“We experienced love”: How a community rallied around David Lang’s family as they bid their daughter farewell

Peck Sim // March 18, 2022, 12:11 pm

Singapore Bible College lecturer David Lang, whose three children were struck with a rare genetic disorder called Niemann-Pick Disease Type C. The disease causes the patient's physical and intellectual functions to deteriorate over time. Photo by Rachel Phua.

There are those who know grace.

There are those who receive grace.

There are those who give grace.

Not often is there someone who personifies all three. David Lang is one of them.

Two weeks ago on February 27, the Lang family lost their first-born, Justina Lang, who, at 30, was one of the longest known surviving patients of the rare Niemann-Pick Type C disease. All three Lang children have the same fatal genetic disorder. David and his wife, Loo Geok, lost their second-born Timothy in 2004 when he was 11. The third, Titus, is now 25.

Though born healthy, the three Lang children were later discovered to have Niemann-Pick Type C disease after their son Timothy died at 11.

David, acquainted with grief, has found his way to peace amidst the suffering through the book of Job. But he is the first to see and acknowledge that His loving Father in heaven has also provided a community to be what he calls “a shield against the direct blasts” of their fiery trials.

One of the ways that David and Loo Geok showered love on Justina and Titus was taking them outdoors whenever possible. The two siblings were close; Titus held his sister’s hand and shed tears during her final days.

It is surely a testament of the grace of God that a grieving man, at the service of the wake of his beloved daughter, joyfully called it a “thanksgiving” for her life and for the community with which God has surrounded the family.

“Justina has opened many doors for us to experience love and support from the community,” David told Salt&Light. “I believe the ability of me and my family to walk this journey came from the support we have received from so many people.”

Beautiful send-off

When David and Loo Geok were told to prepare for the impending departure of Justina earlier in the year, they did not have to concern themselves with the wake and funeral arrangements.

Peter Yan, 69, the owner of Peace Casket stepped in to meet that need.

Peter Yan from Peace Casket spared no effort to set up a beautiful send-off for Justina.

David did not even know Peter personally. They had met five years prior at a bereaved family’s home. David was there to comfort the family; Peter was there to make funeral arrangements.

Unbeknownst to David, Peter had been following David’s Facebook page.

When he read in 2019 about Justina’s total dependence on a ventilator, Peter had visited the Lang family with a cash gift and the offer to undertake the funeral arrangements at no charge when the time came.

When Justina was called home to the Lord, all the Langs had to do was pass him Justina’s clothes and photographs, and decide where and when they wanted the wake to take place. Everything else was left to Peter.

“When the casket arrived, we were very pleasantly surprised by how exquisite the whole set-up was,” David told Salt&Light. Peter also visited daily during the wake to comfort the family and made himself available to support in any way.

“When I went into the business, I knew it was not going to be just a business but a ministry to help people,” said Peter. “Whatever I own and have does not belong to me but the Lord. I am but extending His hand to His family.”

A community of care

Singapore Bible College (SBC), where David is a lecturer, has also been a pillar a support for the Lang family.

“SBC tolerated my sometimes-late submission of grades; sometimes I missed lessons or came not as well prepared as I would have liked to be because I had spent the previous night at the hospital,” David said at Justina’s wake service on March 2.

From the moment the Dean of the faculty found out Justina was to be put on palliative care, he gave David time off to spend time with her. Other faculty members stood in to cover for David knowing they may have to do so for weeks.

The support of the church and the community allowed Justina and Titus (in wheelchair in the centre) to go on outings. This excursion was planned by Crisis Relief.

David’s colleagues at SBC came together to host a memorial service of Justina’s wake on March 1. They also arranged to set up a livestream of the service so that despite the 30-person onsite limit mandated by Covid restrictions, the entire SBC and other communities supporting the Langs could be “present” to journey with the Langs.

About 400 people watched the service live and a constant stream of condolences and words of comfort flowed on the chat during the service. There are more than 1,600 hits on the page to date.

“Many told us they tuned in to hear the eulogy and our thanksgiving,” a grateful David told Salt&Light. “What is most precious to us is that we have a video in honour of Justina we can keep and watch.”

Dr Stacey Tay, Head of Paediatric Neurology at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and the neurologist for both Justina and Titus, took time to give a eulogy at Justina’s memorial service.

Dr Tay first saw Justina in 1998, and subsequently from 2004 after her return from specialist training in the US under Professor Marc Patterson, the world’s leading expert of the disease that afflicted the Lang children.

In her eulogy, Dr Tay said Justina was always smiling, and enjoyed life, despite the trying times with tests, doctor’s appointments and physical ailments. “It was a lot of love that carried her through until God brought her home,” she concluded.

More than a doctor, “Stacey was personal, loved Justina, and cared very much for her”, said David.

