Singapore minister delighted to start work in East Yorkshire

The Revd. David Wee has swapped a parish in Singapore for one inEast Yorkshire, and couldn't be happier. David began work as theminister at Willerby and Skidby Methodist Churches near Hull on 1September and will remain there for the next five years, whateverthe weather.

David says that he will enjoy preaching and visiting thepeople of the area most of all. "I have heard a lot about thewarmth of Yorkshire people," he says, "and I hope that I will meetas many of them as possible."

David, who will be 55 in November, has been a ministersince 1978, although this is the first time he has worked at achurch outside Singapore. At one of his previous churches, heoversaw 11 services each Sunday in four languages - English,Korean, Mandarin and Tagalog - for a membership of over 5,000.Although David's native tongue is the Chinese dialect of Hokkien,he also speaks some Malay and excellent English. "I love theYorkshire accent and dialect," he says. "Maybe after five yearsI'll go home sounding like a true Yorkshireman!"

David is keen to bring the experiences he has gained at avariety of Singaporean churches to East Yorkshire, and is also keento learn from the people he meets here. He has travelled widelyacross the world, but never had any doubts about leaving thetropical heat of Singapore for the more variable climate inBritain. "I travelled widely in Britain during a sabbatical in 1999and enjoyed it a lot," he says. "I saw that there were manyopportunities for preaching and working with local communities, butalso many challenges and things that are different to Singapore.When I had the chance to come, I knew that it was the right thingto do."

David, whose hobbies include singing, photography andstamp collecting, is joined by his wife Jessie for his stay inBritain. She worked as a teacher in Singapore until 1996, but saysthat her role will be to support David in his work. They have twogrown up sons - one lives in Spennymoor, while the other is stillin Singapore completing his national service. Says Jessie: "It willbe hard to be away from home for so long, but we know we will havea wonderful time here."

David is in Britain as part of the World Church in BritainPartnership run by the Methodist Church. It brings a variety ofministers to Britain, where they will be able to bring fresh ideasto Methodist churches and gain experience to take home. There arecurrently 17 ministers working in Britain as part of thescheme.