Dr AR Bernard, who preached at City Harvest Church on the weekend of May 4 and 5, talks to City News about the yoke of Jesus and how he feels about CHC after two years of being chairman of its Advisory Board. 

By Theresa Tan

CN PHOTO: Michael Chan.

City News: It’s been six months since we last saw you, Dr Bernard. What have you been busy with?

AR Bernard: Institution-building. Establishing Christian Cultural Center as a dynamic institution for spiritual growth and personal mission in Christ. We are working on the environment, training the people and establishing the program. We created a gallery and it will have artifacts, artwork, multimedia presentation and we registered with department of tourism, so when people come to New York, they will be stopping by at Christian Cultural Center.

You were vocal about the Trayvon Martin case—what was the big issue behind it? (Black teenager Trayvon Martin, wearing a hoodie one rainy night was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch personnel George Zimmerman; Florida police initially did not arrest Zimmerman as he claimed self-defense. Dr Bernard appeared on television and in the newspapers to discuss the matter.)

I think that what the Trayvon Martin case does is remind America that the issue of race is very much alive, and stereotypes continue to strongly influence people’s attitudes.

As Christians, how can we change the power of such stereotypes?

[Through] social engagement, humanitarian works that demonstrate our reach beyond racial, social barriers, class barriers, political barriers.

Growing in our relationship with God—how do we know if we have stagnated?

Growth should be measurable. It should be quantifiable. Measured by how you are doing holistically. Spirit, soul and body. Is the word “successful” being applied in your whole being? If that’s not true, then the areas that are deficient need to be worked on. The seventh attribute of God is self-reflection. (For the other six attributes of God, click here) The ability to assess one’s behavior, thinking, conduct, or lack thereof. It’s similar to conscience, which is the judicial aspect of our personality. It’s built within us to give us awareness, a sense of what we need to work on.

You preached about “living worthy of one’s calling”. If someone is doing something he feels is his calling, but he is exhausted all the time?

This goes back to purpose and the three questions to ask yourself. First, what gifts do you have? Second, what’s your passion? And [third], are you fulfilling that passion in the role you occupy now? If not, what other role can you occupy that lets you give expression to that passion? We are most frustrated when we are pursuing our passion. But balance is the key to life. There is a wonderful passage in the Psalms that talks about a workaholic—he misses the beauty of life. Even in ministry, you can get so involved in ministry that life passes you by.

You talked about the yoke of Jesus at your Saturday service. Two weeks ago, Pastor Kong and Sun took us through the fruit of 10 years of the Crossover Project. But there were many times for them when the yoke must not have seemed “light” or “easy”. What do we do when we feel that way?

You have to trust what Jesus said. You can’t go by feeling. You have to go by faith. And, of course, that faith is in the Word. You have to trust His judgment, trust His knowledge of you. Not just about life but about you. How you are the person He knows you are—your abilities, your passions. Trust the Scripture that He will not have us bear more than we can bear. And then when things get heavy beyond our capacity, He will make a way of escape.

The yoke is not something He is having you do. The yoke is the relationship. You are yoked together in this relationship and He’s leading. Even if you don’t understand where He is taking you, as [He is] the senior, you follow. That’s why the image of the yoke is of two oxen moving together. If you can’t move together, then it’s going to upset whatever it is that we have responsibility for. That’s why I talk about City Harvest being yoked together, the people being yoked in relationship and moving together.

How can we do that better?

Knowledge of God. Knowledge of Scripture. Knowing brings peace. In anything in life that you have to face, if you have knowledge of it, then it’s easy. If you don’t have enough, then you struggle and you have fear.

What happens if husband and wife are not equally yoked; they’re on different spiritual levels?

Whoever is the more mature must pray for guidance on how to help the other one grow. And also understand that where a person is mature in the knowledge of God and have skills in the Word, maybe the spouse is more mature in other areas, has skills in other areas. So there must be that appreciation.

Also—without getting into a marriage seminar—there is no model for marriage. There’s no one-size-fits-all model for marriage. Every person is uniquely different. We can learn from other models what works for us as a couple. Often we try to fit every marriage relationship into that one model and it doesn’t work. If the husband is an introvert and the wife is an extrovert, the tendency is for the wife to try to fit the husband into the model—“We gotta pray together every morning at 6am, we gotta go and visit Christians!”—when all he wants to do is be home with the kids, and she thinks he’s not spiritual. That’s why it’s important that the church doesn’t give models to the church that are unrealistic. But you do give them tools. When Israel went into the Promised Land, they weren’t mature, but they had all the tools to mature. The church, we give all the tools to be successful in what they do.

