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Report on Wycliffe Singapore's 'Stories from the Field' event, held on 1 Jul 2025, in which Evelyn shared about her work in oral scripture translations in dialect. A Multilingual Childhood Evelyn began by sharing about her childhood – growing up in the streets of multilingual Melaka town meant that she was exposed daily to multiple dialects spoken in the house, marketplace and school. Interestingly, everyone would speak in their own dialect even to people of other dialects, and all would understand each other! There were also Indian and Malay friends in the mix. With this heritage, she was well-placed to pick up linguistics and translation skills, and could see patterns in languages with more ease than most. Moreover, she fully appreciates how their heart language is special to each people group, and their pride in hearing and having scripture in their own language. A photo of Kee Ann Road in 1970s or early 1980s when the Malacca Central market at the rear was not demolished yet. Very vibrant community. Source: https://melakanewchinatown.blogspot.com/2013/09/kee-ann-road-in-late-1970s-or-early.html Why Oral Bible Translation (OBT)? Although Bible translation has mostly been done in written forms, oral forms work better for certain groups of people. These include the elderly, those who are not very literate, and those with some disabilities. Sometimes, there may not be a widely accepted writing system which makes producing a written Bible difficult or contentious. An oral Bible is different from an audio Bible; audio Bibles are the reading out of a previously translated written Bible. And oral Bible is primarily intended to be spoken aloud and listened to, and the words and expressions used will reflect this while keeping true to the meaning of the Bible. OBT is a multistage process which begins with listening to several versions of the passage read out from Bibles in languages the team can understand. There will be someone to guide the team in learning about the background and meaning of the passage, activities such as drawing or acting to help them remember the details, and then they  will practise retelling the passage, working on key terms and other expressions till they are satisfied that it is clear, accurate and natural. This draft will be recorded, then go through team and community checking, and then be checked by a translation consultant. Finally, it will be recorded again for distribution. The Penang Hokkien OBT Project Evelyn is now based in Penang, working on the Penang Hokkien OBT project, which arose out of need. She responded to a call from Joanna from Youth With a Mission (YWAM) to help translate the Jesus Film into Penang Hokkien. YWAM runs a drop-in centre serving the homeless and the poor, and a ‘street church’ too. They found that the Jesus Film dubbed in Amoy Hokkien was not understood by speakers of Penang Hokkien! There was a real need to translate. The Jesus Film in Penang Hokkien: https://youtu.be/3ELxZlNUGbo?si=lNwV69fqC9om3Ccz God uses His word to reach the lost Evelyn shared a story of the impact of oral scriptures. At a community checking session, when the oral version was read to an audience who heard it for the first time, a non-believing gentleman was so moved that Jesus had compassion on ‘sheep without a shepherd’ that he prayed to received Christ that day. All in all, it was eye-opening to hear Evelyn share about OBT.  Please uphold the Penang Hokkien and Hakka OBT projects in prayer, as well as other OBT projects in different parts of the world. Community check with Pastor Joy in which a a non-believing gentleman was so moved that Jesus had compassion on ‘sheep without a shepherd’ that he prayed to received Christ that day. About the Speaker Evelyn currently serves as a translation consultant. Her multiethnic and multilingual childhood gave her an early start to missions training! Over the past 20 years, she has worked with 42 languages, helping translation teams in many places geographically and/or culturally close to her. Her life is testimony to the fact that doing missions does not necessarily entail going to faraway places; working cross-culturally can be within your own city, just across a bridge or an hour's flight away.

