Lent: Galvanising Methodists for The Giving Methodist

31 March 2018

The period of Lent was spent a little differently this year. Several Methodists around Singapore heeded the call of The Giving Methodist (TGM) campaign to perform acts of mercy in Jesus’ footsteps. The TGM provided simple and accessible opportunities for Methodists to give time, donations, and essentially a voice for the poor, needy, distressed, lonely, and elderly sick.

Kicking off the TGM calendar was Sengkang Methodist Church’s (SKMC) visit to MWS Senior Activity Centre (SAC) at Fernvale Rivergrove on 10 Feb 2018. SKMC volunteers distributed mandarin oranges and Chinese New Year gifts to the SAC members, as well as HDB studio apartment residents in the same block. The next day, another group of SKMC volunteers knocked on the doors of 300 families of Block 350, Anchorvale Road, a rental block adjacent to the church, to give out mandarin oranges and food vouchers.

“I’m glad to share Chinese New Year blessings with 300 families,” said SKMC member Daniel Kaeselitz. “With vouchers that can be exchanged for food at the coffee shop, recipients do not have to go hungry.”

That same weekend, another group of Methodists also spread cheer to the less fortunate in Buangkok Crescent. Paya Lebar Methodist Church members and MWS Covenant Family Service Centre (Hougang) staff members spent their Saturday morning giving out hongbaos and jars of love letters to residents of two rental blocks.

Some Methodists also formed small groups of their own to give back in their own way. For instance, on Feb 26 2018, Jamie Loh and Jerusha Soh from Charis Methodist Church took the residents of MWS Nursing Home (Yew Tee) out to the neighbourhood coffee shop. What would seem a mundane activity for many of us was actually a treat for the residents.

In all, more than 280 activities were organised by 17 Methodist churches and nine MWS centres for Methodists to take part in. They included:

Ang Mo Kio Chinese and Tamil Methodist Churches’ blood donation drives
Christalite Methodist Chapel’s Mini Family Carnival
Cairnhill Methodist Church’s Take Jesus Out migrant-befriending activity
Kampong Kapor Methodist Church’s Breakfast with Love event at Veerasamy Road
Trinity Methodist Church’s devotion and worship session at the Institute of Mental Health
Wesley Methodist Church’s Chinese New Year celebration at MWS Nursing Home (Yew Tee)

People were mobilised into action through the TGM website at thegivingmethodist.sg which provided publicity resources about TGM and weekly prayer guides for those who would like to pray for MWS and church social concerns ministries.

You can still be part of TGM

Although the ‘giving time’ activities at TGM have come to an end, you can still be part of the campaign. We have collected less than a quarter of what we need to raise through TGM for more than 9,000 beneficiaries – the needy, distressed, lonely, elderly sick – served at the 20 centres and programmes run by MWS.

You can still make an impact by giving a dollar a day, or a one-off donation of $365 at thegivingmethodist.sg/give-donation (open until 30 June 2018).

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:40, NIV)

By The Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) Communications Team

Aims of The Giving Methodist