Testimonials

We would like to draw your attention to a testimony written by one of our members.

How I joined Boys’ Brigade

I’ve been part of BB for about 8 years. For the first few years, when I was in primary school, I dreaded going to BB. I often felt extremely out of place, not having many friends other than my brother and a few other familiar faces I knew from church. Over the years, both my brother and I grew into the community and to this day, still hold close the friendship and bond we’ve created in BB.  BB has also left a lasting impact on my life through my years as a junior until now. My experience in BB is summarised into these 3 main lessons.

Lesson #1 Importance of Teamwork

I’ve learned the fundamental requirement of any organisation, teamwork. In BB, we learn this through the simplest things. For example, during drill (marching), if any of us makes a mistake, the whole team is down for punishment; in boot camp, we’re trained to work with everyone regardless whether we like the other person or not. This is because we knew that if we didn’t accomplish our task together, we’re all going to receive the same punishment. To clarify, I didn’t learn teamwork out of the fear of punishment; rather, I realized the consequence of the absence of teamwork. The bible puts it best, “One body, many parts”. This teaches us to be inclusive towards others who are different from us or outliers. This lesson on teamwork taught me the importance of allowing everyone to feel welcomed and purposeful.

Lesson #2 Owning to Our Own Mistakes & Growing

It was in BB where I learned that it is alright to make mistakes as it gives us the opportunity to try and do better the next time. I remember being told by an officer (teacher), that BB is the best place to make mistakes, what matters is the effort you’re trying to put in and the learnings you gather from that experience. In BB, it’s not so much the achievements we get, but the journey and mistakes we learn that makes you grow. I’m grateful towards the officers for always reminding me that. For me, I’m quite a clumsy person and I’ve failed many tests, but I’m always given a second chance, so it’s all part of the process of learning.

Lesson #3 Emulating Christ as a Servant Leader

Before I was appointed as a Non-Commissioning Officer (NCO) – a leadership position to lead other privates/members, I always thought that as a leader it’s always about putting your head out there for everyone to notice how good of a leader you are. I never thought that the word ‘serving’ would come into play. The best example used is none other than Christ himself, for He came down not to be served, but to serve others. I remember as a private, we had a session with Lieutenant Joe and he asked us what we thought the role of an NCO was. Now, some of us like me were quite “gung-ho” and answered generic answers like, “to be a shining example to the younger members”. Although that was not wrong, Lieutenant Joe taught that the role of an NCO is to put other members before ourselves. This was an important lesson that when we put on that stripe (rank), we take on the responsibility of looking out for the younger members and be responsible leaders.

These lessons made a huge impact on me as they have played a vital role in my life outside of BB which craved my path to take up leadership positions in school as well. I hope these 3 lessons will be inspire you to grow in Christ too. Like our company motto, I hope that we too, “Do not conform, be transformed”. By His will, let’s continue to allow God to transform us with the experiences we go through, together.

In His Service,

LCPL Cheng Yang