“What was I living my life for? Was anything else I was doing of a greater worth than what I’m doing for God?”
Titus Wong asked himself on his very first day in Project Serve in 2010. Today, nine years as a SYFC staff, he still uses these key questions to evaluate what he spends his time on.
This intentionality of challenging Christian youths to live for Christ forms the backbone of Project Serve.
Since 1985, Project Serve, our full-time programme to equip youth for gospel outreach, has trained hundreds of students. Each ministry tailors its Serve programme according to their students’ needs and school schedules. Three individuals trace how the Lord has shaped them through their involvement.
A foundational starting point of Project Serve is the gospel.
Titus, who is on the Project Serve committee, highlights that a key cornerstone of the programme is the 2 Ways to Live training. “We set this as the foundation – the basic understanding of the gospel and what it means to themselves as Project Servants first and then, what it means to share it to other people.”
Wei Tian Yue (right), from the SJM Project Serve January to April 2022 batch, appreciates the daily emphasis on God’s Word. “Previously, I wasn’t really serious about reading the Scripture. I just treated it as homework.” However, as she read and better understood the Word, her attitude and character was directly impacted.
Having just received her A-Level results, a devotion on Philippians 4:10-12 addressed her worries and anxieties over the future. “If we are not contented in all circumstances [in God] like what Paul said, we’ll never have enough…. [This devotion] really quelled my fears and worries and reminded me to put my trust in God.”
It is this practice of walking closely with the Lord that translates into growing boldness in ministry.
Grad Serve (Project Serve in Poly Ministry), according to Lee Jia Hui from the batch in 2014, was particularly daunting because she was assigned to a different polytechnic from the one she graduated from. “Even to walk toward a student [was scary]…”
Jia Hui recalls her initial days in what she termed a “foreign land.” She continually turned to the Lord in prayer. “I remember moments when I felt very lost and I’ll find a place to sit down, pause and talk to God.” Grad Serve lasted for six months for her.
As the Lord uses His Word and their obedience to shape His children, He works through them to bear fruit.
Jia Hui, now a Poly Ministry volunteer leader, reflects, “At first, my friends thought [my involvement] was a superstitious thing or that I didn’t want to let [church] people down.” Their surprise over her continual active involvement provided her an opportunity to testify to them of her continual faith in the Lord.
Tian Yue has great fears about evangelism but she is learning that God is the one who is working. “I used the skills [I learnt] to share with my grandparents and after hearing, they accepted Christ. I was very shocked.”
Just as God reveals Himself as the all-powerful Saviour, He is also Lord to whom we owe our complete allegiance.
Looking back on the busy rigour and accountability during her stint, Jia Hui shares: “Grad Serve shaped me to see that I’m not answering to a human authority but God … if no one but God is watching me, how would I live my life?”
Titus, Tian Yue and Jia Hui are walking with and worshipping Jesus as Lord and Saviour. As they do so, we witness a transformative work, beginning in their hearts and extending to their ministries – a work only possible through the Holy Spirit. May we be emboldened to persevere likewise.
