My Hagar Experience

1 Timothy 6: 17-19 "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."

The very first time I was told of the women, I was genuinely astonished. I knew there are maid agencies that employ foreign talents and sometimes employers mistreat them or look down on them but this, this was different. I didn't expect it in Singapore.

These women are living in extremely harrowing circumstances. They had little to nothing to their name and many of them were subjected to exploitation in various ways at their workplaces.

My heart was already burdened by what I heard and it made me look forward to the outreach we were planning to do. I was doing it with my cell group, a group of church friends my age, and we were appointed in charge of the games for the women. Hence, I was doubly excited. This was the first real outreach we were doing together. Since most of us were busy with National Service, school and other commitments and we didn't have a long runway to plan the games, we chose simple games that required little set-up and preparations.

Once the tentage layout and size was finalized, we went with booth style games and so each of us were given a game to be in charge of. I was given probably the easiest and least exciting game on the list- Bottle Flip. The only base idea was that there would be three different sized bottles and they would take turns to flip them. I assigned points to each of the bottles according to my own estimations of their difficulty. The largest bottle(1L) would award 10 points, the medium(500ml) and the small ones(340ml) awarded 1 point each. I was glad and relieved the preparation for my game was relatively easy as all I really had to do was buy a few sets of different sized bottles with sturdy bases for flipping and mark the appropriate water levels for each of them. BUT I couldn't help but wonder whether the game really would be fun or not for the women. I mean even during the dry run of the game where I conducted it for those in my church(girls around my age), the game didn't feel that exciting, especially compared to the other games like limbo and passing a hula hoop along a human chain. I grew worried and prayed hard that the women will like it and enjoy their time during the outreach. It was one of the only times ever they got to do something fun and have a joyful occasion right in their home.

Pre-Outreach

Hagar Outreach 2023

We reached their dormitory site. It was heart-breaking to see the cramped building they were living in. However, the area as a whole looked more livable than I initially pictured. I think it's because what we saw were the improved conditions and changes that Hagar had already made.

Speaking of Hagar, it's an international organization committed to aid women and children who have suffered human trafficking, slavery and abuse including the ones we reached out to, who are living in dire and extreme circumstances. I can't speak justice about all they have done so it's better for you to head to their website and see the good works they have done out of pure love for these helpless women and children all over the world. Click here: Hagar (Singapore)

Hopping back to the outreach, we finally saw all the women, about 160, gathered for lunch in the tentage before the event officially kicked off. Some were young while others looked older than their real age. They took their lunch boxes one by one and ate in a corner of the area. Once it was finally time for the event, all the women had finished eating and had dressed up in what I believe were their best outfits and dresses. The biggest change they had made though were their faces. They wore bright and innocent smiles as they got ready for us to begin.

They were excited to say the least.

I was given a blessing in the form of a little boy helping me for my station game. He helped me count points for the smaller bottles.

The games began. I was nervous but thrilled at the same time. I had to explain the game quickly and simply so they can understand and then kept track of the time limit of 3 min whilst counting the points for the big bottle. Each group had to make as many points as they can within the 3 minutes and that’s how they competed with each other. In total there were 2 rounds of games with 8 different groups each round.

Before this event, I’m not a very confident person or someone who riles up others like those orientation leaders. But I knew I had to be one for my game. And I was relying on God for energy as I didn’t have the mood to eat lunch that day.

And I have to say, I surprised myself with how much cheering and enthusiasm I brought about during the game. I had never seen them up close and frankly this was the first time I was doing something like this. I was standing next to the tentage’s edge and the sun was shining on me. I chose to stand outside of the tent as it was built a little higher than the grassy ground so I could stand and watch them flip the bottles better without having to bend down as much. It had its benefits but it made me sweat and feel hot at times though a tree was right behind me providing some shade at certain times.

It was difficult to explain to each group of women and keep riling them as there was music playing on loudspeakers and there were 7 other station games running concurrently with 7 other groups of women in a very compact space.

But I felt it. Two things made me keep going and exuding a crazy amount of energy and joy. One was the joy on the women’s faces every time they landed a flip. To us it was a normal small bite of satisfaction. But to them it was an otherworldly feeling. Many of them paused to clap each time they landed the big bottle and had me laughing inside as I kept reminding them that they were on a clock, keep going, keep flipping and you can clap after the 3 minutes.

In each group there were one or two girls who were talented at bottle flipping. And most of the flips were landed by them yet all of the girls seemed to enjoy the game. Even if one or two girls were landing the flips, the other girls cheered each time they landed one. They didn’t just smile, they celebrated it, they rejoiced!

It was a heartwarming sight that kept me going for sure.

But the second, more important motivator was God Himself. I could feel it. The indescribable joy that He was pouring into me, it empowered me to keep amplifying my voice(sometimes shouting) so they could hear me, keep cheering for them, keep on going with my maximum energy for i believe a total of 3 hours of almost non-stop running the games. I didn’t really have any complaints, at the end of it, I may have complained about sweating a lot but that was just for fun. I had fun. I thoroughly enjoyed myself as I facilitated the game for all the participants. It was an experience like never before. You know how they say, do good and you will be happy?

While that may be true, you will get tired easily of just doing good deeds out of love from your own heart, and might think twice before doing it or check your bank balance or the time you have before doing something good. That’s not the case when you do good deeds with God in your heart.

With God, you do good out of the overflow of His love in your life, as you want to share it with others, you can’t keep it in. And God’s love is boundless so He can keep topping up that heart of yours until you choose to stop the deeds. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

Perhaps what my point is, I could have done this whole activity on my own strength. But not only would I have a lot of complaints about the heat and the loud music, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the experience as much as I did with God. God’s little helper - the Holy Spirit- helped me to see their smiles and joy and it made me joyful. It was an amazing experience. I felt like I could have done it all day, every day.

During the games I was thinking to myself, so this is what God means when He says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”(John 15:11)

1 John 4:12

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

And when the games were over. We had a break before we got groovy. As the band played songs and then soon the girls sang songs in their own languages and began dancing, we found ourselves dancing along with them as well! I have never danced in front of anybody in public as I’m too shy for such a thing. But I didn’t hesitate to dance along with my brothers in Christ and sisters in Christ to songs I don’t even know. That’s how lovely the atmosphere had become. That’s how much God’s love and joy can transform a person. All I felt that day was indescribable joy and peace. I held back nothing. I regretted nothing. Even if I had to put myself out there in front of everyone else. Even if I was one of the only Indians there, I couldn’t care less about what people thought of me. I just wanted to praise God and enjoy His presence that was with us right there and then as we danced and danced. Even my brothers in Christ said so themselves that this was much more enjoyable and a way better experience than whenever some of them went clubbing with their friends. I was glad.

I hope these words show even a fraction of how much joy I felt that day.

I’ll say it again, if you want such a joy, come to God. Trust in Him, rely on Him, live every moment with Him.

You will automatically want to serve Him, glorify Him and spread His unconditional love with everyone around you.

I’ll end it off with my favorite verse for the past 20 years.

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

Photo Credits:

Pam - @freedomsailscollection

Li-Shya - songlishya.com