In May 2025, we gathered to hear stories from the field experience of M*, a Bible translator from Argentina who served for many years in a neighboring country. Right from the start, M* gave a warm shoutout to her longtime Singaporean neighbor and fellow translator for the B language. With great charm and humility, she shared stories about their work together, her life before serving overseas, and how God led her family through fiery trials. * Early Leading of God When M* and her husband, W*, first began considering overseas service, they didn’t know of anyone else from Argentina involved in this kind of work, so they weren’t even sure if it was possible for them. But the Lord began to open doors. While studying linguistics, M* learned that many Christians did not yet have the Bible in their language to receive comfort and guidance from God. Because of what the Bible meant to her, she was deeply moved and saddened—and began praying for this need. She never imagined she could personally help, but she knew she could pray. As she explored further, God led her to Wycliffe, where she signed up to pray for a Bibleless people group. Soon a small prayer card for the B* people arrived in the mail. She didn’t even know where they were located! Still, she pinned the card on her wall and prayed faithfully, asking God to send someone to them. In His surprising way, God answered her prayer by clearly leading her and W* to that very place—just “around the corner” from Singapore. Training and Language Learning At that time, linguistics training was offered only in English, so they first had to learn English before they could begin their training for translation. Later, they also learned the national language of the country where they worked, along with the B* language. When asked how she managed to learn so many languages, M* explained that her motivation was simple: she wanted to be able to communicate with people she otherwise couldn’t—and most importantly, to share the gospel with them. That was inspiring! Language learning went hand in hand with understanding the culture, which was very different from her own. She told a story of bathing in a river near a longhouse and casually saying the word for “crocodile” out loud. To her surprise, many locals immediately rushed out of the water! She later learned they believed that speaking the word aloud would cause crocodiles to appear. M* and W* worked alongside a team of three B* mother-tongue translators (MTTs). At one point, while they were translating verses about “evil spirits,” the enemy tried to frighten the team with supernatural disturbances—bad dreams, or lights switching off by themselves multiple times in a day. But this backfired: the translators came to realize, for the first time, that Bible translation is not only intellectual but also a deeply spiritual work. It took ten years for the team to complete the New Testament. At times, the work felt painfully slow—some days they wrestled with a single verse. Yet God carried them through to the finish line. Truly, every translation is a miracle of God. God's better plans P & H had made an appointment to see the regent of that regency, but disappointingly, that fell through. But God had prepared another plan! They discovered that a brand-new public library had been opened just the month before, intended to be the centre of literacy for the entire region! They were invited in and introduced to the head of the education department as well as the head of the library who were very excited to see the printed folk story booklets. They shared with P & H how they realised that they really didn’t have any material in Saluan, and they would love to have some local literature for their grand opening in three months’ time. With great joy, P and H were able to offer to print a collection of the stories for the library, and also share the mobile app.  Personal Joys and Sorrows, to the Present While serving overseas, God blessed them with the joy of adopting three children. But alongside that joy came deep sorrow: one of their children, who was born with congenital heart disease, passed away at a young age. That season was filled with grief, yet they experienced God’s grace and comfort through His people. Seven years ago, they returned to Argentina. Today, both M* and W* serve as translation consultants, traveling to other countries to support Bible translation teams. In fact, she is eagerly preparing to check 1 & 2 Samuel with the B* team this coming January. She closed her talk with a verse especially dear to their family—Psalm 9:10: “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,For You, LORD, have not abandoned those who seek You.” About M* M* and her husband, W*, are from Argentina. Together, they served in Southeast Asia for 17 years, facilitating the translation of the New Testament and helping produce other books and educational resources in local languages. They now live in Buenos Aires, where they continue serving as translation consultants. M* also serves as the Board Chair of Letra Argentina, a member organization of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.

