Gives Study Loan to Pastor’s Daughter
Kevin Tan (not his real name), a 57-year-old pastor of a church in Penang, has been suffering poor health lately and this has affected his service to the congre-gation. Finally, with great reluctance, the church relieved him from his duties but agreed to give him an allowance of RM200 a month. This is hardly enough to pay for his monthly expenses including medicines for his condition.
Kevin now works as an itinerant pastor but without a stable income, the single man has difficulty making ends meet. Keen to help him but unable to fully support him, Kevin’s church turned to the Foundation for assistance. After a thorough background check and a personal interview with Kevin, the Foundation recently granted the church’s appeal to help Kevin.
Kevin became the first beneficiary of the Foundation, even though his church is not a member of NECF. He gets a monthly aid of RM500, and this will be reviewed in a year’s time. The Foundation is also looking into getting free or reduced-cost medication for him.
Another pastor to benefit from the Foundation serves in a BM church in Petaling Jaya. He will be able to give his daughter a college education with a RM20,000 interest-free loan, repayable when she graduates and starts earning an income. (The repayment period is decided on a case-to-case basis.)
The Foundation also approved the application from another pastor for a loan for his daughter to complete the final year of her degree course. However, the offer had to be withdrawn because the applicant decided to finish the course overseas. (The Foundation has set a policy of granting study loans only to those who are studying in local institutions.)
The NECF Foundation was formally launched in April to provide financial assistance to needy local pastors and full-time workers and their families. |
