People

“Although a man of superb talents and ability he was a humble, affectionate and compassionate man. He liked to help, as he said, ‘the lame duck’ and to ‘help a lame dog over a stile’.” In his lifetime as a trailblazing educator and pastor, the late Rev Dr Ho Seng Ong used his God-given gifts […]

  How has your understanding of God deepened since you became a father? When my wife Kanae was pregnant with Kiyoshi and I felt him kick, I loved him. I loved him even before I saw him. I had tears in my eyes, saying to my wife, “Baby, I love him.” I never saw him […]

On July 8, 2014, Wava Hale Teilmann (91) passed away in Blacksburg, Virginia, where she and her late husband Gunnar Teilmann had retired to in the early 1980s. “Mother went to be with my Dad and Jesus today at 12.30 pm,” wrote Gunnar Johan Teilmann III – or “Tiga” as he was fondly known – […]

At the memorial service, Bishop Emeritus Dr T. R. Doraisamy described the Rev Chew’s theology as a “dynamic Christology”. “Tuhan”, “Shorga”, “Mengikut Isa”. These words reverberated through the sanctuary of the Malacca Straits Chinese Methodist Church to the Rev Chew Hock Hin preach (Malacca SCMC) as I sat listening to the Nonyas and Babas in […]

I realise more and more how our churches and faith-based communities are keeping true to John Wesley’s advice: “Go to the people in need, especially those who need you most.” My mother Lydia S. Tapia used to say: “Di baling mabasa ang saya, huwag lang mawala ang pananampalataya.” This means: “Never mind if your clothes […]

This morning, I paid my respects to my maternal grandmother in front of the niche where her ashes are kept at the Cape Collinson Columbarium in Hong Kong. She died in 1984, a year before her first great grand-daughter was born. She was my beloved “por por” (Cantonese for maternal grandmother), whom I adored and […]

Long before Theodore Royapan Doraisamy, or TRD as he was fondly known, was appointed Bishop of The Methodist Church in Malaysia and Singapore, it was impressed upon him in his early childhood days that his mother had dedicated him to the ministry. Born in 1912 in Nagercoil (today part of Tamil Nadu, South India), the 15-year-old […]

It not only teaches me that the destination of the journey I am on is still far off, and always worth striving toward, but it also reminds me of the amazing individuals who have lifted me out of ignorance and ineptitude, and brought me to where I am now One would justifiably expect to feel […]

When God called me to full-time service, my initial response was: “Lord, I am not qualified, there are many other people who are much better than me! As such, why choose me?” This testimony, available on the Chinese Annual Conference website, was reprinted with permission. Recently, while reading the book of Exodus, I came across […]

BARONESS MARGARET THATCHER died April 8, 2013. She was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1979 to 1990, and daughter of Methodist lay preacher Alfred Roberts. Her political views were shaped considerably by her religious beliefs. We quote from her 1988 speech to the Church of Scotland: “We must not profess the Christian faith and […]

OBITUARY JANET LEE SOON NEO (Sept 20, 1940 – Jan 2, 2012) MRS JANET WONG SOON NEO, wife of the Rev Michael Wong Chee Wun, passed away peacefully on Jan 2, 2012. A Memorial Service was held at Toa Payoh Methodist Church TRAC Sanctuary on Jan 9. Many will remember the late Mrs Wong for […]

ONE OF THE MOST CREATIVE MINDS in Western theology is Augustine, Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria), a colony in the Roman Africa Province. Augustine, whose writings have influenced both Roman Catholic and Protestant theologies (both Luther and Calvin belonged to the Augustinian tradition), cast a long and illustrious shadow on Western Christian thought. […]