P & H moved from their home country to live and work among the Saluan people in Indonesia for seven years, learning the language and compiling a dictionary. Their desire was to encourage the people to continue using their own language and preserve their culture and heritage. Over the years, they produced a Saluan dictionary app (with an Indonesian, English and German index) that was first launched in 2018 and has been updated several times since. Apart from the dictionary app, a marine life app and a Saluan song app were published as well. P & H produced a Saluan dictionary app, downloadable from Google Playstore In 2020, they returned to their home country for their children to complete their education, but they continued to support the Saluan people and their language. Working remotely with their Saluan helpers, they continue to transcribe recordings in order to analyse the language and create new reading material for the Saluan community. With every transcribed recording, the text corpus grows and many new entries are added to the lexicon. Other than during the Covid years, they have made annual visits to reconnect with their team, and collect more materials and language data. Saluan folk stories as children's books Over the years, they have collected many folk stories from several older Saluan people. These were published last year through a folk story app ( Undu-Unduon Saluan *) that includes audio recordings to help people read the Saluan stories. They have also produced little booklets with some of these stories, beautifully illustrated by P (formerly a graphic designer). These were distributed to a few villages to promote literacy during their visit this year. The grandson of one of the men who contributed stories was thrilled to see the booklets of his grandfather’s stories! Undu-Unduon Saluan, the beautifully-illustrated Saluan folktales app God's better plans P & H had made an appointment to see the regent of that regency, but disappointingly, that fell through. But God had prepared another plan! They discovered that a brand-new public library had been opened just the month before, intended to be the centre of literacy for the entire region! They were invited in and introduced to the head of the education department as well as the head of the library who were very excited to see the printed folk story booklets. They shared with P & H how they realised that they really didn’t have any material in Saluan, and they would love to have some local literature for their grand opening in three months’ time. With great joy, P and H were able to offer to print a collection of the stories for the library, and also share the mobile app.  Library of Luwuk, the Centre for Literacy for the entire region “Why are you doing this, and for free?” During a subsequent meeting with library staff, P & H were asked by one of the senior staff, “Why are you doing this, and for free?” They answered, “Because we love the Saluan people and their language.” The staff were surprised, and one of them was clearly touched by the response. H said she saw a glimmer of a tear in his eye! Later they found out that these staff were actually from the Saluan people group. One of the library staff has since offered to help with collecting more Saluan folk stories. What next? P & H don’t intend to stop here! They will continue collecting more folk tales to add to the existing corpus. They also plan to translate each story into Indonesian, English and German, and combine them into one book!  Another project they hope to begin in the future is to collect and publish information about medicinal use of native plants by the Saluan people, a valuable part of their cultural heritage. They have started taking some photos and collecting basic information in preparation. For the Saluan and many other minority people groups, such literacy projects not only preserve their language, culture and heritage, but also open doors to education and jobs. We can also pray that they will eventually be able to read the Word of God in their own language. *To download the Saluan folk story app, go to Google Play Store Undu-Unduon Saluan . *Learn more about the Saluan people here .

Stories from the Field, 7 May 2024 Speaker: D Proverbs 16:9 – In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.   D began with this verse – a reminder that even though we make plans, it is the Lord that determines our steps. He went on to share about how he and his wife chose to work with the Zedsee people, an unreached people group, set up a home there, built relationships and discipled the early believers. Making decisions As an example, D gave the example of how he and his wife decided which country to go to, and which people group to serve. They felt they had a calling to missions, but no specific calling to any country or people group. They decided on the country based on some practical requirements such as wanting to be near Singapore for annual visits home, not liking extreme cold, and an inability to eat chilli! Later, when it came to choosing the group to work with, they saw that there was a need and an opening to serve this group, so they took it up. The burden for that particular group grew as they lived and worked among the people. D said that it was only in retrospect that they became sure that this was God's will for them.   Key people To help them along the way, God sent people who played very significant roles in their ministry. One of them, Mr L, was not even a believer. He was the person who met them when they first arrived, and helped them get set up in their first flat. Later, when they wanted to move to the town in the Zedsee area, they remembered that he was from that area. He introduced them to a friend in the town, and through the network of contacts, they found a place to live. For the record, the flat they rented belonged to Mr L’s friend’s friend’s landlord (that’s 4 people)!   Another key person was Ms H, who had become a believer through another missionary, and had brought a few friends in the small town to faith. She helped D with some language learning, then introduced him to those believing friends in the town. One of these became the first drafter of the Zedsee scriptures, and this group was the first Zedsee group that D discipled.   Discipling the believers D and his wife strongly feel that physical presence and frequent contact is important when discipling new believers. Living among the people gave them opportunities to speak into the new believers’ lives when they faced difficult issues. The people could see that they lived under the same situations and conditions. That's what it means to be incarnational – living among the people and being subject to the same limitations. One thing they had to remind themselves was they were just enablers – spiritual growth comes from the Holy Spirit. As Paul said: I planted, someone else watered, but the Lord makes them grow.   