Glad Tidings Church has an interesting history. It was founded in 1957 by a Finnish missionary couple, the Kossilas, who preached the gospel in open-air tents in the Upper Serangoon area. They then entrusted the pastoring to Rev William Lee and his wife Rachel.

I remember sitting under pastor William at Tung Ling Bible School in 1980. Much later, I read the Impact Magazine and was inspired by the extensive mission work the church had done in the Riau Islands, south of Singapore.

Thus, I was excited to be invited several decades later to teach at their church camp in June 2026 and to preach at their service last Sunday. I was amazed because I had no prior contact with them.

I met the current senior pastor, Eric Yip, and senior pastor designate, Lydia Chen, over a meal at the NEX shopping mall. Surprisingly, we connected quickly because we had many mutual friends and acquaintances. Eric’s polytechnic classmate was Francis Shin, the current President of the Board of Elders in my home church. Eric was a pilot, and together with Allan Chan, from the Church of True Light, they were active in Christian fellowship and outreach to airline folks. In addition, pastor Lydia was mentored by Jenni Ho-Huan, a pastor, teacher, and prolific author. She also mentioned having met Sarah Phua, a ministry staff member at my home church. I enjoyed the fellowship as we bantered over stories about these connections and ministry.

Soon enough, Sunday came, and I was warmly welcomed and guided to the church sanctuary, where I met Rev Dr Paul Ng, the retired senior pastor. I gave my books to the pastors, and soon the service began.

I felt very much at home during the service. They have truly kept true to their mission DNA. A mission trip leader shared about their ministry to children in Udon Thani, Thailand. Then there was sharing about the works of Jia Ying Community Services, which reached out to the elderly in three centres. Then an additional mission collection was taken. They do this monthly!

In addition, they support a primary and secondary school in Cambodia that follows the Cambodian education system. They also have a Tamil outreach and fellowship that reached out to guest workers.

This is a medium-sized church doing the work of a large church. It is punching way above its weight! This is a local church that is doing her part in the Singapore churches’ vision of being the Antioch of Asia!

Glad Tidings’ mission credentials were so impressive that I wondered whether my sermon would be relevant to them. “A Church For All Peoples” was the title of my message, based on the pivotal chapter 10 of the book of Acts, when the door of salvation was dramatically and powerfully opened by the Spirit to all peoples. As usual, God was faithful to give me words to speak to them, and He did a work in the hearts of the people who came forward for prayer.

In my preparation, I discovered that from Potong Pasir MRT to Ponggol MRT, Glad Tidings Church is the only visible, established Pentecostal church within a ten-minute walk of Kovan MRT, smack in the middle of that north-east line stretch.

The Lord must have known the church’s heavy financial commitment to mission, and provided them with a freehold church property. They have been spared from the HDB religious site’s 30-year lease, which, on renewal every 30 years, can cost a church as much as four million dollars.

There were many similarities between Glad Tidings Church and my home church, World Revival Prayer Fellowship, and I felt some kind of spiritual kinship or exchange would be possible and fruitful.  I wonder if this is a good idea or a God-idea.

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