03/08/2026
The Methodist Message article that I wrote (thank you so much Lianne Ong for your invaluable help in editing) is finally out! Thank you so much to our friends who have been praying along with Cheng Yu and me so that this can be finally released.
====
"Homelessness among youths is often rooted in family breakdowns, often due to abuse, conflict and estrangement. These can be more damaging than financial hardship, because they trigger cycles of mental and social difficulty that sever people from their support networks and affect their ability to work.
Youths are especially vulnerable due to financial instability and lower educational attainments, making them susceptible to exploitation and crime. Many are “aged out” of institutional homes without healthy families to fall back on.
Escalating rents also make housing solutions in the open market practically unattainable. Some are too young for public rental flats or have too little CPF for a BTO. Even full-time work often is insufficient—daily wages barely cover hostel fees and food, let alone emergencies.
With the rise of “sugar dating” apps, many homeless women even resort to these solutions to make ends meet.
In short, broken families lead to broken homes. Even educated, middle-class families can fall into homelessness when tragedy strikes.
Let me tell you [Natasha's story]...
Natasha [her real name] appealed to Homeless Hearts of Singapore in November 2023, facing eviction from their flat in Geylang with her father, who had been physically and cognitively impaired by a stroke in 2015. Her mother had quit a high-paying job to care for him but later died of cancer in 2019. With only A-levels, Natasha worked odd jobs—kitchen assistant, tuition teacher—to support them both, after being retrenched from her sales job.
“I never shared with my father how difficult it was for me to make ends meet. It was a coin flip on whether we could afford rent each month,” she said.
Upon their eviction, I connected her with a pastor from their church. A one-time $400 relief was provided though further help required reapplying with additional paperwork.
“The process of having to seek financial aid was embarrassing for me, as I felt like I had failed my dad as his daughter,” Natasha said. “It was even more stressful to deal with such scrutiny that I considered going hungry instead. However, I could not do so as I needed to consider my dad’s wellbeing.”
The loss of her dignity, her friends, and even her family photos that their landlord threw away, was almost too much to bear. “Every part of my life had been about checks and balances. I had to act like an ‘ordinary’ carefree young adult in front of my friends whom I could not trust with the truth.” One friend even told her to go to temples to beg for food, but she refused because of her faith.
However, the Lord was with her. One of our HHOS volunteers, a Christian sister, opened up her own one-room flat for Natasha and her father, while Natasha’s social worker secured shelter and public housing for Natasha and her father.
Natasha found a loving community through our “Abba's House” gatherings, where my wife and I invite homeless (or formerly homeless) friends to our home for fellowship and meals. Another Christian sister even bought brand new work clothes and glasses for Natasha.
“After losing all my friends and dignity, I had nothing else to lose and just went there after some wrestling with the Lord. It was through being in that environment that I saw what it was like to have love within the community.
There was no judgement or comparison regarding how much or how little you have. I had never experienced something so pure before in my life. The atmosphere was one of kindness and is something I hope I can give to others in the same way they have given to me.”
Today, Natasha is an operations and facilities manager, living with her father in a rental flat. She currently worships at 3:16 Church.
[...]
What should the Church do?
Natasha offers a clue: understand each person and their story.
“I hope we can learn to look at one another with more gentleness. Not everyone who is struggling will appear broken on the outside … As the Body of Christ, I think we are called not only to notice the obvious cries for help, but also the quiet people who may be longing to be seen, included and loved without judgement.
“My hope is that we would be slower to assume, slower to judge, and quicker to offer kindness. Sometimes what helps a person is not a big solution, but a safe presence, a sincere conversation, a simple invitation, or the reassurance that they are not forgotten. I hope the Church can be a place where they do not feel they have to be fully healed, successful, cheerful or put-together before they are welcomed.”
People do not become homeless because they run out of resources—they run out of relationships. Abraham Yeo shares the stories behind the statistics.
