Reflections of a Retiree
By Stephen Yoong
My wife, Phoenix, and I have been married for 37 years. We have two married children, and three grandsons. After graduating from the university, I worked for 32 years practicing and teaching civil engineering in Singapore. In June 2011, at the age of 58, I decided to leave my job to focus on serving my family, my church at Bethesda Chapel, and in areas where the Lord may lead me and my wife.
Serving the Lord Christ Always and in Everything
From the biblical standpoint, there is no retirement from service for Christ. While on earth, a follower of Christ serves Christ in everything he does (Colossians 3:17, 23). One’s purpose in life is to bear witness for Christ by life, conduct, speech and performance in all circumstances. People need to hear the gospel and become Christ’s disciples. One can mature by studying the Word of God and thus be equipped to do every kind of good work for Christ (Colossians 1:28; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16–17).
Seasons of life
In the first year of my retirement, I saw four seasons of life. I saw that my two grandsons, ages 3 and 1, were growing up quickly. They were like bamboo shoots growing up very quickly in the spring of life. Serving Christ during my early years was like working through the heat of summer. I thank Christ for teaching me to be a faithful husband to my wife, a kind father to my two children, and a faithful employee in my workplace. At the time of my retirement, my wife also retired from her job to care for her aging parents. They were in their winter years. My wife and I are now in the autumn of life.
When I visited SLM Headquarters in Madison, Georgia, in October 2015, I was encouraged to see many believers with gray and white hairs serving the Lord faithfully. I learned that we can serve Christ with whatever capabilities we have until He calls us home or until He comes.
“Only one life ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last” —C.T. STUDD
Spiritual Feeding for Sustenance
Jesus uses many metaphors, such as the vine, the fig tree, the palm, the tree by streams of water, the sheep, and many parables to teach disciples to be faithful, teachable, available, persevering, and fruitful in service. Among many, the parable of the wise builder speaks to me clearly:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” —MATTHEW 7:24 ESV
Great structures need strong foundations to endure. In the same way, spiritual work needs patient obedience to Christ’s teachings. In this period of grace, we are to abide in the Spirit and heed God’s Word (1 John 2:27). It is important to feed on God’s Word so as to serve God in all seasons of one’s life.
Sharing Spiritual Resources with others
It is important that local churches move on from basic discipleship to mature discipleship. Believers in a local church must study God’s Word so that they can:
- Preach the Gospel boldly in their cultural contexts and in their own generation (Acts 2:11; 28:31; 2 Timothy 2:2)
- Teach and guard sound doctrine so as to resist every wind of false doctrine (Ephesians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:3)
- Encourage one another to do good and to present everyone mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; and Hebrews 10:24–25).
Since my retirement, God has opened new doors by giving me new contacts in Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar. He has given me opportunities to partner with local church leaders and provide them with suitable SLM Bible resources.
In partnership with the SLM Director of Indonesia, I was able to help to arrange for the translation of the WWBI Training Manual Course and Fishers of Men lessons into the Indonesian language. A two-day course would soon be arranged to train about 60 Indonesian pastors on soul winning, using the Fishers of Men lessons.
Through my Myanmar contacts, I was able to arrange for WWBI Semester one courses to be translated into Burmese. Two local churches and a seminary in Myanmar have started using the WWBI courses in the Burmese language. A few Zaiwa-speaking pastors in northern Myanmar have started a project to translate some SLM basic Bible courses. Recently I facilitated a partnership between Bethesda Chapel and Myanmar Prison Ministry. A two-day course has been planned to promote SLM lessons to about 20 prison ministry pastors and volunteers in Yangon, Myanmar. Pray that the pastors, volunteers, the prisoners and their families will be blessed when they eventually use SLM basic and advanced courses.
