The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on many families, upending livelihoods and causing financial and emotional stress. In view of this, the Inter-Racial, Religious Confidence Circles (IRCC) has been partnering with various religious groups to provide assistance to families in need.
In conjunction with BMC’s celebration of its 75th anniversary in Oct 2021, a key initiative was to be an active and engaged partner with the community in its vicinity. In July, an opportunity to give back to the community arose when the People’s Association (PA) Siglap Community Centre connected BMC with IRCC for its food distribution initiative.
By God’s grace, BMC’s Poor and Needy Fund gave $3,000 for the Food Blessing Project. Edward Fang and Jean Wee of the Christian Outreach & Social Concerns Committee spearheaded the project. They recruited members from BMC’s Disciple Groups (DGs) and co-ordinated the purchase of items—oil, sugar, canned sardines, pasta and rice—for the food packs.
On the morning of 11 Sep, 30 church members from six DGs put together 100 packs. Because of the many hands, these packs were assembled quickly for distribution to beneficiaries in Bedok and Changi Village areas.
The DG members connected with the local Residents’ Committee (RC) representatives in each zone. Together, they went door to door distributing the food packs to the beneficiary families. Praise God for the joy of witnessing the recipients’ happy smiles!
Pastor Aaron Tay met up with the DG members and organisers and was presented with a certificate of appreciation by MP for East Coast GRC Dr Maliki Osman. He also accompanied Dr Maliki to distribute the items to several households.
Pastor Tay said, “If we are to be disciples of Christ, we must follow Him, to do what He does, to have His heartbeat. In the Gospel, we see Jesus being full of compassion for the lost, the vulnerable and those in need. It was so encouraging for me to see our members being not just in DGs, but acting in faith and love together to be Christ’s disciples in blessing those in need.”
Sally Cheong of Shammah DG added, “Now with COVID, we have fewer opportunities to do outreach. So, this project was really good for us to serve together as a DG, encouraging us to be mindful that we represent the body of Christ, doing our part to help the less fortunate.”
“We meet regularly to study the Bible so it was great to apply some of the things we learn. It was also a wonderful bonding time and served as a good reminder that we can help others in our community,” said Mark Wong, from Generation Transformed DG.
Looking ahead, BMC hopes to connect DGs with more charitable organisations to serve the vulnerable and needy, with each group taking ownership of a charity organisation and establishing ongoing projects to build long-term relationships with beneficiaries. Sustained befriending enable us to gain their trust and share the good news of salvation with them.
Dawn Ng is a marketing director at a software company. A mother of two teenage girls, she is currently serving as treasurer for Bedok Methodist Church (BMC) WSCS. She is also part of Mustard Seeds DG. / Photos courtesy of Bedok Methodist Church