Shuit Kuin, who has just turned 76, was exposed to the gospel from a young age. Her primary years were in Geylang Methodist School, after which she attended Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) at Victoria Street.

She was the youngest of nine children. Her older brother, the first Christian in her family,  shared the gospel with her and encouraged her to believe in Jesus. When she was 14, Shuit Kuin said the sinner’s prayer after reading a gospel tract given to her by her brother, and she felt a great sense of peace — something she had not experienced before. She somehow knew that the Spirit of the Lord had come upon her and the very next day, she told many of her classmates, “I am a Christian”. From then on, her spiritual life took an upturn.

Growing Up Years

Shuit Kuin had grown up in a Singapore when trishaws were a popular mode of transport. Main sources of news were from the radio and Rediffusion, a subscription-based cable radio service set up in the late 1940s. Shuit Kuin remembers playing with marbles and five stones. She grew up in a home where there was ancestral worship. Later on, when they moved to a new house, her mother, who was not a devout believer in ancestral worship, removed the altar.

Both her parents worked at the same Chinese school — her father, as principal, and her mother, a teacher. After World War II ended in 1945, life became very challenging. The family of 11 persons found it very difficult to survive on her parents’ earnings. Her mother then gave up teaching to look after the many children, while her father went into business, screening movies at a make-shift, partitioned-off area in the open air. He charged 10 cents per ticket, which helped much to improve home conditions.

After Shuit Kuin accepted the Lord as a young teenager, she attended Geylang Straits Chinese Methodist Church (renamed Pentecost Methodist Church in 1964 and today located in Pasir Ris). Later, her friend brought her to Bethesda Katong, where she met a Singapore couple attached to the Navigators mission. The couple Jimmy and Selene Chew, together with other Navigators missionaries from the USA, invested much time in discipling the young Shuit Kuin and building up her faith. This encounter with the Navigators and their discipling mission had a life-long impact in her journey of faith and eventual involvement with missions.

The Navigators, headquartered in Colorado Springs, USA, was set up in 1933 to share the gospel of Jesus; and to help and disciple persons to grow in their relationship with Him. The Navigators look to fulfil their call based on 2 Timothy 2:2 (RSV), “And what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Today, they are a global organisation with over 1,200 ministry locations that have served more than 150,000 persons in 2022.

“Yes, I Will Go”

Shuit Kuin went on her first mission trip at just 15 years old. She stood at street corners with other Navigators distributing tracts in different Malaysian towns like Johor Bahru and Muar.

She recalls: “The Lord indeed gave us the courage to give out tracts on the streets. We were also blessed to work as a team, many of whom were also teenagers. We all had a heart and passion for reaching out to people who did not know the Lord. While some people who walked past would ignore us, we were never outrightly rejected.”

At 17 years old, when she was in Pre-University One, Shuit Kuin attended a Navigators missions conference. Her heart pounded strongly as an altar call was given for East Asia. She responded, and a small voice asked her as she stood there: “If I were to send you to East Asia, would you go?”.

To this call, Shuit Kuin replied: “Yes, I will go.”

Although nothing dramatic happened after the Conference, this commitment to the Lord never left Shuit Kuin. It was always at the back of her mind. After completing pre-university, Shuit Kuin went to the Teachers Training College, where she earned a certificate in teaching. This led her to teach for a few years in a secondary school.

She then went to study overseas, following in the footsteps of two brothers who were studying in England. Her first degree was in economics, after which she did a post-graduate diploma in business management.

After five years in London, Shuit Kuin returned home in 1981 and joined the Singapore  Economic Development Board (EDB), a government agency responsible for strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global hub for investment, business, innovation, and talent. Here, Shuit Kuin fitted well and thrived. She stayed at the Singapore EDB for 22 years, working her way up to become Regional Director of Oceania, a Deputy Director in the EDB and oversaw economic resources development which included encouraging entrepreneurs to come, invest and live in Singapore.  

She travelled extensively for her job to promote investment and talent. Writing policy papers was also an important part of her job scope. It was a role she loved and relished. It was also a job that accorded her status, good money and respect in the corporate world, both here in Singapore, as well as the markets she traveled to. She really savoured her job.

