The Singapore Scene
By Rev. (Dr) Bob Rapa

Recently Esther, David and I had the opportunity to see first-hand the difference the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes in lives. In the void deck of our building there was a Buddhist wake and funeral. Over the course of three days and nights there was chanting, burning of incense, loud wailing, cymbals to chase away malevolent spirits, and other funerary accoutrements, including the burning of "hell money" and facsimile houses and cars for the departed to use "on the other side." At the end of the mourning period, the cortege left the parking lot of the building with the remaining family members and friends walking behind the hearse, straining to touch it or keep their hands upon it as they followed it out. All the while, there was weeping and loud, grieving lament over their loss.

On the second night of that wake in our building, we traveled to another neighborhood to attend a vigil service for the mother of one of our pastor friends here in Singapore. Mrs. Lim Mui Hua had died from cancer, but she was the matriarch of a family of Christians. At her vigil service we were privileged to hear her children bring loving tribute to their mother, speaking expressly of their mother's faith and hope in the Lord, and how that faith had shaped their lives, as well. Mrs. Lim was 77 years old, but left with her children an eternal legacy of hope and joy. Tears were shed here, too, of course, but even in the midst of grief we were mindful of the words of the Apostle, "We sorrow not as others who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).