The stirring in his heart to go into full-time ministry had begun as early as in 2011.

“You never told me you had a stirring in your heart,” said Twinkle Koh, turning to her husband, Ezra Koh, after he revealed that nugget of information.

“I kept quiet because I was afraid of more confirmations,” explained Ezra, 43, whose father was a Pastor in Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC). “A few cell group members and church leaders would tell me, ‘Your dad is a Pastor. The anointing is on you.’”

He had not felt ready to go into full-time ministry then, though he felt being a Pastor one day was a possibility.

What he never expected was to become a missionary.

“How is this missions work?”

Since 2021, Ezra and his family have been in Edinburgh, Scotland, pursuing mission work.

When they share this with others, they often get quizzical looks. Isn’t Scotland a Christian country? Are you planting churches there?

When God first called them to the country, the couple had pondered the same questions as well.

“It took us two years to come to terms with it. I mean, how do I explain to Westerners, ‘I am a missionary in your country’?” said Ezra. “At the same time, we were questioning, ‘Are we worthy?’”

Ezra, Twinkle and their two children, Joseph and Beatrice.

But research into the state of Christianity in the country revealed deeper needs.

“Scotland has 5.5 million people. Yet, less than three per cent are active, professing Protestant Christians. That explains why God was leading us there,” said Ezra.

Over time, they gained a greater clarity of their mission: to reach the locals by working through churches, using their years of experience growing up and serving in Singapore churches.

“Our first goal is connecting. Second, equipping. And third is outreach,” said Ezra.

Last year, Ezra became a pastoral staff at Victory Hill Church. He preaches, leads worship, oversees cell groups, manages the technical needs of the church, heads outreach events, and handles the church’s operations and administration matters.

Meanwhile, Twinkle, 41, partners a Christian charity called Thrive Scotland, which looks at connecting, equipping and developing Christians in the workplace.

Ezra (with guitar) leading worship at Victory Hill Church.

The Kohs (front, centre) and the team at Thrive Scotland.

The call to be a Pastor

While the Kohs are now well-settled in Scotland, the journey there had not been easy.

Twinkle admitted: “At one point, I was angry with God. I could have been leading a normal life in Singapore, enjoying my career and raising my children with grandparents nearby.

“I was so angry I didn’t want to pray anymore, I didn’t want to hear Him.”

She was not the only one who had tried to run away from God. Ezra, too, had struggled with his call to full-time ministry.

Interestingly, he had first received the call to become a Pastor when he was in Scotland for the first time.

This was in 2014. At the time, Twinkle had received a scholarship to do a Master’s course there. Ezra put aside his pet business to follow her.

Twinkle and Ezra the first time they lived in Edinburgh in 2014.

Just before they left, Ezra attended an international conference run by his church. At one of the sessions, the Pastor who was preaching prophesied that some in their midst would be called to full-time ministry.

“For some reason, I cried non-stop,” said Ezra. It was totally out of character because he “was not the weepy sort”.

He continued: “It felt like God was speaking to me. I was touched by the Spirit. I had subconsciously been wrestling with God. Now, it was sort of a relief. But I didn’t want to tell Twinkle because I was afraid she would confirm the call.”

Ezra (centre) with his parents when he graduated from seminary in Edinburgh.

In their year in Scotland, while Twinkle studied, Ezra did an Advanced Diploma in Canine Behaviour and went for many hikes to seek God in prayer. On one of those hikes, he met a missionary who was on holiday.

“At that time, I was questioning a lot of things like, ‘Why should I go full-time?’ He told me, ‘Your name means ‘helper’. It is prophetic. There’s something pastoral about it.’

“It felt like God was speaking to me. As I walked back, I was tearing.”

Scotland beckons again  

The couple returned to Singapore in late-2015. The next year, Ezra started working as a ministry staff at his church, FCBC.

“It was painful to let go of my business. But at the same time, there was a sense of joy,” he said. “I felt 100 per cent in my element, like now I can walk into what God has been calling me to do, and He was going to take care of everything.”

Ezra (second from right) when he was a ministry staff at FCBC.

In 2018, Ezra felt led to work in a church plant. He did not know it then, but the move to a smaller church would prepare him to serve in Scotland, where the average church size is 50 to 70 people.

Then came an uncharacteristic desire.

“I felt like the Holy Spirt was leading me to pursue a formal education in Theology,” said Ezra.