Handing over After 10 years in the field, D and his wife handed over their project to another team and returned home to Singapore to place their children in the Singapore system. Having engaged in pioneering work among the Zedsee, leaving the people was like parents saying goodbye to their children. Even after all this time, they feel like a piece of their hearts has been left in that culture, in that town, with the people.   The project has been progressing well under the new team, and the New Testament is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2026. And the believers are still holding fast to their faith. Praise the Lord!   * Unreached People Group (UPG): A people group which has few believing Christians (usually under 2% of the population) and does not have the resources to evangelise their own people group without outside assistance. The 10/40 Window is home to some of the largest unreached people groups in the world. Unreached people groups©Joshua Project

Lassar's Bible, Rubenius_Wikimedia Commons Two volumes (part of an eight-volume publication) of a little-known Chinese Bible made the news recently. They were found in a pile of donations in an Oxfam shop in Chelmsford, England, and were sold together for over £56,000 at auction in March 2025! This Chinese Bible, translated by John Lassar and Joshua Marshman was the first full Chinese Bible to be published. Bible translation in the Chinese language began as far back as the 7th century, when the first Christians, the Nestorians, introduced Christianity to China. Other translations of Bible portions were carried out by Catholic missionaries in the 16th century, but it was not until the early 19th century that the first full Bible translations were published. Lassar-Marshman Bible John (Johannes) Lassar (Hovhannes Ghazarian) (1771–1835?) was an Armenian born and raised in Macau. Macau was then mostly Portuguese speaking, but Lassar’s father engaged a tutor to teach him Chinese. He moved to India in 1804 and was invited to translate the Bible into Chinese at William Carey’s mission centre in Serampore. He began teaching the language to a British missionary, Joshua Marshman (1794–1877), in 1806 and they completed translating the New Testament in 1813. The full Bible was published in Serampore in 1822. It was later revised and used among the Chinese in Thailand for a time. Morrison-Milne Bible Robert Morrison at work. Robert Morrison (1782–1834), a British missionary, arrived in China in 1807 with the intention of translating the Bible into Chinese. In preparation, he had already learned some Chinese from a Chinese student while in England. As it was illegal in China for foreigners to learn Chinese, he worked secretly to study the language and translate with the assistance of a few Chinese helpers. He completed translating the New Testament in 1813. Another British missionary, William Milne (1785–1822), joined him in 1813, but was not permitted to stay in China and so moved to Malacca where there was a significant Chinese community. Together, Morrison and Milne completed translating the Old Testament, and the full Bible was published in Malacca in 1823. Their Bible, following several revisions and other translations, became the basis of the Chinese Union Version, the most influential version in the history of Chinese Christian church, still in use today. Reflections Given that the two translation projects were published within a year of each other, why did the Morrison-Milne Bible have more impact and a lasting legacy compared with the Lassar-Marshman Bible? The answer may lie in the circumstances in which the two translation projects were carried out. 1. Learning the language from native speakers.  Morrison learned Chinese from native Chinese speakers – first in England, and later in China. Although his studies were conducted in secret, living in China would have provided at least some exposure to the language. Milne learned Chinese mainly from the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. Lassar learned Chinese from a tutor in Portuguese-speaking Macau, and then taught Chinese to Marshman while they lived and worked in India. The different situations in which the four men lived surely impacted their facility in the Chinese language and the quality of their translation. 2. Testing translations with native speakers.  It is always necessary to check the clarity, accuracy and naturalness of any translation with native speakers of the language, even more so if the translation was carried out by non-native speakers. The Lassar-Marshman translation was carried out entirely in India, and although there was a small Chinese settlement around Kolkata (Calcutta) 30 km away, it is not clear how much contact they had with this community. Although Morrison was hampered by the secrecy he worked under, Milne’s relocation to Malacca gave them access to the much larger Chinese community there. 3. Encouraging scripture use.  Introducing translated portions to the language community as the translation progresses makes it much more likely that the full Bible will be read and used when it is completed. Again, it is not mentioned that the Lassar-Marshman project engaged the Chinese-speaking language community in India, while the Morrison-Milne project worked with the Chinese Christian community in Malacca in the years before and after publication. The greatest take-away from this “tale” is that Bible translation is ideally carried out with the collaboration of a community native speakers. Even when a draft is produced remotely, or with AI, a sufficient number of native speakers should be asked to assess the clarity, accuracy and naturalness of the translated text. Releasing translated portions to the community as the translation progresses also whets their appetite for more. Eventually, when the Bible in their heart language is made available to them, it will be welcomed with joy and gladness “because they now [understand] the words that [have] been made known to them” (Nehemiah 8:12).

