Deuteronomy 10:19

Timely to be reminded of Moses’s instruction – to love those who are foreigners.

“And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:19

Deuteronomy contains a series of discourse on how God’s people ought to conduct themselves as they enter the promised land. One of the instructions was the treatment of foreigners.

Singapore is a multicultural nation and we can easily find foreigners in our midst. They are with us in our schools, workplaces and neighborhood. In the past 2 years, our church has seen an increasing number of foreigners worshipping with us. Hence, it is timely to be reminded of Moses’s instruction – to love those who are foreigners.

“And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:19

Last Sunday, the church hosted a get-together session for more than 10 new families who had started coming to our church. All of them are from Hong Kong and quite a few of them had only been in Singapore for less than a year.

They have all left their home country and are in Singapore for various reasons. Being new, they have to undergo a period of adjustments. I imagine it must be with a heavy heart that they have to be separated from their aged parents at home. They also have to give up familiar way of doing things and learn new things as well as culture. They have to make new friends and rebuild their lives.

To start afresh is not easy. I urge all of you to extend your warm welcome to these newcomers. Please take the first step to befriend them and make them feel part of KY community. One suggestion is when you go for your lunch after Service, invite them to join you.

Many of them are attending the Cantonese Worship Service, and their children are in KYdZ or JYC, where the leaders there are already reaching out to them. A few of them will drop by the English and Mandarin Worship Services too. Let us take the opportunity to get to know them.

What does it mean to “love the foreigners”? As a church we can do so by being their friend. After all, one part of our mission is to be a caring community. Also, the group from Hong Kong has chosen to worship with us primarily because of our Cantonese Worship Service. Hence, familiar language is something we can offer. As a church we can also offer spiritual comfort to these new immigrants. Such small steps of kindness will go a long way to make a difference for them in a foreign land.

Like the Israelites in the Old Testament, we know how it feels like to be foreigners who are thousands of miles away from home. In fact, some of us have had the opportunity to spend extended time in a foreign land for work or studies, and we had the experience of being helped. The call now is for us to help our new friends, who will in turn help others. Their positive experience of love, friendship and acceptance here serve as a spring board for them to help others later. What goes around, comes around!

To God be the Glory!