On Good Friday, 2021, a mother’s prayer was answered. On that day, Vernon Quek, once a rebel son, was ordained as a minister of the Gospel. As his parents witnessed the ordination service at Zion Bishan BP Church, Vernon’s uncle, Rev Dr Quek Swee Hwa, laid hands and gave thanks to God. Over four generations in the Quek family, God had called someone in every generation to the pastoral ministry. But it was not as easy as it appeared.

Vernon could not remember the day it started when his paternal grandfather, or Kong-Kong, expressed his desire for Vernon to become a pastor. But Vernon’s relatives could recall the adamant response he had to his grandfather’s wish.

The role of a pastor was, however, not alien to Vernon. Throughout his childhood, Vernon had witnessed his Kong-Kong and uncle, both pastors, pouring their hearts into serving their church communities. Living in a closely-knitted extended family, Vernon was privy to his Kong-Kong and uncle leaving their homes at the oddest hours after receiving emergency phone calls. He equated his Kong-Kong’s passion in sharing the gospel as an obsession. He also knew the sacrifices his uncle made in caring for his church members.

"Young Vernon set his heart on becoming a lawyer, and later, a management consultant."

"Despite Vernon's rebellious ways, he knew his mother never stopped praying for him."

Growing up, Vernon wasted little time pondering over his Kong-Kong’s desire for him to continue the family heritage. Young Vernon set his heart on becoming a lawyer and, later, a management consultant. For a period of time, when Vernon was obsessed with playing computer games, he even toyed with the idea of being a full-time gamer. But…a pastor?Vernon was also a rebel who played truant. It could be his way of resisting his father’s strict disciplinarian stance. It could also be that he wanted to break away from the exemplary ways set by his older siblings. However, despite Vernon’s rebellious ways, he knew his mother never stopped praying for him.

Even when Vernon had no qualms in displaying, blatantly, his unhappiness during his family’s daily morning devotions, he knew his mother was praying for him. Even when he demonstrated that he could not wait for his Friday prayer meetings to end so that he could run off to watch television or play computer games, he knew his mother was praying for him. Finally, even when he was sent to a boarding school at a young age of 14 through to university in Australia, he knew his mother was back home praying for him.

Even as Vernon’s mother was praying hard for him, he was playing hard in Australia. He relished his freedom and enjoyed playing volleyball competitively. Instead of obeying his parents’ wish for him to attend church on Sundays, he was playing volleyball.

Alas, Vernon’s precious Sunday Volleyball League matches ended abruptly when he sustained an Achilles’ injury. Thus, he finally heeded the encouragement from his friends to attend church regularly. As it was a Pentecostal church, Vernon decided to dive into God’s word so that he would be discerningly grounded.

Perhaps, then, it was the seeds sown through Vernon’s father’s vulnerable sharing of God’s hands in his life to his family during family devotions or perhaps it was his Kong-Kong’s unwavering faith in God’s plan to preserve his family’s heritage. Perhaps, too, it was the unceasing prayers for Vernon, by his mother over two decades that Vernon found himself one evening praying earnestly to his Heavenly Father.

Vernon could still remember the date most vividly: 26 June 2006. He was 21 years old and attending a church camp in Western Australia.

Vernon had taken a walk from the camp-site and found himself in the middle of an open field. He looked up into the night sky and beheld a multitude of stars glistening against the black canvass. It was indeed a sight to behold for this city-boy. As Vernon gazed at the starry scene above him, the presence of God started to overwhelm him.

“Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens…When I look at your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have sat in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

The words of Psalm 8, a psalm Vernon knew by heart from his family devotions with his father, framed his response to that wondrous sight: “How could the magnificent God who created all of THIS love mankind to the extent that He would send His own Son to die for us? How could God love even me so much even after all the times I’ve ignored and rejected Him?” He was truly in awe of God’s sacrificial love for him.

"We pray that this heritage will be an encouragement and resource to him, and not a burden.”

Free from familial expectations, Vernon was finally encountering and receiving God on his own. As Vernon invited Jesus to come into his heart, in the same prayer, he also offered his life to go into full-time ministry.After Vernon returned to Singapore, he shared with his Kong-Kong of his desire to serve in full-time ministry. Lo and behold, his Kong-Kong’s swift reply was that he had saved up to pay for Vernon’s theological studies!

Good Friday, 2021. Pastor Vernon Quek would always remember this day as his uncle-pastor prayed over him during his ordination:

“We thank you that Vernon has a long family heritage of pastors: his great-grandfather Rev Quek Khee Swee, grandfather Rev Quek Kiok Chiang (both of them are now with the Lord in heaven), myself as uncle (Rev Quek Swee Hwa), and now him. We pray that this heritage will be an encouragement and resource to him, and not a burden.

Vernon is married to Ruth and they are parents of Alyssa and Thaddeus. They worship and serve at Zion Bishan Bible-Presbyterian Church where Ruth also works in the church's ministry team.

Vernon serves as the pastor of the 3 pm congregation. Among other things, he’s responsible for the training of Small Group Leaders, the Young Adult Ministry and training the saints at Zion Bishan in Evangelism. Vernon is especially passionate about equipping Christians to disciple others through God’s Word. He has benefited from the same kind of equipping in various ministries in Perth, Singapore, Sydney and London – including Moore Theological College in Sydney and St Helen’s Bishopsgate in London. Besides talking about the Good News of Jesus, his passions include good stories in any form, most types of competition and jumping out of planes.