“It is Saturday, 29 July 2017.
The frightful whir of sharp razors sounds through the air. The proceedings are careful, efficient, clinical. I feel the professionals at work, but can’t really see what’s happening to me.
Family and friends await the result: how will things turn out?
A part of me falls away, left behind. It is swiftly cleaned up, swept off, discarded.
Finally, it’s done. There is a difference. It will take some getting used to.”
This was my experience at Hair for Hope 2017, an annual event by the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF) which aims to raise funds and raise awareness of childhood cancer.
For me, it was a mere hour of waiting, a mere ten-minute procedure, a mere few months before I look ‘normal’ again. For the children who wrestle with cancer, and for their families, the struggles are incomparably greater. (Visit CCF’s website at www.ccf.org.sg for more information and stories.)
So why did I shave? To me, it was a small act to show solidarity with those who are going through far greater challenges than I can imagine.
For the past few years, various students, faculty and staff from Trinity Theological College have come together in an unofficial capacity to participate in Hair for Hope. It’s a tiny way in which we try to go from classroom to community, living out our learning in practical and impactful ways.
We are grateful to those who supported this year’s event through your encouragement and donations. Your support brings hope and help to the children in need. May we all continue to serve the Lord by serving others in our community and society (1 Peter 4:11), for even the small things can make a difference.
Gilbert Lok –
serves as an Associate Lay Leader at Aldersgate Methodist Church. He is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Trinity Theological College, in preparation for full-time pastoral-theological ministry.