“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this.” – Psalm 107:1-2
WHEN I was elected President of the Anglo- Chinese School Old Boys’ Association (ACSOBA) in 1990, the Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian asked me to attend Barker Road Methodist Church.
I was quite impressed with the service and began to attend church regularly. This was God’s prevenient grace as I was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in March 1991.
During this period the church was extremely kind to me. I will never forget the many people who helped me during this time of despair in my life – such as the Rev Dr Ngoei, Bishop Ho Chee Sin (who was Bishop from 1984 to 1996) and the late Dr Tay Eng Soon.
I was subsequently charged and the references from the Rev Ho, the Rev Dr Ngoei, and Dr Lee Suan Yew helped me a great deal.
I was also introduced to Dr Patrick Kee and we were led to form a small group, the Emmaus Fellowship, in 1997. We met every Tuesday morning until recently, when we shifted our meetings to Wednesday mornings. At this time, I joined the worship services at Covenant Community Methodist Church (CCMC) and was quite involved in its Social Concerns Committee.
During this period I was struck off the bar. I made a vow that should I get reinstated I will give a testimony of thanksgiving at CCMC.
In 1998 I was again charged but for a lesser offence. Dr Kee, Mr S. N. Lee and Mr Harold Tan prayed with me everyday as I faced those charges.
On May 22, 2007 God answered my prayers and I was reinstated. On May 27, 2007 I went to CCMC and at the 11 am worship service I thanked God for all that he had done.
THE Most Rev Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma, Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church in India, paid a courtesy call on Bishop Dr Robert Solomon at his Methodist Centre office on June 4, 2007.
He was accompanied by the Rt Rev Dr Geevarghese Mar Theodosius, Episcopa (Bishop) of the church in India; the Rev Easow Mathew, a priest from the church; the Rev Joseph Daniel, Vicar of the Mar Thoma Church in Singapore; and Mr T. M. Abraham, a lay leader of the Singapore church.
The meeting was to strengthen ties first forged between the Metropolitan and Bishop Dr Solomon at the 112th Maramon Convention in Maramon, Kerala, from Feb 11 to 18 this year.
The Bishop was one of the four main speakers at the convention, which was attended by more than 100,000 people.
As Metropolitan, the Most Rev Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom is the head of the 1 million members of the Mar Thoma Church worldwide.
He praised the work being done by The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS), and said he looked forward to strengthening good relations with the MCS.