No Leisure Walk in the Park

During her long tenure with the Singapore EDB, Shuit Kuin together with a number of Christians started the Christian Fellowship at the office. They held evangelistic Bible study and prayer meetings during lunch time, and organised regular outreach meetings. The Lord moved among her colleagues leading them to salvation. The fellowship grew from five persons to almost 40 by the time she resigned from her job. 

Shuit Kuin would put aside most of her annual leave for short mission trips to nearby places in Malaysia and Thailand, as well as to further afield in East Asia.

Many of the mission trips which she went on were tough — physically, spiritually and emotionally. However tough the going was, Shuit Kuin did not feel fearful or anxious.

Somehow, she knew that she could trust in the Lord for His protection, providence, grace and mercy.

Sometime in 1983, together with a small church group from an Anglican church, Shuit Kuin found herself climbing a mountain between Sarawak and West Kalimantan (Indonesia) to reach out to the Dayaks, now known as the Iban people, living deep in the interior of the land.

The trek on foot took hours. Parts of the steep climb were almost vertical. To cross a fast-flowing river, they had to hang on to and balance on a long coconut trunk placed across the water, with their shoes tied around their necks. When they finally arrived at the top of the mountain, Shuit Kuin reached out to the women folk. Many of them asked for healing, as it was too strenuous to take a whole three days for them to climb down from the mountain to see a doctor, and then to climb up again. She did things that she had not done before, including praying for God’s healing to come upon those who came forward with ailments.

She recalls: “I sensed that as long as we go out in obedience to fulfil His purposes, the Lord will work according to His will. On our way down from the mountain, we stopped half-way at a village primary school. We met the kids, taught them action songs and shared the gospel. All of them raised their hands to receive Christ when we invited them to do so. I was then prompted to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill them. Every one of the children then raised their hands and broke out to pray in the Spirit.

“The Lord just took over. His Spirit filled the children. He was the one reaching out to these folks. It was awesome to see His presence and anointing come upon those we were reaching out to. It was not any one of us — He sent us out to the field, and He would fulfil His purposes, His way. To God be the glory!”

The Lord remained steadfast and faithful right through their trip. He protected Shuit Kuin from serious injury when she fell and slipped down a very muddy slope as they descended the mountain.

Moreover, when their jeep broke down in the midst of a thick jungle on their way to a remote Sea Dayak village, a man driving another jeep inexplicably appeared out of nowhere to help. Without a word, he took a look at their engine, got the right spare part from his vehicle, and fixed up their jeep. Shuit Kuin and those with her truly believed that it was an angel who came to their rescue!

Miracles happen on mission trips, including angelic visitations and doing things one is not trained for with the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. In a village church not far from Bangkok, Shuit Kuin witnessed demonic manifestations among some of the worshippers. The pastor who led the mission team ministered to them, and Shuit Kuin recalls that she could sense spirits leaving these people.

After the service, she spoke with one of the worshippers outside in the garden. As they were chatting, this woman started to manifest as a creature making chicken-clucking noises. Though she had not done it before, Shuit Kuin prayed for her deliverance, upon which, the woman stopped making the noises and started to listen to her sharing the Word of God. She said: “Looking back, I could see how the Lord moves when we encounter things we do not expect. I learnt that when we step out in obedience, His grace and power flow through us to touch the people we are ministering to.”

Through this season — holding a well-respected job with the Singapore EDB, serving in the office’s Christian Fellowship and going on short-term mission trips, the Lord was in fact preparing Shuit Kuin to fulfil the promise she had made to Him when she was just 17.

Led by Circumstances Shaped by God

Shuit Kuin joined Wesley Methodist Church (WMC) as a member in 1987. She had been taking singing lessons from Mrs Lilian Choo, who was at that time the conductor of the John Wesley Choir, which sang at the 9.30am service in the Sanctuary.

After joining WMC, Shuit Kuin sang with the Choir for five years, during which the Lord also used her to lead Bible study for a small group of Choir members. They were hungry for the Word and met every two weeks.

