CALLED:
SK LYE, SIM EAST ASIA IT AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
BY TIM ALLAN God can call people into mission at any time. For some, he places it on their heart when they are very young, but for others the process of leading, guiding and shaping takes much longer. By his own admission, Sue Kheong Lye definitely fits into the second category. SK, as he is known gave his life to Christ in his teens but God then moulded him for more than 30 years before moving him into fulltime mission work. He said: “When I look back, I can see how God has been so gracious to me. Very rarely have I felt God’s call on my life, but I can see that he has been opening doors and closing doors to bring me to full-time mission work.” SK was born into a nonChristian family in Singapore, the youngest of three brothers and with a younger sister. In that family, he is still the only Christian. His parents were Taoists and practised ancestor worship, but still sent their three sons to a Christian mission school, perhaps drawn by the subsidised fees and the highquality education. SK says: “When my oldest brother started to talk about church, my parents were very opposed and stopped him going. Because he was the oldest, he had the responsibility of keeping the
family name going and they did not much delay, God led SK to RBC, an want him to become a Christian. international mission now known “They were not happy when as Our Daily Bread Ministries. RBC’s I started going to church but International Director approached they didn’t stop me. When I got SK about a role but, when SK asked baptised, my father did not come, for time to complete his work but my mother did.” contract, he approached Christina. SK’s career has taken many SK says: “He later told me that twists and turns. He started in the if you get the wife, the husband will Singapore Air Force, then gave that follow. It’s ‘buy one, get one free’! up at the age of 31 to study in the He was very right.” UK. By that time, he was married to Two years later, SK followed Christina and they had two young Christina into RBC, joining to head children – a son Deming, up their IT and comms departments. who now has When RBC decided I think God has been three children to re-structure of his own in preparing me throughout and turn the Singapore, and international office my life, teaching me to be into a regional office, a daughter, Mei Xuan, who lives obedient to his call. Even it seemed that door in Edinburgh, had closed. But God in my disobedience, he was opened another. Scotland. The family SK says: always there, leading me intended to spend “Christina and I to this point in my life two years in the had heard about UK, but ended up SIM and we felt staying for 13, after SK completed God wanted us to serve as paid his PhD and became a university administrative staff. Christina had lecturer in information technology. looked at working with OMF but They returned to Singapore in that was a self-supporting role, and 2000, so Deming could comply with I’d had an interview with a UK Bible his national service obligations. college for a registrar’s role, but That led SK into a variety of that was also self-supporting.” jobs, first as an IT management “We were still talking to SIM, consultant and then as a highthinking we would be suitable for powered civil servant. All the while, salaried roles.” God was opening some doors and “But when we started talking to closing others. Eventually, and after them, they made it clear that they
CALLED
CLOUD OF WITNESSES
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SIM’s Kenya director Dr Peter Okaalet (left) went to be with the Lord on Saturday, February 5. He had struggled for some years with prostate cancer before coming to SIM but was in remission when he joined us about three years ago and then
took on the key leadership role with SIM Kenya. Peter, who was born in Uganda, was a mighty man of God and could have done nearly anything with his immense talents. In his medical career, he was prominent in the fight against HIV/AIDS but he was WWW.SIM.ORG
