The Trip Begins
Teah McWhorter and April Wacaster went to Singapore and Malaysia.
That simple sentence understates both a complexity of logistics and an abundance of blessings. If you are reading this, you had some place in this trip – providing funding, offering travel advice, praying for us, etc. We express to you our deepest gratitude for your role; please know that we have already thanked God for you!
This trip was originally scheduled for November 2024. The invitations were for Teah and me to speak at the Four Seas College of the Bible Lectureship and to do one shortened teacher’s workshop. That was the scope for which we originally sought financial support. In addition to our travel expenses, though, one family donated funds to purchase visuals for us to carry to the congregations in Singapore. However, as you know by now, Teah broke her hip a few days before we were to depart, cancelling that trip. She did quite well with her recovery, and we were able to deliver the lectures by Zoom during the assigned times. Then the brethren asked us to “hold on”; they wanted to see if they could work out another trip.
(Let me interrupt the story here. We tried to contact everyone who had sent support to let them know what had happened; we found out later that we had missed some. If you did not get the news at that point, please forgive us. We trust you will be as generous with your forgiveness as you were with your support. In the weeks following Teah’s broken hip, April had minor surgery, a 10-day virus, and then major surgery requiring 6 weeks of doing nearly nothing. We do apologize for what we got wrong.)
“Another trip” indeed! By the time the details were all arranged, we were scheduled for 2 ladies’ day programs, 2 workshops (one 3 hour, one almost 4 hour), and a variety of other teaching opportunities in 5 congregations across 2 countries! Apparently, the Lord had a “bigger bang for the buck” trip in mind for us. We started working on all these lessons – and on more visuals. When our friends heard that we were going to Malaysia, too, they donated additional funds to send visuals there as well! In all, we packed and shipped 219 lbs. of visuals that were spread across at least 8 congregations overseas. (Thank you, friends!)
One question we have been asked is how we could get our “stuff” overseas when it takes a 14’ truck here. Beyond the fact that we didn’t take anything to sell, a painfully selective packing list and some creative packing is the answer! By the time we were ready, we had our purses and backpacks for carry-ons and 2 large suitcases and 1 large portfolio to check. Singapore Airlines allowed 4 checked bags: so far, so good.
Singapore!
Tom led a prayer for us and then we left for the Atlanta airport about 6:15 a.m. April 7. He dropped us at the curb and hugged me good-bye. And our travels began in earnest.
We made it fine on the flight to New York City. But our portfolio did not! When we picked it up in baggage claim, the zipper had split on both sides. We had no idea what to do to get the contents all the way to Singapore! Here’s the first thing we learned on this trip: Airports have luggage-wrapping stations! We had the portfolio encased in blue plastic wrap and checked our bags for the flight to Singapore.
The flight was scheduled to last 18 hours and 40 minutes. We had a very pleasant experience. Singapore Airlines offers a variety of specialized meal options which we both accessed to meet our dietary needs. We both had plenty of delicious food on the flight and slept several hours at various times. The flight arrived one full hour early (4:30 a.m. instead of 5:30 a.m.) so we expected to have to wait a while for our ride in Singapore. However, after clearing immigration and customs (the fastest/easiest such experience we’ve ever had), we found Peter and Pooi Fun Chin waiting for us in the Arrival Hall. Peter is the director of Four Seas College; his wife had been our contact for all the arrangements across the 2 countries.
The drive to our hotel was full of information about the city and the cultures we would find. We told Pooi Fun if she ever needs another job, she would make a great tour guide! The Chins let us get checked in to the hotel and then walked us around the area so we could start getting a feel for things. Yes, it is perfectly safe to walk around Singapore in the darkness of 6:00 a.m.! They showed us how to get to the food court on our side of the street (simple enough) and how to get to the food court on the other side of the street (you have to go underground!). In our time there, we made that trip several times; and yes, we did get Mexican in Singapore!
We had been told to let the brethren know of our dietary restrictions, so we did. They were amazing. Most of our meals were provided for us; whoever was taking us to eat would send us a picture of the menu ahead of time and ask if it was ok. If we could not find something “safe” to eat, they would send a menu from another place. No one ever reacted negatively – in either country! This was a true blessing.
We attended the Lim Ah Pin congregation for mid-week services on Thursday night. When we walked in, students from Four Seas greeted us right away. The entire congregation made us feel most welcome; the associate preacher, Benjamin, even brought us bottled water! During that Bible class, we were introduced to Pigeonhole Live. A teacher can set up a session and project a QR code; attendees point their devices at the code, access the session’s site, and send questions. Questions can be upvoted so the teacher can then answer the questions that generated the most interest. This was quite helpful to us; it overcame any accent or hearing issues during our q & a sessions. (Smart TVs are in every meeting area in these congregations.)