At first it was difficult finding somewhere that felt right. The mega churches felt geared toward prosperity, while the smaller churches felt a bit intrusive. I finally asked around for a church that matched some of what I was looking for and found our home. Redemption Hill Church.
Located in Chinatown, finding it was like going on a treasure hunt, but once we sat down to the service, we felt that we had been found.
It seems silly to think that anything on this small island nation could be "far away", but getting to church is often an adventure through some madness. Since we live at the north of the island and RHC is at the south of the island, we must first navigate all of the traffic which congests easily on these few island expressways.
Once we enter Chinatown, we are often delighted with the latest Chinese holiday decorations. Currently, they are decorating for Chinese New Year (Jan 31), and welcoming in the Year of the Horse.
Walking to church, we tend to stick out with our fair skin and hair.
Our church is located in an auditorium on the third and fourth floors of the Oriental Plaza, which also houses other businesses and organizations.
We take escalator after escalator up to the entrance of our church. Passing by the Singaporean Chinese Football Club...
And the gaming rooms (I'm not really sure what goes on in there)...
And on the third floor, right next to the doors to our church is Club Nexus
I think the goal here is that those who frequent the places in the plaza will be tempted to come to church here, and not that those who frequent our church will be tempted to try out these other places!
I love that our church is such a large mix of looks, ages, and nationalities. And though there are quite a few westerners at our church, anytime you get a fair family of six together, we stand out.
Our worship team is amazing, a mix of accents from all over the world, and songs both familiar and never before heard by me.
Our pastor, Simon, is a wonderful family-focused man from South Africa. The blonde ponytail in the front row is his wife, Tarryn.
Our kids are of ages now that make sitting through a church service much more relaxing and do-able, even though this is still likely to happen.
But there's always a good chance that there will be a treat at the end!
Sometimes we'll stay in Chinatown for food or some shopping, though Sunday is never a good day to go shopping, as it is everyone's day off and, therefore, CROWDED! So, more often, we head home straight after church.
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