The rest of medical team at the NUH paediatric ICU-high dependency ward also rallied around the Langs. This meant a great deal to David and Loo Geok.

During Justina’s final days, several doctors and nurses would pop into the hospital room just to check in on David and Loo Geok. One nurse, at the end of her shift, was in tears when she came into the room to say goodbye to Justina, knowing these were her final days.

“We could see many of the doctors and nurses loved Justina and cared for us,” David said.

The medical team made special arrangements to enable Titus and Jocelyn, their helper who took care of Justina for 10 years, to visit Justina several times despite Covid restrictions.

One of the doctors, Dr Teresa Tan, made an off-duty visit to the hospital over the weekend to check on David and Loo Geok. Dr Tan was also at Justina’s wake. A few days after the funeral, a nurse called David to check on the family.

Generosity in spirit and and in kind

Foochow Methodist Church, where the Langs worship, has stood behind the family for many years, including offering to pay for expensive medical equipment that Justina and Titus required. The church hosted the service on the second day of the wake.

Pastors and the church family have been a source of encouragement and comfort. “We are touched by the messages delivered by our pastors at the wake – they are truly from the heart,” David said.

One of Foochow’s church members, the mother of one of Justina’s classmates in Sunday school when Justina was still in preschool, sent her own mother to personally give a hug to David because an overseas trip prevented her from coming.

Then there were friends, including some David had not seen in 30 years, who reached out to offer help after reading about the Langs in the news.

The Lang family was overwhelmed by the multitude of friends who came throughout the wake to comfort them, despite the escalating Covid-19 numbers in Singapore.

“Many texted us and apologised that they could not come because of Covid. Then there were many whom we do not know personally who sent cash gifts using PayNow,” David recounted to Salt&Light. “Several came daily during the four days of wake to give very practical help – buying us meals, sitting at the registration table and even offering to stay overnight to watch. We experienced love,” David said.

Thrina Low, 57, owner of Brera Bakery, was one of the friends at the wake.

She saw many contribute generously, not just money but time and words of encouragement and comfort.

A Father’s Day instagram post by Thrina Low of Bakery Brera last year saw almost 1,000 people, many of them strangers, rallying to give almost $100,000 to the Lang family for the care of Justina and Titus.

“Everyone wanted to speak to David and Loo Geok; many of his students from the past and present were there, neighbours turned up,” Thrina told Salt&Light.

Thrina had come alongside the Langs in the past few months. Her Father’s Day tribute last year to David on the bakery’s Instagram account caught the attention of media outlets and donors and rippled through the community.

The donations have not stopped since. Pauline Chiang, an elderly lady with mobility issues who insisted on sending help, had taken great pains to find out the name of Thrina’s bakery and the address so she could mail a cheque to the Lang family, said Thrina, who pointed out that support from David’s church, his school and siblings were present a long time before the bakery was involved.

It was God’s timing and favour that opened the door for her to journey with the family, she told Salt&Light.

Grace both ways

Even as God brought people to David to be his community of support, He has enabled David and Loo Geok to support others.

David readily acknowledges that although Justina and her siblings have been the channel through which they have received love and support from the community, she has also opened doors for them to share of God’s faithfulness and to encourage others.

Comments and questions from strangers and passer-bys in public places open doors for the Langs to testify of the faithfulness of God.

“It creates opportunities for us to say ‘it is okay because we have Jesus with us, and if you have Jesus, whatever your struggle is, you can do it.’” said David at Justina’s wake.

Their trials and suffering have allowed the couple to minister specifically to families and people struggling with children’s illnesses.

Dr Tay observed: “David and Loo Geok have been a support to many families, never turning down the opportunity to speak to and encourage them.”

David and Loo Geok’s story is wrapped up in the Gospel of hope.

Always eager to share the Gospel of hope, even at his daughter’s wake, David said: “We pray the eulogy and our testimony on how God uses Justina to impact us and our ministry can continue to encourage others.”

“We don’t even need words of wisdom when we go to these families. We just need to tell our story and they say, ‘Wow, you have three children. I only have one. And if you can smile and be joyful and cheerful then I think it’d be okay’,” recounted David

He has held fast to the belief that quality of life is not dependent on absence of pain or the freedom of choosing how to live life, but in living life courageously and in receiving love from others.

This man, who has embraced the grace of God and community during his time of bereavement, was more concerned with extending God’s grace and love to others at Justina’s wake.

“We pray the eulogy and our testimony on how God uses Justina to impact us and our ministry can continue to encourage others,” he said.

“God has made us a community in which we are to help one another,” David told Salt&Light. “If we become dysfunctional, perhaps it reflects the failure of the broader community to take on each other’s burdens. There is nothing shameful about appealing to others for help. When in the fire and we cannot see the path out, we just need to take a step at a time and live a day at a time.

“Indeed, our Heavenly Father has been very present with us throughout this long journey with our children.”