In the last episode, we heard how the Friday Bible Class impacted Kate during her secondary school years.

After the ‘O’ Level Cambridge examinations at Secondary Four, Kate went on to a three-year Teachers’ Training Course. About 6 months before graduation, her friend, Hian Mee, from the Friday Bible Class, asked her, “Kate, would you like to go with me to study Theology in Melbourne?” Kate was surprised but she answered, “If it is God’s will, I will go with you.” Kate didn’t mean it – and couldn’t have realised how prophetic her words were.

Some  time later, Hian Mee gave Kate the prospectus from the Melbourne Bible Institute (Today, it is known as the Melbourne School of Theology). Was it God’s will for Kate?

Well, the photographs in the booklet didn’t look too appealing. First, the pictures showed ladies in their thirties and forties with unfashionable clothes and hair pinned up in buns. Which twenty-year-old would wish to go there?

Second, Kate had been studying for the past three years and was close to completing the course. At bible school, she would have to study all over again. The subjects in MBI sounded more difficult and less interesting: Comparative Religion, Church History, Greek, Homiletics, Theology, all sixty-six books of the Bible ….

Third, how would she endure the cold winter, stay with Caucasians and eat western food every day? Adapting to a totally new environment and lifestyle was daunting! She was a traditional Chinese girl!

Fourth, there was the usual three-year government bond for newly graduated teachers.

Fifth, how would she pay fees for bible school? She hadn’t even started full-time work yet.

Last and most important, how could she bear to leave her mother with whom she was so close?

One by one, God dissolved her fears.

When Kate told her mother how she was feeling, her mother encouraged her to go.

As Kate was not teaching in a full-government school – she taught in a government-aided one – she did not have to sign any bond! So she was free to go and study! Both her mother and sister, who was by now a paediatrician, gave her their blessings and financial support. She then realised that God had not only led her, He also provided money for her to go to bible school. Her other concerns grew small and insignificant.

One Sunday, her pastor in his sermon said, “If God wants you to do something, He knows you are able to manage it; otherwise He would not have asked you to do it.” Her mother nudged her and said, “He is speaking about you.”

Finally, when she made the decision to follow God’s calling, she experienced peace in her heart.

So, in February 1962, Kate left Singapore. She was crying on the plane bound for Melbourne. More than ten hours later, she arrived at the hostel of the Melbourne Bible Institute. It was dark and cold, and the other girls were fast asleep. She was directed and made her way in unfamiliar surroundings to her room.

The next day, she was introduced to the lady superintendent and learnt that all MBI students had to follow a strict routine:

5.45am – wake up time

6.00am – quiet time

6.30am –  household duties. Students were divided into teams. Each team took turns to do all the menial tasks. They peeled and sliced potatoes and carrots, washed heavy pots and pans, did the gardening, laundry and cleaned the bathrooms and common areas.

8.00am – they sang 2 or 3 hymns from the Keswick hymnbook.

Then the students went to the different classrooms. Each of their lecturers would pray and classes began.

On Mondays, they heard missionaries speak. All of them had left behind well-paying jobs, high social status, financial and physical security to pursue God’s purpose for their lives. They stepped out of their comfort zones to become witnesses of Jesus in countries alien to them: Africa, India, the Middle East, South East Asia, Japan, Papua New Guinea.

On alternate Sundays, the students went to the beaches or parks for open-air evangelism. There, they sang hymns, gave testimonies, preached God’s Word and gave out Christian literature.

It was a busy schedule and the going was tough. But Kate learnt many precious personal lessons in humility, submission and perseverance.

And then there was public speaking.

During the weekly ‘Testimony Night’, each student would share how she became a Christian and how God led her to study at the Bible Institute. Kate’s turn soon came. She stood up to speak in front of about 60 Australians. She opened her mouth and a few words tumbled out. Her mind went blank. She stuttered and stammered. She looked her audience and they looked back at her. She giggled, trying her best to hide her nervousness and fear. Then she was asked to sit down.

Kate felt so embarrassed and discouraged. How would she serve the Lord when she couldn’t even testify for Him? Then Isaiah 43:1-2 (paraphrased below) spoke to her,

“O God, Who promised to carry Israel is the One Who can carry us through our difficulties.”