How do we “yoke together” with new people coming into our church?

You need to have systems in place, programs in place, people in place. I think you have it, but it’s still growing. It’s still evolving. You’re taking in new people. You’re functioning under a peculiar set of circumstances, peculiar to City Harvest. You are showing your resilience, your tenacity, your convictions. You’ve demonstrated some of the most powerful internal fortitude because of the conditions under which you as a church continue to do the work. Maybe some others would have quit by now.

As our Advisory Chairman you have been with us through these last two years. Has how you feel about City Harvest changed?

It absolutely has changed. I have a greater love and appreciation for Kong and Sun, because of what they’re doing. Everyone loves a comeback!

Once a gang member, David King Raj met Jesus in prison and found his way back to his purpose.

By Sylvester Pillay

David King Raj (left) speaking at a National Youth Council event. PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVID KING RAJ.

Most 15-year-old students are given playing an occasional harmless prank on their friends. Not so for David King Thorairajan: the pranks he played led him to prison.

Coming from a family where his parents were preoccupied with work, young Thorairajan—or Thorai, as his friends called him—turned to his friends for entertainment, enjoyment and excitement. Hungry to be part of a family, Thorai lived his life for his friends. Unfortunately, he mixed with the wrong crowd and found himself involved in gang fights for the sake of friendship.

Things turned ugly in the year 2000. It began with a gang fight that cost his best friend his life; Thorairajan spent 18 months in prison and was given six strokes of the cane. Not learning his lesson, upon his release, Thorairajan went seeking revenge for his best friend’s death. He was involved in another fight and was imprisoned a second time in 2002. This time, he was put away for eight years. He was only 21.

Thorairajan was angry and confused when he entered prison. But it was at this lowest point of his life that, God found him. He first started attending the prison’s chapel sessions because they gave him a chance to venture outside his cell. Gradually, he discovered true freedom: freedom from sin and death. He experienced the unconditional love of Christ through the acceptance and support he received from the volunteer counselors in the chapel. Touched deeply, Thorairajan made a decision to live for Christ every day—his life had been completely transformed.

His story was told on Mediacorp Channel 5’s television program, Confession Of A Crime, which traces the journeys of ex-convicts. When asked why he was willing to go public with his story, he tells City News, “There are probably two reasons why someone would boldly confess their past in public—either for their own glory or the glory of God—I chose to do it for the latter. My story belongs to God; it’s shaped to reveal His Glory.”

Actor Sylvester Pillay portrays Raj in a TV version of his life story.

After receiving salvation, Thorairajan truly became a new creation and today, calls himself “David King Raj”. Over the next three years in prison, he sat for his GCE N-, O- and A-level examinations and passed with excellent results—he topped the entire prison cohort taking their O-level examinations. Upon his release in 2008, Raj entered the Singapore Management University and graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences, with double majors in Psychology and Organizational Behavior – Human Resources in 2011.

“My journey with Christ is the most humbling experience ever. To be with the One who pardoned me and bore all my punishment. He is the leader I have decided to enslave myself to,” says Raj, adding that during his final three years in prison as a Christian, he had “many great experiences.”

Today, Raj is 31 and the founder and director of his own company, MoveMentor Consultancy, which he has structured as a social enterprise. He is a life coach and motivational speaker and focuses on transmitting values and life skills to his clients, as well as transforming others’ lives through personal and social mastery. He does considerable work with youth-at-risk, helping them to avoid the path he once took through therapy youth-camps, academic-strategic coaching and mentoring programs for youths.

“Every youth-at-risk is uniquely different. Some have had far worse childhood experiences than I had,” he notes. “We organized a Parents’ Forum last month to empower parents, who often shirk the responsibility of mentoring their children. We offer individual mentoring where parents assign us to guide their children. We hope more people will sign up as mentors, and that we have more opportunities to serve the youth and their parents.”

Raj now tells Christian parents: “Quality time comes with quantity of time. Devote yourself to Scripture and prayers for your children as much as you can. The Word of God has power to change what humans cannot.

“The Word of God is what helps sustain me. Food I can live without, but not the Scriptures,” he continues. “Everybody needs a compass to travel out of the jungle; my compass is the Word of God. God speaks to me from the Word daily, to guide me in my behaviors, attitudes, visions, passions, missions, decisions and His will for me.”

