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| This is Onesimus Garden. Do you know that the guy wearing the green shirt is a former drug addict? And that this farming that the brothers are doing played some part in his rehabilitation? This picture speaks about life, on so many levels. |
It’s over. It’s been nearly three weeks, but I feel as if three hours have passed since I first met you guys at FoodInn on a bright Tuesday morning. I know no amount of words will fully encapsulate the insights I have gained and the emotions I have felt. Exposure indeed! As the name of the programme itself states. I think the main thrust of this past three days could be summarized in the words of Pastor Andrew Choo: “You see you hear, you react you do”. Hence the title above! P.S. my surname ‘侯’ is almost synonymous with 猴 when spoken out loud, so this is a bit of a personal pun. Don’t mind me!
Over the past week, the amount of exposure we have gotten from the invited speakers and lecturers ranges from the dedicated academics such as Rev. Tan Tiong Ann, to the apologetics and science guy (Jose Phillips), to His front line warriors in the form of Healthserve (Dr. Goh and Timothy Cheong) and the Onesimus garden, to entrepreneurs such as Kuik Shiaoyin, to marketplace academics like Dr. Roland Chia, to outreach pastors like Rev. Lam, to even a Cabinet Minister.
I am starting to appreciate the variety of ways different people in Christ have given their lives, or rather, how God uses them in such a myriad of ways to accomplish and bring about change in so many different areas of society for His glory. I used to think that it seems as if the frontline warriors are much nobler, and have impacted more lives directly, not to mention most likely suffered more, whether be it financially, emotionally, or physically, as opposed to the academics.
I am glad to know that professors such as Roland Chia participate in representing the Christian viewpoint and helping individuals, especially those in the upper echelons of power, understand the whys and hows of the faith, even though they may not fully agree with it.
Mdm Shiaoyin does her part too by organising talks on tough societal issues and providing people a safe space to participate in. She was a great encouragement to all of us by reminding us that sometimes there is simply no reward and even seemingly no end in sight, and we just have to walk by faith. What made her talk even more poignant was that she was still facing tremendous difficulties even at that time, and I think this touched my heart. So now I know, no matter which work you are doing, God will use you mightily if you dedicate yourself!
Of course for me, this is rather intimidating and confusing because all of them have some kind of intended purpose, and as a young adult in my VERY early twenties, I have not an inkling of where God has called me to or what He has intended me for, and of course one very common yet icky question most of us teens will ask goes along the lines of: How do I know whether this is God’s calling?
Perhaps any work that we are to do, whether it be the secular world or the religious one, and as long as we ‘act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with Your God’ then that would be our lot in life. Or like what the Minister has said: If its not for you, God will close the door. If its for you, God will push you through the door. I wonder, if I know that period of pushing is right now, will I be an Isaiah, or a Jeremiah? One step (pun totally intended) at a time!
Timothy Hou
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