inhisimage.sg

27/08/2021

“I planned to head back to the UK to find a job after university. But a few weeks before leaving, I had no peace and felt God asking me to stay in Singapore. So I sourced for local jobs, struggling to figure out my “calling”.

I’ve learnt not to be so caught up with figuring out what my “calling” is, but taking interest in what God is doing in my family, friends, church etc. and how I can be part of it. I always got frustrated on why God couldn’t give me a clear calling. But the Bible is so clear on our mission as Christians - one of them is spreading the Gospel. The alignment with His will comes naturally when you seek His heart earnestly.

It’s funny how God led me to my current industry that I never thought I’d be in. I was looking for jobs online and felt the Holy Spirit specifically instruct me to apply for entry-level jobs in Cyber Security. One result came up, I applied, got the job and loved it. But when COVID19 hit, I got laid off. It hit me hard and I felt so rejected. Yet it was a restart I needed - a good reminder that my identity is not in my vocation. I had a lot of peace with it after that. Eventually I found a better paying job and it was truly God’s favour. I felt so inadequate in my role, but He showed me that He is the one that qualifies the called. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that we should boast of our weakness, because His power is made perfect and it glorifies the Father. We don’t need credentials to glorify God. He just wants a heart that is wholly devoted to Him.

I’m still learning to walk in His will daily. Christianity is one of those things where the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know. Although it’s important to pursue knowledge and understanding of the theology behind it all, it’s meaningless if it does not propel us deeper in our relationship with Jesus - because the heart of Christianity is the person of God. I’m reminded of 1 Corinthians 13 that says if we don’t have love, we have nothing. Loving God and loving people is the greatest commandment. If you’re struggling to find your calling, I’d like to make a proposition - why not start by loving your neighbour today?” (4/4)

25/08/2021

“I didn’t know what to expect but my life was changed forever. YWAM was my honeymoon with Jesus in Hawaii - getting to know Him on such an intimate & personal level. I spent so much of my youth cherry-picking what to surrender, “You can have my studies, but not my relationships”. But experiencing His loving kindness and tender mercy made it so easy for me to give Him my whole heart.

That decision also helped me reconcile with my family. Previously, I was not even on talking terms with my dad and once called the police on him as a payback for him calling the police on me when I ran away. But by His grace alone, I reconciled with my family after having written letters of apology to each of them asking for their forgiveness. It was the year of deep healing, discovering God, and understanding my identity in Him - this is what true freedom felt like.

Transitioning back to Singapore’s lifestyle after being surrounded by a devoted missionary community for 6 months was tough. It’s like you’re flung back into the world with no support. I struggled to find the right community again. Going overseas for university was also hard because the freshies just wanted to party. I wasn’t interested in that anymore and it didn’t help that I was the only Christian in my course.

If 2013 (DTS) was my honeymoon, then 2014 was my wilderness with Jesus. It was lonely. I didn’t know anyone, had no support, and was struggling to fit in at church. But it was a good test because I learnt how to truly depend on Him. Thankfully, my 2nd and 3rd year of school got better. I started serving in Glasgow House of Prayer and found community at our Christian Union and Bible Study group.

Song of Solomon 8:5 says, ‘Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?’ The wilderness is a beautiful invitation to experience God in your darkest moments so that you may build a strong dependency on Him and Him alone.” (3/4)

22/08/2021

“As a result of this hatred, I ran away from home. I told myself that I don’t need anything here; there was nothing it could offer me. Every night I would stay in a different house, every night there would be a different party. My parents called the police and listed a few of my friends for the police to call, who could call their schools, who would in turn call their parents. Eventually I saw how selfish this was and decided to head home. My siblings made a “Welcome Home Estelle” card and my first thought was “How lame”. In retrospect it was very touching, but I was dreaded being back because it was like a walk of shame.