Paul Scanlon, senior pastor of Abundant Life Church, writes about how God stepped in when he preached at City Harvest Church on Apr. 21.

CN PHOTOS: Tan Song Kow.

I am writing this from Singapore where our ALM band and I are touring.

We’ve had an awesome time firstly in City Harvest Church Kuala Lumper, and these past two days in City Harvest Church, with Pastor Kong Hee.

Wow, what a weekend we’ve had here!

It has been many years since I have been in a service like we had on Saturday evening.

The best way I can describe it, was that it was a God-interrupted service. I want to say that it has become very important to me in recent years to find the right language to identify and interpret what I perceive God to be doing, wanting, or saying.

This is important because without thoughtful clarity, we invent our own interpretation of what’s happening and our stereotypical thinking usually arrives at a wrong and often exaggerated conclusion.

I have realized that one of my primary leadership gifts is the gift of perception and interpretation and, yet, I have undervalued and, therefore, underused that gift in the past. What happened this weekend at CHC gave me an opportunity to draw upon that gift in a way I haven’t for a while.

In over 35 years as a Christian I can only remember a few God-interrupted services. What I mean by that is that God had another agenda for us which was different to the one we had planned, but not because what we had planned was wrong.

A divinely-interrupted service is no more anointed that a planned one, and our goal isn’t to be interrupted, our goal is to be interruptible. God wants us to plan our work and to get on with building the church or whatever it is He has called us to do. However, He wants us to do that with a “Please Do Disturb” sign hung around our hearts and minds.

If God sees that we are interruptible, He usually doesn’t interrupt, He just blesses us in our plans. God is after flexibility—not an unplanned life—to somehow prove how open we are to being interrupted.

I remember years ago, a man would often start to prophesy during my preaching. I asked him not to do it anymore and he replied, “I can’t help it if the Spirit wants to interrupt your plans.”

I asked him, “Don’t you think the same Holy Spirit that’s using you is also using me? And don’t you think He knew we’d be in same room at same time?”

He asked, “What do you mean?”

I said, “Well, it seems to me that, according to you, the Holy Spirit keeps interrupting Himself.”

This man believed that a spontaneous contribution always trumped a prepared one. Needless to say, I never saw him again.

For my part here, this weekend, God’s interruption began when I felt a shift of priority in my spirit about three hours before the service. By that I mean that my inner flow of thought and preparation was broken, or interrupted, meaning I suddenly lost interest and confidence in my prepared message. I didn’t know what it meant so I stayed calm and shifted into interruptible mode.

It is not easy nor recommended especially as a guest speaker to approach a platform to speak to an audience such as City Harvest Church, which has 7,500 people per service, whilst in interruptible mode. It does, however, help hugely if you have a friendship with the hosting Pastor.

The presence of God was very strong in the service, or maybe it’s just that being interruptible makes you more sensitive and attentive to His presence.

The next piece of the jigsaw arrived when Pastor Tan (Ye Peng, executive pastor of CHC) got up and prayed what I would call a proclamation prayer, that it was a new season for the church and that Springtime was coming.

God immediately reminded me of a verse in Song of Songs 2 v 11: “See the winter is passed, the rains are over and gone , flowers appear on the earth, the season of singing has come.”

I asked for an iPad to find the verse and then asked if it could be put on screen for my message—whatever that was going to be. None of this was the plan—it was on-the-spot improvisation. And when my time came to speak, I began by explaining to the people that, as leaders, we had just been hijacked, and then I began to attempt to interpret the interruption.

It all came down to what I can only call a seasonal shift announcement: Winter has passed and Spring has come. The next 45 minutes for me were like receiving moment-by-moment memos from the Holy Spirit about what to say next. I don’t recommend it for your health. The result was that we now had a new language for what God was doing, and over the years I’ve realized that once we have the relevant language, then we can enter into what I call the flow of that season.

City Harvest Church have entered their Spring, and the fact that God interrupted us to say that, makes it all the more memorable and special. May we all become more interruptible, may we find the language to interpret our seasons and may we live long in His divine flow!

Reproduced with permission from Paul Scanlon.

The man Kong Hee calls his senior pastor shares his uncompromising views on discipleship.

By Theresa Tan

CN PHOTO: Michael Chan.

