Winnie Chia, 41, an engineer at a statutory board, and a mother of a 10-year-old daughter, has been volunteering with the Polytechnic Ministry for about 20 years.

How did you come to know SYFC?

My first contact with SYFC was through a Project Servant who was sharing the gospel near my junior college. Then I was a non-Christian and accepted Christ through a workshop that the Project Servant invited me to. After my A-levels, I went to the polytechnic and God sent someone else from SYFC, Iris Low (an ex-staff), who saw me reading a copy of Our Daily Bread on the train and invited me to join a small prayer group in my polytechnic. While I was very amazed how God arranged different people at different times to keep up with me, I wasn’t very serious about evangelism and growing in the Lord until year three. Then God spoke to me to straighten out my life. The surprising thing was even though I became more involved in ministry, my grades were better. This was my first personal encounter with God where He taught me about His faithfulness and what it means to seek His Kingdom first.

What happened after you graduated from polytechnic?

I signed up for Grad Serve to give my first fruits to God after graduation. Originally, I signed up for six months, in the end I stayed for about two years. And to be honest, after that I was a little worried when I had to fill up my resume as I thought my two years in SYFC wouldn’t be relevant to my work application. However, God led me to meet a polytechnic lecturer who assured me that some employers will look for the soft skills I had learnt in SYFC and that gave me great confidence. Thank God, I found a job quite quickly.

What encouraged you to continue volunteering?

I continued because I believed God could use me, just as He had used the Project Servant who first reached out to me. I am convinced that the work we do in SYFC will impact young people’s lives. I am also encouraged by the like-minded people whom I serve alongside.

Currently, what is your role in the Polytechnic Ministry?

I am helping two Christian students in their walk with God and encouraging them to evangelise their friends.

Share your struggles as a volunteer and how you overcome them?

The main thing is to manage my time well. Anything I do for ministry can only be done after work. But as of now, after work, I need to supervise my daughter in her studies What helps is that my husband is very supportive and at times when I needed time for ministry, he will be with our daughter.

The other struggle has to do with my own growth. At times, I felt lousy after being careless with my words or actions. But God always sent older sisters or brothers in Christ to advise or rebuke me during those moments, so that I could reflect upon my actions and rectify them where possible. Now looking back, God used my weaknesses to humble and grow me.

What are your joys as a volunteer?

I am always excited to be informed that so-and-so has come to accept Jesus as his or her Lord and Saviour or so-and-so is now meeting our staff or volunteer for evangelistic Bible study. That always lift up my soul and make my day.

How can REACH readers pray for you?

To be Christlike and a good example to younger ones in ministry.