My Dear Friend in Christ

Sometimes I marvel at the coincidences in life.

I've been on a frenzy of blogging about CHC lately. Strangely, my 20-month-old toddler actually accidentally pressed on a CHC friend's number. She has pressed on a colleague's number and even sent him multimedia messages more than half a dozen times, purely because his name is the first on the phonebook and she happens to enter it by accident after pressing my handphone to death.

Other than that, the only numbers she'd ever sent multimedia messages to are those that are on 'recent calls'.

A few days ago, she called my CHC friend, my wedding singer, accidentally, but I wasn't aware, until I saw my friend's number appeared as 'missed call'. I didn't know what to say and didn't want to come across as a kaypoh without being sincerely concerned (about CHC). So I didn't reply at all.

Yesterday, she smsed me to ask if I'd looked for her, and we started a string of sms exchanges.

We started with the usual 'How have you been?' and I mentioned I read the reports on the church. She said that it's been 'difficult for us', especially the couple who have been in the limelight, and asked me to keep them in my prayer.

For some minutes, I was stumped.

I was highly tempted to ask her: What will you do if they are found guilty? Do you really believe that they are innocent?

I found myself struggling - to ask or not to ask. I tried to think of ways to phrase the questions 'nicely' so as not to sound like a kaypoh, but I realised that no matter how I package the questions, they do not put me out of the 'kaypoh' category. So what if I ask her these questions? What do I expect her to answer? 'I truly believe they are innocent'? 'The Bible says the righteous will be persecuted in the End Times and this is exactly what they are going through now'?

Most importantly, what business is it of mine to know what she will do or feel or think if they are found guilty?

It also dawned upon me that this friend of mine didn't ask me any questions when I approached her to sing at my wedding. If she didn't ask questions when I needed her help, I'm obligated not to ask questions in trying times like this.

It took me a long time before I replied that sms, without asking the curious questions I have.

But our exchanges left me with a lot of thinking to do. It sounds silly but I'm 'kinda' worried for my friend (let's call her B). I'm not sure if my worries are valid, but this is the church my friend grows up in, gave all that she has ie. her money, her youth, her time, her energy. She attends the church since she was 12, and has been fervent in her love for God. She was a beautiful girl - the belle of our school - and the belle of the church, and now a beautiful woman. Yet, she was never enticed by the worldly pleasures ie. boy-girl relationships. She's just about the only pretty face I know who doesn't give a damn to such relationship. Other pretty, and not-so-pretty, faces go into relationships very early and change boyfriends frequently. But not her.

I remember how she treated boys' and men's attention alike with nonchalance, not oblivion, at the tender age of 15. I was impressed because at that same age, I would be flattered by boys' attention, if there was any.

Girls in my school talked viciously about her because of jealousy. I'm sure she would have heard them but she didn't seem affected. The girls in church would be flattered when someone casually remarked that they 'look like B'. It went as far as to this: a cell group member said that another cell group member would be on cloud nine if you told her her pimple look like B's.

She rose to be a cell group leader when she was just 15, and continued to serve faithfully in the church till now. When Yeow Sun cut her first album, I was actually waiting for my friend's turn to cut hers. I would buy her album if it ever came out. I am very convinced that she's a better singer, without flaunting her bodily assets. But judging from the situation and her age now, it's not likely that she'll get a chance to cut an album.

She has always been a humble and discreet person despite her outstanding beauty. Once, I caught boys from outside the church talking about her when we went for our fellowship meal at a Mc Donald's after our cell group meetings.

Despite her fluent spoken English, she didn't do well for her O levels. But her commitment to the church proved to be fruitful. It opened up an avenue for her to be groomed and subsequently, employed by the church on a full-time basis.

I'm not sure how the events will unfold. I can only pray that something good will come out of the investigation. If Pastor Kong and Sun are innocent, the investigation will illuminate their integrity in the dealings of church funds. If they are guilty, I hope things can be put right. No matter what the results are, I hope that my friend, who loves God so dearly, will be spared any form of atrocities, big or small.

The song 'God will make a way' comes to my mind as I end this post with my hope for my friend:

God will make a way, where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me

He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way
He will make a way