Dr. Yonggi Cho’s power-packed preaching on the weekend of Apr. 15 and 16 left the City Harvest Church congregation deeply encouraged. After his sermon on Sunday, he met with a small group of special guests, including His Excellency, Oh Joon, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Singapore, and Mrs Oh. Dr. Cho spoke spiritedly with the group about how God was opening doors into places like Abu Dhabi, where he has been invited to speak.

City News caught up with Dr. Cho on the topics of relationship and discipleship—the theme of CHC for the year.

CITY NEWS: Please tell us about the relationship you have with our senior pastor, Kong Hee.

DR. YONGGI CHO: First, I didn’t know too much about him. My wife was always praying for Brother Kong Hee, [telling me about] his life and ministry. Then I was invited to come to City Harvest Church here. I experienced a tremendous amazing working of the Holy Spirit in your church, then I myself began to love him. He is such a humble, anointed person of God. More than anything, I began to see that God raised him up to bring the gospel from Asia to the rest of the world.

I wanted him to come into CGI (Church Growth International, a ministry founded by Dr. Cho in 1976 to promote unity in the body of Christ), because he is a very successful pastor here. So I invited him to be a member. CGI consists of successful pastors from around the world. We became very dear friends.

As Pastor Kong’s mentor and spiritual father, how have you exercised discipleship with him?

He has been through many troubles and trials. [When I was] a senior pastor his age, I had experienced many troubles, so I try to become a spiritual supporter to him so that he can successfully pass through these troubles. Any growing ministry is bound to have troubles and trials. It is spiritual warfare: the devil will not stay silent, he will come and attack. But through this, Brother Kong Hee is better known through this suffering than any other thing. He is very much widely known throughout the world. I am one of the men who are spreading his ministry wherever I go.

What is one piece of advice you have given to Pastor Kong to help him?

As pastor of a large church, Kong Hee should learn how to delegate his ministry to his aides. He is carrying the whole burden by himself. He is doing this very wonderfully now, but he must share burden with others so that he may not be subdued by the heavy stress.

Also, as church grows, he should set the goal and vision to plant churches throughout the whole world. He should disciple many young people and send them out throughout the world to set up churches like City Harvest Church. This is very important. Bible school training is very important. One’s ministry should be shared with many young people. They will get same vision and dream to spread the gospel even more effectively throughout the world. My ministry is big because I have raised up many, many thousands of disciples. They are all over the world and they are starting churches, and that’s what I praise God for, more than my home ministry. [In my church], hundreds of thousands of people gather together. I should be proud, but those things are fleeting. But my disciples are right now working in every part of the world, in the church. And that is very important. City Harvest Church should get City Harvest Churches around the world by discipling young people.

How can members of the church help Pastor?

Support Pastor! Pray for Pastor! That’s what you must do!

Carry out your responsibility. Pastor should give his work to many associates in his church like I did, through the cell group system. I wanted to share my work with the laity, especially the women. In Korea women had no rights to do anything in the church. They couldn’t even speak! But I raised [them] up as leaders and appointed them as leaders over thousands of people. And they really took hold of the church and trained [the] people. Really wonderful and great! In Korea, 70 percent of church members are women, so women should be given more power and position to do the work of God. By doing that, I grew my church into the largest church in the world, and Kong Hee can be repeating that in Singapore.

What does a Christian need to do to fulfill God’s purpose for his life?

The Bible says it is God who is working in you to will and to desire. When you have desire to do the work of God, you pray before the Lord and the Holy Spirit will put God’s desire into your heart. You begin to have desire. Human desire disappears when you pray, and the desire put by the devil disappears when you pray. But when you have God’s desire, the Holy Spirit makes it burn stronger in your heart, and it grows into dreams and visions and desire, and you will see the direction where you should go.

Elim Chew, CityCare and City College were recently in Brunei to introduce the concept of social enterprise.

By Theresa Tan

(From left) Tammy Lim, Kenny Low, Datin Paduka Hjh Adina binti Othman, Sim Sin Sin, Wendy Lim and Elim Chew. PHOTO: Ruth Quek.

The Brunei Economic Board recently invited a group of leaders from various social enterprises in Singapore to educate business owners and students in Brunei about doing business for good.

Led by Elim Chew, president and founder of retail chain 77th Street, who helped found the Social Innovation Park, a non-profit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship and innovation, the Singapore delegation comprised Kenny Low, founder of City College and O School, sisters Tammy and Wendy Lim from CityCare, a non-profit organization that promotes volunteerism, and Sim Sin Sin, CEO of Laksania, a café that employs the mentally-challenged.

