I just submitted my very first article covering our Easter Big Day, to CN on Monday. Well, according to the ed, there's no guarantee whether it would be published at all, so hopefully I did ok enough.
I had a chance to interview the elderly who just emerged champ of the DC pageant held on that day. What she shared to me was of course too long to be put inside the article, but it impacted me so much that I want to write it in here and share with everybody.
Mdm Chua used to do very well financially as the lady-boss of a famous hawker dish in Singapore. Incidentally, I remember my dad packing takeaways from her stall when I was just a little kid. Not that I knew her back then, of course. I just remembered the food: Gong Bao Tien Ji from Geylang.
Anyway, back to the story. One day, her daughter withdrew all the cash in her bank account and ran away, leaving behind her young two sons in Mdm Chua's care.
Mdm Chua was not able to adopt the boys under her name because of her age. The boys officially became orphans overnight.
Broke and helpless, she sunk into depression and cried herself to sleep almost every night. She struggled a lot with fear in her life.. fear that something bad may just happen unexpectedly.
This was when two of the workers started to visit her and invite her to come. More than just asking her to come, they helped in a very practical way. Bearing in mind that both have full-time jobs and families to spend time with, they would still take time out to come on a separate weekday each to help the boys with tuition. That is two visitation days per week, not including weekend service.
When she attends service, the two workers would take the boys under their wings, so that the grateful Mdm Chua can have a chance to focus and learn during the service. The workers enrolled the boys in tuition programs in CCH as well. Mdm Chua confidently shared with me that with guidance from the two workers and from church, she is sure that her grandchildren will not go astray.
Mdm Chua's life started changing for the better slowly but surely after receiving Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. Initially a very fearful person, she told me that the reason why she chose to join the pageant in DC was because of the two workers who had impacted and made a difference in her life when she was at her lowest point. I was very moved when she shared this with me, because she did not do this for herself, but because of other people. Even if it meant having to deal with stage fright, she still chose to do it.
The greatest gain from the pageant, she shared, is that she now has much more self-confidence. Not to be confused with just feeling good about herself, though. Her type of confidence comes from knowing that the "people at DC love her, are always helping her and include her as a member of one big family".
These are her own words.
There I was.. BAM! When she shared these to me in that freezing room, my heart melted and I really wanted to cry. Because I could see through her story the hand of God moving through ordinary people to touch her life. And Mdm Chua, moved to her core, reached back with the strength that was given to her.
I don't want to ever forget this story, or the reason why we are doing what we are doing.
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