2020 Thanksgiving and Appreciation Night

Thanksgiving and Appreciation Night held on 3rd Nov 2020 saw a closely knit gathering of 33 friends of SU, comprising volunteers, companion countries, staff and Council. It was like family, as many were like-minded volunteers and friends of SU. Promptly at 7:45pm, each participant was warmly welcomed and greeted as they streamed into the ZOOM virtual platform. Our ND opened with a word of prayer and gave thanks to God for seeing us through a tough year. We then moved into a time of corporate worship singing “Worthy is the Lamb” led by Luke who was also our game master. Fun and laughter filled the atmosphere as everyone bonded through a Bible quiz. Vision 2021 sharing by Chairman Arnold Khoo: “SU has been a volunteer-led organisation. During this difficult time, it has allowed us to listen to what God is saying: to go beyond the boarders. With ZOOM, we can go into these neighbouring/regional countries (especially Indo-China) to conduct online sessions and run Sunday School online to engage them in a deeper way. Volunteers can come alongside and together reach out and bless these countries.” Sharing by Volunteers from Children’s Ministry: · Angela Wong (Monica’s mum) – Thanked SU for allowing her to serve and she has made many friends with fellow volunteers. · Soon Poh-Hoon – Gave thanks to God for the opportunity to serve and reminisce over her first time volunteering with SU at Sentosa. The training provided by SU, had equipped her to bless her church’s Sunday School and this is her way of giving back. · Khoo Sook-Neo – Our newest volunteer to SU, who gave an impromptu pitch on the divine set-up and how God had led her to volunteer with SU through a friend. She is thankful for being able to glean the “tricks of the trade” that Children’s Ministry has to offer. · Darius, our Council Secretary started as a SU volunteer. He has been serving in Children’s Ministry for 25 years. Similar to Poh-Hoon his first volunteering stint was at Sentosa. He gave an invitation to both the young and old, to come and be equipped with learning life skills while staying healthy and keeping active. Sharing by Volunteers from Youth Ministry: · After his education at a local Poly, Myron went to Malaysia to serve in a refugees camp before enlisting in National Service. When asked “Why did he choose to serve?” Myron’s response was “It is simple because God loves me. It is not just a desire but a responsibility. One of the things that has impacted me is whenever people ask me this question which I never think about, it gets me thinking. Over the past 2 years, God has allowed me to learn even more, as I serve; there is so much more to learn.” · Melanie is currently working and has been serving with SU since Secondary 2. She continues to serve because “we never know what God will reveal. It keeps us humble.” Wanting to serve is different from wanting to change the world. She looks forward to SU Youth Camps (her particular favourite was the Spartan Camp), where she can journey with campers and see them grow. · Our final sharing came from Chris Chan our SU Council Vice-Chair, who has a heart for Youths. He left us with these words “We can preach the Bible but they will not listen to us unless, as a volunteer we share our stories and what God has deposited into us. We do not look at platforms but into people’s lives.” In closing, ND gave a tribute to the late Mr Michael Leong for being an inspiration to everyone at SU where he had served 36 years. He was an exemplarily man of God who always encouraged us to “keep up the good work”! To all our volunteers, thank you for your passion, dedication and generosity. You have been a blessing to us and have touched many hearts!