When the children were three years old, Stanley and Linda shared the gospel with them, leading them to accept the salvation of Jesus, so that they grew up with God’s blessings.

In the previous 6 episodes, we saw that Stanley was very successful at work because he lived out his faith in his work life. In today's programme, we will look at Stanley’s role at home, as a father and how his faith affected his children.

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Stanley: Our family is not a perfect family. With joy, challenges and pain in between, our family's motto is: Love one another, Serve one another. Each lives for one another and all live for God. As a family, we struggle together, venture together and have fun together.  

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In January 1983, Stanley and Linda left England and returned to Singapore. A few months later, their daughter was born. The couple dedicated their firstborn unto the Lord God. They gave their daughter the English name “Melody” which means “a song” and “to sing” because the joy of their daughter's birth reminded them of Ephesians 5 verses 19-20 (RSV), “…Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord.”  They hope that their daughter would be full of gratitude and praise God throughout her life. Three years later, their son was born. His English name is Newman meaning “new man”. They named their son according to two Bible verses. The first from 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 (NIV) is “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (new man); the old has gone, the new has come!” The second is Ephesians 4 verses 23-24 (KJV) which says, “... and to put on the new man, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Stanley wanted to remind himself by his son’s name of his rebirth experience. Christian Conversion is a great turning point in his life. It is not a fool's decision. God has given him a fruitful life and wisdom to make major decisions when facing life’s challenges.

This blessing in Christ is not just for Stanley and Linda. Their two children Melody and Newman received God's grace as well throughout their growing years in the midst of ups and downs.

Once, during a holiday trip as a family to Malaysia, their two children wrote many entries on pieces of papers. Later in 1992, Stanley helped them to organize the entries into a joke book called “Straight Kids’ Talk”. Some 5000 copies were published and sold. At that time, Melody was in Primary 3 and Newman was in the Primary 1. Both decided that for every 5 dollars earned from the book proceeds, they would donate 1 dollar to the church's missionary fund. The parents were very happy and grateful to God when they saw their children so willing to support the missionaries, even at such a young age.

One day, Stanley read in the newspapers about Mr Goh Chok Tong, the Singapore Prime Minister at the time, saying that he often felt lonely despite his social position. Stanley told Melody and Newman about this and the two children decided to write a letter to Prime Minister Goh and enclosed a copy of their joke book in the hope of cheering him up. Prime Minister Goh thanked them with a signed thank you card. The parents were happy to see the kindness in their young children’s hearts.

After Melody received her Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) results, she suddenly told her parents that she wanted to go to a different secondary school from the one to which she was assigned. She wanted to enroll at another school which had gymnastics team. Stanley did not understand where this idea originated from because Melody had never done gymnastics before. He was hesitant but did not want to reject her request outright.

He fetched Melody to the school where she wanted to go to inquire about the possibility of a transfer. The principal told them the chances were slim because the waiting list was very long. But Melody insisted on putting down her name on the waiting list. Despite his misgivings, Stanley filled up an application form for his daughter. Then the family prayed and asked God to lead Melody.

A week later, they received unexpected good news, Melody was allowed an unconditional transfer! Till this day, the family does not know how or why she was accepted. They could only thank God for opening the door to her. Melody joined the gymnastics team and later became captain of the team. She took part in national competitions and won a number of individual and group awards for the school.

After graduating from secondary school, Melody faced another dilemma: to enter the science stream or the arts stream for her A levels. She could not decide even up to the point when Stanley drove her to the central application submission hall which was held at one of the junior colleges. Overwhelmed, Melody refused to get out of the car. Stanley prayed with her in the car, asking the Lord to clear the confusion in her heart. After he prayed, he decided to let Melody stay in the car alone to have her own quiet time with God.

