I saw the church rise up. 

It rose up on my screen, beep by beep, frame by frame, face by face: Alva, Wan Xiang, Abraham, Chermaine, Denise, Julia (Xiao Juan), Xiao Yan, Reverend David Wong, and on and on.

They came together like a family portrait on Zoom, embracing one of their own who was on his way Home. 

A lost sheep

Hui Chew is in his last days. He is also without family, without home, and without citizenship – a tragic case that slipped through the cracks of bureaucracy.

I met him one December day in 2018 on my way to work.

Seated in his parked electric scooter, hung with assorted plastic bags – some already close to disintegrating – Hui Chew was belting out a Christmas carol from his portable karaoke microphone, hawking packets of tissue paper.

I was so touched by the song from someone who had so little that I stopped to buy some tissue and talk to him.

Hui Chew is a rare soul whose incredible capacity for joy was only exceeded by his overwhelming ability to transcend his suffering.

Born in a home with an abusive father and brother, he was taken away by his mother to escape the physical and mental anguish. Mother and son made ends meet by selling used milk cans and taking shelter under big trucks.

He has had a hole in the heart since his brother slammed a brick at his chest. He never fully recovered from the wound, physically and emotionally. They were taken in by a good friend of his mother’s, who gave them refuge and a home for years.

When his mother passed away, Hui Chew lost the only family he knew. He made his living selling tissue paper on the streets.

That was how he met Abraham Yeo. That was how he met Alva Huang. And how he also met Lee Wan Xiang and the many friends that popped up on Zoom that night – all drawn by a mysterious attraction to this man with the sad eyes and gentle smile. 

Where two or three gathered

Abraham, 39 years old, stay-home dad and co-founder of Homeless Hearts of Singapore, met Hui Chew again at his church after they first met on the streets. Hui Chew had been following Jesus for years and was able attend church physically thanks to fellow Christians who took him to different churches whenever availability and logistics allowed.

When they met again, Abraham felt a prompting to start a fellowship with Hui Chew, though he felt far from qualified. Abraham was in a spiritual valley, with little confidence in his ability to lead. He could not speak Mandarin, the only language Hui Chew speaks.

He asked God to send help if that were His idea. God did.

He sent Alva, then 27 years old and a mental health professional who spoke Mandarin fluently and had the same burden for Hui Chew.

When they raised the idea to Hui Chew, he roped in another friend, Wan Xiang, an artist and art therapist, who was 24 at the time.

In May 2015, the Happy Life Group (LG) was established. The inaugural meeting was held in the dark at a basketball court at Holland Village, near Hui Chew’s rental flat.

Illuminated only by a laptop phone screen belting out worship songs on YouTube, the four gathered, sang, talked, read Psalm 23 in Mandarin, took communion.

The core group met monthly to “do life”, read verses and worship God. And, like flies drawn to light, people started streaming in.

Most were people who had met Hui Chew while he was parked in the streets: There was Hui Chew’s housemate, who had taken him in; Chermaine, a medical social worker; Yeo Cheng Yu, Abraham’s wife and a trained nurse who helped care for Hui Chew’s wounds, and various others.

They were different people from different churches, different faiths, different stages of life. Friends would bring friends and each meeting was attended by random people.

“We never knew how many people were turning up at any meeting, who was going to serve in what capacity, and what was needed. But it was always enough,” Alva says.

Once the group wanted to take communion, and randomly grabbed some disposable condiment dishes from the coffeeshop to use as cups. Although they did not know how many they would need, everyone who turned up that night received a cup – there was not one more nor less. And it was always that way at their meetings.

Happy LG moved from meeting at the basketball court to the void deck of the rental housing block in which Hui Chew lived, then to the open-space corridor outside of his rental flat, and eventually into the rental flat in which he lived with the lady who took them in.

She eventually joined them in the group as well.

God sets the lonely in families

Hui Chew called the group Happy LG because “it made me happy”.

“They are my brothers and sisters,” Hui Chew says. “Without them, I’d have no family, and I would have been very lonely.”

The life group provided Hui Chew with a platform to air his grievances, as well as to serve.

“Hui Chew apologised so much for always venting, that we had to set a rule to tell him to stop apologising, so he could feel safe to share,” Abraham says. 

When Abraham first met Hui Chew, he was always talking about killing himself, and he had tried many times.

“He tried to kill himself more than 20 times, so much so the police told him he needed to stop, or they’d have to arrest him,” Abraham says.

The talk of suicide steadily tapered off in the years the life group rallied around him. 

The group also provided practical support for Hui Chew, who is illiterate. They read and translated letters for him, took him to his multiple medical appointments, facilitated social aid for him, helped manage his financial situation and took care of the time-consuming administrative stuff that escaped notice.

“We were really like a family, relying on God, our Father, to keep us together,” Alva says.

Love your neighbour

Happy LG started to hold block parties for special occasions like Christmas, Hari Raya, mid-autumn festival, even National Day.

Hui Chew has always had a desire to bring joy to the block in which he lived. Even though none in the group had any experience planning block parties, they rolled with it.

“We had no clue how to do it, but God just orchestrated the parties,” Wan Xiang says. “We’d just decide to do them, and then start looking for things we needed. God always brought people who contributed money, food, tables and chairs.”

