On the 1st Saturday of 2023, 350 of us gathered onsite at Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church for 2023’s Dedication Service. With so much uncertainty looming in Singapore and the rest of the world, so many of us wearied by everyday challenges, and reminders of how we may have tried and failed, this year’s theme of Faith Over Fear, Fatigue and Failure is particularly poignant.
PCS and PPS’ Mission: Meeting the Challenges and Needs in our Community
From the beginning of the service, we were reminded of our mission as Presbyterian Community Services and Presbyterian Preschool Services.
The Song of Praise “Here is Love”, sings of the different ways God shows His love towards us. God’s demonstration of his mercy and love places upon us an obligation to love and serve Him and others in return.
“God’s demonstration of his mercy and love places upon us an obligation to love and serve Him and others in return.”
Rev David Lim, Group Executive Director of Presbyterian Community Services, and Lim Ee Tuo, Executive Director of Presbyterian Preschool Services also shared with us how 2022 has shaped our ministries, and the direction that we are to pursue.
PCS is leaping forward in the redevelopment of Grace Orchard School campus in partnership with Ministry of Education (MOE). In addition, there is also the planned establishment of the HUB for Integrated Services (HIS). Through these initiatives, opportunities for training, growth and employment for persons with added needs will be made possible. In 2022, PPS implemented our Truth, Beauty and Goodness curriculum, kickstarted the Good Start SG movement, introduced the Educational Support Programme in partnership with Chua Foundation, transformed our classrooms and started 2 Little Olive Tree Preschools. God-willing in 2023, we hope to further enhance our curriculum, training and practices, partner with more Christian preschools, make every preschool inclusive, engage more churches and partners and plant more Little Olive Trees.
In spite of growing challenges, Rev Lim and Mr. Lim’s sharing were calls for us to continue the work that God has called us to, and a reminder of why PCS and PPS exist.
Accomplishing the Mission: Faith in God, not in Ourselves
The sermon preached from Joshua 11:1-15 by Rev William Sim (Bethany Presbyterian Church) was also a needful reminder for us to persevere in what God has called us to do because no matter how differently our challenges may seem year to year. This is because our God remains the same.
This same God enables us to continue to care and love the young ones in our care. As cliched as it sounds, Rev Sim’s anecdote of his own daughter’s growth in a Christian Kindergarten brought home the encouragement for many of us: our young charges will forget what we teach them, but they will never forget the love and care we showered them.
The sermon’s concluding call was also a sobering one: Leave nothing undone that God calls us to do. Let us be faithful in accomplishing what God has entrusted us with.
Persevering in the Mission: Celebrating Faithfulness
At this point in the service, we also gave out the Long Service Awards to those of us who have demonstrated steadfastness to their work at PCS and PPS. Ms Kwek Mui Kiang, Senior Manager in PPS has faithfully abided for the last 35 years. Ms Kam May Ling, Senior Teacher, has been teaching with PPS for 25 years.
Here are the rest of the Long Service Awardees. We thank God for each of their lives, their willingness to serve and care for the little ones, and God sustaining their work in our organisation.
Congratulations to all our Long Service Awardees!
20 Years
- Er Meng Choo, Teacher (PPS Holland Village)
- Lai Kau Yin, Centre Aide (PPS Yishun)
15 Years
- Noor Azizah Binte Ahmad, Senior Teacher (PPS Bukit Batok)
10 Years
- Kalaichelvi d/o Shanmugam, Centre Aide (PPS Tampines)
5 Years
- Lee Chiew Tee, Centre Aide (PPS Yishun)
- Lim Jenny, Principal (PPS Tampines)
- Mercado Glenndail Dellima, Teacher (PPS Woodlands)
- Raymundo Milleth Anne Santos, Vice Principal (PPS Jurong West)
- Sharon Saw Mei Ling, Principal
- Tiffany Wong, Teacher (PPS Yishun)
- V. Kalarani, Centre Aide (PPS Yishun)
- Wang Jin, Teacher (PPS Woodlands)
Enraptured by the Greater Mission
The road ahead for us as an organisation continues to be challenging, and every new year will bring us fresh challenges. What fuels us in our work day to day in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complicated and ambiguous world? What might get us out of bed each morning, and enable us to press on in our respective roles?
There can only be one motivation large enough that plunges the depths of our fears, fatigue and failures. That is, to display God’s glory and make him known.
On 7th January this year, 350 of us committed and dedicated our tomorrows in 2023 to winsomely display God’s goodness to the world by meeting the needs and challenges of our community. May God establish the works of our hands and be glorified in all that we do.
Soli Deo Gloria