Priscilla Tang, 2004 , Singapore
Dedicating a year to attend the School of Theology in 2004 was a life-changing decision for me, one where I truly experienced the amazing grace and favor of God. Following that, I met my husband in church, got married in 2009 and was blessed to experience motherhood in May 2011 when my first daughter Alexia Bella was born. In 2015, we welcomed the arrival of my second daughter Arissa Hope. It has been my constant prayer that my two girls will grow up to be women after God’s own heart, and that they will carry an Obed-Edom spirit—loving and tarrying in the presence of God.
Alexia’s baby dedication
“Alexia” means “Defender of Mankind” and “Bella” means “Devoted to God”. That is what we envisioned for our firstborn; dedicated to God to be a great help to the people around her. And that is how Alexia has grown up to be in the last 11 years.
As a baby, Alexia was dedicated to God on 20 May 2012 in CHC just before turning 1 year old. In Oct 2016, we went for our first family mission trip to Bandung. It was such a joy to see Alexia helping out readily wherever she could, handing out food packs and little gifts to the children in the orphanage, and singing along during the praise and worship sessions, even at the tender age of 5. Since then, Alexia has also joined us for another mission trip to the Philippines in 2019.
Since early 2018, Alexia started joining us in the main auditorium during English service. She would diligently take down sermon notes each week, bring her tithe and even started memorising Bible verses. 19 August 2018 was an exceedingly memorable milestone for me as a mother when I witnessed how she was touched by the Holy Spirit during Pastor Phil Pringle’s message on The Call of God. That day, she raised her hand during altar call and courageously walked down the long flight of steps to the stage, publicly responding to God’s call upon her life.
It is heartening to watch Alexia’s faith continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Before turning 10, she completed reading the entire Bible and was able to accurately recite the 66 books of the Bible in the right chronological order. She actively participates in Harvest Kidz in addition to attending the English service with us. She enjoys the performing arts and has taken on several acting and hosting stints on Harvest Kidz’s online service videos.
26 December 2021 was another incredibly significant milestone for us as a family when Alexia, at the age of 10, and her grandfather were both water baptised by Pastor Kong. It was an especially memorable Christmas for us.
Singapore Fashion Runway
Since 2017, Alexia has also joined me in volunteering at a social enterprise known as Singapore Fashion Runway. Here, we befriended and served the learning needs of the People with Special Needs and Disadvantaged Groups through the Fashion for a Social Cause movement. It is here that Alexia first learnt how to socialise and care for people with different needs and to model at specially curated fashion events like The Purple Parade. In addition, she would actively participate and help out whenever I conducted onsite and online coaching sessions to the special needs youths.
Alexia recently contracted Covid-19 during the March school holidays this year. I am grateful that with God’s protection and healing, she experienced very mild symptoms, had a speedy recovery and was able to return to school without missing any classes. With borders opening up, we have just registered for an upcoming mission trip to the Philippines in September. Alexia is so excited that she has started preparing her sermon message! This will be the first time we are bringing both Alexia and Arissa along on a mission trip. We are looking forward to seeing them experience a mighty move of God, for them to catch a vision of their personal calling whilst they assist the mission team in their own little ways. It is an exciting adventure to serve God together as a family. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15b
Truly we believe in Proverbs 22:6, that as we do our best to “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
As a full-time working mother, I have my fair share of challenges, but I am forever thankful for God’s gift of Alexia and Arissa into our family. It’s been more than a decade since I have become a mother and I am still learning daily from my two girls. They are real life examples of what it means to have simple, childlike faith and joy in the Lord.
Motherhood truly is an honour and a privilege!