellor, comforting me with His all-surpassing peace. That began also my crisis of faith, & how I truly, sincerely received Jesus as my Lord & Saviour, committing my life to Him.

Towards the start of Sec 4, I was determined also to finish my detention hours. And I was committed to the Lord to excel in my studies & prepare myself to serve Him full-time in the future. The last thing that really encouraged me through all this, was that you (Ms Kwee) spoke to the Estate Office manager and put in a good word for me, persuading him to “let me off”. In the end, I completed 152 hours, & was “released” early. I never did & never will forget that kindness & grace (undeserved favour) that you showed me, & believing in the potential of God to change & use me for His kingdom purposes & glory. You are one of the reasons that by God’s grace, I have been serving Him full-time for more than 20 years (since 2003). Praise the Lord!

I pray that this & several other testimonies will continue to encourage your heart & assure you that you remained steadfast & firm, giving yourself fully to the Lord’s work, that your labour in the Lord is never in vain (1 Cor. 15.58). Blessings & shalom to you & your family!