One Sunday in 1992, as Shuit Kuin sat in the choir pews, the Rev Noel Goh announced that the church was planning to start a Mandarin service in the afternoon and invited members from the English service to join and build the congregation. Shuit Kuin felt a desire to cross over to the Mandarin congregation.

She was able to speak Mandarin relatively fluently, as although she had only studied the language up till ‘O’ Levels, she attended night classes at a private Chinese school during her secondary school days. Shuit Kuin was then enlisted into the founding Mandarin Ministry committee. Here she stayed for 14 years till 2004. During this period, her Mandarin skills greatly improved as she had many opportunities to lead worship, teach baptism classes, preach from the pulpit and lead a small group.

God was indeed moulding and channelling Shuit Kuin towards His biggest assignment for her. But, not before He led her down a path that was fraught with painful struggles and deep grief.

God said: “It is Time To Step Out”

Shuit Kuin’s job at the Singapore EDB meant a lot to her — money, status, seeing the world, and being able to make a real difference through the policy papers she helped to craft.

At the 2002 GoForth Mission Conference, God reminded her of what she had promised Him when she was just 17 years old. He challenged her, and even when she was brushing her teeth, the commitment she made so many years ago kept coming back to her.

She realised only too well that God was calling her to an unknown future. God reminded her of what He had said to Abram (later Abraham) in Genesis 12:1 “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”

She sought time with the Lord, and she sought counsel. The Rev Juliette Arulrajah, then pastor in charge of the Mission Ministry at WMC, affirmed God’s calling to her a few months after GoForth: “The apple is very ripe. If you don’t go now, it will be over-ripe and fall to the ground.”

Shuit Kuin struggled with letting go of all her achievements and things she cherished at the job. However, she was willing to be changed, because she knew she would be miserable if she had refused to heed God’s call. But she also knew she could not change on her own, she prayed and also asked for prayer from her EDB prayer partners, that God would change her heart and mindset. She prayed, “Lord, please change me. I am willing to be changed.” After praying this for two months, supernaturally, she lost interest in her job.

At that point, all her work trips had been lined up. Her financial commitments had also gone up by then, although her siblings also contributed to the expenses that included the hiring of two helpers to look after her ailing mother who was living with her.

The simple prayer “Lord, please change me. I am willing to be changed” hit heaven’s door, because it was heartfelt and sincere. The Lord transformed her entire heart attitude and mindset. She not only lost interest in her job, but she was no longer anxious about the big loss of income. For Shuit Kuin, having a change of heart from fear and reluctance to obedience was the greatest miracle, probably even a greater miracle than the blind being able to see, and the lame, being able to walk. By the power of the Holy Spirit working in her heart and mind, she won the battle with her struggles. The Lord had enabled her to be willing to lay down herself, let go of all her achievements and what she cherished at her job, and walk in obedience the path He had called her to. She said that the Lord gave her the grace to come out of her comfort zone and the courage to walk on uncharted waters.

When she handed in her resignation letter to her Managing Director at the EDB and explained that God had called her to be a missionary to East Asia, he asked, how would she live? Shuit Kuin told him that while she did not know how, she knew she could. She trusted the Lord to carry her through although the stipend for a full-time missionary from the church would be a small fraction of her income from the EDB.

Endings and Beginnings

Three months later, in December 2003, she left the Singapore EDB and then went on immediately to Trinity Theological College (TTC) for a three-year Masters of Divinity degree course. During this time, she had the opportunity to be attached to the mission fields through the Methodist Missions Society (MMS) in Timor Leste and East Asia, as part of the training required by TTC.

As she was preparing to sit for her final examinations towards the end of the three years at TTC, her 94-year old mother, who had lived with her all this time, sadly passed away due to pneumonia. Losing her mother plunged Shuit Kuin into deep grief and guilt, as she was not able to spend as much time with her mother before she died.

After graduating from TTC, Shuit Kuin joined the Methodist Missions Society (MMS) as a full-time missionary. The Rev Dr Norman Wong, then Executive Director of MMS suggested that she take a year out to grieve and heal. She recalls: “Norman sensed that I needed time to heal from losing my mother. I thought that this was a very wise decision, because a missionary needs to be whole and fully restored before being sent out to the field. I received inner healing over the course of the year, and people came forward to minister to me. I truly appreciated the love and support I received at this pivotal point of my life.”