I wanted to go overseas to study after O Levels and my mum agreed because she didn’t think I was doing well in SG’s education system and wanted to give me a chance in a different environment. But because I was already such a “wild child”, my dad was worried that I was only going to get worse. Their disagreement was so bad, they almost got a divorce.

One day my mum happened to mention “YWAM” because my friend's sister went to the school in Perth. “I don’t mind going” I said as I jumped at it. Honestly I didn’t care about anything else, I just wanted to travel and started looking up YWAM LA, just for opportunities overseas. But as I explored more locations, I chanced upon the “Performing Arts Discipleship Training School”. Something about it caught my attention and I just knew “this is the one”. Out of the 600+ YWAM bases, there was only 1 place running that course - in Kona, Hawaii.

Although I did just want to travel, a large part of me was done running away from God. I didn’t enjoy clubbing as much anymore. Every night for a month, I was crying on the club’s toilet floor. There was so much pain in my heart that I couldn’t confront. I believe it was the Holy Spirit mourning on my behalf in ways I couldn’t verbalise. Deep down I knew I was made for more than all this emptiness.

That was when I decided to stop wandering around. The timing was perfect - I was really at my wit's end with my lack of purpose and emptiness. YWAM became a resolve in my heart to figure this God thing out. I was finally ready to confront this 'faraway King’.” (2/4)

20/08/2021

“Before I moved to Scotland for university, I took a gap year after O levels to enroll into Youth with a Mission’s (YWAM) Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Kona, Hawaii. It was one of the most transformative experiences for me; to have been part of the community of radical believers - these missionaries were living every single day by faith, not having enough for tomorrow yet still firmly believed in God’s provision. That was the year everything changed for me.

Despite growing up in a Christian household, things weren’t great in secondary school. I didn’t do well in academics. I was mean and prideful, my friends and I would call people “dogs,” especially juniors. If anyone gossiped about me, I would make everyone turn against them.

I retained in Sec 2 and it hit my pride because I had to hang out with juniors. So I started mixing with people outside of school. I got to know a lot of international kids who lived lavish lifestyles and spent money like crazy. You could buy anything with money, even if it isn't legal. That's when I got introduced to the party & clubbing scene.

I’d sneak out of the house all the time and used fake IDs. My sister eventually found out because I stole her ID & the club bouncer confiscated it. They decided not to call the police but had my sister come down. She told my parents and they clamped down on me hard. I was literally on house lockdown - no keys, no phone, no allowance but that didn’t stop me from escaping. I would just climb over the front gate, disappear and come back whenever. I stole things from my parents to sell because they cut my money off.

There was a growing hatred for my family and I didn’t trust any of them. Once during dinner I said “I wish I never had a brother” and kept on eating even though he cried. My heart was hardened and I had no emotions. I even told my mum that she was the worst mother ever, I didn’t want her as my mother, all my friends’ mums were better than her. She started crying but I felt nothing. I thought “What’s wrong with you?” and told her to get out. It’s difficult to comprehend the person I was back then. Looking back, I can’t imagine how hurtful that was for my mum.” (1/4)

07/02/2021

“If there is one thing that God is to me, it’s being my Heavenly Father. I needed it so much as a young man because the absent earthly father wound in my life was so big. I was constantly trying to identify myself and find out who I was.

But I always saw God working in very practical ways. Once, I was not able to pay my school fees as my mum and I struggled financially. I was working part-time but I still did not have enough money. When my teacher found out about my situation, she just took out her card and said “We’ll deal with this another time, but don’t miss your exam.” Time and time again, God just showed me that He is always there, He is trustworthy and that He is my father.

There were also times where God had to discipline me. Like I said, my mum and I struggled financially. There were times we had no electricity at home and we were even evicted from our flat. There was once my mum asked if she could borrow some money from me to pay for the electricity, since I had some extra income from my part-time job. I got so angry with her over this. But then God said to me, what good is a gift that doesn't give?

