Real Life, Real People

I saw the light: How I learnt to drown out my woes in worship

About 3 years ago, I woke up barely able to see a thing. There was a sliver of light coming in from my left eye, and nothing through the right eye. The blood vessels in both my eyes had burst that...

Real Life, Real People

THIR.ST TALKS: I know an amazing woman

We’ve all heard stories about amazing women – but how often do we hear these stories from the mouths of men? Thir.st went behind the scenes with five such women who have incredible stories of...

Devotionals

Riding the storms of life

What storms have you been in? What storm are you now in? An unwelcome circumstance that arises from the horizon. The sudden turbulence of unpleasant change. Your boat rocks. Gently at first, but...

Mental Health

Studies, stress and suicide

The number of teenage suicides in Singapore is on the rise. Twenty-seven Singaporeans aged 10 to 19 killed themselves in 2015 –a 15-year high, and twice as many as the year before....

Mental Health

The privilege of the bleeding heart

I write this to every bleeding heart called to the tall order of redemption. Blessed are the poor in spirit … To live in spiritual poverty. To live on scraps. To continually hunger and thirst....

Mental Health

From life overwhelming, to life overflowing

I tried to be the perfect girl. I thought that amid all the hustle and bustle, I was discovering myself. I thought I knew it all. I thought I had figured everything out, had my future panned out in...

Singlehood

Give me marriage or give me death, I told God

When I was 27, I left everything I had and knew in Singapore to pursue God’s calling for me as a missionary in Japan. On the morning of my 28th birthday, I sat in a cafe in Tokyo, and wrote in my...

Mental Health

Serving God amid depression

Around the world, 1 in 5 young people suffer from mental illness. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that that an estimated number of 350 million people are affected by depression and about...

Mental Health

An open letter to Despair, in the wake of 2016

Hello Despair, my old friend. I’d never thought it would end up like this, but our relationship has grown remarkably over 2016. I am convinced that you now deserve a place among my inner circle of...