“For in (God) we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
~ Acts 17:28 (NLT)
In faith we move
In 2013, God called David Chan to build a school without walls, to love the orphans and widows. In faith, David, his wife Jessie and their three children—Isaac, aged 14, Joy, aged 11 and Isaiah, aged 8—responded in obedience and moved to Timor-Leste in 2015. The family had embraced God’s heart for the Timorese and were sent as Methodist Missions Society (MMS) missionaries by Aldersgate Methodist Church.
In 2016, the first Methodist school in Timor- Leste was born when David and Jessie started the first class with 18 Grade 7 students. St Paul Methodist School (SPMS) was established by MMS with the aim to provide quality, affordable Christian-based education for Grades 1 to 12. Faithfully offering a Grade 1 and Grade 7 class every year, the school expanded as student enrolment increased rapidly. Today, SPMS is a full 12-grade school with 779 students!
On 7 July 2024, Bishop Dr Gordon Wong dedicated SPMS to the glory of God. More than 450 people gathered to celebrate God’s goodness with the completion of Phase 1 of the SPMS Development Project, which includes classroom and hostel blocks, a multipurpose hall with canteen, administration building and football field.
In his sermon, Bishop Dr Wong explained that Paul, the apostle, was quoting from ancient philosophers in the theme verse (Acts 17:28) of the Dedication Service. This demonstrated that “truth about God can be learned from outside the Bible”. The Bishop declared that students in SPMS could learn from everything good that God has created in the world by receiving a well-rounded education in Language, Mathematics, Science, Music and the Arts. He said that this good education students received from SPMS would help them to learn the good truth about God: that we are all the offspring of God (Acts 17:28). He also reminded all parents and guests that God is nearer to us than we think, since “[I]n God, we live and move and exist. In our living and moving from place to place, God is with us.”
Bishop Dr Wong ended his sermon with an invitation to sing along to an old song, “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, with the words “sweet love” replaced with “God’s love”. He prayed that SPMS would help the world find the greatest love of all.
In hope we live
In addition to local government leaders, students and their families, teachers and staff, more than 60 partners and supporters from Methodist churches and other denominations throughout Singapore specially made a trip to Timor-Leste to witness this milestone. Most of the guests from Singapore had journeyed with SPMS since the early days when operations took place in the Chans’ missionary home, and the Methodist churches represented had sent mission teams, contributed time and resources in partnership with MMS to achieve the vision of building a permanent home for the school. These guests rejoiced to see the beautiful new building with proper classrooms and ample outdoor space to conduct The Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Brigade programmes—a far cry from the three temporary sites the school had been operating out of previously. After 14 years, MMS’ vision and hope of establishing a well-run school for the Timorese had finally come to pass!
In love we exist
For this official Opening Ceremony and Dedication Service, volunteers from Singapore joined the SPMS teachers to plan for the event, working collaboratively to set up the sheltered space for 450 guests, prepare food for the dinner reception and organise a tour of the school.
Of special mention is the dance team led by Sharon Liew, a member of Wesley Methodist Church. Even though Sharon had never been to Timor-Leste before, she had heard about SPMS and felt led to serve with her dance expertise for the service. Sharon single-handedly produced and choreographed eight dances which were performed during the 5-hour programme to portray the story of the school and God’s hand at work. For the entire month of June, she stayed in SPMS to identify and train the 250 student dancers. This required her to take a leap of faith and close her dance school in Singapore for that period.
Sharon also mobilised others to serve God with their gifts and talents, such as sewing costumes and filming the event. One of these volunteers was Lily John, a choir mistress who came to Timor-Leste for three weeks to set up SPMS’ first choir.
The team from Singapore had a glimpse of the wider kingdom work taking place in Timor-Leste when they had the opportunity to dine at a restaurant school set up by Brazilian missionaries, to train and empower vulnerable girls and young women with the skills to earn a livelihood. Guests also visited the site of Pelican Paradise Resort, Timor-Leste’s first five-star hotel with conference facilities. The resort is a multimillion-dollar investment by Singaporean Datuk Edward Ong to train and employ young people, with the hopes of reducing the nation’s youth unemployment rate.
There are many more missionaries and ministries labouring in Timor-Leste, and we give thanks that the Methodist community in Singapore is participating in God’s call to love Asia’s youngest nation!
Hear from SPMS partners and supporters
“I am awed by how much the ministry at SPMS has advanced and grown so quickly. Indeed, God is at work through the faithful work of David and his team. I’m inspired by the potential of this ministry … !”
~ Rev Adrian Ng, Wesley Methodist Church Pastor
“David Chan is equivalent to a Sophia Blackmore in Timor-Leste, and a David who conquers and kills many Goliath-sized problems!”
~ Joseph Lau, LAUD Architects, SPMS Development Project Consultant Architect who worships at Fairfield Methodist Church
“I believe a Christian education will develop the young in Timor and will give this generation a hope for the future and open their eyes to know that there is a God who loves them.”
~ Mun Kwok On, Holland Village Methodist Church LCEC Chairperson
“The trip provided good exposure of the two MMS ministries, SPMS and Sundermeier Home (a student hostel in Gleno). Travelling by ground transportation on the challenging terrain between Dili and Gleno … helped me to appreciate the hardship that mission workers need to go through.”
~ Jacqueline Seah, Ang Mo Kio Methodist Church (TRAC) Missions Chairperson
“I will continue to pray for the people who work the ground in Timor on a daily basis, long after the visitors have left—for their faithfulness and dedication to the work that God has called them to and also for the eyes of faith to see the Lord’s hand moving in the land.”
~ Loo Ming Yaw, Aldersgate Methodist Church Lay Leader
On her second trip to Timor-Leste, Dr Cheryl Chen divinely met her husband who was serving as a missionary in the field. Together, they now serve as MMS non-residential missionaries supporting the ministry in Timor-Leste, and worship at Aldersgate Methodist Church. / Photos courtesy of MMS