Most people know me as Simon Goh but my given name is actually Goh Tian Lye (Wherever I Go, Heaven will Come), perhaps an indication of how I was destined to serve the Lord. I was born on December 5, 1953 on Tian Lye Street in Tanjong Pagar. I am the oldest of six siblings, all boys except Sharon, who is the youngest. In 1962, the family moved to Tanglin Halt.
How I Came To Christ
A primary school teacher invited me to Sunday School when I was in primary three. I also attended Youth For Christ meetings during my secondary school days. During this period, I began attending Bible classes on Saturday at the Tanglin Halt Church of Christ in 1967. The free biscuits and movies attracted me and my brothers, Albert and William, and friends like Goh Tong Pheng and Kho Hock Kee. We were the naughty kids who threw stones at the church building. Together with the ‘good guys’ like Timmy Tng, we went on outings to Bukit Timah Hill and Mount Faber. My Bible class teachers were Ng Siew Siong, Peggy Phua and Jean Lee (daughter of sister Polly Lee). Siew Siong became a sort of mentor to me. Eventually, I was baptized on December 19th, 1969 at the age of 16.Initially I wanted to be baptized on December 18th but my mother found out. She locked my siblings and me in our flat. My desire to be a child of God was so strong that I was prepared to jump down from our second-storey apartment. I did not eventually go through with it but instead was baptized the next day at a gospel meeting at the Moulmein congregation.
How My Faith Has Changed My Life
A major event in my life happened when I was in Secondary 2. My father had a car accident and broke his leg. My mother had to work, so my second brother, William, and I had to do all the housework. When my father recovered, he went back to work on an offshore oil rig. My mother continued working and my brothers and I were left to fend for ourselves. It was the 1970s, the period of hippies – long haired men and recreational drug. A number of my Tanglin Halt friends became drug addicts. In spite of the influence of my hippie neighbours, I did not buy into the drug scene primarily because I became a member of the church.
Before I enlisted into National Service, I attended the Four Seas College between 1970 and 1971. At that time, part-time classes were held at Tanglin Halt. Brothers Gordon Hogan and Tan Keng Koon (Ivy Lee’s father) became my teachers. From Brother Hogan, I learned to ‘keep on keeping on’; he taught me public speaking and I dared to speak up in spite of my poor foundation in English. From Brother Koon, I learned about personal evangelism. He always said that we should ‘be enthusiastic and act enthusiastic’. In those days, whole churches in America were being converted into churches of Christ. Armed with our basic doctrines and youthful vigour we used to knock on the doors of denominational churches to study the Bible with the people there. My door-knocking partner was our late brother Wee Kok Hin.
In 1972, during a church picnic at Pasir Ris, I hit my head when I dived into the sea. I fractured my skull and neck. Thirty-three other patients in my hospital ward had similar spinal cord injuries. Of these, 32 were paralysed from the neck or waist downwards. My doctor told me to thank God that I was spared. I still remember that Pang Tee Liang visited me almost daily. I also recalled going to church while wearing a neck brace. This incident suggested to me that I was spared so that I could serve the Lord.
How I Found My Place In The Body Of Christ
In 1972, I was asked to assist Paul Lee in Bible class teaching. Later, I became the main teacher. I have been teaching since then. Some of my first students were Angeline Goh and Tang Ai Choo. In those days, I was in church for almost every activity. We had Wednesday Bible Class, Friday House-to-House Work, Saturday Prayer Meeting, Home Zone Meetings and Sunday Bible Class and Worship. I used to spend the whole Sunday in church, beginning with morning worship, then lunch, then table-tennis in the afternoon, then evening worship and dinner. I firmly believed in the verse, “not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together…but exhorting one another…” (Hebrews 10:25).In 1976, I started preaching. I also became the congregation’s “unofficial baptiser”. I baptized many members including my wife, Wai Leng. Later, when members’ children became converted, I suggested that fathers should baptize their own children to give more meaning to an important part of salvation.
When I first started teaching a Bible class, I taught mostly teenagers and adults. In the 1990s, some members made the observation that most of the teachers in our children’s classes were ladies. Rosalind Lee approached me to start teaching the children at 11 am. Gerald, Jensen, Teck Su and I started the RASS (Rod And Staff Session) class. We taught children basic character values from the Character First Series; went on outings and even overnight camps. I also served in the Registry Of Societies committee and have been the church treasurer a few times. From Brother Henry Kong, I have learned ‘never say no when asked to serve’. So I have been serving for the past 36 years, whenever I was called upon. As Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:8, “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I, send me”.