He then went to the school hall, where he bumped into two teachers and mentioned Melody’s dilemma. The two teachers were very helpful and offered to discuss with Melody. Prior to this, Melody had already discussed with her parents, friends, and teachers many times, but she still could not decide. But that day, just speaking with those two teachers for fifteen minutes put her heart at rest and she confidently submitted her application for arts stream. Later, Melody would say that those two years of junior college were her happiest schooldays. The amazing thing was that those two teachers told Stanley that they had not planned to go to the school hall that day. It was just a random last minute decision. Each time they thought of this incident, Stanley and his family would thank God for His sovereign blessings.

Newman’s education route was no less blessed. After graduating from primary school, Newman also asked to be transferred from the assigned secondary school to a different one. The waiting list at the other school was so long that the administration officer there was reluctant even to give them the application form.  It was only at their persistence that she allowed them to fill in the form. The family prayed together for a week and to their amazement, God opened the door for Newman. Newman thrived in the school both academically and in his sport of choice, tennis. They thanked God as a family and their faith grew together despite challenges.

After graduating from secondary school, due to some miscommunication and while Stanley and Linda were travelling for business and mission trips to Thailand, Newman missed the deadline for submitting the application for junior college. When Stanley and Linda realized this, it was too late, the application process was officially closed. They lifted the problem to God and asked God to open the way for Newman.

As soon as he returned to Singapore, Stanley accompanied Newman to the Ministry of Education for consultation. The officer there told them that it was too late as all students had been assigned and all the administration work completed. Stanley asked the officer for help. The officer then asked Newman which school he wanted to attend.

Newman said that his first choice was National Junior College and his second was Anglo-Chinese Junior College. The officer picked up the phone and called the Anglo-Chinese Junior College, and set up a chance for them to see the principal. Father and son rushed over there. The principal asked Newman, “If I were to offer you a place now, would you accept it?” Newman replied, “No, National Junior College is my first choice.”

Stanley was stunned. However, the principal of Anglo-Chinese Junior College was completely unfazed. She encouraged them to go to National Junior College to see if there was still a chance. Father and son thanked her and took a taxi immediately over to National Junior College. It being the weekend and late in the afternoon, there were no school staff around. Only the cleaners remained. Stanley left a note and his mobile number with one of the cleaners for the principal, and feeling disappointed, they returned home. 

They prayed and left everything in God’s hands. However, the new school year began and they did not receive any news. One day, while at the Singapore Changi airport with Melody waiting for a flight to Bangkok for business, Stanley received a surprise phone call from the principal of National Junior College. The principal had seen Stanley’s note and invited him and Newman to discuss the matter the next day at 9am. Stanley related the same message to Linda and Newman to see the Principal as requested.  With lifted spirits, Stanley and Melody checked into the airport boarding lounge. As Stanley looked out of the window, to his surprise, he saw a big “NJ” sign at the loading bay for the Cathay Pacific aircraft and asked Melody to confirm what he saw. Later, upon settling in the plane, Stanley and Melody saw the word “Miracles” flashed across just once on the main screen. The Lord led Stanley to meditate on Romans 15 verse 13 throughout the flight.

As soon as they arrived at the Bangkok airport, Stanley called Linda and Newman in Singapore and told them about the 2 miracles at the Singapore Changi airport boarding lounge and inside the cabin, and claimed “May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This passage gave Stanley and the family great encouragement to seize and claim the promise of God. The family prayed to ask God to open a way.

The next day, after a short interview, the principal of National Junior College decided to accept Newman as a student immediately and with no conditions. Newman went straight to class in his T-shirt and jeans that day! School uniforms and books could come later, said the principal! Today, Newman is a medical doctor. Upon invitation, he returns to his alma mater, National Junior College to share with students who are interested in pursuing medicine.

God has truly been present in both these children’s lives.

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Stanley: When our children were three years old, Linda and I shared the gospel and led them to accept Jesus' salvation. In the process of growth, I told them that there are four simple but important things in life to remember. First, be honest. Second, be kind. Third, be respectful. And fourth, be positive. In addition, I want them to use 2 questions to challenge their words and deeds. Will my action attract others to Jesus? Or hinder them to know Jesus? If it would attract others to the Lord, then proceed. On the contrary, if it would hinder others to know Jesus, then don’t do it.

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