Benel Tai, 33, is one of the newest members of the SYFC staff team. He joined us in April 2024. Benel attends The Bible Church.

What were your initial encounters with SYFC?

I was invited to join a PEP group in my polytechnic when I was 18. Subsequently, after my National Service and when I was in the university, I volunteered in the Polytechnic Ministry’s calendar taskforce – planning and running events. Even when I started working, I did not cut back on my involvement.

What made you decide to join us full-time?

Well, several things happened to me in 2021 that led me to consider serving God full-time in SYFC. I was doing quite well in the corporate world then, but my physical, mental and spiritual health were suffering. I was diagnosed with low blood pressure and that scared me. I also felt very hopeless after receiving the diagnosis and did not even think of asking God for help because I had strayed very far in my relationship with Him. All these affected my work performance and took a toll on my mental health. I then took a break from volunteering as I felt hypocritical serving the Lord when my walk with Him was almost non-existent. Subsequently, I started spending time with God daily and returned to church. One day, while I was attending a department meeting where we were talking about our bottom line and winning more customers, I suddenly felt that I shouldn’t be wasting time on these things. That’s when I decided to quit my job and upon speaking with Reggie, Poly Ministry Coordinator, and seeking the Lord, I decided to join SYFC full-time.

It sounded like you had a tough time in 2021. But thank God for seeing you through. How has it been for you so far as a full-time staff?

Things are a lot better. I’m more conscious and disciplined to read the Bible. God is so good in granting me favour with the students I’m reaching out to. Three students whom I shared the gospel with prayed to receive Christ this year. A Christian student whom I was helping to be less fearful in evangelism has started to be more forthcoming in sharing and even encouraging others in his poly to do likewise. I am so encouraged and to be honest, I stopped thinking about my health issues because I know my time is in God’s hand.

How can the Reach readers pray for you?

Please pray for me and the Christian students whom I’m meeting to remember that as much as God is our Judge, He also extends grace to His people. Because of how often we’ve failed God, we feel ashamed to approach Him for help and forgiveness. While we shouldn’t take God’s grace for granted, we go to the other extreme of forgetting we are saved by grace through faith. Therefore, pray for me and my co-labourers to be more dependent on God to help and change us rather than turning away from Him.