Vincent Chia, his wife Angeline and daughter Kaylee did not know it when they first moved into their new apartment on Dundee Road, but the church across the street already had plans to welcome them into their premises.

Vincent with his wife Angeline and daughter Kaylee after his baptism in 2024.

Since 2016, Church of the Good Shepherd (COGS) has been organising a Christmas market in church. Called Christmas in Queenstown, for two weekends leading up to Christmas, the church turns its grounds into a festive celebration complete with twinkling lights, “snow”, stalls, carols and a bouncy castle. The hope is that the community will walk into the church to experience the peace of the season and the warmth of neighbourly love.

Today, Christmas in Queenstown has grown into a Queenstown-wide celebration.

The bright lights of Christmas in Queenstown, organised by Church of the Good Shepherd, drew the Chias to church.

Their efforts were not wasted. For weeks, Kaylee eyed the preparations at COGS. One evening after dinner nearby, the family was passing by the church when Kaylee, now 13, begged her parents to drop by Christmas in Queenstown. It was the first weekend of the Christmas market in 2022.

“I had also seen their posts on Instagram. So I was super enthusiastic,” recounted Kaylee.

“There were many booths and there was this one that had arts and crafts where you can make coasters. Sunday School teachers were running it. They were talking to my mum and they invited me to Sunday School.”

It was a moment for which Kaylee had been waiting for years and one that would be turning point for someone else as well.

Kaylee’s hope

Christianity was nothing new to Kaylee who is a student at the Methodist Girls’ School.

In primary school, a friend who was interested to learn more about the faith asked Kaylee to join her in Bible study classes offered by the school. Her friends who went to church also often told her “how fun their church was”.

Being in a Christian school and in Girls’ Brigade, a Christian co-curricular activity (CCA), Kaylee (middle row, seventh from the left) had many opportunities to hear the Gospel.

A few invited her to their church. Kaylee would go but nothing more ever came of those visits.

“I already wanted to join a church but I was scared. It would be really weird if I just suddenly joined a church without any reason. I was shy.”

The invitation during Christmas in Queenstown came at just the right time. Kaylee was turning 12 and old enough to go on her own.

Of the very first time she joined the Sunday School at COGS, Kaylee said: “It was really fun. There was this girl and this boy. We made friends on the first day.

“It felt nice. There was a sense of belonging.”

The connection was just what Kaylee needed to return again and again. It was during one of the Bible study lessons in church that Kaylee confessed her sins and asked Jesus to come into her life.

“They were talking about patience. I was like, that’s kind of me because I am really anxious about stuff all the time. I want stuff to be really fast. I don’t wait. It was at that time that I prayed.”

Kaylee is now in the youth group and attends a youth cell group. She plays the guitar for her youth group as well.

Kaylee playing for the youth ministry.

“She is in church on Saturdays and Sundays,” said Vincent.

Kaylee interjected: “Saturday is for the English youth and service. Sunday is for the Chinese youth and service.

“I started off with the Chinese service but because my dad is in the English service I also joined the English service. Afterall, the Chinese youths and English youths also have meetings and events together.”

Vincent’s search

For Vincent, 53, it was the move to the new condominium during the COVID pandemic that reignited an old desire to go to church. At the time, he had a front-row seat of the refurbishment work at COGS.

“It was like the building was inviting me, telling me to come here and pay us a visit. So I had been wanting to go across the street to the church. But I had no courage.”

Vincent had been brought up in a household of a different faith. In his teens, for Religious Knowledge in school, he had studied an Eastern religion.

“They taught about the cycle of rebirth, how you are not going to see your parents again. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I would wake up crying at the thought that I was going to lose my parents.

“I wondered: Where will I be? Will I see them again? That bothered me.”

As an adult, Vincent would sometimes practice the faith of his parents.

“But I find it all so sad. When you are dead, you are reborn. You go through the cycle of rebirth over and over. 

“I told my wife, ‘I don’t know what I am praying. It’s a bit pointless.’”

So he had his doubts and was “looking for an answer”.

“There wasn’t anything specific. I just wanted perhaps someday, somehow, something would lead me to the right direction.”

A welcome like no other

About six months after Kaylee had been regularly attending Sunday School and worship service at COGS, she asked her father to join her.

It would not be the first time Vincent had gone to church.

As a child, a tutor had brought him and his siblings to church once. Then when Kaylee was still very young, a neighbour had invited the family to church. They had gone twice but somehow had never returned.

Yet in his heart, Vincent longed to go to church.

“In the past, I was shy. I didn’t know who I was supposed to talk to, where I supposed to sit. So I never went on my own.

“But when my daughter invited me, she told me where to go, how to behave.”

What struck Vincent when he stepped into COGS was how “very inviting” everyone in church was.

Kaylee (front row, second from right) loves the warm fellowship amongst the youths in her church. That same friendliness amongst the adults was what drew Vincent to the church.

“When you go to other places of worship, you just mind your own business. Nobody will teach you how to pray, what to do. It’s not very welcoming. People only go when they need help. We don’t go every week like this.

“But here, the church members were all very welcoming.”

Vincent would return to church week after week.

The start of a changed life

After Vincent had been at COGS some weeks, some of the men he had gotten to know asked if he would like to accept Jesus into his life.

“I said, ‘Yeah, of course. Otherwise I wouldn’t be in church.’

“They prayed with me and I had a funny tingling sensation where my goose bumps stood up. I could feel something very close to me which I had never experienced before. That was when I told myself, ‘This is different.’

“I’m so glad that Christ actually sacrificed Himself for our sins. It is a very selfless act.”

That was in 2023. Soon, he started to serve in the church’s worship team playing the guitar.

Vincent, who learnt to play the guitar when he was a child, is now part of the church’s worship team.

“They asked for volunteers, so I volunteered. I must do something for God. Jesus died for us. I had been playing the guitar since I was young. My mum enrolled me in classical guitar classes.”

In October 2024, Vincent got baptised.

Vincent being baptised.

“In Christianity, death is a celebration of life. You are being called upon by the Lord to be with Him. There is hope in this life and in the life to come. Christ gives you hope.”

Asked if he has noticed a change since he became a Christian, Vincent said: “I feel more at peace. I am a calmer person.

“And I think I love my wife more now than before.”

Kaylee chimed in: “Now my mum and dad are like really close. They hug each other. Sometimes it is a bit awkward when they hug each other in the lift. But it is also kind of nice that they are so close.”

For now, Vincent and Kaylee are the only ones regularly attending services at COGS. But Vincent is sure his wife will have her own conviction of the faith soon.

“It is only a matter of time before she is ready.”

Meanwhile, father and daughter are excited about this year’s Christmas in Queenstown.

Last year, Vincent helped out at the Christmas market by directing traffic. If he is not scheduled to fly during the celebrations this year, he will volunteer again.

“This year, it’s going to be a big one. If I am around, I will volunteer. Last year I was traffic marshal,” said Vincent who is a commercial pilot by profession.

Added Kaylee: “Last year, I did games. This year I may usher or take care of the slides during the opening service. You must come. It will be so fun!”

For more information about the market and other Christmas 2024 celebrations organised by churches in Queenstown, see our guide below:

From falling “snow” to flashmob storytelling: Here’s your guide to all the fun at Christmas In Queenstown

Come on in! A European-style Christmas market in Queenstown welcomes all

A Christmas Invitation: A simple way to share the Good News this Christmas!

Salt&Light Word in Season: The Light of Christmas