An Eventful Week

Last Sunday (March 24), Pastor Lau Chin Kwee passed away.  He attended the Protestant Reformed Seminary years ago, and was the pastor at First Evangelical Reformed Church in Singapore until the split in 2006, when he and his family came to Covenant ERC.  However, he was never an active pastor at CERC, because by that time he had serious health problems.  In 2009 he had Asia's first heart and liver transplant.  For the past three months or so he had been in the hospital, and the Lord finally took him home last Sunday.

I hope to write a blog about funeral customs here in general another time, but for now I will just say that it involves a few days of wakes before the funeral.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights there were services, with some singing and a 30-40 minute speech, followed by fellowship with the many people who attended the services.  My husband led the services Monday and Tuesday nights, and Rev. denHartog flew in for the Wednesday service and the funeral.  Rev. denHartog said that he had ordained Pastor Lau, officiated at his wedding, baptized his two oldest children, and had the confession of faith of at least one of those children.  So it was a blessing for him and for the Laus that he was able to be here now.  The funeral was held Thursday.

The following day was Good Friday.  In Singapore each major religion is allowed to have two holidays.  One of the Christian holidays is Good Friday, so everyone has off work that day. Because of this, CERC holds a "Good Friday Gospel Meeting" in the morning, and people are encouraged to invite unbelieving friends and family members to hear about the cross of Christ.  The meeting this past Friday included singing a few Psalter numbers and a speech about "Christ's Life-Giving Death" based on Romans 5:10. "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."  We also had a time of fellowship over lunch, and many of the visitors stayed for that.  We hope and pray the Lord will use this as a means to work in their hearts.

On the way to church Friday morning we saw a long line of cars near a crematorium.  We were told this is a time of year when people go to clean the urns of their ancestors.  On the way home we saw cars lined up by a mosque for Muslim prayer services, which take place every Friday.  The guy who gives haircuts to my husband and sons is one of the leaders of these Muslim prayer services.  There's always something going on here in regards to other religions!

Now we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and are thankful, especially after standing at the graveside this week, that Christ rose from the dead so that we also might live.  "I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).