With a vision to touch lives and a passion to give back to society, members of the City Harvest Chinese Church congregation have been making a difference in the community.
Contributed By Koh Yong Hui
In the few weeks leading up to Christmas 2010, St. Luke’s Eldercare at its Bukit Timah center celebrated the festive season early, thanks to dedicated volunteers. The team, made up of working adults and homemakers, availed themselves to help out for the event, demonstrating the love of the faith they have embraced. This group hails from the Chinese congregation in City Harvest Church.
There to address the patients of the center was homemaker Ng Lee Yong, 55, who spoke about having a sense of peace in the heart from the perspective of a parent. The topic was close to the hearts of the listeners, and many could relate as they were parents themselves. At the end of the sharing session, Ng led everyone in a time of prayer for each one to experience peace in their hearts.
The program also included a line-dance demonstration, which without a doubt livened up the atmosphere in the room. Those who were able to, tried to learn the steps; while others swayed to the melody of the songs. The dance was taught by one of the volunteers, Janice Lim. While not a professional dancer, her love for dance spurred her to take up the challenge of choreographing the dance to make it easy for the elderly to follow. She commented, “I realized that as I volunteer, it has in turn uncovered the potential in me. I am doing things that I never thought that I could do,” said the 41-year-old sales executive. For Lim, taking a day off from work to help out was all worth it.
Other volunteers also pitched in their time and effort to prepare a high-tea buffet for the center’s patients. The high tea facilitated a time of mingling and interaction between volunteers and beneficiaries.
Team leader for this event, Sim Peck Hoon, a 45-year-old homemaker, felt glad to have had the chance to organize the event. “I approached my cell group and called for them to volunteer for this project. Not only did they step forward to volunteer as a helper or a sponsor, they’ve each found fulfillment in doing so.”
Ng added, “Being Christians, we don’t just talk the talk but we walk the walk. As we serve others, we discover the potential that is in us.”
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| CN PHOTOS: Wen Zhi Guang |
With Christmas just around the corner, the volunteers also celebrated the holiday with other centers including Fei Yue Seniors Activity Center and SASCO Evergreen Senior Citizen Home. Donning red shirts and Christmas hats, the helpers were all ready to make Christmas different for the elderly at the three centers.
A total of 176 elderly benefited from the events, enjoying the presents, line dances and magic performance, as well as the story of the first gift that was given on Christmas day—Jesus Christ.
The event showed that Christmas is not just about getting the best presents under the Christmas tree, but putting that smile on someone’s face makes the festive season even more meaningful.
