Lydia Sim, 32, was enjoying what she thought was her best life two years ago.

She had come from Kuching, Malaysia, to work in Singapore in 2015. After working for eight months at a hospital, the Biomedical Science graduate left to pursue her dream – music.

God would take Lydia’s love of music and children and use it to bless the ministry at Living Waters Village.

By 2022, she was teaching piano to children as a freelancer and loving it.

“I felt like everything was good, life was great. Whatever goals I wanted to reach, God just blessed me,” Lydia told Salt&Light.

Yet there was a gnawing in her soul that told her that life had more. At first, she thought she would take a year off to go on a working holiday in Australia. But God had other plans for her.

In Part 1 of Lydia’s story, through 10 confirmations, God led her to commit a year to Living Waters Village, a ministry to some 700 neglected Dayak children in the jungles of West Kalimantan.

Founded by Australian, Ps Ronny Heyboer, the project comprises homes, schools, a nursery for babies, sewing rooms, visitor quarters, a training centre, a centre for worship, a clinic and a bakery so the children can grow up in a safe environment.

Lydia getting to know the children at Living Waters Village.

Lydia would spend a year – May 2023 to May 2024 – training the children there to play the keyboard for worship.

But first, she had to settle her finances. Not only would she not have an income for a year, she realised that she had to pay for her stay at the village.

“He will take care of you”

When Lydia first went to Living Waters Village, she thought she would only be there for four weeks. It would be a short detour before she embarked on her working holiday in Australia.

But by her final week at the jungle project, she knew she had to stay.

“I had a strong conviction to be there and serve.”

She went to the office to register her intent and was handed a bill for the year that included fees for a visa, food and accommodations.

“I looked at the lady and cried out, ‘I don’t have the money. How am I to do this?’”

Lydia asked the woman who had come from the Netherlands to serve in the ministry how she survived as a missionary. The woman told her: “Whatever that I have belongs to God. My clothes, my bank account, it all belongs to God.

“I check my bank account once every six months. Every time I need to pay, there is just enough for me to pay. If you know God brought you here, He will take care of you. Just step up in faith.”

For three days after she sent in her application to be part of Living Waters Village, Lydia could neither eat nor sleep.

Lydia and her roommate at Living Waters Village celebrating Christmas.

“I kept thinking, ‘Where will my support come from? I am the only Christian in my family.’

“They already think I am out of my mind for doing this because when they asked me if the people will pay me, I told them, ‘No, I have to pay them.’”

But that’s when God made His presence clear.

Children at Living Waters Village with Lydia (in pink) enjoying a picnic with chips.

“He said to me, ‘Lydia, I brought you here. I will take care of you. I want you to rest for two months.’

“He didn’t just say ‘rest’. He gave me a definite timing – June and July. I had peace in my heart after that conversation with the Lord.”

God provides

In the last week of July, Lydia checked her bank account and got a shock. She had an unexpected sum of money from her cell group leader in Singapore.

Apart from music lessons, Lydia also played tour guide to visitors to Living Waters Village.

“I asked him, ‘Did you send money to the wrong account?’ He told me it was from him and his wife for my missionary fund. I never told him I was in financial need. It must be from the Lord.”

There was more.

There was a visitor from the Netherlands, a woman in her 60s, whom Lydia had befriended. They had talked about how Lydia had come on her own. Unbeknownst to Lydia, the woman then shared her story with a friend. The friend gave Lydia €200.

Lydia (foreground with pony tail) directing a Sunday church worship service at Living Waters Village.

“When I ran to thank her for her love for me, she said, ‘This is not my love. This is the love of Jesus for you. When you serve God, you never worry about money.’

“That is when I realised, ‘Oh wow! The Kingdom of God is so big. It got all the way to Holland.’”

After that, every month the funds would come in.

“It never stopped till I finished my mission,” marvelled Lydia. 

“One month, I only received S$50 but I had a lot of joy in my life. In Singapore, if I had earned only S$50, I would have been very depressed.

“But when you are in the village and you depend on Him totally, it is so nice, so fun, to see how the Lord works.”

One month when nothing came along, Lydia prayed and told God the amount she needed. That very morning, she saw a message on her handphone – a sum of money had been deposited into her account.

“I was like, ‘Wow! The Lord answered my prayer.’”

The next day, a pastor from Australia who had visited the village months before sent her some money. Lydia had long forgotten that the pastor had once asked her for her bank details.

“God showed me how He works in ways that I have never imagined. My heart posture now is – my money belongs to the Lord. If everything belongs to God and He takes care of me, I don’t have to worry.

“Before this, I acknowledged it but there was no revelation. Now, there is.”

Patience paid off

Resting in God for provision freed Lydia to wholly devote herself to the ministry.

