One MCS—A very special Christmas with ETAC

A very special Christmas

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Christmas meals in bento boxes

The migrant workers taking part in team building Christmasthemed games

Christmas 2020 was a very special one for the Emmanuel Tamil Annual Conference (ETAC) Board of Social Concerns and some of the migrant workers who live in dormitories. Bro Solomon (Singapore Telugu Methodist Church [MC]), Bro Barnabas (Tamil MC [Short Street]) and Bro Satish Abraham (Ang Mo Kio Tamil MC) co-ordinated the outreach programme to bring Christmas to migrant workers in six dormitories.

Volunteers from ETAC brought the Christmas celebration to 1,500 migrant workers. They distributed 1,600 bento boxes, snacks and goodie bags. They shared the Christmas story and played some games together. The migrant workers also had fun in groups of five using craft materials such as construction paper, scissors and scotch tape to make Christmas trees as part of team building activities. The intention behind the outreach to bring the meaning of Christmas to the migrant workers, and to get to know them in a relaxed and casual setting. The dormitory residents have had a difficult time this year with the COVID-19 lockdown and movement restrictions. After the event, the dormitory management told the organising committee that they were very touched to see their residents laughing and having fun together. They were grateful to the organising committee and volunteers for all their hard work, as were the migrant workers.

We thank the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for giving us this opportunity to share Christmas with those among us who might be overlooked and marginalised, while contributing much to our nation building. We also thank Holy Covenant MC, as well as Sister Janice, for their donations.

Finally, we want to thank God for His guidance throughout this programme, and for all our volunteers from Tamil MC (Short Street), Pasir Panjang Tamil MC, Seletar Tamil MC and Ang Mo Kio Tamil MC.

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Even during Christmas celebrations, social distancing is observed for the safety of the migrant workers

The migrant workers taking part in team building Christmasthemed games