A Great Cloud Of Witnesses - Grace Yong

Me and a cute boy~ heeheeee

This past week, one of the verses that has spoken to me a lot is Hebrews 12:1,2. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The whole journey of STEP has come to an end, and the knowledge gained, the experiences and fresh perspectives are things that I hold dear to me. One of the biggest takeaways from STEP is that it has opened my eyes to the many ministries, sacrifices and contributions of different brothers and sisters in Christ who have heard and responded to God’s calling. I am thankful that this road we are journeying on is not an individual, lonely route, but that there are fellow servants of the Lord who are seeking his will and his way, and supporting and working with each other. 

These “great cloud of witnesses” can refer to people of the past who have sacrificed so much just to allow the gospel to reach us in Singapore, and can also refer to people who are living now and leading our churches towards God’s direction. STEP was a great chance for me to learn about and meet some of these people in person, and knowing that I am not alone in this race. It is comforting to know that others have been through and overcome whatever obstacles or doubts I will face in the future. In a sense, we are just like small parts of a big puzzle which God is putting together. We each play a role, regardless of our vocation or jobs, big or small, for God searches our hearts and willingness, and not our merits or accomplishments at the end of the day!

Hence, although currently I feel slightly burdened by the amount of information and finding God’s direction in my life, the race marked out for me, I know I can place them all in God’s hands and fix my eyes upon Jesus! This sounds quite cliché, but through these 3 weeks I have seen and felt God moving and working among his good servants here in Singapore! 

I pray that as we move on in our lives and seek to glorify God and run this race, that he will allow us to fix our eyes upon him, and away from things that are so minute yet distract us so much. Jesus is the pioneer/author and perfector of our faith, and that is why we don’t need to have so many burdens, for although we are lacking and sinful in so many ways, his presence and he himself makes our contributions and offerings to Him perfect. It is not so much how capable we are, but how amazing he is! Lord help me to never lose sight of your perfect grace, love and beauty every single day.

Grace Yong

A Community In Need - Grace Yong

It’s quite amazing and funny because while I was writing this at the hawker centre, some people came up to ask me for donations to build up a community hospital. It goes to show how real this situation is, and how our community is truly in need of our service and contributions.

This week of visiting Onesimus farm and healthserve has been very eye opening for me. It has shown me how there are people in our society who are helpless, discriminated against, neglected and exploited. Many of us, myself included, may have heard about it or seen before, but decided to turn a blind eye on it, or leave it at the back of our minds. This week, I have been reminded that in this broken and desolate world, change may not be effected so easily, and situations are multilayered and complicated, with no quick and fast solution. However, that does not mean we should ignore the situation and not do anything.

After listening to Pastor Andrew’s sharing, I feel even more convicted. It is so true that often we are all talking about big things but not acting at all. Words can be inspiring and ambitious, but after hearing and seeing the reality of the situation, we need to do something. What is the bible speaking to me about? What is God calling me to do? I pray that on this journey of becoming a social worker, God will use my life to serve the community and His people. 

Recently, I have been asking myself and others, what can the gospel do to help them? And after much searching, I have realized that in asking this question I have underestimated and undermined the gospel. It is not just random words or a story thought up by man. It is so powerful and beautiful that it in itself is enough to give us hope, even in the most desolate of times. It is powerful not through us who share the gospel by words, but because of who the gospel points to!

Pastor Andrew and his wife Grace have been very inspiring to me because when we met them they looked sunburnt and sweaty, but still I could see so much passion and conviction in them. Their humility touched me. It is truly God’s grace and love moving in them that makes them willing to sacrifice comfort to work in such tough conditions.

Grace Yong

Jesus Is Enough - Grace Yong

Fellowship with awesome people on the bus! :D

During the youth sharing at Bethel on Monday, one statement that one of the youths made truly touched me and struck a chord in my heart. She said “Jesus is enough”. She described the things she saw and the people she met during her mission work in Africa, and as she witnessed their sufferings and how different and less comfortable the living conditions in Africa were compared to Singapore, she found it difficult to negotiate between how a loving God can still allow such sufferings to go on. 

This question has been raised numerous times around the world, and I have heard many explanations before. However, it was when she shared a simple and personal story about a person she knew who worked at the church in Africa, and how when she passed away with such peace while holding on to the bible, that I truly saw and understood that through the conviction in her voice, that it truly is simply because Jesus is all we really need in life.

