For many of us, serving together as a family can be challenging, especially with different schedules and commitments. But for 63-year-old Emiline Loke and her 39-year-old son Jasper Tan, serving together at Wesley@NightFest (W@NF) 2025 was a special opportunity to bond and create new memories. Although Emiline and Jasper, who is married with a 17-year-old daughter, have different schedules, their closeness is evident as they serve joyfully at the photo booth together. Read on to learn more about this mother-and-son pair who brought their acting chops to the photo booth.
WT: Thank you, Emiline and Jasper for sharing your experiences serving at Wesley@NightFest (W@NF) with us. Is this the first time both of you are serving together at an event by Wesley Methodist Church?
E: Yes and no. Yes because Wesley@NightFest is the first event we are serving together as we both love the idea of posing in retro characters with the visitors. And no, we have also served together at last year’s Wesley@NightFest as actors.
WT: Do you serve in any other areas individually?
E: Yes, I am serving with the Welcome Corner ministry, Creative Expression Ministry and the Eunos Home by Methodist Welfare Services (MWS).
J: I used to serve in the Youth and Sunbeams ministries.
WT: How many nights did you serve altogether at Wesley@NightFest this year? What did you dress up as?
E: I was acting as a village girl at the photobooth for seven nights.
J: For me, six nights. On some nights I am a Chinese merchant, and on one night, I was the pirate as the theme this year is ‘Light on the Hill: Island Celebrations’.
WT: Emiline, how do you feel being the village girl at the booth?
E: I enjoyed the role being the village girl as it represented my mother’s era back in the 60s. Looking back on how she looked in the same type of attire.
WT: Jasper, how do you feel being the pirate/merchant at the booth?
J: I am game for anything that is healthy fun and would bring laughter and joy to others. So I really enjoyed dressing up as a merchant a towkay (businessman in Hokkien) and pirate.
WT: What motivated you to sign up for Wesley@NightFest?
E: It started from last year’s W@NF, the event gave me an opportunity to serve and reach out to a greater community.
J: I served as a photobooth actor by accident actually, last year. Someone from the committee asked me if I could do them a favour to switch my role from usher to photobooth actor as they were in need of actors. So, I ended up serving at the photobooth last year and found it really fun and refreshing way to engage people from all age groups and all walks of life. And that is why when I was asked to repeat the role this year, I said yes without hesitation.
WT: How do you feel about serving together in this way?
E: This is a great opportunity for us spending more time together while serving, and deepen the bonding between mother and son.
J: I echo what my mother said. As we keep very busy schedules and hardly get to spend quality time with each other, this is a good way to see each other five hours a night, six nights over three weekends. We appreciate the opportunity to be able to bring laughter to a wider community together. I never thought I would spend time with my mom this way, she dressed up as a village auntie and I was dressed up as a merchant posing by a sampan boat.
WT: What was the most rewarding part of your volunteering experience?
E: For me, it has to be seeing so many happy faces lit up when they posed with us and seeing many happy people from all walks of life and different cultures entering our church.
J: The most rewarding part for me is to be able to serve with fellow Wesleyans with one heart and one mind and enjoy the camaraderie and energy with my church community. I also got to make new friends from Wesley. We were building community not only with one another but also with the wider community of Singapore. How often does Wesley Methodist Church get to have such opportunity to be part of a national event? It is a significant milestone for us.
WT: What were some of the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
E: None for me actually.
J: For me, I had thought initially my challenge would be my time as I work long hours as a corporate trainer. But amazingly, God protected my time and allowed me to attend the training sessions and W@NF sessions on time, even giving me more than enough time to have my dinner in church. For example, all my work sessions ended on time at 5pm which enabled me to be able to get to Wesley punctually.
WT: In what ways did you see God working through Wesley@NightFest?
E: I see God works in simple and yet amazing ways. I was pleasantly surprised my non-believer friend who came to W@NF picked up a book mark at the Sanctuary with a verse Isaiah 35:1-2 and I see a change in her acceptance.
J: There are many pre-believers out there. God has shown us a different way, a very soft and gentle way to cast the net to help the lonely, broken, the ones who are searching, through W@NF. When our community walks through our doors, they see us not just as Christians but as real people who are hospitable, warm and open hearted. Hopefully they can see the hope we carry as Christians. Furthermore, participating in an event like this makes people notice the church on the usually dark and forlorn Fort Canning Road, and know that they are able to drop by for a visit.
WT: How did serving at Wesley@NightFest impact or affirm your personal faith?
E: It definitely strengthens my commitment to serve more in church.
J: I am now more aware of more ways and avenues to do outreach. God has created more pathways for us to open His house to more people. I feel that serving my wider community helps me live out my faith in a more relevant and practical way.
WT: What would you say to someone who is on the fence about volunteering for a church event?
J: Don’t hesitate or over analyse too much. What does the Lord require of you today? When the opportunity arises, just prayerfully consider your bandwidth, commitments in other areas of your life and if it is possible, plan your schedule and if you hear a nudge from the Lord, go for it. God will protect your time if He truly calls you to serving.
E: Jasper puts it well. Just listen for God’s prompting.
WT: Based on your experience, how do you see this event contributing to Wesley’s mission to be a “light on the hill”? Did this experience change your perspective on what it means to be a “church in the city”?
E: We were able to create more awareness, that there is a church at Fort Canning Rise away from the main road. With this event, we literally lighted up the hill, welcoming many more visitors to the “light on the hill”.
J: I am thankful that more people will come to experience God’s love through our hospitality and come to know of the warm community in our church. When I picture a church in the city, I see a church that is hospitable, warm, inclusive and offers a calm space in the city.
(Photos courtesy of Emiline Loke and Wesley@NightFest photographers)
