There are kiasu parents, and there are Kingdom parents.

“I’m interested in how putting the word ‘Christian’ in front of any word changes it. If a typical parent looks at academics or screen time in a certain way, how should a Christian parent look at it? Is there any difference? Shouldn’t there be?”

That is a train of thought that often runs through the mind of Ruth Wan-Lau, an editor at the Singapore office of Our Daily Bread (ODB) Ministries, and the main writer of various parenting resources by ODB. She is also the main editor helping with ODB’s new new Biblical Wisdom for Parents website.  

The content development team behind ODB’s children’s resources. From left to right: Pastor Sim Kay Tee, Ruth Wan-Lau, Chia Poh Fang and Leslie Koh.

ODB Ministries’ flagship publication Our Daily Bread is one of the most widely-used English devotionals in the world. Launched in 1956, it is available in more than 55 other languages and has been distributed in Singapore since 1991. 

But it was only last year that the Singapore office of ODB Ministries started focusing on producing devotionals and other resources specifically for parents and children.

Swimming against the tide

ODB Singapore’s mission for the next few years is to make a concerted effort to “reach every age with God’s Word”. One group the ministry has identified is children and their parents.

Says Wan-Lau, 43: “We feel that parents play a critical role in passing on faith to their children. This should not be left to Sunday School teachers, though many of them do excellent jobs. Deuteronomy 6:1-9 is addressed to parents, and urges them to use everyday talk and everyday life to pass on their faith.

“Sunday School sees our children for only one to two hours a week, whereas parents can share their faith with their kids when they are walking with them, sitting at home, walking along the road, lying down or getting up (Deuteronomy 6:7). It’s important to pass on our faith naturally, every day, and not just through structured Sunday School lessons.”

While Christian parents usually start with the best of intentions, they tend to get swept away by worldly and practical concerns, says Wan-Lau, a mother of three children aged 9, 12 and 14.

“That’s been the case for me as well. Often, I need to stop myself in my tracks and think: How is my Christian faith intersecting with my hopes, dreams and plans for my kids? If Christ is at the centre of my life, then He should be at the centre of all I do, say and decide for my kids.

“I feel we need more resources to help parents swim against the tide before they get swept along with the flow,” she says. “Our resources are meant to provide biblical wisdom for parents, to encourage and equip them in their roles.”

One of the first parenting resources by ODB Singapore was Hear Me O God!, a book of 100 short Scripture-based prayers for mothers. The book was well-received when it was launched in May 2018, and the prayers are posted in the Biblical Wisdom for Parents website’s “Prayer of the Day” section.

Two other key parenting resources can also be found on their website: Resource booklets and articles contributed by pastors, ministry workers, parents and even grandparents.

The Bible for all ages

The Give Us This Day devotional booklet consists of two-page devotionals, with colourful illustrations and stories in larger font size and simple English, making it easy and attractive for parents to read with their children. Aside from a Bible passage for reading, each devotional has a short prayer, a “verse of the day” and reflection questions.

This is in line with ODB’s mission, to “make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all”. 

The language is also pitched at children aged 7 to 12, so the devotional is something that children can read on their own.

“However, I think it’s also a great idea for parents to read with the kids, as that will lead to greater interaction and discussion about God’s Word,” Wan-Lau says. The topics are relevant to pre-schoolers too, so parents can read out the stories, even if the children cannot read on their own, she adds.

Parents can also be assured that the stories are interesting. Wan-Lau, who used to work at book publishers Epigram Books and Armour Publishing before joining ODB in 2017, is the author of the popular children’s book series Timmy and Tammy. Five books in this series were selected to be part of the SG50 gift packs distributed to all Singaporean babies born in 2015, the country’s Golden Jubilee. 

Two issues of Give Us This Day have been published, each with 30 devotionals. The next is expected to be out in December.

From next year, subscribers will receive these on a quarterly basis (31 devotionals per quarter). More than 10,000 copies have been given out since June last year, with encouraging feedback.

“A mum came up to thank us because her pre-teen son is not interested in devotionals and she’s tried many of such materials in the market, but he never reads them. However, when she passed him Give Us This Day, she was excited that he actually read through it, and continued to read it daily. We really praise God for such feedback.”

Common challenges

 Discovery Series booklets written to address common challenges faced by parents have also been produced, and the latest one, Help! I’m Stressed About My Child’s Education, was launched last week.

She wrote it while her eldest son was preparing for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), and interestingly, as an ODB subscriber herself, she received a published copy in the mail when her second son was preparing for PSLE.

“When I got the booklet, I was having a bad day, feeling frustrated at our stressful education system and how children have to jump through tricky hoops when it comes to Maths and Science. God certainly has a sense of humour – He used my own writing to remind me of biblical truths, and of how we can shepherd our kids through their education years,” she says with a laugh.

“I think most of us start off wanting to follow God’s way, but then the resolve and determination melt when we go onto Facebook and see other parents’ posts or fear-mongering ads by tuition centres.

“But I shouldn’t just blame the ‘external’, it’s also about the ‘internal’, our own ‘face’ and expectations of our kids.”

She says: “The PSLE can be a Positive Spiritual Learning Experience, a wonderful opportunity for the family to come together in prayer, to see that God can bring children through stressful times. This could be an opportunity to give God the glory, or are we trying to get the glory for ourselves and our kids?

“I’m not saying that Christians should not study and just sit around and pray. But we have to check our motives for studying hard: Is it a fear of comparison?”

She adds: “We should tell our kids that we want them to do their best, that we all work for God’s glory and study for God’s glory, that we still love them no matter what, that their worth is not based on a score. All those messages need to be thought through.”

These Discovery Series booklets each have five short chapters, each ending with reflection questions. Another booklet produced earlier is about discussing screen time and digital distraction with children. Other upcoming topics include prayer, and talking to children about love, marriage and sex.

Millennial parents

Based on feedback after publishing the devotionals and booklets, the ODB Singapore team could tell that there was a felt need for Christian parenting resources.

Making these resources available on a website meant that they could reach more people, and more quickly, as compared to printing and distributing hardcopies, says Wan-Lau.

Millennial parents are also increasingly turning to the internet, rather than to their grandparents, for parenting advice.

Going online has also meant that more content – in non-print formats such as podcasts, videos, articles and interviews – can be made available for parents.

Most of the interviewees are Singaporean parents, including Dr Jacqueline Chung, a veteran in the early childhood sector and senior principal of St James’ Church Kindergarten, and Jasmine Goh, who wrote a book about her experience as a parent of a child with autism.

There are also interviews with non-Singaporeans, such as Ron Hunter, co-founder of family ministry movement D6, whose name is inspired by Deuteronomy 6:4-7.