He did not think he had a high chance of getting into a local Bible college, or graduating from one, given that he only had an N-Level certificate and was dyslexic.

As they broadened their search for a school, they somehow found a seminary in Edinburgh willing to admit Ezra. God seemed to be leading them back to the country.

After a nine-month remote course, the Kohs prepared to move to Scotland in 2020 so Ezra could complete his Bachelor of Theology degree.

But then the Covid pandemic hit.

God provides

As nations went into lockdown, Ezra and Twinkle started to have second thoughts about going to Scotland.

Their greatest worry was their finances: How could they sustain the family, now with two children, with no income while Ezra studied there?

Ezra and Twinkle’s children, Beatrice and Joseph, who are now seven and eight respectively.

Just as the year was about to come to a close, God gave them a clear sign. On their daughter’s birthday in December 2020, someone sent Ezra a sum of money “for your missions in Scotland”.

When Ezra told the person he was not doing missions there, the person replied: “God already put it in my heart to give to you. You have to accept it.”

Twinkle said: “That was when I told him, ‘We have to go.’”

But they were puzzled about the mention of “missions”. Were they not merely going for Ezra to get a theological degree?

As they prayed and did their research, they discovered that, contrary to their assumption that Scotland is a Christian country, the religion is actually on the decline there.

Said Ezra: “We did struggle. We had only been on short-term missions to Asian countries. We did ask God, ‘Why are you sending us to the West?’”

But another confirmation, through provision, would follow. A friend, out of the blue, blessed Ezra with enough to cover three years of his tuition fees and six months of rent in Scotland.

So, in 2021, the Kohs packed up all they had in Singapore and moved – with a quiet knowing that perhaps they would end up as missionaries there.

Open doors

When Ezra graduated from Bible school in 2024, a friend he had made in Scotland invited him to join his church and help to build it. “He felt it was good to invite people with skills and experience in ministry to help and partner them,” said Ezra.

Ezra graduated with a Bachelor of Theology.

The opportunity was exactly what the Kohs had wanted.

Ezra explained: “Missions has to be God’s mission of preparing the Bride of Christ. So we wanted to work with the local church, which is the Bride of Christ.”

However, they discovered that the visas they needed to remain in the country cost a hefty S$27,000. Whatever savings they had left was not nearly enough to cover it.

“We were quite stressed. I thought: ‘Time to go back to Singapore,’” said Ezra.

He decided to go fly fishing to clear his head, and to spend some time alone with God in prayer.

It so happened that that particular day was not a good fishing day. Even experienced fisherman went away empty-handed. But to his surprise, he managed to catch one fish.

So, he told God: “If I can catch three fish, I will take it that it is Your answer that we will stay.”

It did not take long for him to catch his next fish, then his next and his next. In all, Ezra caught four fish. When he told Twinkle about his haul, they agreed it was divine.

“When she said that, it felt like suddenly a weight was lifted from our shoulders, even though we still had such a huge amount to pay for the visa,” said Ezra. “I told God, ‘If you can raise the dead, this is nothing.’”

Just a week before they were supposed to pay for the visas, someone from Singapore told the Kohs that they would cover the entire cost.

Ezra’s mother also had a word for them. As she prayed for the couple, she saw the word “home”.

Ezra’s mother (second from left) often had prophetic words for him.

The Kohs sought God for its meaning.

“We felt ‘home’ was actually three situations. The first was our primary home, which is God’s Kingdom. Next was the safe and comfortable home, which is Singapore. The last home is in Edinburgh till God sends us home, whichever home that is,” said Twinkle.

“Without those signs, I was angry with God for sending us to Scotland where I was crying and worrying about our finances because we are self-raised missionaries.

“But when I saw those signs, I broke down and repented. I gave in and allowed God to teach me, and open my heart and mind.”

In Scotland, beyond preaching opportunities and invitations to lead worship and minister in dance at churches, the Kohs found they could take their giftings to the streets.

Since 2023, they have worked with different churches to organise open-air worship events that include music, movement, preaching, prayer and conversations.

Ezra (centre in brown) praying with a team at The Meadows, a park in Edinburgh where his church often holds open-air events to share the Gospel.

A Victory Hill Church outdoor service.

Said Ezra: “It is a privilege to be serving our Lord and King in a nation that once brought Christ around the world. Now, we get to be witnesses of how revival will return to Scotland again as the Body of Christ unites.”

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