What My Faith Means To Me
To me, my faith cannot be separated from my life. Once I became a Christian, my faith was a part of me. Most of my time was spent in church or with church members. Even holidays were spent with church members. We went on many fishing/scuba-diving trips or mountain-climbing trips organized by Pang Tee Liang (Uncle Pang). As we communed with nature, we also had devotions on God’s word (usually prepared by me).
Whatever happened in my life, I turned to God, to church and the members of the church. Never have I questioned God about what happened. I just live on in faith.In February 1973, I tore my knee cartilage during NS. I still attended church on Sunday while on crutches. Later, I was awarded $30 for being a marksman and gave the money to the church.To me, God was in every part of my life, working through the many members of the church. Even in my career, He was there. I started work as a draughtsman but a church member, Ban How Leong, helped me to get a job as a sales engineer. This started my 25 years as a salesperson in the marine industry. In 1985, I was retrenched. I remember receiving $11,000 as my retrenchment payout and giving $1 000 to the church. Of course, God blessed me with a new job not too long after. I only had girlfriends who were members of the church. I had a number of heartaches due to broken relationships. One girl broke up with me because her father disliked all Hainanese. Another girl broke up with me when I was studying part-time in the Singapore Polytechnic and this affected my studies for a while. We had been taught that we should marry in the Lord and having a girlfriend outside the church never crossed my mind. I had faith that God would provide and He did. Wai Leng and I got married in 1987. We had our first child, Joel, in 1988 and are now the proud parents of four boys.
Throughout my married life, God has continued blessing me with the help of many brothers and sisters. Wai Leng and I fondly remember that our first washing machine was a gift from a group of members initiated by Morene and Ting Chew. We consider it a blessing to be able to give and to receive. We accepted second-hand clothes for our children from Annie Cheng, Rosie Ooi and others. Now that David, our youngest, is growing up, we are also giving away his clothes and toys to families with younger children. We have fond memories of a piano from Doreen Teo’s sister. When we were wondering whether to invest in a piano when our children started lessons, we were offered one. This ‘made in England’ piano cost us nothing except transportation charges. When we moved from Bukit Panjang to Jurong East, we decided to give the piano to Fun Wui Siung’s family and now, the piano is actually back ‘home’ in England.
Aside from physical blessings, God also provided us with help lines through people like Rosie and Boo Chye. As the boys grew up and we had to deal with childhood illnesses like asthma and urinary tract infections, there were many times when we had to call on them to help us deal with hospitalisation and medication.
There were also people like James Lim who encouraged me to be debt-free. He mentioned that if we are content to stay in a HDB flat and avoid paying for ‘big-ticket’ purchases like luxury cars, condominiums and club memberships, then we will not have many burdens to lay down if ever the Lord requires us to serve Him as full-time workers.
My Vision For The Lord In My LifeFrom my story, you would have learned that I had mentors who taught me how to serve the Lord. Following the examples they set, I envision being a role model to others. Having experienced the temptations of sex and alcoholism during my many years in sales, I want to share with others how to avoid the snares of alcoholism and the temptations of the working world. Hopefully, I will be able to teach others how to handle stress and prevent burnout.
My Dreams For PP In 2005/6My family and I have always believed in recycling our possessions; we have received and we have given. Therefore, I dream of a benevolent church where we have all things in common. I know that “having everything in common” as recorded in Acts 2:45 is a one-time event rather than a commandment from the Lord, but it is still my dream that the rich can share the material blessings which the Lord had given. Then PP will be a church of love; a church where both the poor and the rich can feel at home; where we are really brothers and sisters in Christ.Having been an active Christian for more than thirty years, my dream for PP is that every member will find a place of service in the Lord’s vineyard.
My Exhortation For All Of YouLive life with God and the church in the centre and you will be blessed beyond your imagination. Make lifelong friends among the sisters and brothers in the church. Go on holidays with them just as we have, and continue to do. It will be impossible to fall away from the church if all your friends are in the church. We have just completed going through the lessons in the book, “A Purpose Driven Life”. As a result, I have cultivated a more meaningful prayer life. I exhort all of you to “call unto the Lord”, knowing that He will answer, claiming his promises and seeing the great and mighty things that we do not even know.
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