To Whom Much is Given

By Kua Wee Seng

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I recently retired from the United Bible Societies (UBS) after serving in their China ministry for more   than   28 years. I have been involved in the China Bible mission since 1993 and I am most thankful to God for the opportunity to support the church in China in their Bible ministry. I am also grateful to the Lord for sustaining and blessing me in my ministry journey all these years through His all-sufficient grace and empowering strength (2 Corinthians 12: 9).

I have witnessed the amazing growth of the church in China and I testify to God’s sovereign grace and miraculous power in China. The word of God has indeed spread, increased, multiplied and prevailed mightily in China (Acts 6:7; 12: 24; 13: 49; 19: 20). I praise the Lord for His miracle in the establishment of the Amity Printing Company in Nanjing, which has since become the largest Bible press in the world! To date, the Amity Printing Company has printed more than 90 million copies of Bibles for distribution in China, making the Bible a bestseller in China.

For my brief reflection on the Bible mission in China, see The Unstoppable Word of God on UBS China Partnership website: https://www.ubscp.org/the-unstoppable-word-of-god/

As I reflect on my ministry through the years, I thank God for blessing me through the Fellowship of Evangelical Students (FES) and Graduates’ Christian Fellowship (GCF) ministries, which have helped and contributed to my mission journey.

Formative years with Varsity Christian Fellowship

My involvement with the Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF) during my university years were formative in my spiritual life and   ministry. My faith in and love of the word   of   God   was   shaped by the VCF   ministry   with its strong   emphasis   and focus on Bible teaching and exposition, and on Bible studies     and      discussion. The student-led ethos of VCF ministry gave me valuable opportunity for leadership exposure and development. My experiences with inter-denominational ministry at VCF prepared me for working with the interconfessional UBS ministry and the post-denominational churches in China.

Foundational years with Graduates’ Christian Fellowship

When I graduated from the University of Singapore, I joined the Graduates’ Christian Fellowship and benefitted much from the GCF   ministry.   I was challenged to think biblically and Christianly on issues relating to work and life, to society and nation.

I was also challenged to consider my calling in the workplace, marketplace and public square, and to seek to be salt and light in church and society. These perspectives helped lay a foundation for my ministry in China as I worked and related with the Chinese church leadership, government officials and academic scholars.

GCF Theological Scholarship and Regent College

When I quit my job at Hewlett Packard in 1987 to pursue theological studies at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, and Graduates’ Christian Fellowship (GCF) ministries, which have helped and contributed to my mission journey.

I was very grateful to GCF for providing me a theological scholarship for my two and a half year of studies. I received a solid grounding in biblical studies at Regent College, which fired up my passion for Bible studies and teaching. At Regent College, I was also schooled in the theology of the laity and vocation, especially in tentmaking and bivocational mission, which later helped me to embrace my vocation and role in China mission.

GCF annual dinner 1992

It was a conversation at the GCF dinner in September 1992 that led me to embark on my mission journey in China. At the dinner, Dr Lee Soo Ann, the then general secretary of the Bible Society of Singapore, asked me to consider serving with the UBS to help manage the Amity Printing Company in Nanjing. I had been serving as the VCF staffworker since I completed my studies at Regent College in 1989 and as I was happy with my ministry amongst students and in Bible teaching, I was very reluctant to leave my ministry in Singapore to serve in China. But the Lord used the conversation at the GCF dinner to lead me to eventually serve at the Amity Printing Company and with UBS China ministry.

FES and GCF leaders

God has used some FES and GCF leaders to teach, mentor, counsel and guide me over the years. I am especially indebted to the late Dr Bobby Sng, who has taught and inspired me during my years with VCF and GCF, and counselled and encouraged me during my years of ministry with FES and UBS. I am also thankful to the late Dr Choong Chee Pang, who challenged me to engage with the Chinese culture and supported me in our engagement with the academia in China. I am also grateful to Bishop John Chew, who has helped, guided, encouraged and supported me for decades, and especially during my China Bible ministry years. I thank God for them and for other FES/GCF leaders, who have influenced and impacted my life and ministry.

VCF and GCF friends

I also thank God for the many VCF and GCF friends whom the Lord has blessed me with. I am thankful to my batch of VCF Alumni friends of the 1970s, the VCFers from the 1980s (when I was serving as the associate staffworker), VCFers from the 1990s (when I was serving as the VCF staffworker), and other VCF and GCF friends. Their friendship and encouragement, their prayers and concerns, meant a lot to me and helped sustain my ministry all these years.

As I reflect on how I have been blessed by the Lord through the FES/GCF ministries, I am reminded of Luke 12: 48b ESV: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” I remember this was a verse and the biblical teaching which Dr Bobby Sng used to expound on and exhort us with on many occasions.

We were reminded how richly blessed we were as the beloved children and redeemed people of God. And we were even more blessed as Singaporean Christians, who have received tertiary education and were endowed with professional/vocational skills. Much would be required of us to be faithful and wise stewards (Luke 12: 42) of God’s blessings and to share His blessings with others through our life and vocation, and in our ministry and missions. To whom much was given, of him much will be required!

I thank God for the opportunity to share His blessings with others, especially in serving and supporting the church in China in spreading the word of God and sharing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the millions in China. I pray that I will continue to be a faithful and wise steward of His blessings as I seek to serve Him beyond my service with the UBS.

PS: For those of us who have blessed by the Lord through the FES/GCF ministries, let us consider how we can share God’s blessings by supporting the FES student ministry and the GCF young graduates’ ministry through our prayers and financial support. A group of FES/GCF supporters are proposing the setting up a legacy fund to help supplement FES and GCF with the financial resources for their ministries’ developments. May the Lord lead us to pray and to give towards this fund if and when it is established.

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