1980-198 PIONEERS of YWAM SINGAPORE
Dave & Lydia Hall ( 1980 – 1983 )
In 1980 , Kalafi Moala , who was the Regional Director of YWAM Pacific & Asia , led the School of Evangelism in Kona , Hawaii and invited his assistants , Dave and Lydia Hall , to pioneer a YWAM base in Singapore . They prayed about it and felt led to accept his invitation . Judy Foo , a leader of YWAMSG , had the privilege of interviewing our pioneers whilst attending Ross Tooley ’ s funeral in Auckland , New Zealand in November 2019 . An edited version of the exchange appears below .
What was your initial understanding of what God was saying to you about Singapore ?
We were convinced that God wanted to use Singapore as a bridge to many nations . We felt a bit like John the Baptist ; going before , laying a foundation , developing relationships , preparing the way for others to come and scatter throughout Asia . We didn ’ t know if He wanted us there for a few months or for the rest of our lives . But we wanted to be faithful to His every leading .
“ God had put an interest and even a love for Singapore on my heart as a youth , though I really knew nothing about Singapore at that time . And Lydia ' s parents were part of the Dutch culture in Indonesia before moving to Holland and then the States . Her father spent time in the Singapore Changi Prison when he was in the Dutch military and taken by the Japanese as a POW during WWII .”
What were some of the challenges you faced when you arrived ?
Key Christian leaders told us that the likelihood of setting up a permanent YWAM base to run our schools was slim . We wouldn ’ t be able to get our visas nor have our first child born there because of the government ' s policies at that time . But despite their caution , I made the contacts and did the necessary paperwork . People prayed . We did the homework . God did the impossible . Within 6 months , we had all the government approvals and papers needed . And our first child , Jonathan , was legally born in Singapore .
There were also misunderstandings with a few local church pastors that had to be ironed out . But once we acknowledged them as the true gatekeepers of the City
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