Hope

For me, being a Methodist is really about living in the constant awareness of God's grace. I've come to see and experience it in different ways—God's prevenient grace that sought me out before I even knew him, his justifying grace that saved me and his sanctifying grace that continues to shape me into the person he wants me to be.

Kairos is often associated with charis or grace. Rev Derrick Lau recently went on a group tour to Northern Xinjiang in China and writes of his encounter with kairos along the way.

My wife, Eunice, and I are founding members of Living Waters Methodist Church (LWMC). It is a privilege to see how God is using LWMC and its distinct intergenerational ministry to bless and touch lives around us. We have four children, and God has blessed us with three grandchildren.

Discover how a pair of retirees are bringing joy and connection to seniors—including those living with dementia—at MWS Senior Care Centre – Eunos.

On an overcast Tuesday morning, Valerie Ng strolls along the corridor of an HDB flat in Bedok, gently knocking on the doors of the seniors she has been assigned to visit for that day. Sometimes, no one answers.

This year, students from Millennia Institute spent their Values in Action (VIA) hours miles away, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a project facilitated by Methodist Missions Society.

I‘ve been singing in the choir for over 20 years and more recently, as a backup vocalist in the worship team. I knew I wanted to serve, but more than that, I sensed that God was calling me to offer what I could for his purposes. For me, serving is part of what it means to follow Christ, to give of ourselves in service to God and to others.

While leading a pastoral care session at MWS Christalite Methodist Home (CMH), a welfare home for the destitute, long-time volunteer Peter Maridas felt a prompting to speak about suicide—something he hadn’t originally planned.

“Your God is a ‘Western’ God, very unlike our gods. To believe in your God, is to give up my identity.” With many missionaries in that country coming from Western nations, I could understand his misperception. Even though an Asian person, as I am, shared the gospel, Christianity was still seen as a “white man’s religion”.

In this season of theological training, one prayer keeps surfacing in my heart: “Lord, give me a tender heart.” Not a soft or passive heart, but one that is open to God, sensitive to his presence and moved by the needs of others.

“The loan sharks came pounding on our door in the middle of the night, demanding payment. My husband was so scared that he hid in the room—I had to face them alone.”

From the time I first joined the children’s choir at the age of 12, I developed a profound and enduring connection with the choir. Choral ministry became a vital means of grace in my spiritual formation.