Every Saturday without fail, Andrew Lim wakes up at the crack of dawn to visit the coffeeshop near his home. He is there not for a drink or a bite, but to hand out breakfast to its hawkers before their work picks up for the day.

The 50-year-old knows their preferences by heart: The mee pok aunty enjoys fruits – Korean pears, in particular. The kway chap uncle likes carrot cake sticks, while his wife prefers roti prata. Ah Yong from the drinks stall has a health issue and cannot drink tau huay jui, but will readily accept a packet of chwee kueh.

As Andrew steps into the premise, bags of food in hand, the hawkers greet him “good morning” with jovial smiles. Having kept up this routine faithfully for about four years now, he is a familiar face – and friend – to them. 

“These days when I go to the coffeeshop, we’re like one big family,” Andrew, a student at Tung Ling Bible School, told Salt&Light.

You zha kueh and tau huay jui

It all started in 2019 when Andrew, a regular customer of the 3838 Coffeeshop in Siglap, noticed that the aunty at the mee pok stall always ate her own noodles for breakfast.

When he casually asked her about it, she told him that it was because she has to open her stall early and does not have time to eat anything else before the morning crowd comes in.

Feeling burdened by this, Andrew asked himself if there was anything that he could do to bless her. So the following Saturday, he dropped by a nearby market and bought her some you zha kueh and a cup of tau huay jui.

“She was shocked because usually customers go there to buy breakfast from her, not for her! She felt very paiseh (embarrassed),” Andrew told Salt&Light, adding that it took some persuasion before she finally accepted the food.

A weekly habit formed. Every Saturday morning, he would buy her breakfast and chat with her for a bit before her work began.

Andrew with the mee pok aunty at 3838 Coffeeshop.

Soon, the hawkers from the neighbouring stalls started to notice him. As the weeks went by, he began chatting with more of them – and buying them breakfast too.

“It spread from one stall to another, from the kway chap stall to the chai png stall, to the kopi stall, until the whole coffeeshop, including the cleaner,” said Andrew.

“And of course the coffeeshop boss also came to know about it because she has CCTVs in the whole coffeeshop,” he added with a laugh.

To Andrew, buying the hawkers breakfast was just a simple act of love.

He never imagined that it would one day become a springboard for him – and others in the body of Christ – to touch their lives in far deeper ways.

Coffeeshop community

Shortly after Andrew began buying breakfast for the hawkers, he invited his praying group, comprising about seven other fathers, to join him.

Just two bus stops away from their church, the 3838 Coffeeshop has some significance to the group as they often fellowship there after their prayer meetings on Saturday. It is also the meeting point of their regular prayer walks.

The 3838 Coffeeshop is a regular hangout spot for Andrew (second from right) and his group of praying fathers.

While some of the fathers were initially hesitant to join in due to their poor command of Mandarin, they put aside their worries and started to be more intentional about getting to know the hawkers during their time at the coffeeshop.

As deeper friendships were formed, the group found more ways to bless the hawkers, from celebrating birthdays to holding little celebrations at the coffeeshop during the festive Chinese New Year and Christmas seasons.

The fathers make it a point to celebrate the birthdays of the hawkers and cleaners at the coffeeshop.

“Everyone chipped in, pot-luck style!” said Andrew, who attends Christ Methodist Church.

As part of the Chinese New Year festivities, they decorated the coffeeshop with Christian Chinese New Year blessings. And during Christmas, they gave out little cards with blessings and Bible verses on them.

The fathers roped in their church to participate in the Chinese New Year celebration, which involved giving out Mandarin oranges and red packets, as well as decorating the coffeeshop with handwritten blessings.

“It gave us opportunities to share more with them about God’s love in a casual way,” said Andrew.

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck and those in the F&B industry were badly affected, the fathers stepped up to help. For example, they chipped in financially to support one of the cleaners at the coffeeshop and also helped him to apply for government support.

On top of that, they visited him in his one-room rental flat and helped him to spruce it up.

“I think through that incident, he began to see something different in us,” said Andrew, who felt led to share the Gospel with him during one of his visits.

When Andrew asked if he wanted to accept Christ, the man readily agreed. He eventually got baptised and now attends the Mandarin service at Christ Methodist Church.

Love in the midst of adversity

As the months went by, a palpable sense of community grew among the fathers and the hawkers in the coffeeshop. It was a community that proved to be reliable when crisis hit.

In July 2021, one of the cooks from the chai png stall, 29-year-old Ah Wen, collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors found that a tumour in his abdomen had ruptured. Further tests revealed he had cancer.

When they heard about this, the 3838 Coffeeshop hawkers generously pooled together what they could from their own pockets, but it was not enough.

As a Malaysian, Ah Wen was not eligible for government subsidies and his hospital bills were skyrocketing.

Wondering how they could raise more, they reached out to Andrew, who sprang into action. He got in touch with Ah Wen’s girlfriend, who is the only loved one he has in Singapore, to raise funds on fundraising site GiveAsia.

Within three weeks, donors contributed almost $200,000.

A screenshot of the GiveAsia fundraising page Andrew helped to set up for Ah Wen.

The help did not stop there.

As Ah Wen needed a clean place to live while undergoing chemotherapy, the fathers came together to tidy his rental room.

They later also helped to move him to a house church in Geylang, which offered a better environment for him as he underwent treatment.

The fathers tidying up Ah Wen’s rental room.

As Ah Wen does not have any family in Singapore, they roped in their families and some hawkers from the coffeeshop to draw up a meal roster. Over six whole months, they took turns to check in on him and deliver home-cooked food three times a day.

Their faithful acts of kindness touched Ah Wen deeply and led him to accept Christ after hearing the Gospel. He was later baptised while in hospital.

Ah Wen celebrating his 30th birthday.

At the end of the year, Ah Wen’s condition deteriorated. Knowing that his time was soon up, he had one last wish: To see his mother, who lives in his hometown, Bentong.

It was costly – $25,000 one way – to send him home by an ambulance, but the fathers prayed.

Through some divine connections, they found a provider that was willing to make the trip at just $5,000.

By God’s divine providence, the fathers managed to find an ambulance provider that was willing to take Ah Wen home to Bentong, Malaysia, for just $5,000.

Ah Wen managed to fulfil his last wish and see his mother for the last time, albeit at a distance due to quarantine measures, before passing away on January 6, 2022.

Despite losing their friend, the fathers were comforted to know that Ah Wen is now at home with God.

After the pandemic abated and borders reopened, they visited Ah Wen’s niche and family in Bentong, and hope to continue doing so regularly.

What love truly means

Asked what spurred him to be so intentional in loving the hawkers at 3838 Coffeeshop, Andrew pointed to the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

“In today’s context, what does it mean to pour oil and and wine on someone? What does it mean to bind up his wounds, to set him on our donkeys, to bring him to an inn?” he asked.

He added that he had started out simply trying to bless someone with breakfast and never expected God to use that simple act of love to one day bring people to Himself.

Looking back at the past four years, he realised that the greatest beneficiary has not been the people he has loved, but himself.

“Many times we think we want to impact the lives of others, but we never imagine that we also become transformed. God was actually moulding us,” he said.

He now better understands what it means to truly love someone even when it is difficult to do so. Showing love requires intentionally choosing sacrifice, patience and endurance, he said, adding that all this has given him a deeper understanding of Jesus.

“By going the distance for others, we got just a glimpse of what Jesus, who went the full distance for us, has done.”

RELATED STORIES:

Business down by up to 97%, yet these restaurant owners are still giving to the community

Who looks out for the “invisible” during Chinese New Year?

Don’t pek chek, here are ways to answer those CNY questions graciously