She coached 20 students aged 12 to 20, some of whom did not know how to play the keyboard at all. In the year there, she developed a curriculum and oversaw the worship segment at all the services.

Mealtimes at the dining hall.

One girl in particular impressed Lydia. The 15-year-old girl had a hard time keeping up with the rest of the class. She just could not recognise the keys on the keyboard.

“During one lesson, she was so frustrated with herself that she started tearing. I wrote her a letter and gave her a verse to tell her not to give up.

“They don’t have a piano to practise on. So I told her, ‘If you want to practise, just use the one in my room.’”

By the time Lydia had to leave, the girl had picked up enough skills to flow with the worship team.

“She amazed me. It made me feel so encouraged. During the last week before I left, she wrote me a letter to say, ‘Kak (Sister) Lydia, thank you so much for your patience.’”

Her students also put up a mini recital to show off their newly acquired skills.

“They could really play. Some played by ear songs I didn’t teach them. I told God, ‘Lord, this must be from You.’

“To be with the children for a year and see them grow, it was heart-warming.”

On top of teaching, she also authored five books detailing how to play the keyboard for Christian worship.

Lydia writing five books that taught the team how to lead worship at a service.

She never expected to be able to write books about music.

“The Lord asked me to do that. It has always been my heart’s desire to write a book but I was always too busy in Singapore. But at the village, I had the time to do it.

“Each time before I write, I say, ‘Lord, You have to help me.’

“He gave me lots of ideas.”

To mould, disciple and heal

When God asked Lydia to commit a year to Living Waters Village, one of the things He told her was that it would be a year for Him to mould her, disciple her and heal her. That was exactly what He did.

A few months into her stay at the village, Lydia’s mother accepted her invitation to visit. Lydia’s decision to devote a year to the ministry in West Kalimantan had created some unhappiness within her family because they could not understand her decision.

“That my mum agreed to come was a miracle because she is not the adventurous type. The travel from Kuching to the village was a 12-hour ride. God showed me that my mum was able to do that because she loved me a lot.”

The view Lydia’s mum had upon arriving at Living Waters Village after a 12-hour drive.

Lydia’s mum spent six days with Lydia and had her fears allayed when she saw how well-equipped the village was.

Lydia’s relationship with her mother had been a rocky one, with residual “resentment and anger for the things that had happened in the past and the things my mother had said”.

During Chinese New Year this year, Lydia decided to make a home visit to celebrate with her family.

“Every morning, I prayed and committed me and my mum and our relationship to God. But my heart couldn’t forget the past, even though I prayed for God to help me take away my feelings.”

Her father encouraged her not to pick a quarrel with her mother and to give her mother a hug when she got home. Lydia was resistant.

“But that day, the moment I stepped into my house and saw my mum in the kitchen, both my hands flung open. This was not what I wanted to do. I know it was the Lord.

“I called out, ‘Mum, I am home.’ My mum came to me and hugged me and said, ‘Hui lai jiu hao (It is good that you are home).’”

Just like that, the rift between mother and daughter was healed.

“Now, me and my mum are on talking terms. I can’t even remember what had previously happened. My old resentment is gone.”

God also dealt with Lydia’s concern about being single. She had gone through a tough break-up which she had difficulty getting over.

“The Lord showed me in the village that I just had to be patient and wait. He gave me two dreams while I was there that the right person is on the way.

“I was totally set free from grief.”

A life transformed

Lydia saw God whittling away her character flaws as well.

“I had that stubbornness where I wanted to do things my own way, wanted to plan things out on my own terms. I have learnt now to pray and go to the Lord.

“Matthew 6:34 really speaks to me. Every day, I just cruise along with the Lord and do whatever I can. No need to feel frustrated. God has better plans.”

God dealt with her pride, too. One of the first duties Lydia was given was to clean the floors of the primary school. Down on all fours, scrubbing the floor by hand, she asked herself: “What am I doing here? I am a piano teacher!”

But God told her to be humble.

“Ever since that day, whatever that I do, I do with joy because God dealt with my pride first.”

The community lifestyle where everyone did everything together taught her to “die to self”.

“You have to be in serving mode. Ps Ronny always taught us to look to the left and to the right and see whether there is a need.”

Lydia (right) at a surprise farewell party for her.

Since her return to Singapore this June, family and friends have commented on the visible change in her.

“They say I am glowing. I look happier now. I know it’s not me. It’s the joy of the Lord that fills me.

“I can’t imagine all that has happened. Now I have a place I can call home in the village. My relationship with my Father is so good.

“I used to be easily stressed, wanting to control things. Now I can chill and know that whatever I want to do, I ask my Father first.”

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