When Lim Kah Seng sponsored his first child through World Vision Singapore a decade ago, he never expected that he would one day support 159 children from the region.

Since 2013, the 44-year-old has sponsored children from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Vietnam and the West Bank. For S$45 a month per child, he contributes to their education, health and safety.

Yet, despite being World Vision Singapore’s biggest child sponsor, Kah Seng stressed that it is not by his own merit: “It’s not me, it’s God. It’s my walk of faith.”

A goal of financial freedom

Kah Seng’s decision to sponsor his first World Vision child in 2013 had stemmed from a simple desire to do good, he told Salt&Light.

At the time, Kah Seng was exploring the Christian faith and felt that it was important to do his part to help others. He went on to support eight more children in the next eight years.

Nevertheless, what he was giving was a small amount compared to the wealth he had set his mind to amass. Like many of his peers, he was fixated on one goal: To reach financial freedom early and retire young.

“I was trying to make all the right and smart decisions about money. I’d also look into every investment opportunity when I was younger,” he said.

In particular, the real estate agent believed that investing in property and becoming a landlord was the smartest way to grow one’s wealth.

“For example, if you rent out the space to a food stall, the hawker will wake up very early and work very hard. They may fail or they may succeed, but at the end of the day the landlord will always collect rent,” he explained.

But a humanitarian trip to Yangon, Myanmar in 2019 would challenge that belief.

When “foolishness” brought joy

His wife had urged him to take that trip, organised by another non-profit organisation. In Myanmar, Kah Seng saw how the Christians there took in and cared for orphans even though their homes were small and they had little to share.

“Nobody would do that in Singapore. I live in a three-bedroom flat, but would I bring in five orphans from the street and tell my wife and children we are now going to share this house?” said Kah Seng, who has a daughter, 14, and a 10-year-old son.

Sharing what they have means giving up certain luxuries, but Kah Seng and his wife Adele take it as an opportunity to disciple their children, Zephyr and Corrine. Photo courtesy of Lim Kah Seng.

It seemed like a foolish thing to do, he thought, and yet these Christians had a kind of joy and peace that he had not seen in anyone before.

“That left a seed in my heart. I was just so touched by how all these Christians were behaving. They had nothing, but their worship was so pure.”

A bad break-up

A few years later in 2021, this seed found itself watered after Kah Seng, who by this time had become a Christian, read the book The Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns.

The book details the journey of Stearns, a former corporate CEO in one of America’s most prestigious corporations who, upon hearing God’s call, gave it all up to serve the poor as the president of World Vision US.

“He was doing all the things that would make him a good Christian, yet when God asked him to downgrade his house, downgrade his car, downgrade his lifestyle, downgrade his career to go to World Vision, he was struggling. He cried about it,” said Kah Seng, who is a real estate agent.

Stearn’s struggle reminded Kah Seng of the rich young ruler in the Gospels whom Jesus had asked to sell everything before following Him. The man, too, had struggled to part with his possessions and gone away sad.

This struggle deeply resonated with Kah Seng He was moved to tears by what he now describes as a compelling call by the Holy Spirit: “The feeling was like going through a bad breakup. The thought of breaking up with Jesus Christ over money, it just didn’t feel worth it.”

Despite the tears, he felt peace and joy. “Like there was a fountain of living waters in my heart,” he described.

A bold response

After that encounter with the Holy Spirit, Kah Seng knew he needed to respond.

With the support of his wife, he pledged to sponsor 100 children from World Vision. He gave the sponsorship three years in advance, which amounted to some S$150,000.

When he heard of another campaign to sponsor 50 children, he took it up as well.

“I feel that if God calls me and I have the resources, I will take it as, ‘Go’,” said Kah Seng, who plans to keep supporting these children until he hears from God to direct his resources elsewhere. 

Kah Seng and his family, including his niece and nephew (first row, right) taking part in World Vision’s Chosen, a programme that flips the sponsorship script and allows children to choose their sponsors. Photo courtesy of World Vision Singapore.

In 2022, his daughter Corinne also stepped up to sponsor a child for a year, after being moved by a video by World Vision and seeing that her parents were doing something about the plight of children around the world.

The 14-year-old set aside a portion of her Chinese New Year angpow (red packet) money to support a seven-year-old girl from Bangladesh.

Even though she has since stopped sponsoring the child, Corinne continues to write letters to the girl. “My sponsored child feels like a younger penpal to me,” she told Salt&Light.

“I would say that sponsoring a child is definitely worth it. The child has a bright future ahead of them, and I believe that, with a little support, they can accomplish great things in the future.”

Small sacrifices

Nevertheless, the family’s giving is not without sacrifice: They choose not to go for pricey vacations. They opted for a second-hand car instead of a new one. They remain content with their three-bedroom flat in an executive condominium instead of upgrading their home.

Yet to Kah Seng, these are but small sacrifices.

In July 2023, he made a 10-day visit to some of his sponsored children in Ende, Indonesia and was struck by the efforts of the World Vision staff on the ground. 

What struck Kah Seng the most during a trip to his sponsored children in July 2023 was the hard work put in by the World Vision staff on the ground.

“They are the ones who are working so hard to reach out to the children and to show the love of Christ physically. I’m only the one who is taking God’s money and using it. It’s a very simple process (compared to what the staff have to do). You just click a button,” he said.

While he was in Ende, Kah Seng also realised that he did not experience any “feel-good feelings” about seeing the fruits of his giving.

“I just felt that God wanted me to know that it’s not for my own glory. I just obey and trust in the Lord, and pray,” he said.

Discovering the real treasure

While it sometimes still is a struggle to part with money that could be used for his own comfort, Kah Seng is grateful to God for changing his desires and for breaking his heart for the things that break His.

“Outside the Singapore bubble, children are suffering out of our sight. It could be starvation, abuse, slavery, sickness and many other things that we don’t see in our city,” he said. “My prayer is for our hearts to continue to be broken for these things.”

Given all that Jesus says in Scripture, the real question to ask is not “Should Christians give to the poor?” but “Why aren’t Christians giving to the poor?” says Kah Seng, pictured here with his sponsored children in Ende, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of World Vision Singapore.

While he noted that the Bible is clear that we should steward our resources for God’s Kingdom and be careful about loving wealth, he also acknowledged that it is difficult to do so.

“It is only by God’s grace,” he said, stressing that his own transformation was not by his own efforts or moral superiority. Instead, it was through having a deeper relationship with Christ.

“Closeness to Jesus is so dear. Like what Jesus said, no one can serve both God and money. Our hearts can only contain one Master,” he said.

“Now I know that there is no freedom in financial freedom. There’s only freedom in Jesus Christ alone. Nothing can compare to knowing Jesus, the real treasure in our lives.”

If you’d like to learn more about the work of World Vision Singapore, or to sponsor a child, click here.

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