SINGAPORE, 21 NOVEMBER 2008 — AS THE SAYING goes, life is not a bed of roses. Obstacles and trials abound in life, and cause many to fail in some areas. For some people these failures and adversities ignite a great amount of distress, as well as major disruptions and chaos in a person’s everyday life.

The Conference workshop “Adversity Quotient and Emotional Quotient” aimed to better equip delegates with the practical know-how of dealing with such stumbling blocks in life. It also educated participants on emotions and moods.

This class was taught by two members in City Harvest Church’s Business Breakthrough Group, Benjamin Cheng and Nanz Chong-Komo. Cheng delivered the first part of the module, sharing on how to have a healthy emotional quotient, imparting his knowledge on things like the differences between feelings and emotions, as well as association and disassociation with an object. Chong shared on adversity quotient, teaching delegates how to deal with a major setback or failure in life.

The elective was a very refreshing one, as Cheng and Chong’s teaching styles were both animated and lively, constantly eliciting a good laugh from the audiences. There was nary a dull moment in the room, and both speakers managed to engage delegates very well. This elective received such an overwhelming response, that even on the third and last day of the electives, the doors to the conference room had to be left open in order to accommodate more attendees.

Though “emotional quotient” and “adversity quotient” could have proven to be heavy topics, the two speakers made the lesson very easily understandable. Both drew on personal experiences to supplement their lesson and illustrate ideas.

PHOTOS: Gay Sen Min

Chong was very open about her failed business, and shared about it bravely. From owner of a multi-million dollar retail company (the now defunct One.99 shop), to the franchise going bankrupt, and then rising from the ashes again to become a successful author and speaker, she is indeed the poster girl for someone who has faced adversity and then conquered it.

This workshop opened the delegates’ eyes on how to better have a healthy emotional quotient and adversity quotient, and equipped participants with some knowledge of how to understand and control emotions, as well as how to cope with a setback or failure.

SINGAPORE, 21 NOVEMBER 2008 — BEING A YOUTH leader is like being a bus driver, said Kevin Loo, pastor of City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur, at an elective workshop on starting a youth ministry.

“We’ve got to transport them from having ‘borrowed conviction’ to having ‘personal conviction’,” he said to an audience of mostly overseas delegates.

Borrowed conviction, according to him, is when a new believer finds spiritual disciplines like prayer and Bible-reading a chore.

The most important task for leaders is to get their members to “learn how to love the spiritual disciplines.”

Loo’s session drew constant laughter as he peppered his talk with hilarious examples and quips.

PHOTOS: Edmund Ong

For an elective participant who intends to start his own church this year, this workshop was a Godsend for him. An overseas graduate from this year’s School of Theology (SOT), he came back to Singapore just for the Asia Conference.

“I won’t have an opportunity to learn about starting a youth ministry once I return to my country,” Li said.

Having worked with young people in the past, he confessed that he has not been very successful at leading them. “But I hope through this session that I will learn how to better relate and communicate with them.”

Loo taught about the four important keys to building a strong youth ministry, and he highlighted the following essentialities: Having a healthy dissatisfaction with present realities, giving youths a purpose and vision, teaching them to feel the presence of God, and observing spiritual disciplines.

“Youths can hardly stand still,” he described. “In the morning they go for prayer meeting, then they go play sports, then in the evening they go for supper and midnight movies, then they go for supper again.”

The challenge is getting them to be still and experience God.

He also said that running a youth ministry requires great sacrifice. But it can also prove to be deeply satisfying.

“Youths are a really good investment; they’re like diamonds in the rough. A youth leader must realize that every young person is a treasure,” he concluded.

To Jesse:

Friend of angels
Tall fair,
Laughing eyes.

Strong heart.
Playful soul from my womb.

So tiny so quiet.
The angel
come for you.

In heaven’s crib you grew,
her breasts your sweet milk,
her tender song your lullaby.

Have you swum in an ocean?
Can you see the moon?
Do you paint,
or write or sing?
Are your eyes of blue?

One day I will come,
We will kiss, touch and laugh.
And walk a million miles, upon a sea of glass.

~ Christine Pringle

SINGAPORE, 20 NOVEMBER 2008 — IN THE DARKENED, hushed hall, Christine Pringle exuded compassion and love as she whispered those words. She had written that poem for her first child, Jesse, whom she had miscarried.

Pringle shared deeply about dealing with the loss of an infant, a small child through miscarriage, termination or still birth.

Her own personal experience was when she was a young woman, barely 20, pregnant with her first child. Pringle (and her husband Phil Pringle) ran a home group for youth in their own home at the time. She was about 15 weeks pregnant when she found herself bleeding one day, a day of her home group. Before the youth group arrived at her house, Pringle decided to head home and rest. As a young Christian, she thought only good things happened to Christians, so she did not think the bleeding was anything serious. But the bleeding got worse, and “I still remember, the youth were singing praises in the next room, and I was in my bedroom, bleeding, losing my baby.”

Pringle drew no comfort from people telling her “Maybe it is for the best” or “It is going to be all right”. But peace and assurance came upon her when someone told her, “I believe that God is flushing out your body of all the drugs,” in reference to her previous lifestyle before she came to the Lord.

Many, many years later, a friend showed Pringle a video of a vision of heaven. After watching the video, she went into her room. There she heard praise and worship, and felt two arms envelope her. Up to that point, she had not grieved for her lost child, but she started crying now. It was as though she was in this incredible bubble where she could just weep and everything was still. She received a vision of a tall, handsome young man with longish hair — and the Lord told her it was her son, Jesse. Heaven, shared Pringle, that’s where the babies go when they are lost on Earth. They are rescued by angels and brought into Heaven, where they grow. When she saw Jesse, he was 23 — exactly the age he would be if he had lived.

PHOTOS: Elvis Chiu, Michael Chan

As Pringle shared her experience, tears started to well up in the eyes of the audience. The atmosphere was one of comfort and peace, even as women (and men) who had lost their babies wept and grieved. For them, Pringle had opened the door to a room which has been closed for years, so that God can bring healing. Her vision is to share her story with the women in China — and at Asia Conference 2008, that was the first step to fulfilling that vision.

SINGAPORE, 22 NOVEMBER 2008 — THE INAUGURAL ASIA Conference was not just about power-packed sessions or exciting competitions, it was also about saving lives with practical actions. On 21 and 22 November 2008, a blood donation drive was held at Singapore Expo Hall 10, where a total of more than 200 members of City Harvest Church (CHC) donated one packet of their blood each to help save lives.

Over two days, people of all ages, from all walks of life came together to perform an act that was selfless in every sense of the word. They’d never meet the person who would benefit from their giving, but are content with the knowledge that they are doing something to make another person’s life better.

The idea of blood donation was conceived by founder of CHC Kong Hee some years ago. He felt that blood represents life, and that City Harvest Church should give their lives to help others. Since then, a tithe of the church population has been donating blood each year.

Blood donation drives have become a regular feature in City Harvest Church. The church has worked with organizations like community clubs and mosques to organize the drives. As such, blood donation campaigns have become instrumental for the church to interact with other organizations and faiths.

PHOTOS: Macson Tan

Samantha Tay, 22, told City News, “I donated blood because it can help save lives. It’s always good to do something charitable and it doesn’t take up a lot of your time and energy.”

Tay is no stranger to blood donations. This is the fourth time she is participating in a blood donation drive organized by City Harvest. She added, “It’s pretty cool to know that my packet of blood might go a long way in saving someone else’s life.”

SINGAPORE, 21 NOVEMBER 2008 — SESSION 6 OF the Asia Conference saw Phil Pringle continue his ministry in the Spirit, focusing on China and the Middle East.

Beginning with the praise song ‘Help Me’ by the C3 Band, Pringle took the stage with a rousing declaration that this was “God’s hour” and the band switching to a resounding fast-beat ministry song that intensified the spiritual atmosphere in Hall 8. Clearly, it was an indication of his intention to move in the prophetic office as led by the Holy Spirit.

Putting aside his sermon that he had crafted in hours of “solitude and silence”, Pringle begin by prophesying of the global “shifts in power”, with the political and economic spheres of influence gravitating towards the Asian giants of India and China. Nations that had been “maligned and abused” by greater powers will be raised up by God to have a global voice and the power to shape international affairs, as a demonstration of His sovereign control over the world.

Pringle also encouraged the people to stand boldly with Kong Hee as God raised him up to walk in the “corridors of power” in the governments and businesses of Asia, advising decision-makers and leaders in the ‘3^rd Space’ of society. This was in anticipation of the adverse challenges that will arise as this was divinely orchestrated.

The session reached its apex as Pringle began to call the senior ministers of churches in the above-mentioned nations to come to the stage, prophesying over several of them. Prophecies would range from financial increase, anointing for healing and miracles, the ability to teach the Word of God effectively in bible schools, and to build spirit-empowered churches in the respective cities and countries they come from.

PHOTOS: Gary Sim, Poh Yang Zheng, Richard Cheng & Teo Boon Hwee

A notable highlight was when Pringle prayed and spoke into the lives of two youths, a 20 year-old security personnel from City Harvest Church and a 24 year-old Chinese national, using them to illustrate “generational reconciliation’. This is essentially about the senior leaders and elders giving opportunities to youth leaders to actualize their potential in the ministry, empowering them to rise and take the baton of leadership in growing the Kingdom of God.

Ultimately, the chief aim of this prophetic session that lasted 50 minutes was the call of God among the delegates to fulfill His desire of strengthening the weak and building His church.

In the last 10 minutes, Pringle preached briefly from Ezekiel on the power of confession in creating the conditions of one’s world, keeping the focus of what one is called for and remembering the revelation of one’s identity in God. These principles he said, stemmed forth from a life that was Jesus-centered, evidenced through time given in prayer and solitude in God’s presence, which was the penultimate key in bringing one into his or her fullest destiny.

This session would certainly be remembered by all who attended for its impact in their individual lives and the collective significance it will have in transforming the spiritual, political and socio-economic climate of Asia.

SINGAPORE, 21 NOVEMBER 2008 — HOW DID BARACK Obama overcome a nation’s history, racial divides and social beliefs to become the first African American president of the United States of America?

The answer to that question was given by Dr AR Bernard in his illuminating message this morning. The answer is “Providence” — when God interrupts the natural, sequential order of life to cause something to happen that would not ordinarily happen in the natural sequence of life.

The key to Obama’s victory was not his wisdom, his charisma or even his excellent campaign. Rather, it was the finger of God intervening in human affairs and time to create the perfect set of conditions to usher him into the White House.

Dr Bernard taught that this set of conditions is not within the control of man, but is a Kairos moment, a moment in history when there is a collective sense of deeply meaningful change in the air. The Kairos moment, together with Metanoia (a radical change in mind and consciousness causing people to do what they previously would never have considered or done, such as vote for a non-white person) was what led to Obama’s win.

“And if it can happen for a nation,” Dr Bernard emphasized, “it can happen for a family, a business or an individual’s life too.” If we can learn to be sensitized to the moving of God and recognize it around us, we too can experience a Kairos moment in our life.

Dr Bernard also revealed the key to carrying the Cultural Mandate in the world successfully. In the same way we put on warm layers when we go out in the cold, the key to being in the world and not of it is insulation, which prevents the environment from having an effect on our body. In the same way, strong spiritual disciplines serve to keep philosophies that are against God’s ways out of our lives, and keep our spiritual principles — which preserve our holiness — in.

With insulation comes penetration, which takes place when we have all the qualifying factors for our environment which enable us to enter a position where we can stealthily begin to live out the supernatural in our life and have an impact on those around us.

PHOTOS: Elvis Chiu, Edmund Ong, Maggie Chng, Teo Boon Hwee

Truly, eyes were opened and revelations received as Dr Bernard brought our knowledge of the Cultural Mandate and God’s moving in our day and age to the next level. Stay tuned for the Grand Finale on Sunday night to hear more from this man, whom God is using mightily in the world today!

SINGAPORE, 20 NOVEMBER 2008 — ULF EKMAN’S first session this morning was a precursor to the mighty move of the Holy Spirit at Session 4 tonight.

Ekman’s morning message was a call to commune with the Holy Spirit — who was here on Earth to make sure God’s will is done through the body of Christ. Already the conference delegates that packed the room were swaying in the thick presence of the Holy Spirit.

Tonight’s meeting began with a loud and live praise session with Sidney Mohede and True Worshippers. Mohede’s powerful vocals had every person in Hall 8 on their feet, dancing unabashedly before the Lord. Crowd favourite Don Moen was up next, with songs that led the room into an atmosphere of worship.

The attendees were wowed when the CHC singers, led by Alison Yap, marched on stage with a row of drummers, who drummed the hypnotic rhythm of the anthem ‘Crossing Over’ — a song about claiming the nations of the world for Jesus, a most fitting “theme song” for the Asia Conference. Then up on stage came the Parade of Nations, which had beautiful young people in traditional costumes of the cities that City Harvest Church has affiliations with, from Japan to India, Indonesia to Korea, and various parts of Asia. It was a poignant and rousing salute to all the conference delegates, whose hometowns these were.

The City Harvest Effect

The night’s most touching segment was the testimonies of pastors from three CHC-affiliated churches. Kevin Loo of City Harvest Kuala Lumpur shared how he caught the CHC vision and started the church in KL, and how he basically copied everything CHC did, especially for Emerge. His church grew from 800 to 1,628 within a year.

Raymond Fernando from GPdi Elohim Church in Sidoarjo, Surabaya gave a touching testimony about how the church lost their Senior Pastor and his wife in a plane crash, and how Kong Hee and the CHC team descended on Sidoarjo to help them with Bible study. Raymond, with GPdi’s new Pastors Franklin and Nina Lumoindong, followed Kong as he traveled across Indonesia; they caught the vision and applied what they learned. From a church of 700 they recently hit a record attendance of 1,883.

Jenny Hung of New Life Church took the stage to share about the growth of this Taiwan church, which has a congregation of 2,200. Inspired by City Harvest Church, New Life Church released its creativity in its outreach. Among many efforts, a significant one was the pooling of celebrities and other talents in their church to record an album, which has since sold 100,000 copies and enjoyed over 200,000 downloads. Hung revealed that the Christian population in Taipei has grown by 8.9 percent in the past year.

To Sichuan With Love

Aries Zulkarnain interviewed Wu Yu Ying from Harbin, China. When the Sichuan disaster struck on 12 May 2008, Wu made a decision to go and help bring relief to the Sichuan quake victims. She brought her 11-year-old daughter along, and they both stayed one month in Sichuan, helping with the orphans. One 6-year-old girl spent her young life looking after her depressive mother, and handling the housework. Wu built such a great connection with this little girl, the girl gave her her favourite toy when she left. Wu shared that what motivated her to go to Sichuan for a month was the fact that God saved her for a reason, and “I wondered why Sun was so quick to help — she, a Singaporean, was there so fast! I’m from China, I should be doing something.” She exhorted the audience to “be like Sun and Kong and bring God’s love to these children.”

A Message of Reconciliation

Carola Häggkvist, the Swedish singer who won the Eurovision three consecutive years, took the stage to lead the delegates in praise and worship. She ushered in Ekman, who gave a message about how to build a relationship of obedience with the Holy Spirit because without Him, we cannot do the work God has called us to do.

In Luke 4, Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit. He was strengthened by the Spirit, then led into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Then his ministry began. The Spirit could work because of the obedience of Jesus. Jesus walked in voluntary obedience all the days of His life.

“It starts with a hunger for God,” said Ekman. “A tenderness that seeks Him in the secret place so we can show His power in the public place.”

“Tell the Holy Spirit, ‘I want this for the rest of my life. You are my life,’” he continues. “You will get an encounter; you will come to a holy uncertainty where you have to throw yourself out and believe someone’s going to catch you, and use you for the rest of your life.”

Ekman also emphasized the importance of hearing the voice of God. It is the privilege of every believer, as promised in Isaiah 30:21. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’”

We learn step by step to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. “He will build confidence in you — you will make mistakes, but after those mistakes, like [with] Peter, Jesus restores.”

PHOTOS: Daniel Poh & Michael Chan

Then Ekman addressed a problem in today’s society. There is a generation gap between the older and the younger people. Many young people today are disengaged from society — they have a culture that despises the past, a tribalism made up of temporary pleasures. They are in the midst of things, but they are totally cut-off. “Our task is to deliver them from slavery. We have to help that generation,” declared Ekman. “If you neglect or reject your kids, they will rebel.”

On the other end of the scale, the older generation suffers from pride and prejudice. If we don’t understand that we need to be inclusive, we will be fragmented. “We need to make the right choices, or the devil will push us.”

Ekman led the people in a prayer asking for forgiveness of the sins of past generations, and for the young to seek the old for mentorship. He shares how his mentor Lester Sumrall changed his life.

The session ended with an altar call for pastors and preachers, and Ekman released blessings for pastors to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and he asked for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to come upon them, and for fruits to come.

SINGAPORE, 20 NOVEMBER 2008 — ANTICIPATION WAS IN the air as a sizeable crowd gathered in Hall 8 for the finals of ‘The Brainiest Family’ contest, the only unique gameshow competition in the Asia Conference that involves both parents and children working together as a team.

After numerous rounds, the finalists were narrowed down to three families comprising three family members each, who were all ready to pit their skills against each other in several different categories, namely, General Knowledge, Bible Knowledge, Spelling Bee and the Scripture Memory, otherwise known as Word Power.

As the families worked their way through the different categories, they had to answer every single question correctly in order to work their way to the top and win the title of the “Brainiest Family.”

Many of the questions, such as ‘Which language does the acronym RSVP originate from?’, quoting from memory the Bible verse Malachi 3:10, and spelling out words such as ‘epopee’ and ‘demurrage,’ were rather challenging. The three teams could use up to three available lifelines — the 50/50 option that eliminated two incorrect options, the option to ‘call a friend’ for help as well as the choice of polling the audience.

PHOTOS: Alvin Loh

The atmosphere in the air was tense as the audience waited with bated breath for the families to consider the questions and decide on their answers. Audible sighs of relief were heard as correct answers were given and the families moved on the next levels. However, two families were ultimately eliminated, leaving John Lim and his two children emerging as champions of the competition, and crowned as the Brainiest Family of Asia Conference.

SINGAPORE, 21 NOVEMBER 2008 — Conflict is inevitable in a marriage. It exists in forms of disagreements, arguments and quarrels. “It is impossible not to have conflicts in a marriage, as communication is involved in marriage,” says John Lim.

Lim, a member of City Harvest Church, is the speaker of Conflict and Anger Management in Marriage, one of the many elective workshops offered in Asia Conference 2008. He has been married for 18 years and has three children.

PHOTOS: Koh Meng Kwang

He emphasized that quarreling is normal in a marriage. The important thing is how to handle those conflicts and anger, a consequence of conflicts. The root cause of anger includes tension from the pain of past hurt and guilt from wrong responses to them.

Therefore, it is important to resolve issues that cause hurt and guilt to prevent accumulation. In addition, anger can also be caused by iniquities of the forefathers passed down, also known as generation curse.

Unresolved conflicts may lead to eruption of tension and as it builds up, it causes the growth of bitterness and damages the spirit of marriage — which is oneness in spirit, soul and body.

In total, there are 10 steps to resolve conflicts and anger:

We are all different and unique as how God creates us, so understand your spouse’s personality.

• Know that God wants restoration, as marriage is precious to God.
• Examine yourself and take responsibility for your own words, actions, thoughts and attitude.
• Go to God and commit yourself again to Him, and tell Him your desire to do the right thing.
• Release forgiveness to the person unconditionally, from God and to yourself.
• Approach your spouse with gentleness and sincerity, perhaps with a simple pat or touch.
• Communicate and empathize by simply asking his or her feelings, and share your feelings and thoughts as well.
• Agree on how to handle conflicts in the future, such as establishing ground rules.
• Praying together may be difficult, but a couple should come together in prayer for wisdom, mercy and grace to resolve the issue. Wives should be more encouraging toward their husbands, who are the spiritual leaders, and not critical of their lack of bible knowledge for instance.
• Celebrate and cherish oneness again.
• Learn from mistakes, move on and know that there is no more condemnation.
• A good marriage requires hard work by putting in time and effort. It is not automatic, but like a mechanical watch which constantly needs winding to make it work.
• And in everything, seek God for His help to give you the resources to help your marriage.

Having renewed their minds with these tips, the delegates left the session, energized and equipped, to make their marriage last for life.

SINGAPORE, 20 NOVEMBER 2008 — FUSILLI WITH MUSHROOMS in tomato sauce, baked salmon with cream and mushroom and chicken with green pepper in teriyaki sauce… all served up with soothing music and warm lighting in the background.

It wasn’t a buffet at a restaurant — this was the spread at the dinner hall at Asia Conference. Conference guests and delegates were pleasantly surprised by the customized menu and food choices that catered to all kinds of taste buds.

Constance Low, a foreign worker agent in her 40s and a delegate from Community Baptist Church, Subang Jaya (Selangor), was happy about the food arrangements. “The food is excellent. I have no complaints. The table arrangement also helps to facilitate conversations among different participants from Asia. It has been an enjoyable experience for me.”

PHOTOS: Gloria Wong

Sisca Liem, a church member of Gereja Bethel Indonesia (GBI, Jakarta) enjoyed the food service. “I find the ushers and waiters very helpful. In fact I always get free water bottles everyday from the volunteers. I look forward to dinner time but I am more hungry for the Word.”

Hall 7 houses more than 400 round tables with 70 to 80 waiters serving the dinner patrons at the same time. Richard Sue, 22, a sound crew member commented, “It’s busy in here! There are lots of people, everyone is excited. Some delegates told me the food is nice, and it’s freeflow.”