Reflections of The Year 2009 in MHI
The Year 2009 is a special year for MHI as we continue fulfilling our Vision to create a unique and dynamic community of Deaf, hard of hearing (HH) and hearing people. It has already been 3 years since we recognise that the HH will become an important group to serve in MHI. During the retreat, we remind ourselves that ours is a unique community because we will treat everybody equal whether they are Deaf, hard of hearing or hearing. No body is superior and no body is inferior. Everybody has a responsibility to build the community in MHI, to reach out to the Deaf Community of Singapore and to be the light for the Deaf Community in a foreign country. It is not the hearing serving the Deaf, nor do we want to Deaf to be a welfare group which we have to constantly look after. Everybody is a individual who can contribute, participate, empower others so that we will maximise our fullest potential. We all can be the best that we can be.
For the last 3 years, MHI has been going overseas to help run camps in Laguna, Philippines in the Deaf College for Deaf Evangelistc Alliance Foundation Inc. It has shaped the way we handle our activities and we strive to constantly achieve to be a light outside Singapore. This has led, I believe, to a new idea emerging and will further enhance our direction to reachout beyond the shores of Singapore.
Back home, the Sunday Fellowship has encountered God in many different ways. With the introduction of Alpha Course in our Sunday curriculum, this has enabled many of us to experience God in a unique and special way. This help us realise that He is still our Lord and God and in control of our lives, our family and our ministry MHI.
I cannot begin describing the year 2009 without mentioning about Penang at the end of 2008 in October (24th to 26th October 2008). The launch of our Sign Dictionary has enabled us to reach far beyond the shores of Singapore. We sent some dictionaries to Penang Wesley Church and it was really remarkable timing to know that though for years, Penang Wesley has Deaf people going to the church to worship, they have yet to start a Deaf ministry. This time, when the people saw the dictionary, they were curious and excited to learn how MHI is able to do it for the last 18 years. A series of meeting led to the formation of a team to go to Penang Wesley to help them organise a Discipleship camp for the Deaf.
Armed with the 2nd Philippines trip experience on the topic of “Carrying the Cross and following Jesus”, our team trained and helped our Penang brothers and sisters understand God in a different way. A way that encourages us to give our all to Him. The presenting team was made entirely of Deaf and HH, though the hearing volunteers went as training and supporting roles. It is the start of training of our very own MHI Deaf Evangelists.
The year 2009 started with 2 HH accepting the responsibilities of going beyond what is usual for them. Joey and Zhou Meng agreed, both having finished their O levels to organise the Chinese New Year Party for MHI. Even though it was their first time to take on the responsibilities of such magnitude, they humbly accepted their role and organised the program with the help of some of the senior people. The party went smoothly and the experience they acquired through this activity has enabled them to go further later part of the year in more challenging responsibilities. The Chinese new year was held on 7th February 2009.
Later that same month in February, our long time couple Clement and Ellen tied the knot and got married on 28th February. Their wedding was held in Hortpark and many friends and relatives attended the wonderful ceremony and high tea buffet.
Sometime in January, prior to the 3rd Philippine Missions Outreach Trip, I made a recce trip to Ipoh (16th to 19th January 2009). This is because during the Penang trip, a group of Malaysians from Ipoh came along for the camp. They told us about Canning Garden Baptist Church and how there is a group of Christians who are actively sharing the Word of God there. I met up with Lydia, the hearing leader from the church who has a passion for the Deaf. There we discussed organising an Evangelistic Camp in Ipoh during the later part of the year 2009.
Our trip to Laguna (14th to 18th March 2009) was unusual because the monsoon has come earlier than usual. The trip to the top of the mountain was very eventful as the rain has caused the path to be extremely muddy, difficult and dangerous. Our theme for the camp this year was “Alignment with God”. We brought along HH teenagers this time. Still, it was an experience for them as the immigration officer almost did not allow them to enter Philippines because they were underage. A lot of the activities were held in the rain. As we left Laguna, we knew things would be different next year as we have already completed our 3 year plan of what we want to in the Philippines. We have to consider what this will lead us to.
The Easter Cup (11th April 2009) went smoothly as Adrian organised the whole competition himself for the first time. A lot of teams were made up of mixture of HH and Deaf students from St Anthony’s Convent, Balestier Hill Secondary School and Boon Lay Secondary School.
We attempted to reach out to the HI who graduated from the secondary school and started enrolling in the different polytechnics in Singapore. We tried working together with Youth for Christ and even went to their headquarters to discuss possible ways of reaching the HI through their project Poly Reach. Unfortunately it only resulted in a few meetings and ended with the Play max on 13th June 2009 on Saturday. After the event, our attempts were always met with lukewarm responses.
During the June holidays (21st to 24th June 2009) , the Ignyte team organised their first Leadership Training Camp. It was held for almost a week as the youths learnt about the skills of leadership and management.
Sunday Fellowship camp (27th to 28th June 2009) was held at the Salvation Army for the 2nd time. This time, the topic of “Spiritual gifts” was touched on. Sunday Fellowship has been going on in MHI since we started in 1993. We spent many Sundays sharing with the Deaf Bible stories, teaching them the songs in worship, to pray, read the bible, etc. We even have 2 large groups of Deaf who gave their lives to the Lord and went for baptism classes and they were baptised sometime in 2002. I have to admit that I have not yet seen the day that the Holy Spirit can touch Deaf people strongly to enable them to feel and experience the things that Hearing people experienced when the Holy Spirit touches them. Little did I realise within the year, God will show my unbelieving heart the miracle of the work of Spirit.
