The first week of STEP has come to an end, and I am amazed at how fast time flies. The first day of STEP, I felt very overwhelmed and inspired by the people I met and their different backgrounds. Some had been serving in Singapore Youth for Christ; some were leaders in their youth ministry; while another had lived in Africa for one year under a program under the Council for World Missions.
I felt very inspired by their different experiences and their deep desires to grow in Christ and build up the church. Indeed, it is truly heartening and amazing to see how God has brought each of us to meet and learn together through STEP. As I look towards my upcoming university life, I wish to be able to continue to pursue a deep relationship with Christ as well as serve my church, and these fellow interns have been great role models to me.
Learning about Presbyterian history on the second day at the Synod Office was another eye opener for me. Initially I felt that learning about history especially about how the colonial powers came and where they came from was rather irrelevant and inapplicable to me. However, I realized that learning about the history of our Presbyterian church and the many sacrifices of the people and theologians of the past has taught me to be more appreciative of the gospel that has taken many years and generations of hard work and sacrifice to reach us.
I am reminded of how precious the gospel and a relationship with God is, and that we should never take it for granted, much less treat our weekly services and fellowship sessions as merely part of a schedule or a mundane practice. The many lectures are very interesting and it was very “mind blowing” for me to learn more about the underlying historical reasons for why our Presbyterian Synod places focus on both Chinese and English Services, and even has more Chinese Presbyterian Churches than English ones.
I also appreciate the Presbyterian distinctive of placing emphasis on literacy and education and personally feel that that is something that is crucial in growing believers and children of God who are well versed and firmly grounded in their knowledge of the bible and God.
Grace Yong
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