My Journey
I was converted at 13. My first church was Glad Tidings Assembly (GTPJ), Petaling Jaya, West Malaysia. It was a very rich spiritual experience and my life was radically changed.
I started serving in the youth ministry, called Inter-School Christ Ambassadors then, or ISCA for short. I became the President the year after. I was thrown into the deep end. Though there was an adult youth advisor, we were pretty much left to our own to plan the programmes, cast vision and so on. It was actually very challenging and I can recall the many mistakes we made. Imperfect as it may be, peer leadership was very effective and contagious. The holiday camps were very memorable. I served there till till I finish my STPM (A levels equivalent).
I left for Singapore to pursue my studies in NUS in 1982, which meant that I had to say farewell to my community at GTPJ.
I had the amazing experience of serving in Varsity Christian Fellowship, where I experienced the richness of the Body of Christ and parts of her which placed a particular emphasis on God's Word and deeper theological thinking. There, we also experienced a renewal of the work of the Spirit and it was an exciting time of growth. In my last two years, I served as hostel Chairman of Raffles Hall VCF.
While all this was happening, we worship at St John's St Margarets Church (SJSM), which was herself going through a renewal of sorts. It was my introduction to a new work of the Spirit in a very old part of the Church and a time where I began to move from tolerating to appreciating the liturgy and traditions of the Anglican Church. When I was about to graduate from my studies, I was approached to pastor the students which were coming to SJSM in increasing numbers. I finally agreed though it was venturing into the unknown finance -wise.
It was very difficult for my mother who has worked so hard to support my varsity studies. She told me later that she cried for many weeks. It can be heart-breaking even as I share this. I will leave it for another time to share how my Mum became dedicated Christian in her latter years. She looked back with gratefulness at His many blessings in our lives.
Those years of serving as a parish worker were very rich years of memorable experiences. I studied full-time in Trinity Theological College in 1990. In 1992 was ordained into the Anglican ministry. I was posted to serve two years in St Andrew's Cathedral before being posted back to SJSM to serve with the Vicar then, Rennis Ponniah for seven years.
In 2001, I was later posted by Bishop John Chew to serve as Vicar at St James' Church (SJC). Round about the same time, I became heavily involved in the work of Alpha and served as the National Director of Alpha Singapore till 2006. Those where very exciting years and it I learned a lot through the exposure to an international context and the rich and Spirit-filled work of Holy Trinity Brompton.
The work at SJC was also very engaging and I look back with gratefulness for His grace and work and the wonderful community there. From 2003, I also found myself plunged into the strange world of Communion work which was in a furious crisis. I assisted Bishop John Chew in many ways and it was again a rich learning experience. In particular, I became very interested in the Anglican Church and her roots, practice and theology.
Under Bishop Rennis, I was posted to serve in St Andrew's Cathedral in 2015. Again, I find myself in a strange new world but yet familiar, as the Lord's presence and His people quickly help us to settle down.
There are many stories in this brief overview of my life and ministry and I hope to share them along the way in this blog and elsewhere.
