A Letter from Hope

Footnote by Ps Chris Kam :

Hope joined our family in 2008 as a domestic helper from the Philippines and she was with us for ten years. She was a good worker; conscientious and responsible, to whom we could completely entrust our three boys and our home. My wife and I had from day one told her that she came to live in our home not as an employee but as a family member of our household. Our boys are not permitted to treat her like a maid but to regard and call her “姐姐”, a colloquial term for “big sister”.

She followed us to church and within a short time, she wanted for herself what she saw in our faith. We had the privilege of leading her to accept Christ as Lord and Saviour. Her growth was sure and steady as she attended church celebrations, Equip classes and the cell group in our home. She would often ask us about things she did not understand about the Bible and we saw a hunger in her for the Word of God. On her holiday trips home, she had the opportunity to lead her family to the Lord.

She was an active member of our Filipino fellowship when it was formed and we know for certain that she would miss DUMC very much when she had to return home. In fact we encouraged her to go back because her daughter was growing up and would need her mother.

Today, we still keep in constant touch with her. She and her family will regularly come on our celebrations via livestream. It is amazing to see how her own family has grown in faith and our prayer is that she will continue to be a witness for Jesus where she is right now. We thank God for the privilege of discipling her in the ten years she was with us.

The Longing of Our Souls

By Yeoh Beng Keat, PJN5

The first four verses of Psalm 63 read:

O God, you are my God Earnestly I seek you My soul thirsts for you My body longs for you In a dry and weary land Where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary And beheld your power and your glory Because your love is better than life My lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live And in your name I will lift up my hands.

But how would a 21st century person write Psalm 63? How would a 2020 person describe his heart’s cry for his earthly or Heavenly Father?

My father succumbed to illness when I was five years old. I was his favourite child, being the youngest and only son of three children, and he would take me on his bicycle wherever he went.

Every day, when he, a school teacher, returned from school, he would ring the bell on his bicycle to indicate to me that he was back. Upon hearing the bell, I would run down the stairs of our government quarters and jump onto his waiting arms. My daddy would then carry me up into the house.

One day when I heard the bicycle bell, I ran down to meet my father. In my excitement, I missed a step and tumbled down the stairs. I remember how my daddy ran to me and held me tightly in his arms, assuring me “It’s OK, it’s all right.”

As a five-year-old, I could not understand the enormity of my father’s death. As the days and months passed, my mother noticed that I would play a particular song quite often - a song titled “O my Papa” - and would be in tears as I listened: