After 26 years of transforming lives, Victory Life Christian School is looking for a new location to expand its reach to youths at risk

In 2000, a stay-home mother – a certified accountant – obeyed the call of God to set up a private school using a Christian homeschool curriculum.

In an interview with CityNews on her journey, she shared how, despite her complete lack of experience in the education sector, God ordered her steps, bringing the first cohort – which included her youngest daughter Medaline – to Victory Life Christian School (VLCS). 

Two students from that first cohort – brothers – were granted the Bishop’s scholarship to study at Kansas Methodist University in Kansas. One brother is a worship Pastor in the US and the other is a youth Pastor at a Methodist church in Singapore.

From her home to a unit at Ellington Square to a three-storey bungalow to Bethel Presbyterian Church, the school moved from a basement unit at Balestier Point before coming to its current location at Geylang Street 23, to a block rented from HCSA. VLCS has been at Geylang for the last nine years.

In those 26 years, VLCS has graduated hundreds of students from countries all over the world. The curriculum starts at Kindergarten level and ends at Grade 12, and students graduate with an American High School Diploma.

The school is proud that nearly 100% of its graduates that apply to higher institutes of learning have been accepted into their universities of choice, including NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD and SUSS in Singapore and universities in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Tasmania, and the Philippines.

Looking for a new space to fit a new vision

Jan Boey, the founder of VLCS told Salt&Light: “Last year, HCSA, our landlord, informed us that our lease will not be renewed as our current premises have been earmarked by the Yellow Ribbon Project to rehabilitate prisoners six months before their release.

“That’s why we need to relocate.” 

The lease expires this month (February 2026), but HCSA has given VLCS till end of December this year to vacate. Jan hopes to do so as soon as possible: “We want to ensure that the education journey of our students is not disrupted.”

But apart from simply desiring to find a space to conduct classes and school activities, Jan has a bigger vision for VLCS.

“Our next school location is not only for our students but also to welcome youths at risk,” she told Salt&Light. “It is written in Luke 1:17 that we need to turn our hearts to the children as they are at risk, being subjected to and distracted by the vices of society, worldly pursuits and ungodly ideologies.”

This burden on Jan’s heart was sparked by reports on the issues faced by youths in Singapore.

A September 2024 Ministry of Health press release reported that one in three young people aged 15 to 35 years experience severe symptoms of depression and stress.

Further, a Straits Times report on the Youth Outreach Conference that came out that same month revealed that around 17,000 youths in Singapore aged between 15 and 24 were not in school, work or training.

Additionally, Channel NewsAsia featured a commentary by psychiatrist Dr Jared Ng, Senior Consultant and Medical Director at Connections MindHealth titled “Suicide is a problem among youths in Singapore. Let’s talk about it.”

“In that commentary, Dr Ng wrote: ‘At the heart of overcoming life’s challenges is hope – a crucial psychological resource that helps individuals envision a positive future, even during difficult times.’

“At VLCS, our students are immersed in Scripture, and they are reminded that they have Christ in them, the hope of glory (Colossians 1: 27),” said Jan.

“My prayer is that God will bring us to a new space that will allow us to serve not just our current cohort, but this group of youths who need to see that they are precious in the sight of the Lord.”

VLCS’ contingent at the International Student Convention 2024, held in the US.

An oasis in Singapore’s education landscape

VLCS’ website features many testimonies from parents and students over the years, and there are many more not yet published.

Valedictorian of 2019, Janelle Yeo wrote: “Five years ago, I was drowning in anxiety, eating disorder, and plagued with suicidal thoughts. I came into Victory Life broken and rejected. Trapped in the past and negative thoughts, coming to school every day was a struggle because I was constantly fearful and anxious. I remember how I used to stand outside the door in the Balestier campus, trembling as I struggled to even ring the bell to enter the school.

“However, those days are so far behind me now. In the past, I used to dread break time, during which I would always hide away in quiet places, silently crying by myself. But break time has since become a huge anticipation of the day for me, a time when I can put aside PACE work and just enjoy the company of my friends. I remember that I used to break down at the mere thought of having to be around people and would even go to the extent of hiding in the reception room during chapel time. Now, I join in chapel and engage in many school activities, including the recent International Student Convention held in Missouri. 

“I came into Victory Life empty and broken, but I have since been filled by God with love and hope and I can only give Him the glory for my transformation. Throughout, I have learned that we mustn’t allow our past mistakes to define who we are, because transformation is possible and nothing is beyond hopeless. As Corrie ten Boom said: ‘There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.'”

Upon graduation from VLCS, Janelle pursued Linguistics and Education at Trinity Western University in Canada.

Such stories are almost commonplace in VLCS, which uses a system of self-study, allowing students to progress at their own pace. The ACE curriculum is biblically based and used in more than 144 nations around the world. 

Students scoring their self-tests. The ACE curriculum uses self-study and encourages independent learning. Photo courtesy of CityNews.

VLCS was the first ACE school in Singapore. Others have since sprung up.

Students self-study using teaching workbooks known as PACEs (Pockets of Accelerated Christian Education), progressing in their learning as they complete PACEs and take a test. At the start of every week, students set their own goals. There are no exams to take, and no homework unless the student is unable to complete his goal tasks during school hours. Scripture is woven into every PACE, and students keep prayer journals and share devotions regularly. The Bible-based, nurturing environment allows children who may otherwise struggle in a mainstream school to progress at their own pace.

Over and above that, Jan and her team of supervisors – instead of teachers, these supervisors help students unpack concepts only when asked, as it is a system of self-study – have created a culture where every child is valued and esteemed. 

The student population, which currently numbers around 100, includes foreign students whose parents are missionaries or hold jobs in Singapore, as well as some Singaporean students previously from mainstream schools. Some of these children have diagnoses of special needs, learning needs or medical issues.

Some of VLCS’ high school students: They work hard, play hard, pray hard.

When VLCS started, 80% of its student population was Singaporean, but since then, admission procedures are now subject to the Ministry of Education’s approval. This restricts the admission of local students for full-time school to those who have special needs or medical issues, and those who have completed their ‘O’ levels.

Still, VLCS is an oasis for those who struggle in mainstream school environments.

“Since we started in 2000, our school has witnessed many transformed lives,” said Jan. “Some students overcome symptoms of autism, ADHD, dyslexia and Down’s Syndrome. Others are set free from high anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies and other challenges.

“They grow in the knowledge of God, know the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and a light unto their path; they know that they have life and have it more abundantly.”

One of the highlights on the school calendar is the annual Regional Student Convention (held in the Asia-Pacific region) and the International School Convention (held in the US). These conventions allow ACE students from different countries to meet and engage in friendly competition, and to pray and worship together.

Competitions range from sports (basketball, archery) to the arts (singing, choir, dance) to art and craft, and preaching. It is during these conventions that students are given opportunity to engage in their interests and to spend meaningful time with their friends, facilitators and parents, many of whom join in the evening devotional sessions.

Mrs Cynthia Chan, a high school supervisor at VLCS, said: “Regional student conventions empower students to develop their gifts and use them for Christ. Our youths are inspired during the conventions to live purposefully, and to attain excellence for God’s glory.”

VLCS students competing in archery at the International Student Convention in 2024.

Taking in delinquents

In 2010, Jan was planning to hand over the running of the school and retire with her husband San Fei to Canada where their three daughters live.

As she sought the Lord, He instead told her to accept some new students that had been recommended to VLCS by their Pastors. It was a difficult decision as these were children who were unable to attend mainstream schools due to behavioural issues.

Jan recalled the difficulties she faced when she chose to obey. Her staff members and parents of other students were not happy, and some threatened to take their children out of the school. Yet, she held on to the reminder that “a bruised reed He will not break and a smoking flax He will not snuff out.” (Isaiah 42:3)

Javine Lim was in a mainstream secondary school when he fell into bad company and started smoking, drinking and skipping school.

He wrote: “I was rude to my teachers and always found myself talking to the discipline master. Eventually, I was permanently suspended from school. I knew my life was going in the wrong direction but I couldn’t muster up the strength to change it. So I gave up on myself. I gave up on a proper education, a bright future, and worst of all, I gave up on God and my walk with Him. I became depressed, I felt that life had no meaning and I struggled with finding my purpose here on earth.

“When I joined VL in 2019, I carried the same defiant attitude with me. I was rude to my supervisors and when I had the opportunity, I would always skip school. But there was a difference: No matter how hard I tried to convince my supervisors to give up on me and let me continue down my path of self-destruction, they just never seemed to lose hope. 

“(My supervisor) Mrs Chan tried to get me to change my ways and give my education a second chance. It was all the things I knew were right but did not want to hear. It frustrated me and I remember swearing at her. 

“Her response genuinely surprised me; she didn’t reprimand me nor was she upset. She told me that I may have given up on myself, but she hasn’t and neither has my mom, and if I wanted to turn my life around, she would be there, willing to help and guide me. 

“It was this hope, and belief my supervisor and mother had in me that eventually got me to rethink my life choices.”

Javine became the valedictorian of his cohort in 2023.

Junior school students from Cornerstone class, 2024, during a class celebration.

Walking through that challenge of nurturing very difficult children many times over the years has prepared Jan and her team to build up other youths that have no school or training centre to go to. 

“God gave us a mission in 2000 when our school began. It comes from Luke 1:17, ‘And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord‘,” Jan told Salt&Light.

“We want to address this youth crisis in Singapore by offering help in the cause of building these youths to their fullest potential.”

Where to next for VLCS?

The journey of VLCS through its various locations has been one that is God-led. Jan believes doors will open to the right place determined by the Lord.

Her hope is for a space that will allow for more children and teenagers to receive not just education but an understanding of who they are in Christ and to live victorious lives.

“We are praying for partners, people who may have the available space or can help or support us in obtaining a new location, people who share our heart and vision for the youths who may not ‘fit in’,” said Jan. 

“We believe the Lord will bring such Kingdom partnerships, as He has all these 26 years.

“The body of Christ must arise now, to restore education back to God, and build the next generation, that Christ be formed in them. Let’s turn our hearts to the children, the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for Him.”

If you wish to find out more about VLCS or help in the search for a new location, please contact Joanne Tham at Joanne.tham@victorylifechristianschool.com or call the school at +65 6251 5282. 

Click here to read more testimonies from VLCS.

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