I think some of us may struggle to relate with our earthly father or like me, did not have a good or ideal father figure in their life. But I learnt that God wants to and will fill that void. God wants to show us that He is the perfect father. That He is our provider.” (3/4)

03/02/2021

“One day, something cool happened. My aunt invited me to church one week and they had a guest pastor from South Africa. I didn’t have anything better to do anyway, so I went. I wore a long-sleeve shirt to hide my scars. Halfway through the service, the pastor suddenly looked at me and said “You have the spirit of death on you.” It was so intense and I was in shock. Like what do you mean?

“God wants to set you free, but the first step is to forgive your parents.”

It was one of the most painful and difficult decisions in my life. I mean, I was just 15. I remember holding out my hands and seeing them in front of me, but I couldn’t feel them. I began to cry uncontrollably. I just felt God’s love coming down on me, and because of Him I was able to resolve this huge pain.

My dad had always told me that I was a mistake since young. So growing up, this was all I heard - I’m a mistake, I’m a mistake” Yet at the end of that service, the pastor told me that God had a word for me, and it was “I’m a gift from God.” All my life I’ve been told that I’m a mistake and so I always felt like I was never good or amounted to anything. But suddenly God comes along and says that I’m the exact opposite of that label. That really changed the trajectory of my life.

After that, I decided to come back to church. Funnily enough, one of my friends whom I used to party with invited me to his church. I started building a real relationship with God and found a community. The first few years of me returning saw a lot of healing from past wounds and brokenness. It was in those times that I really couldn’t deny God’s realness and presence in my life.” (2/4)

31/01/2021

“I’m Aiken and I work for the production company, Night Owl Cinematics (NOC). Some of you may know me from the Youtube Series - Food King Singapore. I genuinely love all the things that I do there - from hosting and to acting in the videos.

The first time I encountered God, I was 9. And it was an extremely difficult time in my life. The encounter was in relation to a lot of pain I was dealing with back then - I found out that my parents had split. My dad had another family outside so it became just me and my mum. This became a very big wound in my life.

I fell away when I was 13 and started to hang out with “bad company.” I started smoking and drinking. Had fake IDs to get into clubs, skipped school all the time, got into a lot of bad relationships. I was even involved in police cases because of the company I hung out with. Just a lot of rebelling, in retrospect I think I was trying to prove myself to my absent father. But I was actually just so depressed this entire time I used to cut myself. I stopped going to school after a while. Life just felt like a big joke and I didn’t want to live anymore.” (1/4)

15/11/2020

“I had a lot of anger, hatred and sadness within me that I could not resolve or come to terms with. A lot of built up frustration and emotions that I did not like to talk about. All of this manifested in ugly ways. I developed a huge phobia of prayer and I remember having a major panic attack once. I rejected anyone who wanted to pray for me. Depression and suicidal thoughts got the better of me and I felt sad and numb to everything for the longest time. Yet I never wanted to admit that I was not ok because of my pride. I was too ashamed and I hate to look weak. So I just stayed in denial and never told anyone. But everyday just became more dreadful and I felt so overwhelmed. I never felt more alone in my life than in those few months.

One day, it all changed. I felt like I’d lost hope about everything, but God just crashed in on me. When no one saw my pain and sadness, God touched my heart in a way so real that I can never deny that it came from Him. He met me at my lowest when I never asked for it. It was a very simple yet humble and divine encounter. I always say it’s supernatural because I can’t really explain what I experienced. A huge burden was lifted off my shoulders and my mind was renewed with this clarity. So I decided to follow Jesus again.

For the first time in my life, I felt a connection with God. He took my pain and sadness and replaced it with His love, grace and joy. I knew that all of this could only come from Jesus.

Soon after, the idea of inHisimage came to mind. I’d always wanted to do more with photography, but didn’t know how. Yet God showed me His plans. It was to be a platform to share the untold stories of Christians. It’s a testimony to how He can touch our hearts in such a different and personal way, yet His love remains unconditional.