Stories from the Field, 4 March 2025 Speakers: Anthony and Jennie How does one reach an unreached people group? And how does one know when the job is done? Anthony & Jennie left Singapore with a child in tow and another on the way with no answers to those questions. 20 years later, they left a fully functioning, mature church in Mozambique, having worked themselves out of a job.  The cheery couple began with their own backstory. After leading very typical lives of Singaporeans and working several years, God led them to an unreached people! In 1996, they left for four years’ preparation under New Tribe Missions (now named Ethno 360) in the USA. Stages on the Journey Upon reaching Mozambique, they had one clear aim in mind – they wanted to leave a mature, fully functioning church at the end. Thus, they worked backwards to plan the steps to get there. Pre-evangelism is all about getting to know the people. Anthony had to build their house from scratch and they needed help from the locals to clear the land and make bricks! They took time to ask the locals about their practices and viewpoints, which helped to gain trust. They also offered two kinds of practical help – medical first aid and transportation needs. This reduced the people’s natural suspicion of strangers, and they were able to build friendships among them. Language and culture learning  was important so that they could speak to the people in their own language. They also wanted to behave in a culturally appropriate manner to show respect to the people. That was followed by the Bible translation and literacy  stage. There was already a Malawi Bible which needed revising as it had been translated some time ago and in a neighbouring country. Anthony and Jennie also felt that literacy was an important step even for oral societies. Although the people could learn from Bible stories, each believer needed to be able to read the Bible and feed themselves from the Word of God.  They conducted literacy lessons, and some of the people had to learn to hold pencils! As they did not want to build a church building which would attract persecution, they used a space for literacy classes which they called a ‘school’, and which served as a preaching point too. Naturally, evangelism and discipleship came next. Eventually, after 17 years, the first believers came to Christ and the church was born. They taught the new believers about aspects of Christian faith such as baptisms and weddings, and also trained some of them to develop a discipleship curriculum and be teachers themselves. Time to go? When would the church be considered a ‘mature church’? Anthony and Jennie said that the tipping point was when the believers could discern truth from falsehood for themselves by referring to the Word of God. They had walked the believers through various problems including church discipline, and let them work out solutions for their contexts and seen that they were able to seek God’s will for themselves. When Anthony and Jennie sensed that the locals were getting too dependent on them, they saw that as a signal to leave. They had a proper handing-over ceremony and came home to Singapore. They still keep in touch with some key leaders by Whatsapp. Prayer items: Pray for the local believers as they navigate the challenges they face. Pray that they will continue to grow in faith and unity, and evangelise their relatives and neighbours. Pray that Anthony and Jennie’s past experiences will be useful in their current work. 4.  Pray that their family, especially their daughters, will settle well into Singapore.   About the speakers: Anthony and Jennie, together with their children, served in Mozambique for 20 years – 17 of which were spent in a rural village living among an unreached people group in which there was not a single believer of Christ.

After 33 years of service as members of Wycliffe Singapore, ex-colleagues of William and Michelle Tan as well as leaders from Christ Methodist Church (CMC) gathered for a special event on 13 June 2024. They praised God and remembered the years they served in missions together. It was a special occasion where many recalled events and experiences that the couple had forgotten or been unaware of! They were honoured again on 10 July 2024 when CMC remembered their years of ministry during the 10:30 am service. William shared some of their story: Q1. Tell us about yourselves and how you met. I grew up in CMC from kindergarten onwards. Michelle and I attended the same secondary school and lived in the same kampong in Siglap. One evening, we met at the bus stop, I invited her to my church and, as they say, the rest is history! We got married in CMC and continued to grow in faith. Over the years, we have served in many ways in the church.   We are very ordinary people. I have a mechanical engineering background and Michelle graduated from secretarial school. We have two sons, now grown and married. Jonathan and Kiyoko have 3 children: Kazumi (5), Jinsuke (1) and Keina (1); Nathaniel and Gloria just celebrated their first wedding anniversary. They shared in our missionary journey overseas and we are very proud of them. They came back to Singapore to serve National Service like all Singaporean boys. Both studied at Nanyang Technological University, Jonathan in photography and Nathaniel in Sports Science & Management. Presently, Jonathan works in e-commerce and Nathaniel teaches physical education. Q2. Why go into missions? Why join Wycliffe? We heard God’s call to serve in full-time missions in different ways. As I taught about Paul’s missionary journeys in my Sunday School class, I was convicted that I should go. For Michelle, while she was looking after our firstborn, Jonathan, sitting at the Lord’s feet praying and reading His word, she felt the Lord’s call to full-time ministry.   