During this one year, she straddled two assignments – learning the roles of a pastor at WMC, and that of a missionary with the MMS. She had opportunities to go on mission trips with MMS, including to Cambodia, Thailand and East Asia. To facilitate her future entry and long-term stay in East Asia, she also studied as an external student and obtained a Diploma in the Teaching of English as a Second Language from the London Teacher Training College. 

During this sad and difficult time of her life, Shuit Kuin was also mentored by Rev Dr Wong, who introduced her to silent retreats and to be guided by a spiritual director at the retreat centre. She learnt to sit in the presence of God in silence and solitude, meditated on God’s Word, and moved His Word from head to heart. She would continue to go for a silent retreat every time she came back to Singapore during her annual leave from the mission field.

The Biggest Assignment Yet, but Tough and Precious Lessons Learnt

Shuit Kuin was finally sent to the field in East Asia in 2007 as a full-fledged missionary with the MMS. After two years in the field, she was ordained as a diaconal minister of the Methodist Church in Singapore by Bishop Robert Solomon.  

She had dual mandates: one, to plant churches and make disciples; two, to contribute to community development by running and growing viable businesses. The businesses included building up an existing English language training centre at the provincial county and later setting up a new one in a bustling university city of more than five million people.

It was a steep learning curve setting up the new centre. Shuit Kuin had to run around from one department to another to get things done and familiarise herself with the local business laws. At the same time, in collaboration with a local brother-in-Christ, she also started a church in this university city and was actively involved in the university student ministry. For the latter, she put in concerted outreach efforts, including conducting regular English classes, as well as yearly English Language summer camps to attract what pre-believers may be interested in. Experienced English teachers from the Singapore Methodist Community also supported the outreach as volunteers to teach English on a project basis among the university students.  The numbers who received Christ as Saviour and Lord grew fast through continual sharing of the gospel. They were then channelled to the newly-planted church, where they attended discipleship classes.  

Shuit Kuin recalls: “I hardly rested during the first few years as a full-time missionary in East Asia. I rigorously applied the mental models and work habits that I had learnt in the corporate world. I wanted to see things happening and results — fast. So yes, self-gratification and being performance-oriented were what drove me.”

It was all work. Her days and nights were consumed with administration, organising, running an English Learning Centre, prayer meetings, Bible study classes, preaching, teaching, home visitations, counselling, committee meetings and more. She did not take annual leave in the initial years. God began to show her that that was not what He wanted of her. “God said to me time and again, ‘I am more interested in you, as you. I want you to relax and be my beloved, to just sit before Me, because you are precious and I delight in you more than what you can do for me.’”

Shuit Kuin realised that she had to change. She had to unlearn many things that she had learnt before. In the corporate world, she planned meticulously, strived very hard and was strong-willed and determined. The Lord began to teach her. She learnt instead to sit still and be silent at the feet of Jesus in the morning – basking in His presence and love, and listening to Him and what He wanted her to do. She worked towards tearing down her previous “do and do” mental models, turning away from excessive planning and learning to rely on the prompting of the Holy Spirit. She steadily learnt to stop striving, and instead to relax and be who she is meant to be. She learnt to increasingly walk by faith and trust in the Holy Spirit.

Challenging Encounters and Opportunities

Shuit Kuin was with the MMS for ten years, from 2006 to 2016. During the years in the field, Shuit Kuin served in three broad areas: church, community and campus outreach to university students.

As expected, there was much spiritual warfare, especially when serving in the church. Yet when Shuit Kuin got into trouble because of whistle-blowers, God’s hand was always evident. The Lord protected her from arrest and persecution as He brought forth people to help her. An elder of the state-sanctioned church came forth to explain that Shuit Kuin was a business woman (and indeed she was, as she was the General Manager of the language training centre then) who had contributed to their economy and just wanted to worship God.

