On 7th April 2023, more than 6,000 people gathered at EXPO Hall 1 for the English Presbytery’s Holy Week Convention.
Other than providing activity zones to engage the youngest of the Good Friday Service attendees, PPS also took the opportunity to showcase how we desire and intend to build a strong foundation in truth, beauty and goodness for the children who come through our doors.
The Motivation behind Truth, Beauty and Goodness
PPS exists to meet the needs and challenges of our community by providing quality preschool education and care. Our effort to do so can be seen in the numerous community projects we have spearheaded, all of which are anchored in biblical principles that stem from, and aspire to, share God’s love. Other than being a channel of goodness to the community, our projects are also designed to inspire our children to pursue goodness inwardly.
Good Friday was a remarkable reminder for those of us who believe the truth of the gospel - that the ultimate demonstration of beauty and goodness is God, in his love, ordaining Christ to take our place so that we might be reconciled to Him and have hope.
We desired to not only spread the word on the good works that the children and their teachers have done through our various projects (Creation C.A.R.E., Jeans to Dreams and Good Start SG), but also to help the community to see that all our efforts stem from us extending the same grace and love God showed to us to everyone around us.
Growing in Godly Character through Stories from the Bible
The team also took the opportunity to raise awareness and funds for our Stories from the Bible project. Stories from the Bible consists of 4 series of 10 Mandarin readers designed to encourage a preschooler’s love for the language. Illustrated and published in-house by the PPS team, it was also designed to create opportunities for their appreciation for Bible stories, growth in Godly character and, God-willing, to come to know the God of the Bible.
Our first published series was displayed on interactive shelves along with MP3 players and headphones so that the public could tune into the audio narration of each story. We found children and adults making their way through all ten stories, only to start from the beginning again.
More than 70 individuals and families also donated to extend our ministry effort in this area, in exchange for our first series of 10 readers to bless a preschooler that they know. Knowing that the readers and the project was well-received from our first public engagement effort was wonderfully encouraging for the team!
The Chinese Curriculum Team also spent the duration of the service conducting mini-lessons designed around each of the 10 readers to our young but eager audience. The children were enraptured by the engaging and thoughtful retelling of these stories from the Bible.
Other than storytelling, there were also LEGOs and wooden block play laid out to engage children. It was most fascinating to watch the children (albeit strangers to one another before that day) sit and play together.
Some were even multi-tasking – building their creative constructions while their senses were pealed to Ms. Chen Danyang who was telling the story, asking the children questions or dancing along to music. To see the young ones hunger for stories from the Bible was an immensely heartening sight.
Extending our Reach for More Children to Experience God’s Love
The TBG curriculum only does good if it reaches the right audience – children and families. By being at the Convention, PPS found the platform to create awareness on the ongoing efforts of our preschool ministry. Our megatext cardboard wall of “Truth, Beauty, Goodness”, interactive displays and activity zones also invited many curious individuals and families into our preschool world of stories, activities and projects. Having had no other platforms of this scale before this, the team relished in the opportunity to share about our efforts from the past two years.
It is PPS’ humble hope that our efforts in public engagement will allow children and families to find their way to our resources or our preschools. Good Friday was a fresh reminder that as vessels of God, we are not to pursue growth for its own sake, but so that we can be a channel for more children to experience God’s love and develop a strong foundation in truth, beauty and goodness.
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