A Mission Field near Bethany Church

The "hornet nest" is being stirred when news have it that the old Serangoon Garden Technical School in Serangoon North Ave 1 is going to be converted to a Foreign Workers Dormitory. Many of the resident voiced against such a proposal, claiming security of their women and girls; drop in property prices, road congestion and many uncalled for behaviour of the foreigners. Singaporeans do has split behaviors - we despised foreign workers who are blue-collars and who hold lowly paid jobs like construction workers, cleaners and maids while accept easily the white- collars foreign professional and expatriates. This may be due to the unruly behavior of the foreign workers while the foreign professional and expatriate are are deem better behaved. However, we do forget about the Michael Fayes incident and other cases involving foreign professional.

When I first read the news, my thought was, "Wow! God is bringing a mission field nearer to Bethany Church." These lowly foreign workers are from Thailand, India, Mynmar, etc. Many of these would need friends, and maybe languages lesson. While Bethany usually spend one week a year for oversea mission trip to Thailand or Yunnan, here the mission field is being brought to our door step and we can reach out to them without facing the discomfort of toilets with maggots and muddy roads. If we are serious of mission to Cambodia, Thailand, or Yunnan, we should first prepare ourselves for mission trips by reaching to these "mission fields" in Singapore. As Simon Lim is teaching English to the Cambodians, we too can teach English to the Thais or Mynmar workers and learn their languages as we teach them. The only different is Simon is teaching children while we may have to teach adults. Any not many are willing to teach adults (?)

Of course, are we willing to give the time and energy? Oversea mission trips - as missionaries sound exciting and lasted just one or two weeks. Local mission trips are less glamorous and more tedious. It is not just one week, but maybe months and years. Would our oversea missionary trippers willing to start our local mission work? Would those having a call to go oversea consider this local mission field as a training and preparation for them to help them feel whether they can see "that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few"? Before we jump into the Cambodia, Thailand and Yunnan mission works, are we willing to also move into a closer mission field back home?

(Some of us might still be asking: "Mark, what are you talking about, these foreigners are just foreign workers, not people we want to witness to. Those in Cambodia or Yunnan, are the one we want to witness to. It is the place, not the people we are talking about".

Mark: "Yah, for me, it is the people not the place I am talking about. In God's perspective, it is not place but people. People is the most important of all God's creation.")

Acts 1:8 - When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

Mark Lim