Interview by sis Janelle
In our first feature on Knowing Our Members, we have sis Janelle interviewing sis Alexis. Sis Alexis was baptized last year on 24th Sep and she is the wife of bro Samuel, and they have 3 adorable children – Jotham, Asher, Ariel.
1. What are you currently studying/working/doing?
I’m currently working at SkillsFuture as a marketeer. My job is to plan and run advertising campaigns to promote SkillsFuture's initiatives. I execute everything from campaign planning and creative production to media buys, content partnership and influencers engagement etc. I also do real estate on the side, if people refer any cases to me.
2. Why do you choose to work there?
I enjoy doing marketing campaigns and the creative process. There’s a sense of satisfaction seeing your own work online, on screens or on outdoor spaces like train stations and bus stop panels.
3. How do you usually spend your free time?
Usually, we will go out with the kids on weekends to places like the zoo or the malls. We rarely plan our weekends in advance in case anything happens last-minute.
4. Do you describe yourself as an indoor or outdoor person?
Indoor. I don’t really do sports. I do enjoy k-dramas and have an interest in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre. I enjoy shows such as “Stranger Things”, “Sweet Home” and “Kingdom”. I also enjoy watching stand-up comedy.
5. How did you come to know Eastside? What do you like most about this congregation?
I came to know Eastside through my husband. I feel comfortable at Eastside as it is a small and friendly community. I've been to a few other churches before and I felt pressured and uncomfortable as a non-Christian as they were quite aggressive and pushy in trying to convert me into a Christian and church member. I didn’t feel pressured here and liked that the lessons were very structured and informative.
6. What made you want to become a Christian?
“l decided to become a Christian after going through the 1-to-1 lessons here and learning that Jesus is real and why we need to believe in Jesus to be saved. Grace and faith were foreign concepts to me as I was brought up with the preconceived notion that we can only depend on ourselves and that we are judged purely based on our works. So I always thought that we needed to do as many good deeds as possible to accumulate good karma so that we can have a better next life or go to heaven.
7. Who is your favourite Bible character? What is the trait you admire most about that character?
I would say it’s Jesus. I admire His selflessness, humility and His perception of things. For example, while the Pharisees were caught up on certain things like cleanliness, and looked down on certain people, Jesus tried to teach them the meaning and heart of the law. He doesn’t judge people by their appearance, occupations or background. He even helped people who were considered unclean at that point in time. He knows your wrongdoings but He doesn’t judge you and instead accept you for who you are and uses love to correct you.
8. What’s your favourite Bible verse? Why is this verse meaningful to you?
Eph 2:8-9 ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.’ It’s meaningful to me because it completely changed my understanding of salvation. It is a big relief that we are not judged by our works alone and there is no “KPI” to meet in terms of doing good deeds. That there is a God that I can depend on. Before this, I always thought we need to earn our way to salvation through works alone.
9. How do you see yourself contributing to Eastside?
For me now, as a new Christian, I can’t really contribute in terms of teaching because I don’t really have the knowledge yet, but I try to contribute in more practical ways, like helping to wash the Lord’s Supper utensils, contribute food for Agape lunch or maybe help organise events in future.
10. What is your biggest weakness?
Doubt. I always doubt if I’m good enough or if I’m doing enough. I always admire people with lots of self-confidence because I find it difficult to be confident in myself.
11. What is your biggest strength?
Resilience. No matter what happens, I try to move on. I don’t want to dwell too much on what happened. For me, when there is a problem, I will try to find a solution first. I prefer to solve the problem before discussing and analysing about why the problem has occurred or how we can do things better in future.
12. What’s your secret talent? how has it helped you?
I’m very good at catching insects so I’m the pest buster at home. It has helped my entire family because none of them can or want to catch insects like flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches. Plus I like my house to be insect-free and clean so it is almost like an obsession for me to exterminate any insects that I find at home.