Starting Out

It is probably an under-statement that 2003 was an eventful year for the Choo’s. We had responded by faith to what we believe was a call of God. And before the dust had settled from the move to our home in Tanah Merah in December 2002, we began the work of cultivating a Vineyard at Terroir Tanamera.

In February 2003 Lye Heng spoke to the people in the small group, which he had led for several years about his leaving to start Vineyard Tanamera. (This was the name, which we have given our house church). Most were puzzled about what the change entailed. Understandably none was ready to make a commitment to come with us. However, everyone was keen to visit. These circumstances did not deter us, and we immediately took steps to start our new house church meetings. Having everyone else who attended our house church as visitors was one thing. But a more critical issue was the fact that Susan was still undergoing a personal struggle.

The pain and burden of leaving our old church and going to plant a new, was all too evident. Worse, she dreaded becoming that object of scrutiny and pity, called a pastor’s wife. Thankfully, at the time she was blissfully unaware of the Vineyard ideal of a husband-wife team ministering together. The result was that we were often at each other like cats and dogs whenever the subject of Vineyard was raised.

Lye Heng has shared about a moment of disunity, conflict and anger in the car, when he felt an urging to end it all by driving into a tree. But God showed us his hand again. We believe that in a dream He spoke to a relative of Susan, Eugene, who is the pastor of the Church of Joy. On waking, Eugene felt an urgent need to speak to Susan and allay her concerns. We had shared with Eugene our fears and sought his advice about church planting several times before. He was always encouraging. When Eugene came to see us late one evening, Lye Heng recalls being frustrated, tired, at the end of his ropes so to speak.

We cannot recall all that was said that evening. But what is memorable for us is Susan’s brave acceptance at the conclusion, when in sincerity she said, “Do what must be done”. And so in great earnest we began to prepare for the pastoral ministry by serving as Intern Pastors with the Vineyard Singapore’s church plant led by Stuart Gurnea.

We will be posting regular updates to share more about our being “fools for Christ”. If you wish to keep abreast on what’s happening with us, please drop in here from time to time. (This posting is an abridged version of the one that can be found in the April 2004 archives).

Footnote: Terroir (Tear-Wah ) is a French term used in wine making, which may be interpreted in many ways, but a basic definition is “the coming together of the climate, the soil and the landscape”. Concerning a particular vineyard, terroir comprises the local factors that enable the growing of the best fruit and which makes its wine distinctive.