On Sunday, 31 Oct 2021, Mount Carmel BP Church held a simple farewell service for Rev Dr Daniel Chua. He had served 33 years, initially as their assistant pastor, then senior pastor, and most recently as pastor-at-large. Many heart-warming messages were posted on Kudoboard for him and his wife Phoebe. A special video of the song “Here I Am” from the original musical “John Sung” was shot by a drone featuring singers from the 20’s to the 70’s representing the generations who served with him. Ben Tan interviewed Pastor Daniel and sent us this story.

Serving in a church for 33 years is no easy feat, let alone having to cross the Causeway daily. Yet, for Ps Daniel Chua, travelling from his home in Johor Bahru (JB) to Mount Carmel BP Church in Clementi was his routine during his 33-year pastoral ministry there. “If I am able to correctly predict the traffic patterns around the Causeway, driving to church can take just 45 minutes. However, unexpected hiccups have occurred as well,” he recounted.

Interrupted Plans

In fact, Ps Daniel had not originally intended to serve in Mount Carmel for as long as he did. Then a fledging pastor completing his Masters in Divinity in Singapore Bible College, Ps Daniel came on board Mount Carmel in January 1989 with the intention to serve as an assistant pastor for about five years before moving back to Malaysia, where he felt a strong conviction to work with the local churches in his home country. However, a wrench was thrown into the works halfway through Ps Daniel’s stint, as his elder son, Timothy, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma (cancer of the retina). It was devastating news that no parent should hear, and to prevent further turbulence to his family, Ps Daniel made the difficult decision to delay his long-awaited move home and continue beyond his initial term.

Soon enough, five years had come and gone, and once again, Ps Daniel expressed his desire to return home. Yet once again, another detour was on the cards. At that time, Mount Carmel’s senior pastor, Ps David Wong, gave notice that he would not be serving beyond his current term, which was ending in two years. Then, out of the blue, he was offered a director’s position at Haggai Institute in Hawaii. As it turned out, Ps Daniel was also offered a position at a church in JB. Recognising the impact losing both pastors concurrently would have on Mount Carmel, Ps David and Ps Daniel were prepared to turn down their respective offers for the stability of the church. “If you don’t leave your country, I will not leave mine,” Ps David said to Ps Daniel, at a time when they were preaching from Genesis 12-50 about Abraham, Jacob and Joseph all of whom left their home! Ultimately Ps Daniel stayed on, succeeding Ps David as senior pastor of Mount Carmel.

It was evident that this wasn’t Ps Daniel’s plan to say the least — when he said he wanted to gain some pastoral experience, facing a steep learning curve as senior pastor probably seemed like a stretch. Yet, there he was, with the daunting challenge of leading Mount Carmel to new horizons staring at him.

Following God’s Directions Anyway

Nevertheless, Ps Daniel obeyed the Lord’s direction for him and carried out the duties that he was led to fulfil. Many Carmelites can testify to his astute leadership and faithfulness to the Bible-Presbyterian principles, evidenced by the key role he played in the formation of the Bible-Presbyterian Churches in Singapore (BPCIS). Moreover, throughout the next 27 years of his leadership, Ps Daniel also had the opportunity to incorporate elements of his ministry that he was particularly passionate about into the core of Mount Carmel’s identity — an emphasis on missions and the tradition of nurturing home-grown talent to lead the generations of Carmelites to come. For a start, in January 2016, Ps Daniel handed the reins of senior pastor to Pastor Oh Boon Leong, with an observer remarking, “During the 50 years of Mount Carmel, we have only three senior pastors, all home-grown.”

As Ps Daniel and I conversed about home-growing leaders, there was unmistakable joy in his eyes as he elaborated on Mount Carmel’s “Project Ezra” and “Project Timothy” that he had spearheaded just a few years ago. Through this initiative, Carmelites with a desire to preach the Word of God would undergo vigorous training, including preaching to a live audience, to hone their ability to preach and discern what the Lord wishes to speak through them.

It was a solution to an issue that many churches face — continuity. Is there a group of full-time and lay leaders ready to step up and receive the baton when the time comes? Mount Carmel has always prided itself in its reliance on promoting a new generation of church leaders from within; leaders who understand the history and identity of the church right from the beginning as Ps Daniel was all too familiar with. It took him his entire tenure in Mount Carmel to finally witness the fruits of his labour — in November 2021, the first two graduates, mere young adults, successfully preached at Mount Carmel’s adult service. Although Ps Daniel had already left the church by then, it was a fitting legacy for a devoted servant of Christ who took the numerous detours in his stride to serve wherever he was called to.

From One Journey of Faith to Another

After 33 years in Mount Carmel, it was time for Ps Daniel to transition into a new phase of his ministry work. The restriction of movement from the COVID-19 pandemic has largely kept him apart from his wife, Phoebe, and their grandchildren back in JB — a factor that undoubtedly accelerated Ps Daniel’s desire to return to where it all began for him. However, this time, there would be no more detours, and this coming January, he will begin a new chapter with the Ambassadors for Christ Singapore (AFCS) to equip pastors, elders, church planters, and key lay-leaders in needy mission fields like Nepal and India to minister more effectively where they are.

Looking back at Ps Daniel’s journey of faith, it’s easy to conclude that God was directing his every step, shaping and maturing him into who he has become today. The vision, knowledge, and connections he now possesses couldn’t have been nurtured with just five years of pastoral experience. However, Ps Daniel couldn’t have imagined what awaited him at the end of his journey with Mount Carmel, as he received news of Timothy’s illness all those years ago. It took a willingness to adapt to the circumstances put to him, and to trust the Lord to lead him to where he needed to be.

Coming Full Circle

As our interview came to a close, I asked Ps Daniel about his wishes for Mount Carmel going into the future. “I hope that Mount Carmel will continue to be known as a church that focuses on biblical expository preaching of God’s Word, and a church with a strong sense of unity and synergy between pastors, lay leaders, and congregation.” These are traditions that underpin Mount Carmel’s identity, first championed by Ps David in the church’s formative years, and faithfully kept alive by Ps Daniel and today, his successor, Ps Oh Boon Leong.

Inevitably, we concluded our time together with Ps Daniel’s plans for the rest of the year, and it was evident that he could not wait to complete his quarantine and return to Phoebe and the grandkids. While his two other children, Evelyn and John Calvin, remain in Singapore, he will be reunited with Timothy back in JB. Apart from losing the afflicted eye, Timothy has otherwise been richly blessed — he is 33 this year, works as a doctor at a government hospital, and is happily married with 2 lovely children, the same grandkids that Ps Daniel will be returning home to! Indeed, there is a beautiful sense of completion in his journey from start to finish, and after all this time away, Ps Daniel has finally come full circle, home.