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Sacrifice? No, it’s a blessing

Grace News interviewed four members to find out what sacrifices they may be making, or have made in the past, to contribute to the church building programme. We were humbled to realise that despite considerable contributions, all of them regard it a privilege and a blessing to be able to serve God in this way.

A Member in his Late Fifties

I was a young adult who had just started working in the early 1980s when GBC embarked on its first church building project. As a new entrant in the job market my salary was not very high, and I could only give a little towards the church building fund at that time.

Over the years the Lord has blessed me with a steady job, and in the last few decades He has helped me to prosper. I see it as an honour now to be able to contribute and present to God a portion of what He has so abundantly blessed me with over the years. The amount I have pledged to give is significant in that it does consist of a large chunk of my retirement nest egg. However, compared to what God has so graciously blessed me with, it is nothing. Of course, in terms of absolute amount one can think of how much one could buy or how many personal needs one could meet with that amount, but as we see it from God’s perspective the truth is that all the money we have on earth is only temporal.

I am sure God can move people to give towards His purpose and ministry. I am thankful that I can be a part of this purpose. It is with a spirit of gratitude that I am giving and so I do not see it as a sacrifice. Grace Baptist Church is my family and we have a clear responsibility to share with others for His glory’s sake.

Huang Wei Quan
When Hui Jing and I first considered contributing financially to the church rebuilding project, we had just spent a considerable amount of our savings on our new home and we also had to set aside the medical expenses for Kayla’s birth as well as the costs associated with providing for her. After discussions and what we thought was prudent planning of our resources, we did arrive with the minimum amount we are committed to give with the possibility of more if we find ourselves able to in the next couple of years. We also considered and are committed to accepting the inconveniences that may result when GBC moves off-site, for example the additional time we may need to spend travelling and the possibility of less adequate facilities, especially with the need to bring Kayla along. There is definitely a fair amount of uncertainty, but we reminded ourselves that we are in this together as a church and will make the necessary sacrifices and arrangements to adapt if required.

Part of the uncertainty that all of us face as we plan ahead comes from unexpected situations. When we first considered the financial support we wanted to commit, it was before Kayla was born. When she faced medical complications and mounting medical bills after birth, we did waver in our plan and wondered if we could or should still stick to the plan. As God led us through those trials, He didn't just keep Kayla safe and well, He even took care of the finances as well. Through financial subsidies and schemes, and help from social workers to downgrade Kayla's ward, the final bill for Kayla after four weeks of hospitalisation, treatments and surgeries did not require any cash payments at all. In the end, we could give financially to the church rebuilding as we had planned.

We really don't know yet what blessings we may receive as a result, but we truly believe that our sacrifice for the church is something we are called to do, and have to do. It was God who called us to GBC. It was God who sacrificed His son to redeem us. It was God who called us to a personal relationship with Him and provided so much for us even in this life. That should be reason enough for us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the church – His church. God has led GBC into this project to rebuild the church physically and spiritually, and we believe that we, being a part of it, will be truly blessed in due time.

WeiQuan_Hui Jing

A lovely new family: Wei Quan with his wife Hui Jing and their daughter Kayla.

Krystal Yao

To contribute to the church rebuilding fund, my mum and I decided to start selling personalised pens with words like ‘love’, ‘joy’ and ‘peace’ woven onto them. After I mastered the technique, I started getting special orders from friends. Using embroidery thread, I weave their names, along with any icons they request onto the pen. All proceeds go into a special coin bank my mother has set up to contribute to the building fund. I don't feel like I am making any sacrifices because I enjoy doing such crafts. It's also just a joy and privilege to be able to contribute to the rebuilding of the church building – the place where I can worship God and the place my second family resides.

As I am in the midst of my school term, my greatest challenge for the project was putting aside the time to finish the pens. I still have yet to complete all the orders. While on this journey, I have met a few who were unwilling to contribute. However, I have been blessed by several generous friends who were willing to donate much more than the minimum price of $3, which more than made up for any shortfall.

Krystal_pens

Some of the attractive pens with inspiring motifs made by Krystal to raise money for the church rebuilding.

Jimmy & Pat Chan

We wouldn’t consider our contributions, whether in terms of effort, time or finance, as sacrifices per se. Rather they were privileges and sources of blessing to be able to serve in the church leadership and to share in the giving at that momentous period of our church’s need. I was involved in looking for suitable land. Scouring the classified ads frequently, I came upon our present land, which was then a metal scrap-yard. It was far away from our old church at Kg Silat and the city, but the proximity of the Macpherson HDB estate was a draw in terms of ministry and outreach potential. So our building committee went to work. The rest is history.

In addition to ongoing contributions to the building fund, Dr Poulson initiated the ‘faith pledge’ project to encourage members to stretch their faith by pledging something above and beyond what they had or felt they could give, trusting God to provide. There were many accounts from members testifying how God honoured their pledges and provided in unexpected ways.

For our family, in a miraculous way the Lord enabled us to give a sum from the profit of selling our first HDB flat and upgrading to a landed property. Let me elaborate so you can see that it was really the Lord at work. One day we met up with a Christian sister who told us that her neighbours, an elderly couple, were migrating to Canada and wished to sell their property. Although the thought of living in a landed property was very inviting, we really couldn’t afford to upgrade due to my limited income and the fact that the church was in the midst of the building programme. Reluctantly we went to take a look. Though it was an old house, the location and land were very attractive.

After praying and reviewing our finances, we told the Lord that if He really wanted us to make the move, He had to convince the sellers to accept two ‘ridiculous’ conditions: 1) Our offer was conditional upon selling our HDB within one month and at a certain minimum price. This was so that we could have enough profit to put down the 10% deposit, a small budget to renovate, plus a sum to give to the building fund. 2) We would only make a $1000/- ‘serious intent’ deposit which must be refunded to us if we couldn’t sell the flat in time. The Lord enabled us to find favour with the elderly couple who after a long deliberation accepted our conditions. We proceeded to advertise the sale of our flat and sold it in time and at the price we needed. Praise the Lord who works in mysterious ways to perform His wonders in our lives when we commit to Him in trust.

As we face the challenges of the current rebuilding project, we would likewise want to exercise our faith to give according to the exhortation in 2 Cor 9:7 “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Jimmy and Pat

Jimmy and Pat with their children Daniel (left) and Mark, in a photo taken during the first church building project some 35 years ago. Young as they were, both boys saved their ang pow money to help buy ‘bricks’ in the new church building.