Getting to know Samuel & Agnes Too

Samuel and Agnes Too joined EAST in May 2020. Samuel has been a visiting lecturer previously and has taught a number of classes on Missions Foundation at EAST. He is now a full-fledged resident faculty at EAST and Agnes joins us with years of missions field experience from Japan and East Asia. Due to recent Covid-19 situation, the interview with them was conducted over Zoom. But their warmth and authenticity still came through.

Agnes came from a non-Christian family. She studied in a mission elementary school where the morning assemblies had bible teaching. At Primary 4, her science teacher, Miss May Chew, who was an active witness for the Lord, shared the gospel with her class and said that Jesus is the only way to God and He wants to be your friend. Then she extended the invitation for anyone who wants to receive Jesus to say a prayer after her, Agnes accepted Jesus that day through a simple act of prayer. She became more serious about her faith by reading the Bible and attending church Sunday school. That was how her faith journey began.

Samuel came to Singapore at 9 years old to study. His cousin in Singapore, whom Samuel was living with, shared about heaven and hell, and invited him to go to his church for the first time. In 1986, there was a Luis Palau Crusade that Samuel attended with his cousin and there, he heard the full gospel presentation. Samuel hesitated to receive Christ initally as he was afraid of the objections from his parents but on the final night of the rally, he prayed to receive Jesus into his life. Following that, he went to a church near his home and his faith in Jesus began to grow from there.

In their youth, both Samuel and Agnes were active members of the Chinese congregations of their respective Lutheran churches. Samuel was attending Bedok Lutheran Church and Agnes was from Queenstown Lutheran Church. They met on a few occasions when the two churches had combined fellowship meetings but became good friends only after they joined the staff of Singapore Campus Crusade for Christ. Samuel joined staff in 1991 and Agnes joined staff in 1994.

Samuel Too enrolled at EAST as a student in 1998 and graduated in 2002. In 2004, they responded to God’s leading to serve in East Asia. When they left Singapore, they were a family of three with their oldest child, Ben, who was 14 months old at that time. God added to their tribe during their 10 years in East Asia by blessing them with more children, Nat and Charissa. Their three children are now 17 (Ben), 15 (Nat) and 11 (Charissa). Their three children spent a part of their happy childhood in China and would have continued to live and minister there if not for a medical condition Agnes had that required the family to relocate back in 2013. While it was hard to say goodbye to their community and the ministry opportunities in East Asia, Cru Singapore leadership offered Samuel a former missionary a role. Both Samuel and Agnes served in the Missions Department for 6 years, overseeing the mobilization, sending and shepherding of missionaries from Cru Singapore.

When Samuel joined full-time ministry in 1991, he already had a desire to teach. As he wanted to impart both practical ministry and theology; fusing life into knowledge, he spent many years in the field before entering into full-time teaching to give himself time to grow and allow the knowledge and life experiences to come together. When he turned 50 last year, he sensed it was time to begin sharing what he has learned from God to others because “Teaching is not just about imparting knowledge but imparting life,” he said.

Both Samuel and Agnes love travelling. They had plans to visit Mongolia during their sabbatical in March 2020, but Covid-19 put a stop to that. They enjoy exploring cultures, new experiences, new food, new tastes, and new adventures together. Agnes loves gardening “uncommon stuff” in her small planter at home. She has successfully grown Cantalopes in Singapore and is trying to grow passion fruit from seeds. She says that growing plants from seeds nurtures her patience and teaches her about the process of waiting. She enjoys music, plays the piano and is learning the flute. Samuel does not have green finger but he likes to hang out at a café and journal by himself. He reads Chinese pugilistic novels for de-stressing and relaxes in front medical themed dramas, action movies and comedies.

Samuel and Agnes really look forward to learning and growing together with the EAST Community. Learning new ways to engage students online, Samuel is also looking forward to grow in his teaching capacity as a full-fledged faculty at EAST. Agnes is our new Ministry Staff at EAST. They currently worship at Queenstown Lutheran Church as a family.

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