I hope people know that whatever they are struggling with, they are never alone. I hope people recognise that anyone can be broken, and are only made whole with His unconditional love. Because even when the world abandons you, God will never leave you. No matter how broken, different or unconventional you think you are, you’re made perfect in His image.” (3/4)

11/11/2020

“I was born into a christian household. Most of my friends and people around me that I knew were all christians. I’d go to church regularly, attend cell groups, even go for mission trips and somewhat try to preach the gospel (at least the surface level knowledge that I had), but I never felt a true connection with this God. I could make it sound like I was pretty strong in my faith, but I knew I wasn’t. I never once did any bible study growing up, never did a day of quiet time. All I knew about this God was what I heard on Sundays during sermon, through worship songs or when my friends talked about their spiritual journeys. But I never had much to say, except the cliche stuff.

“God will make a way.” “God has plans for You.”

That kind of stuff. I wasn’t bothered by my lack of real faith because I couldn’t care less. I was comfortable with the way my life was, without any God interfering with what I can or cannot do. I really couldn’t be bothered to know more about who God is.

I only grew more distant when I entered university. I met new friends, spent more time doing other things I liked. I worked more on my photography. I withdrew and distanced myself from the church and my christian community. I was still physically present in the church, but never spiritually. I also had a lot of questions and doubts about the faith that I did not have answers to. My friends told me they were worried, which only made me annoyed at them. I pushed away friends that cared about me because I thought they would never understand how I feel. I thought all they’d do is condemn me for the things I’d rather be doing. I wanted to enjoy life “without restrictions” like any other teenager, like my non-believer friends. Clubbing seemed more fun than going to church. Smoking and getting tattoos felt cooler. So I just went with the flow.” (2/4)

08/11/2020

“I’m Hannah, 1/4 of In His Image. I picked up photography when I was 13 because it was my CCA in secondary school. I remember how my teacher used to say “Hopefully some of you will really do photography full-time in the future.” Back then I wasn’t that passionate about it, so I never thought about it. But who knew that this is actually something I’m working towards now.

I only got into portraiture when I was 18. Before this, I didn’t take it seriously. Photography was really just a hobby. But after my first ‘model’ shoot, I fell in love with it. I started shooting with more friends and eventually started messaging strangers on Instagram. I got to know more people in the community and I loved it. Slowly, people started messaging me for shoots instead of the other way around. It felt really good because I felt I was finally getting the validation I thought I deserved. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was finally good at something.

Plenty of people told me that I wasn’t good from the start. “You’re just an amateur (looking back, this was true). You’ll never be a professional.” It hurt because this was the only thing I thought I was good at. I never really excelled in anything else.

I used to always equate my self-worth to photography. It was the one thing I was so proud of. But now, I realise that without God, I am nothing. Probably wouldn’t even have picked up a camera. By His grace, I got into the CCA. By His grace, I improved. By His grace, I had opportunities to work with brands and companies I never dreamed of working with. By His grace, I get to do what I love as a career.” (1/4)

29/10/2020

“It is really very rewarding to see the ministry flourishing in church, not just in numbers, but the development of relationships, seeing the desire in people to step up into leadership positions and take ownership of their ministries.

Moving forward, one of the things that God has showed me is how the world is changing. The whole landscape of society is changing and it’s going into a digital space. COVID-19 has also forced everyone to connect digitally. God has put on my heart to sharpen my skills in this area and to help the church to do better. I’ve grown increasingly passionate about branding, marketing and how to communicate information to wider audiences.

Next year, I will be starting my masters in communication management. That is definitely something that God opened the door for me. First of all, my application form stated a degree in ‘Bachelors of Divinity’. Most people applying would have to apply, go for an aptitude test, interview and then the result. For me, I had 3 interviews, the last one with the academic director himself. He was pretty skeptical about me, a guy with a ‘Bachelors of Divinity’, applying for the course because every other applicant had a background in a related field or graduated with a more traditional bachelors. By God’s grace, I got the acceptance letter. This felt like another confirmation from God I was going in the right direction.

