Peter’s Story
This June, we bid farewell to Peter Lim, our staff of 12 years. Through the years, his faithful service has touched the lives of many. At PFS, we sat Peter down for an interview before he took a sabbatical and delved deeper into his call, passion and heart for prison ministry.
Peter Lim, our staff of 12 years.
Unbeknownst to many, Peter was born into a family that had connections with crime. His immediate family was involved with the secret societies and somewhere up in his family tree, is an uncle who gained notoriety for daring robberies. In an interesting turn of events, however, his father began reading the Bible the year before he passed on and after which, decided that he and his entire family will stop dabbling in illegal activities once and for all. Given his background, one would think that Peter’s inclination to prison ministry work was a given, but not at all. Peter was never drawn to prison ministry work. His sister, who is also believer, often tried connecting him to people active in prison ministry as she was friends with them, but he declined his sister’s offers.
Peter receiving his Long Service Award for 10 years, at our Playfair Road office!
In 2003, Peter enrolled in Bible College as a full time student. Ironically, the first person to befriend him, was an ex-prisoner. During his time in school, Peter was asked about what he wanted to do after graduating. Without hesitating, he would always say that he wanted to create Christian literature for the visually impaired in less developed countries. Not that his goal was dishonorable, but somehow, in speaking to his dean - Rev. Dr. Quek Swee Hwa, the latter felt that his goal was limited by his view of God and challenged him to consider more broadly and boldly. “How many visually impaired people actually have a chance to complete Bible college?”, he mused. When Peter neared his graduation, he sent out a prayer newsletter to all his friend, asking them to pray as he seeks the Lord to create material for the visually impaired. A pastor friend of his wrote back, challenging him to have a bigger view of God in his life and destiny. Peter was so tickled by the fact that both men, who were unacquainted, had said the same thing to him! Still, as he held onto his desire to reach the visually impaired community, he also became aware that God was leading him elsewhere.
In August 2005, Peter followed his dean to Indonesia and during that trip, had the opportunity to share his story to a group of graduating students at a Bible College. After hearing from him, the students asked Peter if he would want to stay and teach at the school. Peter was flabbergasted. “Teach you? My Bahasa Indonesia is not good!”, he recalled saying to them. They were relentless and asked him to remain with them, to be their friend, to teach them about life and about missions. Peter complied and he remained with them for about five years. During that time, Peter enjoyed his ministry and the work he could do among the local students.
Peter with some of our teammates at our Staff Retreat back in 2022.
As his season with them came to a close, Peter returned to Singapore and found himself jobless. At that time, his dean reached out again, asking Peter if he wanted to help out at a prison ministry that he was helming. Peter laughed. “This prison thing never stopped following me!”, he recalled with amusement. The name of the organization was called Shelter Care Limited and as the name suggests, was a small outfit that provided support and lodging for ex-offenders who did not have any. Peter was the only staff on board between the years 2009-2011, until the organization ceased operations due to a lack of funds. Again, Peter found himself jobless.
Peter carrying out deputation duties at his home church, Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church.
During that time, Peter sent out many resumes and cover letters to different organisations in 2011, and the only place that called him in for an interview, was Prison Fellowship Singapore. It was a rather long drawn process, but two interviews and a couple of conversations later, Peter was hired and the rest as we know it, was history. Peter started out as an administrator at Prison Fellowship Singapore, answering phone calls and enquiries. As time went by, Peter assumed more roles and responsibilities ever so naturally. His knack and wit gave him an edge in ministry. Gradually, he found his footing in the Aftercare sector, attending the Hokkien-speaking Support Group on Tuesdays, English speaking support group on Thursdays and church services on Saturday. Subsequently, he assumed the role of Aftercare Coordinator, a role he has been fronting till now. At one point in his ministry, he was also ministering to inmates who required palliative care, by arranging pastoral visits to the hospices they were in.
When asked why he chose to remain in PFS, Peter quoted Matthew 9:35-38.
“ Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages [in Galilee], teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness [His words and His works reflecting His Messiahship]. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Peter getting prayed for at his last Thursday Connect Group gathering, by the brothers he has been serving faithfully all these years.
“Prison ministry is a place where the harvest is ripe. Many people are willing to receive the gospel, hearts are hungry, but there are not enough people willing to work.” In the same vein, Peter also recognizes that prison ministry is a hotbed for spiritual warfare. “Someone once told me, ‘We are going into prison to snatch people out of hell’s gate. You think Satan will take you lying down? Absolutely not. If he can’t take you away from outside (the organization), he will destroy you from the inside.’” Those very words stayed with Peter all these years, as he continued serving the prisoners.
As he leaves Prison Fellowship Singapore, one thing’s certain, Peter will never lose heart for the ministry that the Lord has given him. Staff or not, he has pledged to keep helping the inmates and prisoners however he can.
Here’s wishing our brother the very best in his future and plans ahead. God bless you, Peter! Enjoy your well-deserved sabbatical!
Peter together with the staff team and chaplains at our Silent Retreat in March 2023.