As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, let us remember the underprivileged in our community.
On Christmas Day 2, 26 December, Parishioner volunteers brought the joy and love of Jesus to many families in our neighbourhood as parishioners reached out to many of our neighbours in Blk 33 Boon Keng Road and gifted them with warmth, greetings, and our parish tote bag of items and NTUC Vouchers.
As disciples of Jesus, we can be the visible sign of God’s love in action for our neighbours.
By every means I have shown you that we must exert ourselves in this way to support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, who himself said, “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving”. Acts 20:35.
As we work towards our parish Vision of becoming “A Vibrant, Loving Community of Disciples, Making Disciples for the Kingdom of God” and our parish mission “To Form Disciples in Christ” – we have been embarking on initiatives to engage more people to look beyond ourselves, and one of them is to care for others within our parish boundary.
There is more and more momentum gaining as more people step forward to care for those in our parish vicinity. This round was the parish’s 4th outreach project. One could definitely feel the spirit of solidarity that shone through with the coming together as sisters and brothers of Christ who were serving others together in our neighbourhood. There is no better way than to do it as a family and to also meet new friends from church!
“The love and enthusiasm from our fellow parishioners were met with joy and happiness from the residents. The love of the Lord shown on everyone’s face during the outreach.”
-Mervyn Wong, from the organizing team- organized this with 2 other core members, Charis Lim, Dickson Ooi.
Mother and son, Cindy Ong and Kaiser, joined their father who was serving on this day and experienced a meaningful time together.
“The Season of Gifting at BK has been a meaningful experience for me and Kaizer while we did our rounds. We were motivated to make sure the gifts were distributed. We saw the surprised & joyful look on the residents’ faces when the gift was handed to them.
The residents looked out for their neighbors when we enquired if the flat was empty. Somehow, they knew their neighbors’ whereabouts pretty well.
Indeed, this kampong spirit was displayed by some of the residents we met. Thank God for the experience and allowing us to share the Gift with others too.”
– Cindy Ong
Matthew 22:37-40
He said to him,”You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it:You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Another parishioner volunteer felt that it was purposeful too:
“It was a good and meaningful outreach. Many of the residents are so friendly..but some are so pitiful. Happy to have been able to make a difference. And team of 3 was a good number – also helps with team bonding”
– Cheryl Sim
Sometimes, we wonder to ourselves, especially when we are tired if what we are doing worth the while?
“Although I was feeling tired after the Wishing Tree project (core team of all the Christmas decorations), I was really encouraged by the responses from 36 parishioners who have signed up for the outreach.
Most of them also brought their family members along. Pope Francis has said during Christmas Eve’s service, “Look beyond the lights and remember the poor”. I am really glad to see our church community has responded and reached out to 174 households in need during boxing day.”
– Dickson Ooi, Organizing Team
Contributors: Cindy Ooi, Mervyn Lim
Interviewed by: Julianne Danielle Lim