Before I went into full time ministry, God challenged me to lay down all my ambitions, so I did. Now he is bringing that all back to me, by allowing me to study my masters in a school I always wanted to be in, at a level that is higher than before. It wasn't even by my own strength and ability. I mean all I had was a Bachelors of Divinity. It was nothing that I could have done by myself and it was really God opening the door for me. It was a very divine way of God reminding me of His goodness and what He was adding back to me.” (4/4)

26/10/2020

“At first, I was quite against pursuing academics. However, there was a point in time where God made it clear that He wanted me to pursue a degree in theological studies and the church supported me. I studied the course part- time which took me 5 years. It was crazy. Crazy because while normal working adults would finish the day of work and relax, I would go home and do my assignments. Sometimes I also had work meetings in the evening. I had a challenging schedule in those 5 years - constantly juggling work responsibilities and my degree..

During those 5 years I also got married. It is statistically shown that the first 5 years of a marriage is the most challenging. And for the first 4 years, it was indeed very rocky and challenging for us. On top of that, I also had to face a huge family crisis which made things very hard. But by God’s grace, things started working out and it eventually got better.

When I took on my position in ministry, I was and still am the youngest in the team. The biggest challenge I had was actually gaining trust from the team. Every other person, even those I were leading were older than me. It was really a learning process of starting at ground zero and learning the ropes. I give all credit to God in helping me build the relationships and how He highlighted areas of growth in the ministries and the strategies to do so. I received a lot of support and mentorship along the way by the ministry leaders and pastors in the church.

think the challenge was really trying to juggle everything; school, work, marriage and family. It was only by God’s grace that I was able to make it through.” (3/4)

24/10/2020

“My calling for full-time ministry started when I was at a Christian conference back in JC. At that point, I remember hearing God ask me if I was willing to lay down my life and invest into the kingdom. So that’s when I answered the call. I remember telling God that I would lay down all my hopes and ambitions to live this life for Him. At this point, I still did not know what life was going to look like yet.

After my 2 years of NS, I had to make a decision to either go to a local university orinto full time ministry. I told God that the litmus test for me going into full time ministry would be the approval of my parents. I think my parents had a lot of hopes pinned on me to go into a traditionally lucrative occupation like banking or law. The fact they were not believers made it even more difficult for them to say yes.

One evening, I felt a stirring in my heart and that tonight would be the night to speak to my parents. It was very scary because I could feel this weight crushing me as I went to talk to them. I just started sharing with them my spiritual journey and how God has worked in my life. I told them how I felt that I was being called into full time ministry but I wouldn’t go without their blessings. Since they were not believers, they way they viewed security and well being for their children would also be in terms of money. I had to assure them that I realised that I would not have abundance in terms of physical provision.

At the end of the conversation, they gave me their blessings. They told me they’d seen concrete changes in my life since I have started going to church. That was when I told God that I was going to put everything else aside; local university, my hopes and dreams, and go into full time ministry. So I did 1 year of Bible School in Rhema, 2 years of internship and now I’ve been working for 7 years in full time ministry.” (2/4)

22/10/2020

“Hi, I’m Clement! I have been working in church full time for 7 years, coming to 8. Before working here, I did a 2 year internship at another church where I did a rotational programme amongst the different ministries. I am currently in the worship and hospitality ministry right now on more of an organisational level and it’s been very enjoyable. It really brings a different perspective of seeing how it all fits into the overarching plans of the church.

The first time that I attended church was in Secondary 2. When my parents found out, they were quite apprehensive and were not very supportive of me going to church. I think it felt a bit like I was walking out on the family because there's the whole line of ancestry in the Buddhist faith that I was leaving behind. My mum would let me go for service, but she was clear that she did not want me to attend a cell group or any other activities.

Over the years I could really see God working in my family because my parents gradually became more open to me going for cell group, joining other ministries and also taking up leadership positions in church.”

