English Class for Migrant Workers
Nicholas Chuan shares about our monthly English class for migrant workers in 2025. Learn more about their plans for 2026 – which includes increasing it to two classes a month – and also how we can be keeping this outreach effort in prayer.
They are among us, but often neglected. Seen, but unnoticed. Heard, but hardly understood. There are more than one million migrant workers among us in Singapore, working in construction, marine shipyard, and domestic homes. Life in Singapore is kept going by their labours, and just like everyone of us, they too need the gospel.
A slow start in 2025
Hence, in early 2025, some GBC members organised a monthly English class for migrant workers. We desired to meet this need as English is their working language here in Singapore. At the same time, our goal was to build relationships and gain platforms to share the gospel with them. It was quite the rocky beginning. While three workers had indicated their interest and availability for the first class on 16 February, none of them showed up, and we had to postpone the first class. Thankfully, a small stream of workers (mostly recruited from Tai Seng Lodge by our Site Warriors team) came for the remaining monthly classes from March to November, during which time we went through lessons from the textbook, English Made Easy: Volume One. We also began each class with lunch beforehand, to host them in our church premises and get to know them over the meal. The students started shy, satisfied with receiving the material but reluctant to practise it in speech and writing. Over time, however, especially for those who attended more regularly, they grew in confidence and were conversing with us about their families and hobbies as well. It was encouraging to be able to have more extended conversations with these students in the later part of the year.
That said, overall attendance remained spotty, averaging around three or four students per class, with only two students attending more than half the classes. It was not uncommon for students to indicate that they intend to come, only for them to be rostered for last minute work on Sundays and therefore become unavailable.
Sharing the Christmas message
The year culminated in a Christmas celebration on 21 December 2025. We ordered special food, gave out goodie bags, and presented certificates to the students with the best attendance over the year. Praise God for the ten workers who showed up! We conducted an activity where we asked everyone to describe Christmas in three words. After hearing from everyone, we introduced three English words to describe Christmas: historical, joyful, and necessary (borrowing from Vaughan Robert’s Christmas tract). Through this, we had the deep privilege of presenting the gospel message to them:
Historical: It really happened, Jesus really was born!
Joyful: It is good news for everyone, he saves us!
Necessary: It really matters, we can’t live without it!
It was such an encouragement that after a year of getting to know them, we finally found a platform to speak to them about the gospel, hear how they processed it, and point them to Jesus. We were touched by how receptive they were, and surprised by how much they knew. It seemed like many still saw Jesus as a good teacher and moral example, and none saw the need for exclusive belief in him. It was helpful for us to get a spiritual temperature check in this way. While no one indicated further interest in finding out more, we pray that seeds were sown and that as we continue these conversations, God may bring them to saving faith.
Plans and prayer for 2026
For 2026, the team has decided to increase the frequency of our classes to bimonthly (first and third Sunday afternoons), hoping to garner more interest from the workers with this regularity. Our first class of the year began with three students, but we are praying for more to show up. With our current pool of ten teachers, and our desire to have dedicated attention to each student, this means serving on about a monthly basis. If this is something that you would like to support, whether in teaching basic English, recruiting more students, or helping with logistics (getting food, receiving workers at the MRT station, etc.), please let Elder Steven (stevengiam28@gmail.com) know and we would love for you to join the team.
Please pray for us too! Pray that the workers would spread the word to their friends and that they in turn would be willing to come as they see their friends grow in confidence in speaking English. Pray that we may continue to grow our hearts for them even through discouragements like irregular attendance and sudden cancellations, and that we may take opportunities to speak about the gospel when they show up. Pray that God might be pleased to use our humble efforts to care for the vulnerable among us to bring more sheep to recognise, trust in, and follow the Good Shepherd.