A Small Act of Kindness

Haimi Horam (Manipur, North-East India), 46, who completed his last school modules back in India reminisces about the ones who made the difference to his EAST journey.

I still recall how I felt when I first touched down in Singapore in 2018. Everything was fast. New. Confusing.

               At my first class, I did not even know how to set up a Word document. But with help from my classmates and teachers, I progressed to creating Powerpoint and videos, and conducting Zoom outreaches (when Covid-19 hit).

               India has 1,400 unreached people groups (1.4 billion people); no way we can reach this country without also using online tools and approaches.

 One of my favourite courses is ‘Hospitality.’ Hospitality, I learned, is the character of the Triune God.

               At EAST I saw hospitality in action.

             Whenever a faculty invited me home for dinner, I would return to the dorm with a big smile on my face. The admin staff and librarians were never too busy to stop their work and ask how I was doing. Rev Jonathan, my faculty mentor, called me with kind words when I was stuck in the dorm during Covid-19.  Our President, Rev Dr Chan, often took the dorm guys out for chicken rice.  Yes, I miss chicken rice.

               A small act of kindness makes a huge difference to a long journey. All that I am doing – equipping church leaders of the Tangkhul Baptist Church in Guwahati, Assam, and training lay leaders – are possible because of my time at EAST.

               Thank you.

The article above is written by Dr Lau Ying Kheng, and photo is also taken by her.