Several people made an impact on us. Among them: Katherine Tan was the first member of CMC who joined Wycliffe to serve in the Philippines. I remember attending the prayer meetings in the old office at Peace Centre, upholding the work of missionaries in the field. Then there were Roy and Janet Gwyther-Jones from Australia who served as the Wycliffe Singapore Office Director. They stayed with us for a short period before they rented my parents’ flat. During this time, we had numerous opportunities to interact and hear their missionary stories from their time in Papua New Guinea. They shared about bringing up children in the field, and how God met their needs. We sensed God working in our hearts, calling us to the work of Bible translation, to bring God’s Word to a people group in a language that they could understand.   Q3. How did you serve overseas? Our time overseas was in a single country, but we stayed in three cities in different provinces! We had different roles over the years: ranging from language students to foreign experts to running a consultancy business.    We can divide our time overseas into three stages. There was the INVESTMENT stage where we spent time learning the language. I also had opportunities to write a thesis and make presentations at language conferences.   The middle and longest stage, we call the SERVING stage. As our organisation’s presence in the country was increasing to meet the needs of the huge task ahead, we were asked to become administrators – to care for the growing team and oversee the work. Over the years, we took on many roles: personnel, member-care, prayer, Director for Support Affairs, Director (overall), Director for External Affairs, etc. Even though this meant giving up on the dream of doing bible translation, we were encouraged by the words of the then missions pastor in our home church, that we were still serving the Lord and that they would continue to support us.   When our children were younger, Michelle took care of the family while I was involved with much travelling to visit members and develop further work in the country. While I was on the road, she started a prayer ministry where missionaries (ladies) from different agencies and countries met weekly to intercede for the country and other needs. Later on, when the boys were older, Michelle also took on a teaching role in different parts of the country while I stayed home with the boys, and sometimes we left the boys with our helper while both of us travelled together to different churches and training schools.   The last stage, EQUIPPING, was spending time networking with local church leaders to encourage local churches to participate in and support the work in more disadvantaged parts of the country.   Altogether, our time overseas was the most rewarding period of our lives as we were privileged to witness the growth and development of the nation as well as the local church.   On the family front, our older son, Jonathan, studied in a local school till 8th grade, and both boys completed their secondary education in an international school before returning to Singapore for their National Service. Q4. What roles did you fill after returning to Singapore? We returned to Singapore at the end of 2019 just before COVID broke out and our world changed. Thanks to the Wycliffe Singapore leadership, we were plugged into the work and ministry in Singapore. My first role was to oversee the renovating of the newly purchased Wycliffe office in Tai Seng. Another aspect of my work was to engage Singapore churches to be involved in the ministry of Bible translation in Asia and beyond. Michelle was involved in the prayer and member care ministries. After all those years away, we were blessed to have this community to serve and, in turn, be a blessing. We were also privileged to coordinate two short mission trips to the country we had served in during our church’s missions month. We were happy to help them understand the work situation there and also for them to teach some English and share the Word of God.   Then CMC requested that I serve as ministry staff in church. Those two-and-a half years gave me insight into the operations of the local church. Adjusting to serving in a church was a challenge, but it was also a joy to serve members I knew personally, visiting the home-bound and those in hospital, hearing about their struggles and pain, and journeying with them. I coordinated some short missions trips so that they could be involved and grow in their understanding of overseas missions. I also assisted with coordinating the Chinese and dialect ministries. Michelle continued to serve with Wycliffe while also being involved in the seniors’ ministry in church as well as serving on the worship team and sharing the Word/testimony in the Chinese services.  Q5. What plans do you have for the future? Although we have retired from service in Wycliffe and church, we still feel God calling us to further ministry! We made a two-week scouting trip to Tokyo recently and made contact with a Japanese family we had gotten to know overseas. We also visited a Retreat Center and participated in a homeless ministry. The two weeks opened our eyes to the opportunities available to serve God in Tokyo and engage with life there. We are considering making further trips, possibly for 3 months or so, and possibly in more rural parts of Japan where the needs are. At the moment, we are attending Japanese language classes in Singapore and occasionally attending a Japanese church and exploring service opportunities with networks like Love Singapore, other mission agencies and personal friends serving in Japan. Q6. What are a few lessons you have learnt from your years of serving God? Our God is faithful. He provided for our family’s needs each step of the way.  