Nehemiah Chong shares how he came to faith and also his heart for the church, as he stands for reelection. This sharing was originally provided as a part of the Elders' elections at the English Congregational Meeting. 

My name is Nehemiah Chong, my wife is Sze-Ern and together we have a 1+ year old daughter Naomi. My parents are Chee Leong and Miauw Suang, who are also members here at Grace Baptist Church (GBC) and serve in the Welcome Ministry. I have been attending GBC since I was 10 years old, and am 31 years old. My primary portfolio as an elder is to oversee the Young Adults (YA) Ministry, and I also oversee the church budget and have served as the chairman of the ECL since July 2022. Sze-Ern serves with me in the YA Ministry as a small group leader as well.

I received the Gospel 11 years ago while serving my National Service, despite growing up in a Christian family and attending church since I was a child. All my life I’d seen Christianity as a set of rules to live by, as a moral compass at best. I knew the Bible stories, the Sunday School lessons, and all the things to say to be seen as a good Christian boy. I thought myself better than everyone else because I was in church and “serving” every other week - yet my heart was hard and cold, and I had no walk with God and no understanding of the gospel.

In 2012, some of the leaders of the YA Ministry reached out to me and actively discipled me. For the first time in 20 years, I read the Bible for myself and understood the Gospel - that I was a sinner in need of a Saviour. I understood that Christianity was not about rules and being good, but about sin and salvation; that the Bible was not a collection of stories and morals, but a single story of God bringing His people back to Him, and that the focus of the Bible is Jesus Christ. For the first time in my life, I knew the depth of love and grace through Jesus Christ, because I knew the depth of my sinfulness and brokenness. I placed my faith in Jesus Christ, and was born again. I was baptised in 2013 and have been actively participating in church life since.

God has been good to us as a church and as a YA Ministry over the years, and I have had the opportunity to see the ministry through a season of much growth and fruit despite the pandemic since my first term as an elder in 2020. Many young adults have grown as faithful Christians and have gone on to serve the church in various areas of ministry, and many new young men and women have likewise stepped up to be trained and to lead in ministry. Since the start of 2023, I have handed over the role of the Ministry Leader to the able hands of Nick and Kagen, both of whom serve as deacons of the YA Ministry. I continue to serve as the elder overseeing the ministry, and I also lead a small group of young men like the rest of the leaders.

In the consideration to stand for a second term as an elder, Sze-Ern and I have been prayerful as we decide to commit the next three years to the Lord. We are admittedly nervous as we approach this heavy responsibility of shepherding His flock, on top of the increasing demands of work and family life. Our prayer is that God will continue to use us as His servants to serve His body and glorify His name.