Before I encountered the community in Ann Arbor, Michigan while I was studying, I was really only living a nominal Catholic life, and going to Mass on Sunday was my only Christian activity. The experience with the community completely changed my life, and gave me a renewed faith, and desire to share it with others.
There were a few of us students from Singapore who had the same experience of “conversion” in Ann Arbor, so when we went home we set up the Servants of the Lord community to provide a “Lively Christian Environment” for people who were seeking a committed relational way to live out their Christian Faith.
I also believe that God has given our community a special mission in Singapore.
From the very beginning, we have brothers and sisters from various Christian traditions gathering to worship together. This is not common in Singapore, as deep divisions exist between Christian denominations.
I felt that this lack of unity severely limited our ability as Christians to share the gospel with our non-Christian friends. They did not understand why there were so many different denominations, when all of us professed that we were followers of Jesus Christ. They were surprised to find, that even as we shared Christ’s message of love with them, we had many areas of disagreement.
In light of this, I believe God has given the Servants of the Lord a special mission to promote Christian unity in Singapore, since our members are from several different Christian denominations, who worship God, and strive to love and support one another as one extended family of God’s beloved children. This is as we continue to remain faithful to the teaching and practice of our own churches, and are active members of them. We believe this grassroots unity of love lived in a deliberate, committed relationship with one another, despite our various churches’ doctrinal differences, is part of the answer to Christ’s prayer that all may be ‘One’, as He had prayed on the eve of His sacrifice as set out in John 17. Christian unity is not only possible but is already a concrete reality in our community in Singapore.
Andrew Lee is a family man, and part of the Servants of the Lord community in Singapore
