(MUSTARD SEED SERVICE) As a student at St. Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC), Eileen Ang, 18, got to know about Chapel of the Resurrection (COR) through the SAJC Mentors Programme in 2017. Eileen attends the Mustard Seed Service and has joined the SAJC Mentors Programme.
The SAJC Mentors Programme comes under COR’s SAJC Chaplaincy, to care for the College’s community through engagement in character development and sharing the love and good news of Jesus Christ. Our Mentors are actively involved in the school’s activities e.g. CCAs, Overseas Community Involvement Projects and Chapels, and are an important link between the students and church.
When I was a student at St. Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC), I befriended the mentors, Krist Ng and Chloe Ng. I always look forward to the school’s Chapel sessions because I love singing worship songs. I did not know what worshipping God was, but the songs just sounded good to me! My second year at JC was really tough. I had to face many academic setbacks and I also found my relationships with family, friends, and teachers difficult. I didn't know who God was, but I just prayed out of desperation to God to help me deal with my situation, and I genuinely felt that I had received answers from Him through my prayers. One day, while trekking at MacRitchie reservoir with Chloe and a mutual SAJC friend, I overheard them talking about some activities at church. I took a step of faith and asked Chloe if she could bring me to church. I felt then that, “If I’ve already heard from God and experienced His love first hand, how could I say that He is not real and push Him away?”
That was how I attended COR for the first time in June 2017, which was also the youth pastor handover ceremony. I remember feeling super afraid of attending church without any friends accompanying me, but the Mustard Seed Service (MSS) community really made me feel very welcomed as a newcomer that day, engaging me fully in their activities. Even though I was brought up in a Buddhist family, with my strict dad uptight about me initially attending church, I decided to keep coming to church weekly because I felt MSS’s genuine welcome. My cell group, El Kanno, and its leaders, Eunice Khoo and Kevin Chew, are my strong support pillars and guides on my young Christian journey.
In February 2019, I returned to SAJC as a mentor in the very same SAJC Mentors ministry that befriended me as a student. Honestly, I had never considered mentoring at all! My thinking was, “Aiyah, 6 months is just too long! I can do many things instead leh!”, but God spoke through many people during the 2018 Youth Camp that I attended, to give back and impact someone else’s life the same way I was touched by my mentors. So I prayed really, really hard and asked God, “Is this really what you want me to do?” And God answered me through a song: “You will never fail me.”
With that confirmation, I joined the SAJC Mentors Programme, and I am super grateful to serve and do God’s work in SAJC! All praise to God!
身为圣安德烈初级学院(SAJC)的学生，18岁的洪佩欣，在2017年透过了学院的学生导师事工，认识了复活堂。佩欣现在参加Mustard Seed Service(MSS)聚会，也加入了学院的导师计划。
SAJC的学生导师事工来自于复活堂的学生牧养事工，透过参与学生的人格发展与分享基督的爱和好消息，关怀初级学院的学生群体。我们的导师都积极的参与学院的活动；例如课外活动，校外的社区行动和聚会。这是为了链接教会和学生的关系。
当我在圣安德烈初级学院念书的时候，我认识了导师们；Krist Ng & Chloe Ng。我每次都很期盼学校的聚会，因为我很喜欢唱敬拜的诗歌。虽然我不知什么是“敬拜神”，但是那些诗歌听起来很好听。
我的初院二年真的不容易过。我面对许多学业上的挫折，也对家人、朋友和老师的关系感到困扰。我不认识神，但是在绝望中，我向神祷告，求神帮助我面对我的困境。透过祷告，我真实地感到神垂听了我的祈求，得着了我在寻找的答案。
有一天当我、诗荑和另一个学友在麦里芝蓄水池跋涉(MacRitchie Reservoir)的时候，我无意中听到她们聊起教会的活动。我踏出信心的一步，问诗荑能不能带我去教会。我当时的感受是：“如果我已经听见与经历了上帝的爱，我怎么可以说祂不存在，把祂给推走？”
就在2017年6月，我第一次参加复活堂的聚会，也是青年牧师交接仪式。我记得感到非常害怕，因为没有朋友陪我去。但是MSS的青年都让我， 作为一个当天的新人，我感到很受欢迎，他们把我完全地带到了他们的活动中。
虽然我是在一个信佛的家庭长大，尤其是我严格又紧张的爸爸很在意我来教会，我还是决定继续每周都来教会。我深深地感到聚会诚实的欢迎。我的小组“El Kanno”还有小组的领袖(Eunice Khoo & Kevin Chew)，都成为了我基督徒生命成长的支柱与指导。
在2019年2月，我回到SAJC加入了学生导师事工，和我学生时代认识的导师们一起服侍。老实说，我根本都没有想过成为导师。我的想法是“哎呀，六个月实在是太久了，我可以做很多其他的事呢！”但是神透过很多人在2018年的青年营对我说话，要我知恩报德，影响别人的生命，就像导师们影响我的一样。我就努力地祷告，问神说“你真的要我这么做吗？”神就用一首诗回应说“你不会让我失望”。
有了神的确认，我就加入了SAJC学生导师事工。我感到非常感恩，可以在SAJC服侍神，做神的工。一切的赞美归给上帝!
This article first appeared in Issue 19, April 2019 CHORUS Magazine.
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