Speaking of Jesus to Our Neighbours
This month, we invite three members to share how God has been using them in various capacities to speak of Jesus. For this first article, Fellisia tells us more about our ministry with Gladiolus Place and her desire to share the hope we have in Christ with these precious ones.
Every Girl Loved, Every Life Transformed. This is the vision of Gladiolus Place, a non-profit residential home for vulnerable teenage girls who are facing or are at risk of abuse, neglect, delinquency and wayward behaviours. It is one of the ministries supported by Grace Baptist Church and led by Pastor Oliver, with regular volunteers from our church taking up the role as befrienders to reach out to the girls on a bi-monthly basis. We hope that by meeting physical needs, we can build friendships and have opportunities to talk about the gospel. We also welcome non-regular volunteers who help out behind the scenes by providing warm home-cooked dishes, which are greatly appreciated by the girls whose faces always light up and they enjoy their meals without fail.
Behind their smiles, these girls hide their brokenness. We aim to build trust and closer relationships with these girls, with the hope that we can share the gospel as we walk alongside them. Just as how the gospel restores, renews and even heals our brokenness through faith in Christ, we hope they are able to see this same hope as we journey with them. It’s our prayer that our living testimony encourages the girls to seek Christ.
For each session, the volunteers would arrive earlier to welcome the girls. We will start with a brief introduction of each volunteer and say grace for the meal. As a volunteer team, we always ensure that we spread out so that there is at least one volunteer on each table of about five girls. When the girls have settled down to enjoy their dinner, this is the best opportunity for us to start conversing with them and dive deeper into their lives.
Most of the time, however, it is more challenging to break the walls put up by these girls. Oftentimes we would see them making loud jokes, running around, and even fighting with each other. The chaos feels like a barrier they put up to avoid difficult topics. It does take a lot of courage for them to speak up. But when they don’t, our conversation can be superficial. If they open up, the story we hear is so heartbreaking that sometimes we would witness fellow befrienders tear up during the debrief at the end of the session. We feel that brokenness too and most of the time, we couldn’t comprehend how they had to go through what they had experienced.
Added to that, I myself have struggled remembering their names because I have to admit that bi-monthly can be a challenge for someone like me who has difficulty remembering names, and Gladiolus Place is doing so well that the turnover of the girls who come and go is high. New faces at each session is not a surprise, but that would mean building deeper relationships can be challenging too. Therefore, as befrienders, as uncomfortable and as difficult as it is, sometimes we have to take up the courage and be intentional in directing our conversation towards the true living bread that they need, their need for Christ.
From my interactions with some of these girls, despite their difficult home environment, they prefer to return home and receive the same ill-treatment to fulfill their desire for 'freedom’—to do whatever they like to do without constraint or discipline. Through my observations, girls as young as nine, struggle with low self-esteem, as they tie their worth to the acceptance by the world around them.
Although my journey may have been quite different, as I reflect on my own journey of brokenness, I see God’s hand at work in my life. During the darkest period in my youth, I felt hopeless and did not have anyone to rely on especially after losing two family members in two consecutive years. I felt deeply hurt by broken relationships and doubted my own worth at that time. God used these difficult periods of my life to bring me closer to Him, working in my heart as a young immature Christian to know that I have a God whom I can call “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15), reassuring me that I have a solid rock to rely on.
The truth of God’s Word from Psalm 8:4 reminds me that I have a God who cares. Proverbs 9:10 directs me to the source, that is God’s Word that becomes “the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path”. At that time, God strengthened my faith and moulded me to grow spiritually. To this day, my gratitude for the impact that God has during that darkest moment has spread to many aspects of my life, including reaching out to the girls in Gladiolus Place. As how I have been restored and healed through faith in Christ who knows my brokenness, sins and rebellions, yet has forgiven me completely and loved me unconditionally, I truly hope that I can share this same hope I have received with them.
Despite all the challenges we face in this ministry, I am always encouraged to see that the girls, who are mostly not Christians, are open to allowing us to pray for them. Knowing this, I always try to spare the last ten minutes before we part ways to pray for them, as this is also a short window of opportunity to let them witness the relationship we have with our God, being able to testify that we have a God who cares and listens to our prayers.
I am also encouraged with the work in our church, and how many of our church members are intentional in sharing the gospel be it at our workplace, at home, or wherever God has placed us in our various roles in the society. Whether you are called to serve in Gladiolus Place ministry or not, I would like to request your prayer for this ministry that it will bear good fruit as God uses the befrienders to be the vessels to plant the seed of the gospel, and for God to soften their hearts so that the seed can grow on good soil. Pray for more opportunities to be able to build closer relationships with these girls so that we can love them better. Of course, you are always welcome if you wish to join me and the rest of GBC befrienders in this ministry, be it as a game coordinator, a cook, a befriender, or maybe someday, opening up your homes to provide a safe space for them, as we aspire to invite them to be a part of GBC family—that one day they too will be able to witness and experience love as a body of Christ.
P.S. We will be having monthly dinners for the girls from 2024. If you would like to be a befriender or to volunteer with food, please drop a note to Pastor Ollie (oliverchia@gracebaptistchurch.sg) or Felice (felicewst13@gmail.com).