The group would knock on neighbours’ doors to invite them to the parties. At first, the community was sceptical – it was unusual to get random invitations from strangers to a party in one’s block. However, because the kids came, the grown-ups came along. Wan Xiang started to plan activities for children as well.

Happy LG never started the parties with the intention to preach the Gospel. They merely wanted to bring joy to the block. But opportunities always came up to share Jesus through one-on-one interactions.

A community started to form from the love that sprang up at those gatherings – there were Christians seeking a safe place for authentic fellowship, and non-Christians curious to understand what prompted this motley crew of people to set up shop in their block with no agenda.

The LG also fulfilled Hui Chew’s desire to serve – an opportunity that escaped him at churches due to his irregular attendance and physical handicap.

He yearned to evangelise through his singing, and he did at these parties. I know from first-hand experience that his singing drew people.

When the Covid pandemic hit last year, and churches were essentially closed, the Happy LG continued to meet within safety regulations. That was how Hui Chew continued to be fed spiritually and emotionally. 

“In the midst of Covid, it became even more apparent how crucial our presence as an LG was, to support him and various individuals living within the rental flat block,” Alva says. “During this period, we helped to apply for the Covid Temporary Relief Fund for some residents.

“It can be a struggle for them to even use bank accounts, much less set up e-banking and PayNow options for the financial assistance to be made available to them in a timely manner,” she says.

Times like these underscored the importance of the church being prepared and ready to serve in all ways, in all seasons, Alva adds.

A sacrifice that costs

Work, family and assorted commitments often got in the way of these meetings.

People in the group came and went, but “there was always a pull beyond us that drew people in”, says Wan Xiang.

Self-doubt, tiredness, mental and spiritual fatigue often drove Abraham, Alva and Wan Xiang to the end of their tether.

Hui Chew was emotionally volatile and prone to self-harm. The stress of navigating his stormy emotions sometimes threatened to overwhelm the trio.

Thankfully, it never hit them all at the same time. There would always be at least one who was fired up by enough enthusiasm to pull the others along. Most of the time, however, it was Hui Chew propping them up, calling them up, encouraging them to press on, they admit.

“There was a lot of growth for us, emotionally and spiritually,” Wan Xiang says. Because of Hui Chew’s persistence, conviction in God’s calling, and the friendships that had developed and deepened among the four, they kept going.  

“We had so much self-doubt, but God always brought people,” Alva admits. “The truth is we all fail terribly without God.”

The church came

In the past year, Hui Chew’s health, which had never been stellar, deteriorated steadily. His worsening heart condition, compounded by a slew of other health issues, have kept him in the hospital since this past February.

His mother’s friend, who had cared for him through the years, could no longer cope. He has become homeless.

His mental, emotional and spiritual state spiralled downwards with his health. The days of despondency and loneliness were intensified by Covid-related restrictions on visitors to the hospital.

The Happy LG rallied around him via Whatsapp, Zoom, physical visits, phone calls. Hui Chew, who has no family, has two WhatsApp groups of more than 20 people busy about his business.

Chermaine, the social worker, happened to work in the same hospital to which Hui Chew was admitted, and became his liaison with the medical social worker, and an advocate for Hui Chew, who had no legal family.

The members of Happy LG rolled up their sleeves to help with getting subsidised housing, managing his bank account, meeting with his doctors.

The day came when the doctor told his friends to be prepared – Hui Chew could pass on at any moment.

Many phones in Singapore lit up that same evening with invitations from the Happy LG to a Zoom farewell meeting with Hui Chew. 

And that was how I saw the church rise up that Friday night on my phone.

It was astounding to see many friends turned up to say goodbye to a homeless man on a scooter wheelchair selling tissue paper in the streets.

Abraham, Alva and Wan Xiang tagged team to be with him at the hospital with a computer. Each face on screen took their turn to send their love to Hui Chew.

Here was a church who came to Hui Chew because he could not go to it. 

Here was a body that was family to a man with no family.

Here was love in action. 

Here was Jesus. 

Epilogue

On Friday morning (Sept 17), Hui Chew was still fighting for his life.

In the course of the day, Peck Sim, who wrote this story, was texting the final details and photos of Hui Chew to the Salt&Light editor.

“Abraham and his wife Cheng Yu have decided to take him into their home so he can spend his final stretch with friends and with the family God has set him in,” Peck told Salt&Light. “The couple has turned their living room into a bedroom for Hui Chew. Both of them are in the process of taking caretaker training and getting ready for him to move in.”

The group was open to donations for palliative care supplies for Hui Chew: Disinfectant wipes, adult diapers, hospital-grade gloves, and an outfit for Hui Chew to die with dignity, she added.

“Abraham and Cheng Yu need any help they can get to fulfil the desire of a homeless man to die in a real home, with a family that is more real to Hui Chew than blood.”

At 5:19pm, the Salt&Light editor received this text:
“Hui Chew is gone. He went home with Abe just in time to leave in the embrace of his family.

“God knew.”

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To find out more about Hui Chew and his life, here is his FaceBook page. You can donate to the funeral arrangements by:

• Paynow to Michelle Neo, mobile number: 8180-3588
• Bank Transfer to Michelle Neo UOB 341-305-505-7

To contribute to the work of Homeless Hearts, click here.

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