God can use anyone. What is required is the willingness to grow and change in the way that is needed for that particular time, and the courage and tenacity to stick to the task till God says you may move on. To fear, honour and obey God is the beginning of wisdom. This fear of God in our household helped us overcome temptations and make decisions throughout our journey. We should maintain good relationships with both the church and the mission agency through constant communication and interaction. There is a difference in emphasis and working styles, but both relationships are important. God gave the missions mandate to the church, and the mission agency is to support the church in this endeavour. We are so thankful to have had opportunities to engage local churches in Singapore and overseas in missions work. Prayer is key and we must make time to seek the Lord and to hear HIM well as to timing, who we partner with, the locality and the kind of work that HE may be directing us to do. Trust and obey!   Q7. Do you have advice for those who are considering serving in missions? Take care of your spiritual and emotional health. This will enable you to stay longer, serve better, and avoid burnout. Have a community wherever you serve for accountability; don’t be a lone ranger.   Have hobbies you enjoy doing in the field or wherever you go, e.g., reading, photography, travelling etc. These can serve as stress relief and also a way to form connections with others. Be flexible! Man makes plans but the Lord directs our steps! (Proverbs 16:) This has been so true for us as we moved through so many different roles. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape! Left-right: Family photos from 1992, 2012 and 2024

Stories from the Field, Tues, Jan 07, 2025 Speaker: Mr Ashley Tee It is a sad fact that a significant number of missionaries leave the field earlier than planned. The reasons for this are many, and some are unavoidable. However, can the incidence of this attrition be reduced? More importantly, what can be done to support missionaries to resolve the hurts and trauma they inevitably experience? Ps Ashley began by presenting some statistics of missionary attrition. On average, about 60% to 80% of missionaries return within the first two years. The reason could be conflicts within teams, the needs of elderly parents back home, illness, burnout, persecution, financial needs, visa issues, children’s education, etc. This attrition is extremely costly in terms of the physical and emotional impact on the missionaries who return prematurely, and also because these missionaries leave the field before they have reached their greatest “fruit-bearing” years. It is therefore vitally important to address and understand the challenges they face, and provide care and support for them on the field, and also after they return. Ps Ashley shared a 7-pillar model (acronym THRIVES) for missionary retention which he developed after interviewing 28 missionaries. These missionaries had collectively served in more than a dozen countries and averaged more than 5 years in the field. Training – Missionaries will be stressed if they are not adequately prepared for cross-cultural living and teamwork, conflict management, church planting, etc. He told a story of a western missionary who invited a local Muslim friend to his house for a meal, but insisted on serving pork, not realising that it was a serious religious matter, not just a matter of preference! Healthy teams – A missionary’s “team” also includes other stakeholders such as the mission agency, sending church, local believers and churches, etc. Sometimes, cross-cultural assumptions and misunderstandings can cause friction. For example, he told of a western colleague who beckoned using a single finger (acceptable in his country), which Asians consider insulting! Teams should follow established protocols and Biblical principles to resolve any conflicts. Resources – Missionaries will find it hard focus on their work if they are uncertain whether their needs will be met. The support, especially financial, must be both consistent and sufficient. Instruction (Ministry support) – Once on the field, missionaries should, as far as possible, be given training and advice from those who have experience in the place or ministry that they are entering. They should not have to go through trial and error if there are others who can share best practices and tips, or suffer the consequences of avoidable errors. Vision – Missionaries who are sure they have a call or burden for the ministry will have a strong reason for staying despite challenges. Although having a vision is not sufficient to prevent attrition, every missionary who stays will have a vision. Emotional support – Missionaries need caring relationships both with their field team as well as with supporters. He told of a missionary who took her own life, not because of any one major event, but because of an accumulation of many stresses and difficulties. Spiritual formation (maturity) – Missionaries who are more spiritually mature will be able to discern God’s guidance when they face challenges. He told of a missionary who had been cheated by a landlord and was strongly tempted to break a window in retaliation, but he heard the voice of God restraining him. If he had retaliated, that could have been the end of his ministry! Member care personnel and supporters can refer to these 7 pillars so that they can provide the right kind of support for missionaries to help them be healthy and fruitful in their ministry. Prayer items: Pray for God’s guidance and wisdom to care for and support the teams. Pray for protection for their teams in difficult areas such as Ukraine, Sudan, and the Middle East. Pray for one of their area member care providers who is undergoing cancer treatment. About the speaker: Mr Ashley Tee was born in Malaysia and became a Christian while studying in Singapore. He served with the Operation Mobilization (OM) ship ministry (1997–99), in pastoral ministry in Singapore (2003–2005), and in pioneering work in South Asia (2006–2016). He has a Bachelor’s degree in Theology, a Master’s degrees in Pastoral Counselling and Global Leadership, and a Doctorate in Missiology. He is married with three children. He is the founder of 3CMSpace (Chinese Cross-Cultural Missionaries Space ) . This is a virtual missions platform which supports Chinese-speaking missionaries in East Asia with relevant resources and practical help.