The one-day session, held at the Rizqun International Hotel in Gadong attracted about 100 entrepreneurs and students, who came to listen to the social entrepreneurs share their experiences in setting up and running successful businesses, and then re-investing the profits into projects that benefit the needy and the community. Also present was Brunei’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Datin Paduka Hjh Adina binti Othman.

Chew explained that social entrepreneurs want to see positive change in the community and in the world through a better way of conducting business.

“Being a social entrepreneur, we must also think of profit,” she told the audience. “The more profit we make, the more projects we can get started. Because the minute we run out of cash, we run out of business and we run out of the ability to help people.”

Low shared that great businesses can be born out of pain and difficulty. “The more pain you have experienced in addressing the challenges to fill in the gaps of societal concerns, the more entrepreneurial you become as a person,” he said. City College, which offers an alternative path for those who fall behind in the mainstream education system, and O School, which offers a platform for disenchanted youth to hone and display their dance skills, have both at some point presented daunting challenges to Low. Overcoming these difficulties have made him a more resilient business owner. To date, City College has helped over 600 students enter tertiary institutions.

Low felt that “through sharing the stories of City College and O School, [I] was able to help the attendees better understand the concept of social entrepreneurship and also inspire them to believe that they could be positive change agents in their society. Moving forward, I hope to be able to help their youth sector to develop solutions and programs to patch the gaps in Brunei.”

The delegation was encouraged by what they experienced in Brunei. Said Wendy Lim, manager of CityCare, “Youths and businessmen in Brunei are getting interested in the concept of social enterprise. More encouraging is the fact that BEDB is very open to creating greater awareness and doing more for the community.”

Executive director of CityCare, Tammy Lim, added, “We hope that through our sharing, doors will open for us to set up CityCare there—we can help to develop programs, especially in schools, to promote volunteerism, impact lives and create more cities that care.”

A teacher’s heart for her student leads to a home makeover for a family of 12.

By Theresa Tan

Day one of the makeover was spent clearing out the flat. PHOTOS: Benjamin Denning & Michael Chan for City News.

What began as concern for her student’s continual absence from school led teacher Faith Denning to investigate the true story behind the child’s behavior.

“She would tell me, ‘We haven’t done the laundry for months, I cannot find my uniform,’” described Denning. “She would not come to school for days because her MRT card had not been topped up. When the school counselor and I finally showed up at her home to talk to her mother, we were not allowed in the house and had to hold a parent-teacher meeting in the corridor.”

Early this year, Denning’s student approached her for help. Her mother was pregnant with her ninth child and could not cope.

Denning and two church friends showed up at the four-room flat. It had not been cleaned for 10 years. Six large bags of unwashed laundry took up a quarter of the living room. The bedrooms smelled of cat urine, and dirty clothes were strewn all over the floor. The kitchen was wet with urine and had no working lights. It was unthinkable that young children had to eat, sleep and do their homework in a home like this. The team knew something had to be done immediately.

A GOD-APPOINTED TIME

At the same time, furniture company V.Hive had approached the Business Breakthrough Group, a gathering of Christian business people and executives in City Harvest Church under the pastoral oversight of Goh Yock Kiang and Chew Eng Han, to propose the donation of furniture to needy families.

Denning and her friends, being part of BBG, were buoyed by this donation. With the help of two groups from BBG and Kelvin Low, the humanitarian project manager from Imagine TV Network who headed the “BBG Extreme Makeover” project, Denning began to plan the home clean-up over a period of two weeks.

There were other urgent needs such as beds and mattresses which were too costly for the groups to purchase. A team member shared the story on Facebook, listing out the items and costs. Miraculously, within a 13-hour period, every item on the list amounting to over S$5,000 was fully sponsored by kind friends!

“God was with us every step of the way,” said Kevin Ng, cell group leader of BBG205. “He gave me a verse from Matthew 25 which I shared with our group, ‘Whatever you do unto the least of these … you do unto Me.’ We were prepared to do this home makeover unto God. This family mattered to Him.”

The makeover team.

For the two groups, BBG205 and BBG210, the five-day home makeover project was a true challenge. To help the family clear the space for the washing and painting, a team of three women went to start sorting out unwanted clothing.

There were over 300 kg of loose, dirty laundry to contend with, some of it covered in maggots. There were boxes of mixed up items, some rusty, some mouldy. Expired food filled the cupboards, covered with spider webs and insect droppings. Cat urine and faeces stained the walls and floor behind the wardrobes. Cockroaches were found in every corner of every cupboard and drawer. For many in the group, these were sights and smells never before encountered.