There were also “highs” as well. A Singapore charity, which Shuit Kuin was connected with, had donated money for one of the village counties to rebuild houses after a massive flood. The education director of this county then got to know Shuit Kuin and invited her to be an itinerant English teacher for the village schools. Shuit Kuin agreed to do this as a volunteer.

“I was very blessed during this period as a volunteer teacher. Wesley Methodist Church supported me right through, as a number of members came to teach English during summer camps. These members included Peter and Doris Chow, and Dr Grace Hsu, who also recruited volunteers from outside Wesley Methodist Church to help out at the English language summer camps at the village school, and the church, which were meant to be outreach projects. Later on, the Singapore Methodist schools also sent student teams to help us too.

“It’s so true that as missionaries, we are not meant to be alone. Support from the sending church is so important. The Methodist community in Singapore came forward to support with their time, effort, resources and network. We even managed to receive 2,000 English books from the Methodist schools and their students to stock up a village school library too.”

In 2012, one Singapore youth serving with the WMC Youth Ministry (YM) worship team, 20-year old Tao Han stepped up to volunteer with Shuit Kuin. He had just finished his course at the polytechnic and was waiting to be enlisted for his National Service. His friend, Jia Cheng, a youth leader with WMC then, who had been on several mission trips to East Asia to support Shuit Kuin, introduced him to her, who then connected him to MMS. With financial support from WMC, Tao Han then spent about a month in the field with Shuit Kuin, and was assigned to help out with the English Centre she was running, organise the summer camp, help build up the music ministry in the church, and work among the university students.

Tao Han recalls: “It was a busy time helping with ministry and also taking turns with the other team members to lead Bible study every night. For me, the time spent in the field was an eye-opening experience. I realise we take so many things for granted here in Singapore, including freedom of worship. I witnessed first-hand the faith of Christians there — being persecuted and arrested never discouraged them from following Jesus. Often, when I had time to myself in the evenings after returning to my lodging, I was reminded of my identity in God and the need to serve out of this identity, instead of just from my own abilities. This verse from Matthew 6:31 was something I held on to:  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

“I learnt much from Shuit Kuin too. She worked very hard, and always kept the big picture in mind. Once, after she observed that I was struggling with my faith, she offered some very constructive counsel. This helped to strengthen my faith, and to trust that God had a bigger plan. My experience in serving with Shuit Kuin really helped to prime me for my time in the army and stay grounded.”

Encountering and Engaging with Deepening Conviction

In 2013, Shuit Kuin returned to Singapore for six months of sabbatical leave. During this time, she went to Seven Fountains, a spirituality and retreat centre in Chiangmai, Thailand for three weeks.

At Seven Fountains, Shuit Kuin took stock during her silent retreat, and reviewed her years in missionary life. What was clear to her by then, was that God wanted her to build depth among those she discipled. The church in East Asia was already well established, and the business thriving. The machine was running. But was there real depth in the lives of the Christians there? Were their lives changed to be more like Christ? Was there something more that Shuit Kuin could have done in the way she pastored the church?

Shuit Kuin shared: “I sensed that God wanted me to lead people to know Him more personally and intimately. Activities cannot achieve that. So the first thing I did when I returned to the field after my sabbatical was to get all the cell group leaders and committee members together for a three-day silent retreat out in a rural village house. We had to get away from the city. It was already in late October, and it was getting cold. The village house had only basic amenities and with no heating.

“On each of the three days, I would meet with everyone. I gave them God’s Word, taught them how to be silent before God, how to meditate on the Scriptures and then sent them out to be alone with God, as it is only in His presence can there be change. By His grace and mercy, there was visible change after coming back from the silent retreat. Their attitude to serving in church changed, as well as to their own secular work. I felt really encouraged, and knew that this had to be the focus — for those we disciple to know God deeply and intimately, and be transformed to be more like Christ by the Spirit.

“At that juncture, I sensed the Lord wanted me to move into the Spiritual Formation Ministry in the future, giving attention to the training of the practice of spiritual disciplines, to facilitate and guide people to deepen their relationship with the Lord, and be steadily transformed to be like Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit within them.”

