Thank you all for coming to tonight’s wake service to celebrate Jethro’s 15 years, 1 month and 23 days of life on Earth. I am sure he will be very happy to see all of you here, as he looks down from Heaven. 

In Psalms 127:3 It says: “Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from Him”. So when Jet was born, I named him Jethro because I wanted him to be a wise man like the father-in law of Moses, who is the first management guru (Exodus 18:1-27).

And all glory to God, Jethro has turned out to be a very sensible and mature young man who is five to six years beyond his age. 

The Lord has also impressed upon me that Jethro was given to us – (Jethro’s mother) Jehanne and I – as an assignment, to be stewards, responsible to love him, nurture him and bring him up to become a God-fearing person.

Indeed, Jet has done us as parents proud. All the Uncles and Aunties as well as his former Sunday School teachers had a deep, great impression of him and all speak highly of him. For example, they say he is a caring and loving boy, always asking how are they whenever they meet, and being such a blessing to them.

Well, I think Jehanne and I have completed our stewardship on this assignment and the Lord has validated it by having Jethro next to Jesus now.

We would like to thank God for the time that was given to us as a family, especially for the last one year that contained so many good memories and a fruitful time together.

During the Circuit Breaker, we shifted to our new house; we got to enjoy our new surroundings with our front facing Bukit Batok Nature Reserve and Bukit Timah Hill at our backyard. We played badminton, swam, and even played Uno and the Monopoly card game. In December we explored many parks in Singapore where we walked a total of more than 50km together.

I am grateful to God for Jethro

Jet has been such a blessing to Jehanne and I. According to Jehanne, maybe it’s because we spent so much quality time and effort loving and caring for him when he was young; and so for the last few years, he blessed us with even more love and concern for both of us. 

According to Jehanne, during one of their time spent together before bedtime, Jethro even asked, “Mum can I pray for you?” How many children of Jet’s age are able to have such spiritual maturity and willingness to pray for and bless their parents?

As for me, I am so grateful to God for granting such a respectful, loving, caring and always thankful son to me.

Jet would without fail thank me for fetching him – I fetched him to schools, lessons, tuition and Church activities, everywhere! Every night I would knock on his door to hug him and wish him good night and he would give me a big smile. My son has never worried me; in terms of his academic ability, he has proven again and again every year since Primary 2, getting awards for Good Character and as Top Performer.

I am so thankful that Jethro remained pure all his life – not a single impure word or curse word have I ever heard coming from his mouth.

And to me, maybe there was not much more that was needed to be refined in him. He was precious to us but more precious to God – maybe that’s why He took my beloved Jethro home.

Farewell, my son

Allow me to share Jet’s favourite verse.

Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. – Hebrews 12:1

Jethro has finished the race and kept the faith. I am very sure he hopes and wants everyone here (at the wake) and everyone that he met to be able to keep their faith and meet him one day in Heaven.

Jethro, Daddy and Mummy will miss you very very much. We have lost one-third of our family equation, but I will make sure that you stay inside our hearts with the legacy that you left behind and all the great memories you gave us.

Jet – farewell my Son, Dad and Mum will make sure that we will see you again soon in Paradise.

Editor’s Note: After this article was posted, Jethro’s father, Tony Puah, requested that we post the following message to readers:

Dear All,

Jehanne and I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing our pain over the loss of our Beloved Jethro. We thank God for everyone of you for your prayers and words of comfort and encouragement which meant a lot to us especially during these trying times of mourning. It is by God’s Grace that He had gifted Jethro to us so that we could share Jet with all of you in this manner.  

Could I ask for your continuous prayers as we grieve and trying to cope with our lives without Jet? And if you wish to reach out to me, or better still, if you wish to find out more about this Amazing God that Jethro, Jehanne and I so dearly love and trust, please drop me a mail at: [email protected].

With a grateful heart,
Tony & Jehanne