Opinion: THINK

13, 27 July / 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Aug 2021 (Tuesday evenings, no class on 20 July) Online via ZOOM Register at https://tinyurl.com/6bskk6bk (ZOOM links will be emailed separately) $100 per participant. Fees waived for TTC alumni and matriculated students.

The course is a survey of basic Bible doctrines from the doctrine of God to the doctrine of the last things. It will highlight the most essential features of each doctrine as commonly held by the major Christian traditions. The aim is to give students a broad overview of the faith of the Church and to appreciate the importance of Christian doctrines for practical living.

Organised by EQUIP

Begins third week of July 2021. There are four different intakes. Three intakes are on Tuesday, Wednesday, OR Thursday evenings from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. The fourth intake is on Friday mornings from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. This course consists of 9 sessions. via ZOOM, with up to three physical sessions at Cru Centre subject to prevalent COVID-19 measures. Register at https://tinyurl.com/zv3kpxz7 $38 per participant. Registration is required.

The Significant Woman is a discipleship course and represents a new kind of learning process. By utilising life-coaching methods, caring facilitators and personal peer coaches, this unique course provides a method of personal discovery like no other. It combines the Word of God with biblical life principles and is presented in a warm, caring and secure environment, allowing you to apply what you are learning to your daily life.

Organised by Cru Singapore

30 to 31 July 2021 (Friday and Saturday) Online via ZOOM d6family.sg family.min@bible.org.sg 6304-5286 $60 per person ($50 per person if you register by 13 June 2021)

D6 is based on the principles of Deuteronomy 6 and it urges the church and home to work together to implement generational discipleship within the churches, homes and families. The objective of D6 Conference is for the attendees to understand how they can best apply the principles of Deuteronomy 6 in their lives in order to pass on a spiritual legacy for future generations.

The D6 Conference 2021 is a place where parents, pastors, church and ministry leaders can look to be equipped with practical next steps and strategies in discipling the next generation.

Organised by Sower Institute for Biblical Discipleship

6 to 11 Sep 2021 Online conference elc2021.com elc@eagles.org.sg 8575-2163 (Ivy)

ELC is the three-day premier biennial thought leadership experience in Asia, showcasing distinguished international experts, effective role models, current thinking, latest research, and outstanding leadership practices.

The convention seeks to grow and nurture leaders to be more value-centred persons by transforming their perspectives, developing healthy partnerships, and empowering them for quality performance in both church and the marketplace.

David Lang is an Associate Professor of Hermeneutics, Biblical and Systematic Theology at the Singapore Bible College and a published writer. He and his wife, Loo-Geok, worship at Foochow Methodist Church, where he is actively involved in counselling and giving talks on grief, suffering and biblical perspectives on miracles and healing. / Photos courtesy of David Lang

(from left to right) Timothy, Titus and Justina as children. Loo-Geok and the children when the family were living in the USA.

My wife and I have three children born between 1991 and 1996. They were all born healthy and developed normally in their early years. They were also very bubbly and bright. However, between the ages of five and seven, they started showing signs of degeneration.

Two years after I went with my family to a seminary in Chicago for doctoral studies, Justina started having memory problems in school and became very withdrawn. Thinking it was due to the stress of being in an American school, I decided to bring my family home to Singapore. However, her condition worsened. She started having daily seizures, including sudden drop attacks and convulsive seizures. Between the ages of seven and 10, she lost her ability to walk, stand and sit. She also stopped being able to talk, eat, drink and even swallow her own saliva.

At the age of 11, Justina started having breathing difficulties and had to wear a hard collar around her neck to keep her airway open. Later, she needed a ventilator to pump air into her lungs through a face mask. When this did not work, the doctors presented us with two options. The first was to have a tracheostomy, which could prolong her life but also meant prolonged suffering and a “low quality of life”. The other option was to let her go.

Seeing that Justina could still be happy in spite of her sickness and smile even when we were using the resuscitator on her, we chose the tracheostomy. We learned that quality of life is not dependent on the absence of pain or the ability to do what one wishes; quality of life can be seen in living life courageously and in receiving love from others. Our second child, Timothy, started degeneration at the age of seven. In 2004, our family went for a church camp in Johor, Malaysia. On the second day, he choked on a piece of bacon and was rushed to a nearby hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, his heart stopped. The hospital doctor removed the obstruction and managed to restart his heart. He was later transferred to the National University Hospital (NUH). He died 19 days later without regaining consciousness.

Before Timothy died, a doctor took tissue samples from him to send to the USA and Australia for investigation. The result came after he had died—we were told that our children have Niemann-Pick disease type C, a rare metabolic disorder. Children with this disease rarely live beyond their mid-teens.

After the results came, Titus also started degeneration. He went through the same process as his sister. Today, both are bedridden with no control over their hands, legs, head and even eyes. Both are tube-fed and need ventilators. Both need to go to the hospital regularly for tests and check-ups. Both are often warded in the intensive care unit (ICU) of NUH for various complications.

In fact, caring for them at home is like running an ICU. Even with two live-in caregivers, my wife and I also provide round-the-clock care. At home, we maintain several ventilators, oxygen concentrators, oxygen monitors, suction machines, electric feeding pumps, nebulisers and even a patient hoist.

David’s secondary school friends crowdfunded to buy the family a wheelchair-friendly MPV.