Returning to Singapore and a New Phase

Shuit Kuin returned to MMS headquarters in Singapore in 2014 to be the Training Director for Singapore missionaries and the national pastors and preachers in the mission fields. Working closely with MMS Chairperson of the Training Committee, the Rev Juliette Arulrajah at that time, Shuit Kuin was able to weave in spiritual formation as part of the training curriculum for potential national full-time workers. Juliette believed very much in spiritual formation and also gave Shuit Kuin the go-ahead to teach the spiritual disciplines. She also made regular visits to several mission fields as the Training Director, as well as to the church that was planted in East Asia.

In 2015, an exciting new door opened for Shuit Kuin. As she was leaving her office at Barker Road, she met one of the TTC lecturers who told her about a Doctor of Ministry degree programme at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The University worked in partnership with TTC which helped to promote the programme to her graduates and also offered the college as a venue for lecturers from Dallas to conduct some of the course modules.

God clearly knew the desire of Shuit Kuin’s heart. With this information, Shuit Kuin applied for the degree course and started classes at TTC in July that same year. Financially, she was blessed too with an initial subsidy from the American university of USD5,000 for the first semester. Subsequently, she earned a scholarship for the rest of the doctor degree programme as she had done excellently in all the other semesters.

Typically, completing such a doctorate degree programme would take between four to six years. However, Shuit Kuin finished it in just two and a half years, including going to the university in Dallas. During this time, she wrote her thesis on Spiritual Formation Through the Spiritual Disciplines which looked into harnessing the spiritual disciplines to facilitate and guide people to come into God’s presence and become spiritually formed into Christlikeness. “While I was writing my thesis, I had a deeper heart knowledge and experience of what it meant to come into the Lord’s presence. The Lord inspired me with His words and resources, He led me to the right books in the library, He gave me ideas on what and how to write. It was downloaded to me by the Holy Spirit. A course mate asked me how I wrote the thesis so quickly. I told him it was entirely by the grace of God. As I wrote the thesis, I offered it to Him as my worship.”

While Shuit Kuin was working on her doctor programme thesis, she set aside some time to learn to be a prayer counsellor in the Deliverance and Healing ministry with the Ellel Ministries in Singapore. After training, she had a brief stint helping to set up the Ellel Deliverance and Healing Training Centre at the outskirts of a big city in East Asia. She considers that the exposure to the Deliverance and Healing ministry has widened the scope of her ministry with individuals who desire to grow in the Lord. 

Soon after obtaining the Doctor of Ministry degree, and upon the encouragement from the professor with the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Shuit Kuin embarked on a certification course in Spiritual Direction, where she learnt to offer spiritual direction to individuals and groups. Spiritual direction would contribute significantly to the effectiveness of the spiritual formation ministry that she was called into in the new phase of her life.

Be Still and Behold the Glory of the Lord

Today, Shuit Kuin conducts various programmes to facilitate spiritual formation among fellow believers. She holds firm to her favourite verse on this topic: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

Shuit Kuin engages in three main thrusts in the spiritual formation ministry. 

She conducts silent retreats, ranging from one full day to four or five days; she teaches in workshops on specific spiritual disciplines like silence and solitude, Lectio Divina (Latin for “sacred reading”, a meditative way of reading scripture), examen, prayer with imagination, discipline of discernment, experiencing God in nature and discipline of surrendering; and she also accompanies individuals in their spiritual journey by offering one-on-one spiritual direction.

She explains: “Spiritual direction aims to help people deepen their relationship with the Lord and to better discern how the Holy Spirit is leading their life and thus become more like Christ. Being able to hear and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit is an indication of spiritual growth.”

Shuit Kuin emphasises that paying attention to knowing who we are in Christ is the foundation for spiritual formation. Christ is in us; we are in Christ; in union with Christ; we are the beloved child of God — a new creation, a new being with God’s DNA in us. Knowing and understanding our identity in Christ is key and fundamental to our Christian faith and growth.

Shuit Kuin leaves these thoughts with us: “For ourselves, and for the next generation, we need to let the Holy Spirit fill and direct us in all aspects of our daily life. When we become more and more ‘one’ with God through surrendering and obedience, like Jesus, then we are experiencing and enjoying the process of spiritual formation, which is God’s desire for all His children.”