Singapore is a country where we catch ourselves chasing after so many things that it is difficult to find one moment where we are not doing anything, or where our thoughts are not distracted and consumed by concerns and troubles that have nothing to do with God. Hence, I am thankful for STEP, where we are given the precious opportunity to quieten down in front of God and give thanks for how good He has been in our lives. As one of the youths mentioned in the sharing, the very fact that we can wake up in the morning with breath in our lungs is a miracle itself!

Sometimes the answer to the deepest and most complicated questions is as simple an answer as “Jesus is enough”. Life can get extremely complicated at times, but when we see things from God’s perspectives and look to Him for guidance, sometimes the best answers He gives us are as simple as they can get. Let us not be distracted by pointless pursuits in this complicated world, but truly see Him as the center of our lives, for we truly need Him, and He alone is sufficient for us!

Grace Yong

Knowledge Puffs Up, Love Builds Up (1 Cor. 8:1) - Grace Yong

This week has been a week full of learning and gaining new insights and perspectives from the different teachers. We were exposed to many forms of theology such as systematic theology, Christian living, worship and biblical counselling. Looking back, at times I felt overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge we absorbed. The more I learnt, the more questions surfaced. 

I enjoy the intense discussions I had with brothers and sisters about such issues over lunch and during our free times, and I am truly thankful for fellow believers who see the importance of such issues that concern our understanding of God. I have also come to see the subtle differences in theology and beliefs each of us may have, be it with believers in Presbyterian churches, churches of other denominations, as well as with nonbelievers. 

At times I find myself digging so deep, and straining myself intellectually and emotionally that at the end of the day I feel tired and realize that I have lost sight of what really matters. My friend once shared with me that when we imagine seeing God in heaven next time, will we be asking Him about such subtle differences or arguments about theology, or will we be enjoying the time spent with God and with us, his children?

I am thankful for this precious time of reflection, because through this I have been reminded that although learning and gaining knowledge is indeed important, we need to set our focus on Christ, for He is the One we worship and seek. We need to guard ourselves, and be careful not to fall prey to pride or depend too much on our human intellectual minds. We need to know why we are seeking such knowledge in the first place. 

God is my reason, and I pray that God will constantly point me back to Him, and that He will be at the heart of why I seek to learn more about theology. As brothers and sisters who believe in the same God, the same Father, the same Jesus Christ, and the same Holy Spirit, I pray that we will work together and serve the Lord, in love as well, in spite of our differences!

Grace Yong

STEP: Great Way to Learn from Others - Grace Yong

This reflection will be about something that struck me after the discussion with my church mates during the seminar time period on Tuesday. We spent a long time discussing about the different ministries in our church and the different needs or obstacles that our church is facing. We shared about our past experiences serving in the respective ministries and the troubles or failures that we had met with. We also discussed about our aims and possible solutions or directions we could head towards. 

As we discussed and filled our church whiteboard with words and arrows all around, everything seemed very complicated and daunting, like there were so many obstacles, barriers and doubts and so little time, resources and abilities. However, amidst all the doubt and uncertainty, I took a step back to look at the whole picture, and what comforted me was the presence of these church mates as brothers and sisters by my side who have a passion for serving the Lord and seeking His kingdom, who share this same goal and dream of seeing the various ministries of our church grow and improve. 

I feel very thankful that I have brothers and sisters who care as much about our church as I do and in spite of how bleak a situation may seem sometimes, we belong to a God who is limitless and never fails to work in ways we can never imagine. Hearing their words of encouragement when we feel burdened by responsibility or doubt about which step to take next has brought me great comfort, and I am once again reminded of how true the bible is when it speaks of the beauty of fellowship! Although the troubles and responsibilities may seem to be growing, I believe that when we take it one step at a time, and place our burdens on the cross, Christ will lead and guide us! (:
  

I feel that STEP is a great way for me to learn and understand how other fellow churches work, for example how their youth ministry and services are organized. Learning from each others’ situations, mistakes as well as successes will definitely allow us to have a better perspective about things. 

This is especially true for me because I am working on the caring ministry in my church, which is a rather intangible aspect where the results cannot possibly be measured or even observed. The caring ministry is also relatively versatile and I believe each church has its own unique way of looking out for its members, due to each church’s different backgrounds and characteristics. At the end of the day, I am reminded that we are not many churches or many denominations, but rather one body of Christ, and that we should support one another as we work towards serving the Lord!

Grace Yong

Never Take God for Granted - Grace Yong

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