I remember distinctly when one of my mentors retired as Senior Pastor from his church. At his retirement party, members were telling his successor: “You’ve got big shoes to fill.” My mentor retorted: “God made individual shoes for each of us. He will measure us according to our tailor-made shoes.”

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? I call it a case of coveted identity.

In the Old Testament, Jacob had a case of coveted identity. He always wanted to be Esau. Esau was the eldest born, their father’s favourite son, and holder of the dual-privileged birthright (material) and blessing (power). Jacob struggled with his twin brother in the mother’s womb but came out second. He then cheated Esau out of both the eldest son’s birthright and blessing. When his blind father asked him who he was, Jacob gave a telling answer, “I am Esau your firstborn.” Esau swore to kill him and Jacob ran for his life.

Have you wondered why the Jews are named Israelites after a person like Jacob? Surely there were godlier and greater heroes of the faith like Abraham, Moses, and Joshua. But why Jacob?

Twenty-two years after running away, Jacob returned to face Esau.

Surprisingly, in Genesis 33, we see a transformed gracious Jacob. He not only paid restitution to Esau for the stolen birthright with many livestock but also repented of stealing Esau’s blessing to be the head of the family (Gen 27:29). Genesis recorded that he bowed down seven times to Esau. Jacob called Esau “my lord” some five times (Gen 33:8). Clearly, Jacob was no longer seeking to take Esau’s place. What happened?

God met him and God did two things. He gave Jacob a new identity and a blessing. The new identity was in the form of a name – “Israel” (Gen 32:28). It symbolised that Jacob would continue to cling to God in his struggle with men and succeed. Succeed in what? Then comes the second part – the blessing (v 29). The Bible did not spell it out but I am sure that it was a repeat of Isaac’s specific blessing to Jacob when he ran away (Gen 28:4).

God and Isaac always had a specific blessing for Jacob. It was not Esau’s blessing of prosperity and pre-eminence that Jacob craved for. It was much better – the Abrahamic blessing to bless the nations. But before God met with him and gave him a new identity, Jacob had no confidence to embrace his own specific destiny. Yet once Jacob received God’s affirmed new identity – Israel; that he will contend with God and men and succeed, he was transformed. He no longer needed to be Esau anymore. He was confident in his own calling. And when the Bible named his descendants Israelites, it symbolised that they all would also cling to God for His promised blessing and be successful.

And so it is with our own lives. For me, in my early days, I wanted to be a Tai Pan – influential and prosperous. In many ways, I moved close to that aim and became the head of Asia for an American multinational corporation. And yet when God broke into my life, I realised my specific calling was to be a pastor and I no longer have to follow the dream to be someone else.

In a similar vein, since our founding thirty-four years ago, BTS has been on a journey to discovering our own identity. In 2020, God especially encountered us in a board retreat and affirmed His special calling for us. He gave us a sharpened new slogan of “Serving Singapore, Blessing Asia”. For Singapore, we are called to raise a new generation of emerging and seasoned laity leaders. For Asia, we are called to raise a new army of godly full-time workers who will lead their churches to seek God’s kingdom beyond the four walls of the local church.

We have had a great start. Since last year, we have been training 103 Singapore church leaders and ninety-six are graduating this May. About our dream to “bless Asia”, God has blessed BTS so that eighty-eight percent of our full-time students are from developing Asian countries – India, Vietnam, Myanmar, and China.

On our journey to realise our calling, we heavily subsidise our fees to keep the training cost affordable and we also provide financial aid to needy students. This fiscal year alone, we have run into a half-year operating deficit of S$55,000.

With this affirmed vision, like the Israelites, we will cling firmly to God to be a channel of His blessing and prevail. Dear friends, I am inviting you to be a channel of blessing to Asia together with us in prayer and financial support.

You can do that through two primary means. Firstly, contribute directly to our general fund, which will offset our deficit. Secondly, you (or together with a few friends) can adopt a foreign seminarian. It costs them S$16,000 a year to study and live in Singapore.

And pray for us that we like Israel will cling to God and successfully realise our confirmed calling to be a blessing to Singapore and Asia.

Rev Peter Lin
President