Another team led by Chairman Patrick Ong went back to Penang during June to help the Penang Wesley Church Deaf Ministry volunteers in sign language interpretation.
Seeds of the new idea as started to be sown since we needed to review our program of going to Laguna, Philippines. A series of coincidences landed us at the doorstep of Methodist Missions Society (MMS). As the doors keep opening for us in the direction of Cambodia, we did our research and made our inquiries. We started alerting the others and reminding ourselves to continue praying for the future revelations of what God is about to reveal to us.
24th July to 28th July 2009 was the Asia Deaf Christian Missions Conference in Kunming. We met up with the HI Christians in China and many from another organisation called DMI.
Before we go to Ipoh, a group of us visited Ms Coryell who had a stroke in Cavinti City, Manila. Another group attended the Methodist TRAC Young Methodist Leadership Camp 2009 in Johore Bahru. Anthony, Lynette, Joey, Adrian and Joe Eng went.
In September 2009 (19th to 21st September 2009) , we flew to Ipoh via Penang to help them with the evangelistic camp. This time the sharing team comprises of Adrian, Joe Eng, Yap, Zhou Meng and Pauline. Many observers followed to lend assistance to the camp. This camp opened our eyes as for the first time, we saw the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of the Deaf. I realise that a camp can cater to the many needs of the HI within a short time. It was different from the Penang Camp because that camp only focused on discipleship. However the camp in Ipoh included a short segment with the youths who used BSL (Baharsa Sign language) and also an Evangelistic dinner for the non Christians. Many commented how they experienced their hearts strangely warmed. More than 19 of them who came to the evangelistic dinner that night opened their hearts to the Gospel and we are sure many more lives were touched as Canning Garden Baptist Church continue to harvest the lost after the camp is over. However in my sceptical heart, I asked God, how come nothing happened to our group? Perhaps it is not our lot. From that camp, Lynette opened the opportunity for the participants to come to Singapore in 2010 for the Sunday Fellowship camp.
In October 2009(15th to 17th October), a small team of 6 comprising of 2 hearing, 2 Deaf, 2 Hard of hearing flew into Phnom Penh for the first time. Our mission is to see for ourselves the possibilities of setting up a Deaf school there. Prior to flying to Phnom Penh and after the experience in Ipoh, God convinced me that the future of MHI lies in the theme “Mobilising the Deaf to reach the Deaf”. This year has been like that. As many of the hearing volunteers have to temporarily leave MHI in order to look after their family, the Deaf have to stand firm and hold the ground. In Phnom Penh, we met the 2 organisations who are serving the Deaf. We brought back our information to Singapore and shared it with the rest.
As we approach the end of the year, the Ignyte team revived by Shifeng and led by Vanessa started planning for the MHI Christmas Party 2009. This time, we managed to hold it in Rendevous Hotel. It was entirely organised by the Ignyte team with no intervention from any hearing.
Before the Christmas party, Alpha Course ended with a weekend Away at Changi Village(14th to 15th November 2009). It was a powerful weekend. This time for sure, the Holy Spirit washes over all the participants at the camp. It was a spiritual experience for all. There is no question about it. This is the way the Holy Spirit can touch the Deaf. They start to see visions and dream dreams.
The Christmas Party was on 12th December 198 participants attended the party. Lynette and Steven were the two Masters of ceremony. On 23rd December the traditional Carols by Candlelight. It was very well attended. On 27th December, we ended the last Sunday of the year 2009 saying farewell and to a gathering to watch “Faith of Potatoes”.
Looking back in 2009, our direction for the next 3 years is slowly changing again if all goes well. As we change the ministry to include a large group of Hard of Hearing people (with or without cochlear implant) a huge potential to reach out to the Deaf Community is opened. We have started training Deaf Evangelists and also at the same time stress the importance of looking beyond Singapore to bless the others. As our plans for Laguna, Philippines come to a close, another opportunity is opened to explore the possibility of looking into opening MHI Cambodia in the next 3 years. I see that there will be a difficulty in increasing the number of hearing volunteers to serve in MHI as Wesley Church still has a problem of lack of young and vibrant hearing volunteers keen to be in the Deaf Ministry. Yet, we can shift our focus to include more Deaf and Hard of Hearing to become our co workers.
As MHI moves into the 18th year we have been in Wesley Church, we can learnt from our experiences and our mistakes. These lessons learnt are valuable for our friends around the region. As I review the structure of MHI, I realise we are based on 3 points of the triangle. The tip of the triangle is the Gospel which is important in MHI based on the Word of God. We do this by emphasizing the importance of Sunday Fellowship, the weekly Sunday Service and monthly prayer meetings. The other two tips are Academic and Livelihood. We encourage our members to emphasize the importance of studying hard and doing well. A culture of continuous learning is encouraged. We do this through regular tuition sessions as well as having courses and camps that will enable us to learn more. The 3rd tip is rather weak in MHI. Unfortunately, perhaps it is the environment of Singapore and our culture, we are still unable to ensure or help our HI and HH get a good job when they graduate.
Perhaps this 3rd tip can be done in another country setting up another MHI in a completely different background and culture. Then it would be the ideal situation for MHI. To be grounded in the Word of God, do well in our academic levels and be equipped ultimately to have a good livelihood.