Wycliffe World Day of Prayer 2024 Prayer flows from a life of dependence on God. The Lord Himself showed this through his fervent prayers for His disciples and His ministry on earth. And so it is with the Wycliffe family—we seek to entrust and dedicate our work to the Father corporately, one day every year, calling it the Wycliffe World Day of Prayer. Wycliffe Singapore held the Day of Prayer on 16 November this year. We had the joy of seeing 33 people, including two young children, come together to learn more about the ministries of Wycliffe and to bring these concerns before God. The morning kicked off with a time of thanksgiving by the Executive Director, Charles, who shared how the Lord led and blessed us in 2024. This was followed by a lively time of worship and a devotional sharing on 1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5. Then everyone formed into smaller groups, moving from station to station to pray. We covered a wide range of ministries such as a Sign Language Bible Translation and other Bible Translation projects, Multilingual Education projects, Storytelling projects, and the needs of other Wycliffe Alliance Organisations. The Wycliffe team was encouraged to see new friends joining us. And the encouragement was mutual. One prayer participant said, “As a first time attender, I appreciated and enjoyed the worship, devotion, and prayer. Paul (a Board member) was very kind, and upon learning that two of us in the prayer group weren’t that familiar with Wycliffe's work, went out of his way to clearly explain to us the context of what we were praying for.” This was a common refrain from several others who came away saying they now understood Wycliffe’s ministries much better and they would like to know more so as to pray more. That day was truly refreshing for the soul as each one went home with a deeper sense of dependence on God after the fellowship over the Word and prayer. Left to right: Rev Lau Pak Soon, sharing a devotion; small group prayer; lunch

Stories from the Field, 1 Oct 2024 Speaker: Daniel Lau Daniel shared about his ministry in Japan over 10 years, serving in church planting with OMF. They returned to Singapore in 2023. In those years, he served in two cities—Hanamaki (actually quite a small rural town of 66,000) and Sendai. As he and his wife, Joy, focused on evangelism, discipleship and church planting, using the heart language of the people was an important part of their ministry. Even though they already knew some Japanese, they first spent a year in OMF’s language school in Sapporo to improve their Japanese. He started by giving a snapshot of Christianity in Japan. Evangelical Christians are estimated at about 0.3% of the population, which makes the Japanese an unreached people group. As many Japanese pastors are elderly and there are few younger pastors, eventually many churches will be forced to close. Hanamaki After language school, Daniel and his wife were sent to work in a church plant in Hanamaki. They and their German co-workers ran all kinds of activities such as English classes, German classes and German cookery. They also ran children's clubs, mom's clubs, arts and crafts, culture nights… and at the end of each activity they would give a short gospel talk. By God's grace, the church grew. The Sunday worship congregation increased from five to 25 over the six years they spent there, and they were able to buy a church building instead of renting. Eventually, they hope the church will be financially able to support a Japanese pastor to take over the work there so the missionaries can move on to work elsewhere. He told of one lady, Ashino, whom they led to Christ. She had been quite active in the church activities for over 5 years, but it was only after a crisis in her life that she began to study the Bible with his wife. After 6 months of weekly studies, she felt ready to be baptized. It took a lot of relationship building and just sharing their lives with her. Right now, she is also dealing with how the Christian faith ties in with her Japanese culture.   Sendai They then moved to Sendai, a much bigger city with a population of about 1 million. One major reason for the move was for their children to attend international school and be educated in English, in preparation for their eventual return to Singapore. Their ministry in Sendai was among university students, and also in a local church that had been planted by OMF 30 years before. The church ran a kindergarten, and because they had several English-speaking foreign teachers, it was attractive to many Japanese families. They were able to organise events such as picnics and sports, and invite their university student friends to join in. Unlike in Hanamaki, more people already had some knowledge about Christianity because of the work of earlier missionaries, which made evangelism easier. "Soft" persecution Daniel said that one challenge faced by the Japanese believers is “soft” persecution, such as the disapproval of family members, or being marginalised by society. Workers who identify as Christians may be passed over for promotion as they will not participate in company religious practices and are regarded as disloyal. This is an aspect where Singaporeans, being Asian as well, might be of help to new Japanese believers. Many Singaporeans have a similar experience of finding the middle ground between rejecting traditions that have religious roots, or giving in and compromising their faith. For example, they can help new believers plan how they can visit their relatives, help out with certain manual tasks, but gently, politely and respectfully refuse to participate in making the offerings. This may lead to opportunities to share the gospel, which they would not have if they refused to participate at all.   Prayer items: Pray for Japanese Christians to be bold in sharing their faith with their family and colleagues. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open the spiritual eyes and ears of the Japanese to receive the gospel. Pray for Daniel’s family, especially the children, who are still transitioning back to Singapore culture and the education system.