Hope

In 2013, God called David Chan to build a school without walls, to love the orphans and widows. In faith, David, his wife Jessie and their three children—Isaac, aged 14, Joy, aged 11 and Isaiah, aged 8—responded in obedience and moved to Timor-Leste in 2015.

My parents separated when I was a young child. My late mum worked two jobs to raise me singlehandedly. As I was often alone and feeling lonely, she decided to let me attend Sunday school at Geylang Chinese Methodist Church located just across from our house, although she was not a Christian.

Retiree Alice Cheng, 65, recalls the stressful, anxious nights spent lying in bed, straining her ears to listen for any cries for help from her late father during his final months. As his primary caregiver, Alice endured immense physical, mental and emotional strain while caring for him through end-stage Parkinson's disease.

Coming from a non-Christian family, I was only exposed to Christianity when I started attending ACS (Junior) and heard about Jesus through chapel and morning devotions. I remember Pastor Barnabas Chong preaching about Jesus every week, and we also used to have Fun Time where we would watch VeggieTales and sing and dance to Christian songs.

The word "politics" is derived from the Greek word politiká, which means "affairs of the cities", and is based on the word polis, meaning "city" or "city-state". The main idea is about governance, organisation and the affairs of communities and societies. Enter John Wesley proclaiming, "The Gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness." I pray that readers here will include this Wesleyan norm for cross-border missions in increasingly urbanised fields.

Methodist Missions Society (MMS) will be hosting a fundraising banquet on 25 August 2024 at the Fullerton Hotel. The annual "My Father's Business" banquet has been titled "Ask of Me" this year, based on the Bible verse in Psalm 2:8, with the focus on galvanising support for the mission in Thailand and other MMS mission fields.

"God, can you stop taking everyone I love away from me?" Karen Tang recalled praying this on the morning of 13 November 2021, after learning that her 75-year-old mother, Lilian, critically ill from a Covid-induced heart attack, had suffered another attack while in the hospital.

I work in the social work arena as a Social Assistance Officer. I attribute my social work calling to Christ because I would not have taken this route otherwise.

Through the years, the SMS and many of our sister mission schools in the region have been blessed by the work of specialist volunteers from Singapore who have contributed a unique but precious resource—their professional expertise. These “professional volunteers” visit to spend time in our classrooms and commit to long-term activities to develop specific areas of school operations.

My personal journey with the Lord began when I was 13 years old. At a youth camp, I made the decision to give my life to the Lord and accept him as my personal saviour. It was a decision that would shape the rest of my life.

Growing up in a broken family, Irene understands the sting of being scorned and marginalised. Even at 51, she bears the invisible scars of relentless bullying and isolation from neighbours and classmates throughout her childhood years.

On 20 March 2024, an extraordinary milestone in the ministry of the Methodist Missions Society of Singapore in Thailand was reached. It was the day the Dedication Service of Little Candles Methodist School (Primary) took place in the town of Phrao, Chiang Mai, in north Thailand.