31/08/2020

31 August 2020 - It’s officially been a year since the launch of In His Image! We’re beyond grateful, thankful and heartwarmed by everyone who has supported us on this journey. To all our story contributors, to our friends and our followers.

In His Image was formed to be a space for genuine and authentic story telling - to share real testimonies of Christians that are a testament to God’s glory, goodness and power. No judgement, just open ears and open hearts.

We hope that these stories have been as encouraging to you as they have been to us. Thank you for following us on this journey and we cannot wait to share more stories in the future 🙏🏻

God bless and stay safe ❤️😷

(Our lovely logo done by )

06/08/2020

“I’m Crystal and I’m 20 this year. I’m currently interning at Truthmin after completing poly. After hearing from God and talking to friends, I felt that I would end up in full time ministry. I felt God was saying that 2020 was going to be unprecedented and different from my peers. I had already interned in the marketplace before, so I decided to take my time and look at what full time ministry looks like.

For me, everything started with worship leading. The first time I led worship I was 15 and eventually joined the ministry in 2017. During this time, God has been dropping a lot of things on my heart; to see a generation that loves the name of Jesus and individuals who will know their worth through songs. I realised how much I enjoy leading congregations into loving Christ and realising that the name of Jesus is so much more than just a name. It is the very person that our lives are built upon and where we see who we are made to be. I could work in the marketplace, but I feel like He is calling me somewhere else.

The circuit breaker started off as a well needed break. I was a bit more distant from church during my previous internship because the workload was so tough. My walk with God was really tested. Discipline is something that I struggle with. I have so much free time and I spend so much time doing things in ministry, what happens to the time out of ministry?

CB also highlighted a lot of issues that I was dealing with; like my heart’s condition. Sometimes I would see things on social media and my heart would suddenly take offence. It could even be something great for the church and ministry. It’s funny, right? Because I work in ministry. I had insecurities that had to be faced and this period served to sift out vanity in my work for God.

This time also taught me a lot about communication and building relationships. I’m naturally an extrovert and I like going out and spending time with people. Suddenly being at home so much makes it very easy to relax and get self centred. I struggled a lot with reaching out to people whom I haven’t caught up with and being intentional about showing love. That was something that I have learnt to resolve.”

29/07/2020

Thanks Thir.st for resharing Ronda’s story! ✌🏻

There wasn’t much about God or Christianity when I was growing up. ...

16/07/2020

“I’m a medical social worker in a community hospital, so in some way I am a frontline worker but not as high risk as those who need to wear PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). As soon as COVID19 started, there have been a lot of changes in our hospital. The patients that we normally see have been replaced with recovering COVID19 patients. There was a lot of confusion initially because we were unsure of our roles. Thankfully I stuck to my normal role, even though work was quite different.

Instead of usually working with the elderly, I was now with migrant workers who were being warded. After talking to them, I realised something. On the surface, their concerns might not seem major to us, but to them it means a lot. It can simply be like missing their food back home. They also share about concerns that have been weighing on their hearts. One of the difficulties was sending money back home. I think the struggle as a social worker is that you hear these concerns and you are supposed to provide them with the psychosocial and emotional support to address these concerns. Yet there is a limit to what we can really do. So I just try to do my best. When I talk to them, I can sense that they are grateful for the listening ear.

Aside from the language barrier, there are also some cultural differences. Although they are foreigners in this land, I don’t think that we as a society have been inclusive enough to make them feel welcomed. COVID has allowed such issues to only surface now but I hope it doesn’t just blow over as the pandemic situation improves. It's been something that I have been mindful of as we slowly return to business as usual. How do we continue to show love to the foreigners amongst us?

God has been softening my heart and opening my eyes to the wider and very real issues that exist here. I have been living in an ignorant bubble for most of the time with a false sense of security and just minding my own business. I’ve been asking myself questions like: how do you put that love into action? How do you ensure that there is justice in the world? I haven’t found the answers yet, but it's a work in process.”