OUR FOREMOST MINISTRY Raising A Family In Missions
[ First as a newly wed couple, then as a family of four, Roland and Leah have been serving as missionaries in Asia for nearly a decade. What was it like to be‘ out there’ and then return to Singapore? Like many others, they had concerns about their finances, children’ s well-being and housing. Roland and Leah share their thoughts on how knowing their Father has helped them to be faithful to their call.]
Roland and Leah, what motivated both of you to join missions?
Leah: Even before I met Roland, during my studies, the verse“ Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you” was prayed over me. I was willing, but acted upon the call only ten years later! I went through enormous mental gymnastics to convince myself I was not ready to go. But in reality, my willingness is what counts for God. Finally, He convinced me to build His Kingdom as a full-time missionary.
Roland: Several experiences inspired me to commit my life to sharing the Gospel with others. I couldn’ t stop thinking,“ How can I keep the Good News to myself!”
So, when we got married, the decision to go into missions was clear for us. We left Singapore and joined a YWAM Base in North-East India. After three years in India we transitioned to another YWAM location in East Asia. This was where we started our little family.
Did you struggle with being in missions after starting a family?
Roland: I felt challenged when we started to have children. When it was just the two of us, we could barely hold our finances together. How could we pull it off with children? However, what Hudson Taylor said proved true to us: God’ s work done in God’ s way will never lack God’ s supply.
Leah joins in: That includes letting go of my own ways and learning to be grateful for any provision. I had to convince my Singaporean self to transfer my trust in safe budgeting to the God who works with what we have— He is Jehovah Jireh— the Lord who provides.
What else did you find challenging, and what helped you to overcome it?
Leah: Besides finances, we were also worried about our children’ s well-being. Would they survive the cold winters? Would that bronchitis turn asthmatic? But we reasoned that if the local children could grow up well in these conditions, so could our children! We learned to treat their exposure to the mission field as life’ s education. These differences helped widen their( and our) perspective, and they toughened up quickly!
After many years abroad, you decided to resettle in Singapore. With all your savings gone, how did you resolve your housing situation?
Roland: To us it was a miracle! Securing a flat is such a huge thing for any Singaporean family. We were set to trust God, knowing that He would provide. One day, while we were overseas, we received a call from Singapore informing us that we got a flat in an estate during a ballot! What more could we have asked for?
However, it took time for the miracle to come through. HDB almost forfeited our down payment because our missions work abroad made it difficult to prove that we were credit-worthy. We almost felt like giving up.“ Was doing missions worth letting go of proper housing for our family? Why does returning home feel like we’ re entering into another battlefield? Where is God in all this?”
Anxiety crept in. It would have been so much easier to take things into our own hands. Both of us could have worked aggressively for a couple of years to fulfill the housing requirements. The temptation was pressing, but we felt that this new flat was our promised land and we needed to endure in faith. As a family, we decided that Roland will continue with YWAM while Leah finds a job in the marketplace.
Then, over the span of four years, we continued to walk in obedience and God brought people and circumstances together to help us. It was an incredible moment when we finally held the keys to our flat in our hands.
Looking back at the last 10 years, what was the biggest lesson you have learnt as a family in missions?
We saw that God is first of all our Father, and through Him we learned that‘ family is our foremost ministry’.
Through our parental care for our children, God taught us about His fatherly character. When our kids are disobedient, we discipline them but our hearts ache. Our love for our kids resembles the magnitude of God’ s love for us. God showed us that it is not all love or all punishment. We are the best people to discipline our kids because of the great love we have for them.
We also realised what an honour it is to be the first to introduce our children to God, as the One who is with us at all times. When we went through difficulties as a family, we would all pray together. We taught our young sons to trust our Heavenly Father in all things. By serving as a family, we showed our children that God is real and involved in our lives.
It really doesn’ t matter what our circumstances are— whether in Singapore or India, in rented houses or HDB flats— God is always present and walks with us as a whole family.
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