Outreach

Rev Henry Yeo and his wife, Sungwan Yeo, were sent out by the Methodist Missions Society, Singapore (MMS) to help establish the Methodist Mission in Thailand (MMT) in 1998. Rev Henry served as the Country Coordinator and then later as Country Director. Sungwan is a native Thai from the province of Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Mr Chua Wah Liang recalls a haunting visit to a museum in Poland when he was in his 30s, encountering heart-wrenching images of Holocaust victims and a poignant exhibit of a pile of shoes belonging to those who had lost their lives at Nazi concentration camps.

What comes to your mind when you think of "work"? Is work a curse or a blessing? Is work a means to an end? Do we only work out of economic necessity? Some Christians may even feel that secular work is a spiritual hindrance, thinking, "If I could just get out of the rat race then I can be holy and really go on with God to serve him in missions."

"I'm miserable. It would be better if I was dead." Samuel Soong recalls encountering residents at MWS Nursing Home – Yew Tee expressing such distress. Faced with chronic health conditions coupled with loneliness, some of them grapple with a deep sense of hopelessness.

After her daughter's death sent her into the depths of despair and teetering on the brink of suicide, discovering she wasn't alone became a lifeline for a 90-year-old.

Ms Lim Joo Teng vividly recalls the day her life took a dramatic turn. Two decades ago, her father, with whom she had been living with since her parents' divorce, received a call from their estranged mother notifying them that her brother, Joo Phiau, was in critical condition in the hospital after a tragic car crash.

The adage, "It takes a village to raise a child", particularly holds true when it comes to the Methodist community coming together to advance missions. For missions to grow and transform societies deeply and impactfully, the entire community is called to offer its diverse and abundant gifts in blessing those we serve. As a community, what we have to offer collectively can be used by God in far more widespread ways than what we have to offer individually.

Rev Leslie Lim is the MMS Country Director for Vietnam. He and his wife, Linda, have served as missionaries in Vietnam for more than 8 years. He shares about what it is like to be serving in the mission field with one’s spouse.

"I want a divorce." Those words uttered by 35-year-old Ava (not her real name) to her husband of five years were met with cold, stony silence. His answer came days later … through a phone call from his lawyer.

It was early spring and the temperature was unusually cold for this time of the year. Sadly, we had received a request to arrange a funeral for Sister Z, an 87-year-old church member. She had been suffering from liver failure and the doctor told her family that she had only a few days to live.

When the SARS epidemic swept through Singapore in 2003, Mr Teo Kim Seng's packaging business took such a hard hit that he ended up filing for bankruptcy and switching to a taxi driving career. Soon after, cracks formed in his marriage, which wound up in divorce in 2015.

Over two decades ago, Winnie Tan's mentors shared this Bible verse with her when she first embarked on her journey as a teaching assistant at Charis Student Care Centre, now known as MWS Christalite Student Care Centre. Little did she know that this verse would become the beacon for her 23-year journey.