She was thus reminded that as she dutifully fulfilled her responsibilities, she was assured of God’s never-failing support. A few months later, the Overseas Fellowship in Melbourne organised a snow trip and she was invited to give her testimony in front of one hundred university students. This time, she spoke without much fear and trembling because she did it in the strength of the Lord.

When she graduated, she was then able to share in front of a whole hall full of students, lecturers and principal about how God was calling her to serve in Hong Kong. God had taught her not to be afraid whenever she testifies for Him.

Teaching Practice

In the first year of teaching practice, once a week, all the MBI students had to teach religious education and bible knowledge at the local government schools. Kate was assigned to teach a class of Australian, Greek and Italian children. The 6-year-olds were very happy to have a Chinese Singaporean teacher. And Kate thoroughly enjoyed teaching them; they were so adorable and attentive!

In her second year, Kate was sent to the Marathon Spastic Centre. How does one teach children and teenagers with not only different physical disabilities but also intellectual and even emotional ones? How does any teacher connect with children who had blank looks and/or confined to wheelchairs, children who could hardly talk or who could not sit still at all? Other fellow students assigned to the Centre faced the same problem; they shared and prayed for each other. They learnt to persevere and pray for wisdom and strength. Then she found God’s promises of help and strength assuring and real. In the second term, the students began to sit quietly. In term three, they were disciplined and attentive, even beginning to respond and seemed to be learning new things. In the final term, on the last day, a boy with a severe speech impediment made his way from the back of the class to the front. He had great difficulty saying each word. But it was very heartfelt and clear – he was thanking Miss Chan on behalf of the whole class. A girl who had been very disruptive at the beginning of the year presented her with a bouquet of flowers picked from the school garden. Kate was so moved by these simple gestures. She witnessed how the Lord could see her through any circumstance, difficult and impossible though they may be.

Mrs Hancock

On alternate Sundays, the students would go for open-air evangelism. On one occasion, Kate was given a stack of Christian pamphlets with a Gospel message. She was apprehensive. Most of the people on the beach were elderly and spoke with a strong Australian accent. Would Kate understand them if they spoke? She prayed, “Lord, please take over. You must help me.” She saw a lady with white hair. “Excuse me, could I sit next to you and talk with you?” The lady burst into tears. She said her name was Mrs Hancock; her husband was an alcoholic and she was separated from him. She had a heart problem and lived alone in a rented room.  Kate didn’t have time to share the Gospel as she had to leave to return to MBI so she took down Mrs Hancock’s address and left her a few tracts.

The following two weeks, Kate was busy with exams so she couldn’t visit Mrs Hancock. After her exams, Kate hurried to the address given. The landlady told her Mrs Hancock was warded in a local hospital. Young Kate had an extreme fear about hospitals and seeing the dying. But somehow this time, God’s love moved her to seek out Mrs Hancock at the hospital.

Kate found her looking eagerly at the door as if hoping a visitor would pop by. Up until then, Kate was afraid of touching sick people. But God filled her heart with compassion for this dying woman. She combed Mrs Hancock’s dishevelled hair as they chatted. Kate shared the gospel with Mrs Handcock and promised she would return. A few days later, she went to the hospital. This time, Mrs Hancock was very much weaker; her face and body were swollen, and she lay inside an oxygen tent outside the room, at the balcony. Kate shared with her again and asked if she believed in Jesus and if she would like to pray. Mrs Hancock nodded clearly. A few days later, Kate asked an older and more mature Christian lady, Mavis, to accompany her. Kate wanted to be very sure that Mrs Hancock understood everything. After some unexpected delay, they reached Mrs Hancock. She was in a critical condition. But she was lucid and understood perfectly what Mavis was saying to her. In a weak but audible voice, Mrs Hancock asked Jesus to be her Lord and Saviour. Both Mavis and Kate heard her.  After their visit, later that night, Mrs Hancock passed into the arms of Jesus.

Kate says, “Without the Lord, I can do nothing, His wonderful strength is made perfect in my weakness. Every believer can be an effective witness if each is willing to let the Holy Spirit work in and through her or him.”

What next for Kate after graduating from MBI? Where would the Lord send her? How would she know? Join us next week to find out.