by Lydia Lee

My husband Vincent and I have celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. (Where have all the years gone?) But I certainly would not trade now the 11th year for the first. As the years progress, it seems so wonderfully that each year has become richer and far more satisfying than before.

Of course, I remember and treasure too, the special ‘tingling’ I had and the wonderful feeling of falling in love with the ‘right’ man, the first date, the first kiss, the first day of marriage, the first honeymoon, the first home. These are all memories still lingering in my heart. First experiences are never to be forgotten. The delight and wonder of spending the entire life with the right man is sweet-sweeter as the years go by.

by Sister Bethany Khng

‘…We regret to inform you that your application to re-join the teaching service is unsuccessful…’

A numb, cold feeling crept in and suffused every part of my body as I held the ‘rejection’ slip limply in my hand. I stared in disbelief at the unexpected bombshell, an impersonal, 2-liner, that threatened to end my 15 years of teaching career. That was in February 1993. Today, I can still vividly recall that feeling of utter despair. It was near to grieving the loss of a loved one or some other hopeless situation, for I could never conceive myself as anything else but a teacher. Teaching was my passion. My sole aim in life is to be a Christian teacher, whom God can use in school, whose presence would make a difference in the lives of my young charges. In fact, the days following my submission of the application form to re-join the teaching service with the MOE, I was full of confidence and optimism about the future. I had painted a rosy picture, viewed through rose-coloured tinted glasses of my own making, of how privileged the pupils would be to have me as their teacher. Mentally, I had geared myself up to return to the teaching service with vigour and renewed enthusiasm after out stint of studies in America. I had a number of great plans in mind for the well-being of my ‘lucky’ students….And now, this rejection slip from the Ministry of Education has come to shatter the ‘castles built in the air’!

by Betty Khng

Our family first met Dr. and Mrs. William Ward Ayer in the summer of 1985, at their lovely home in St. Petersburg, Florida. John was a ministerial student in Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina, pursuing his Bachelor of Arts (Bible).

We became acquainted with the Ayers through “The Marching Truth” newsletter whose editor was Dr. Ayer himself. The first “significant” letter we wrote to them was sometime in February 1984, seeking their advice concerning a good, fundamental Bible college to go to for training. 

by Pastor John Khng 

Without our own awareness God's work of church planting began way back in 1979 when Bro. John Khng started a Sunday School ministry in his 4-room HDB apartment at Marsiling Drive in Woodlands.  There was no established church at that time in Marsiling, which was nicknamed a ‘ghost town’ as few people wanted to stay there because of its location at the far north of Singapore, next to the Causeway that links Singapore to Malaysia.

From this humble beginning to reach out the neighbourhood, the band of believers grew and established the Faith Independent Baptist Church in 1983.  Bro. John Khng and his family went for theological training at Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina, USA from 1984 to 1987 in preparation for the church ministry. Upon his return, he was elected to assume the pastorate at Faith Independent Baptist Church.

Pastor Khng went back to Bob Jones University with his family in July of 1990, to finish his Master in Pastoral Studies which was disrupted because of the need to come back half-way through his studies in 1987. With his studies completed in 1992, the family returned to plant another new church in Singapore. 

by Pastor John Khng 

God gave us a verse in the Bible to assure us of His blessings, as we embarked on planting our second church in Singapore. Psalm 126:3 has been a great encouragement ever since. It reads, ‘The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.’ Like Israel, we can look back and rejoice over all the great things God in His mercy had done for us.