In 2016, local news covered a traffic collision in Australia where two Singaporeans, flung out of the vehicle, sustained severe injuries. One of the two, Rachel Kristen Ch’ng, is a member of COR since her schooling days in SAJC. From head injuries to rib fractures, punctured lungs, broken pelvis, broken legs, Rachel faced a near-death experience and endured prolonged pain. With God’s grace and providence, and the kindest people He has lovingly surrounded her with, Rachel finds renewed strength and joy as she continues her road to recovery. She recounts the incident below:
twin cinema of my experiences of quietness
reads vertically down each column and horizontally across both columns
a q u i e t p l a c e
a room in a hospital - foreign, with air gloomy & still family & friends flew 6,059 km to Melbourne chilly in the winter with a colourful blanket, warm food, warm words the nights quite dreary; the days a wee bit cheery.it was a quiet place. post-6-surgeries: 39 kg, unable to sit, speak, swallow; pillars of strength furnished daily encouragement;I couldn’t remember my age, though not forgetting friends gingerly removed my stitches;I asked, “when could I walk farther on my own?” “we’d stroll by West Coast Park!” they chimed; bedridden, they brought the night sky to the bedside.it was a quiet place. troubled by news of permanent damage, wondering how friends gripped my hands in unyielding faith & trusted:“if God saw, He had let it happen” “God knows, and loves, and guides”I pleaded for help & mercy —And together, the church pleaded with me.it was a quiet place.
This article first appeared in Issue 19, April 2019 CHORUS Magazine.