Indian Friends Fellowship (IFF) of the Tamil Methodist Church, Short Street (SSTMC) had very exciting and inspiring Christmas celebrations for the migrant workers. From 2 to 25 December 2022, several Christmas celebrations were held in 10 dormitories and at SSTMC. More than 2,000 migrant workers in total were able to attend the celebrations islandwide.
The entire effort brought together not just IFF’s 25 regular volunteers, but also volunteers from other Methodist churches and beyond. Participating churches and organisations included a OneMCS cluster comprising Wesley Methodist Church, Kum Yan Methodist Church and SSTMC; Pentecost Methodist Church, Singapore Telugu Methodist Church, Mar Thoma Syrian Church in Singapore, The Salvation Army and Asia Evangelical Fellowship also lent their hand.
Celebration highlights
On 11 December, more than 70 migrant domestic workers (MDWs) of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam descent took part in the Christmas celebrations held at SSTMC. This Christmas celebration was built upon a regular fellowship for MDWs that has been taking place every second Sunday of the month since 8 May 2022. Around 30 MDWs attend the fellowship regularly, which would start with lunch, followed by games, songs, message, prayer, and end with tea. The guests who attended the Christmas celebration have been invited to attend the monthly Sunday fellowship.
On 17 December, the Christmas celebration at Kaki Bukit Recreation Centre took into account that was International Migrants Day. About 30 volunteers from Wesley Methodist Church, 50 youths from Pentecost Methodist Church, as well as volunteers from The Salvation Army team came to support this event. Wesley Methodist Church’s Creation Expressions Ministry performed. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) supported this event by mobilising workers from the dormitories.
The grand finale was the Christmas celebration at SSTMC on Christmas Day. Nearly 200 migrant workers attended the celebration. They were all treated to a sumptuous Indian dinner. Many games and activities were organised for the migrant workers, including nativity scene costumes for photo-taking. They were gifted goody bags containing fruit, electrical and other gift items. Kum Yan Methodist Church supported this celebration by offering two vans to transport workers from the Space@Tuas and ASPRI-Westlite Papan dormitories.
With Christmas providing an opportunity to spread the gospel to migrant workers, the IFF prays and hopes that the message of Christmas will stay with them. The IFF was heartened by the positive feedback received on how participants enjoyed themselves, and would like to thank all who worked together to bring joy to the migrant workers during this festive season, including the Ministry of Manpower ACE Team, dormitory management and staff of the respective dormitories, and all volunteers from various churches and organisations for their support and funding.
