This month, Jessie and her husband brought their sixteen-month-old son to church and finally found what they had been missing since the pandemic.
By Jessie Chew, Connect Group Leader, Area Two
Watch Jessie’s full testimony (5 min 50 sec)
Incomplete – That’s the word I would use to describe church life in the time of COVID-19.
Before the pandemic, my husband and I always looked forward to the weekends because it was a chance to fellowship with our Connect Group (CG) members after a long week of work. We’d come together on Friday nights to share life and discuss how to make God a bigger part of it. Then on Saturdays, our CG came together again for service. After feasting on God’s Word, we’d feast again over dinner and enjoy one another’s company.
But all that changed in 2020. CGs went online and though we tried our best to keep things lively and fun, it was not the same.
Without physical meetings, CG life was incomplete.
Church also went online and while this made attending services more convenient, the experience was also incomplete. Though we were encouraged to dress up before church started, the reality was that I still tuned in in my pajamas! The anticipation and atmosphere of church was gone – lost in transmission.
When services resumed on-site this year, it was a day of great rejoicing in our home. My husband and I set our alarms for 7.58pm on Tuesdays and when it rung, we stopped everything to count down the seconds to 8pm when SMS seat booking for weekend services would open.
Getting seats and being able to come back to worship on-site was amazing, but something was still missing – and that something was someone, our son Isaac.
Born during circuit breaker, Isaac has spent a majority of the first 16 months of his life at home with us. My son had never experienced attending church in person. When Trinity@Paya Lebar announced that Nursery would open in September, I knew it was time.
When our alarms rang again on Tuesday night, I had already memorized the necessary SMS seat booking codes for both the main service and Nursery. At 8pm, I promptly hit ”send” and to my delight, one confirmation came in, then another…Finally, the whole family had the chance to come to church!
As many parents of young children will tell you, getting ready for service is nothing short of chaos. Children need to be fed and bathed while baby bags need to be packed – not to mention getting them into their Sunday best clothing!
That weekend after our family finally made it out the door, I had other thoughts running at the back of my mind: Would we run into crowds at the church foyer? Would Isaac be alright without us in Nursery? Would he experience a meltdown?
But when we arrived at the church parking lot, I felt incredibly at peace. Trinity’s ushers gave my husband and me VIP treatment, granting us access to the sanctuary elevators so that we could bring Isaac straight up to Nursery.* The Nursery volunteers were also incredibly welcoming and adept in handling first time visitors. Despite Isaac’s initial crying, they took care of him throughout service and when we picked up, he was more than settled – the little prince was being carried everywhere!
Throughout service that day in the Sanctuary, there was something different. I cried during communion. I worshipped more than usual. I was even more attentive during the message. I experienced a new joy because my whole family was in the house of God. For the first time in a long time, church life finally felt complete.
I also realized it was complete because of the many Trinitarians who gave of their hearts and hands to build God’s house. By serving, they make this house a home.
If COVID-19 has taught me anything, it’s that we can sometimes put our effort into many things, but we don’t always build things that last. This Vision Month resonated with me because in building God’s house, we are coming together to build something that lasts.
Trinitarians, thank you for your participation in Vision Month 2021 and making it an incredible one!
We are always delighted to receive testimonies. Give God the glory and write to testimonies@trinity.sg to celebrate what God has done in your life.
*Update on Nursery and DiscoveryLand Classes: Following MCCY guidelines, all nursery and DL classes will be suspended temporarily for two weeks, from Oct 2 till Oct 10, 2021.
Parents, your children (ages <12) can attend the main service with you and are exempted from PET.
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