The Christian Ministry at ACS Schools play a very important role in nurturing students as scholars and global citizens of Godly character and integrity.

The Christian Ministry staff (CMSs) are very much an integral part of a Christian institution like the family of Anglo-Chinese Schools. What exactly do they do and how do they fit into the school’s curriculum? We asked some of them and here’s what they shared with us.

CMSs are dedicated to serve God and to impart Christian values to the school community. As Jaime Hang at ACS (Independent) aptly describes in a nutshell, “My primary role is to share Christ with the whole school, and this is done through the daily morning devotions, weekly school chapels and various other activities such as Christian Fellowship Camps, Religious Emphasis Week and prayer meetings with parents”.

For her, the past six years serving in the various Methodist schools in Singapore have been most enjoyable and satisfying. She has been very blessed and enriched seeing God’s faithfulness and goodness in providing for the schools and in changing the lives of students and teachers.

CMSs work very much behind the scenes. Their responsibilities range from the coordination of the weekly chapels and daily devotions to counseling and involvement in special events such as Religious Emphasis Week and Christian Fellowship activities.

“We would also remain on call to attend to students who need someone to talk to about their personal concerns, regardless of religion, nationality or gender. Besides counseling, there would be opportunities to interact with students and share insights as Christians on life and living”, both Philip Poh and Evelyn Teoh at ACS (International) pointed out.

CMSs take every opportunity to share the love of God with the school community through worship, prayer times and even games at recess, when Christian values are instilled through interaction with the boys. Leong Chin Yee at ACS (Primary) shared that CMSs would also reach out to the parents and the teachers through regular prayer meetings and fellowship together. Special prayer times are also organized during exams so that parent volunteers can come and pray with the boys before they sit for their exams. She highlighted that this is not the only form of support for the boys. More importantly, it would be a reminder for the boys to turn to God for strength, wisdom and help.

CMSs face challenges in their work but they seem to take in their stride. For example, besides contending with difficult students, there are times when conflict of wills arise between what parents hope to see in the lives of their children and God’s will for them; the challenge for the CMWs is to help the parents and their sons to recognize that there must be a balance between the two.

Despite the challenges, Don Soh at ACS (Junior) finds his work most rewarding when he plays a part in helping his charges change their lives. He remembers in one particular term when the character trait of “Truthfulness” was being taught as part of an on-going Character First curriculum for devotion, a student approached him and confessed that he had a habit of telling lies in every situation whether to his parents or friends.

“I asked him to drop by my office each time he told a lie so that we can discuss the causes for his lying and to pray together for God’s forgiveness. For the next few weeks, this boy came to pray every time he told a lie or was tempted to tell a lie. After one term, he stopped coming. Then one day, his mother came to thank me for helping her son to stop telling lies. She said that her son not only stopped telling lies but his school work and grades also improved”, said Don.

Nancy Soh, who works with her husband Don in ACS (Junior), also had a challenging experience with a Primary One boy who had such an aversion for school that he would cry, scream and give every excuse not to attend school. He would cling on to his parents and refused to let them go whenever they dropped him in the school, and Nancy practically had to catch hold of the boy so that the parents could go off. During recess, Nancy had to mind him in her office and this happened daily for two terms.

However, the boy’s life changed one day during recess when Nancy was sharing a gospel story with some Primary One boys in her office. At the end of the story, she asked the boys whether they would like to accept Jesus as their friend and emphasised that Jesus has the power to take away all their fears and sadness.

“I also looked at this boy and asked him the same question and to my surprise, he said he would! Since that day, he stopped crying whenever he came to school. The amazing thing was during recess he continued to come to us to share the gospel story and bring along his friends as well. It was wonderful! I believed that our Lord Jesus took away his fears and he was healed!” Nancy recalled.

Iris Sin at ACS (Barker) reflected, “Working in a all-boys school is a challenge but one that also provides many opportunities to interact and provide counsel. Our prayer is that with the different cohorts, God will grant us wisdom and discernment as we plan out the chapel and devotions sessions. We recognize that while many come from a Christian background, there are equally many who don’t. We ask for God’s discernment so that in all that we do, we will be able to demonstrate the love of Christ and draw all to Him.”

But Jaime was quick to add that the Christian Ministry in schools cannot be solely the work of the CMSs alone. “It has, and always been, the joint efforts of the chaplains, the affiliated Methodist Churches, the Principals, teachers and the Parents’ Support Groups”, she stressed.

Perhaps the role the affiliated Methodist Churches play in the Christian ministry can be illustrated at ACS (Primary), ACS (Barker) and ACS (International). The ministry at these three Schools comes under the spiritual care of Barker Road Methodist Church (BRMC). Apart from encouraging church members to serve in the Schools through the Parent Support groups and the Christian ministry programs, the pastors of BRMC also serve as chaplains to the faculty and students. BRMC recently established a Preaching Point at ACS (International) in July last year. Rev Malcolm Tan, the pastor in charge of BRMC, indicated that attendance at the weekly worship service has already grown to about 100 in the short span of time, including the faculty, students and their parents of the School.

“We continue to look to God for His Grace and blessings on the ministry in the ACS schools. May the Christian Ministry continue to flourish in the years ahead”, said Rev Tan.