In July, I will retire after active service in Singapore since 2002. My time in Singapore will constantly be a key memorial of my journey with the Lord.

Interestingly, in all my farewells, people ask me the same question: What will you do after retirement from BTS? A dear pastor’s wife in her nineties told me that a century-old church was looking for a younger and more vibrant pastor, and since I was only sixty-eight years young, I fit the bill!

Retirement seems to convey a Disney picture of heaven – floating in the clouds, playing the harp in an idyllic environment or, more realistically, swinging the proverbial golf club forever and a day. So, God forbid that the pastor should ever utter the “R” word – retirement. 

My mentor and friend, Bobby Clinton, coined a word that helps me explain the next stage of my life – “afterglow”. He explained that after a lifetime of full-time active service, we are not to “retire” in the Disney sense. Instead, we are to continue to glow brilliantly for Christ. In this phase, however, glowing for God can take on a different form than full-time vocational service. 

In the Old Testament (Num 8:24-26), God told Moses to withdraw older Levites from active service (mostly physical labour) in the tent of meeting, although they would still minister to their brothers by keeping guard. In short, as these Levites reached a certain physical age and energy limitation, glowing for the Lord took a different form.

In the New Testament, we see the example of the apostle Paul. After a glorious time of apostolic church planting and globe-trotting for the Lord, he was put under house arrest. From then on, he could no longer be active for the Lord as in the early days. However, chained to two elite secret service agents, he glowed even brighter for the Lord. In his epistle to the Philippians, he describes the brilliance as that of a bright star (Phil 2:15). Paul’s penning of the prison epistles lit a glowing faith for generations across two millennia.

So, what does “afterglow” mean to me? “After” means I will not be taking on a leadership role in a Christian institution after more than twenty years of active service (unless God clearly leads me otherwise). “Glow” means that I will continue to shine for God according to the unique burdens that He has placed in my heart.

Those who know me can affirm God has given me a “mentor’s heart” since my days at Fuller Seminary. I have benefited from mentors who invested in me dearly and have felt a calling to give back to young pastors and missionaries. In Singapore, I have jestingly and honestly shared that my main calling is “mentoring”, and being the Senior Pastor or President was just God’s covering for me to do that. In the “afterglow”, I will continue with my calling to “mentor” younger ones in full-time service. I hope to pass on the shaping God has blessed me with to the next generation.

I do not need an institutional platform to do that. Freed from institutional leadership’s daily demands, I hope to do more. All I need is for God to provide me with the right PDAs (personal divine appointments) as I continue to embrace Paul’s life motto – “to live is Christ” in this new phase of life.

Dear friends, I covet your prayers in this new untested adventure that, in the words of the apostle Paul, “I will not be ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil 1:20).

Rev Peter Lin
President