Yet, every person on the makeover team put in their all—some had eczema and allergies, others had respiratory issues but they set aside every excuse to complete the job. Those with young children arranged for childcare throughout the weekend.

“I am so proud of my members,” said Julie Goh, who leads BBG210 with her husband Christopher Pang. “Many of them are in property, yet they gave up their weekend, which is peak time for property agents, to do this makeover.”

“The total tonnage of what needed to be done would have ordinarily crushed a herd of elephants,” quipped Ng. “Yet the team had a never–give-up attitude, and they did it in five days. And God sent the right people to help at exactly the right time.”

“Angels”, as Low called them, appeared to help at crisis moments. It was impossible to keep the 300 kg of dirty laundry in the house, so Denning and the daughters sifted out more items to be thrown. They had bagged about 150 kg of unwanted clothing and were trying to figure out how to dispose of the trash bags when Low heard the sweet sound of a horn—a karang guni (rag-and-bone) man miraculously appeared, and proceeded to buy up all the bags of old and dirty clothes.

“The best part was, the karang guni man gave the family S$60 for the clothes, so they were very happy,” said Low.

The washing and folding of 24 bags of the remaining dirty laundry was fully sponsored by For The Love Of Laundry, a laundry company. New Charis Mission pitched in to provide delivery of the donated furniture.

A neighbor who was not on good terms with the family, watched the team try to sand the front door down to fit it back into the door frame, and offered not only his professional electric sander but his services as well! He commented, “If not for you all helping them, I would never step into their house.”
The painters did the job at cost price—one even brought his teenage daughter to help with the cleaning. Even the delivery men who saw it was an act of love for the needy, reduced their delivery fee from S$55 to S$15!

A BRAND NEW DAY

The girls’ room with new bunk beds.

With rooms cleared out and painted, infested furniture and spoilt appliances removed, toilets fixed and cleaned, lights repaired, the four-room flat was unrecognizable to anyone who had seen the house before the makeover.

The final touch was the furniture. V.Hive’s fresh white wardrobes arrived, along with four new dining chairs that accompanied the family’s cleaned-up marble table. A new TV console became the centerpiece of the living room.

A donated queen size bed replaced the bug-infested master room mattress. A large donated couch replaced a broken down settee. Two bunk beds were installed in the girls’ room and one in the boys’ room.

The children were thrilled by their new beds, and even pitched in to fit the bedsheets and pillowcases.

By the end of the makeover, the little ones were so used to seeing the team members’ faces that they asked them to “come back tomorrow la!”

The new living area.

This makeover proved a strong start to the BBG Extreme Makeover project, demonstrating the power of God when willing hearts and hands do His bidding. Other groups now have an example to follow in upcoming makeover sessions this year.

Following up are social workers from City Harvest Community Services Association, so that there is a helpline available when the family needs it.

“I felt that our two groups really bonded,” commented Richard Yim, a team member. “Now we know each other much better.”

Ng noted, “God’s light really shone through every member. I thank God for everyone who made this happen, and for the successful completion of the project!”

Lily Cashin, who performs at this weekend’s service (Feb. 11-12) with professional ballroom dancer Mirko Gozzoli, shares her incredible story of how God saved her and transformed her to dance for Him.

By Theresa Tan

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHC PHOTOGRAPHY MINISTRY.

I was not a believer till I had my first encounter with God in Le Celle, a St Francis monastery in Cortona, Italy in May 2005. On this occasion, I was playing tourist guide to a couple of Japanese friends. We entered this room, which was St Francis’s living room, and as I did I felt something pushing me down to kneel. I knelt down with tears streaming down my cheeks and said what I now know was one of Jesus’ most profound sayings, “God forgive me for I knew not what I was doing.” I then got up and my very first thought was, “I wonder whether God heard me.”

At that moment one of the oldest monks came into the room (something they don’t normally do especially when there were three Oriental tourists who were unlikely to be able to speak Italian). He held my hand and spoke to me. He talked about this, that and the other, and he went on for about 10 minutes and as we were leaving, I heard from God for the very first time. “I heard you, child.” Of course, I thought I was going crazy but I suddenly felt this incredible need to find a church in Singapore. From that moment, I was hooked. I visited two other churches before coming to CHC in August 2005. Here, God gave me lots of signs to let me know this was my church. I was from a convent school and back then they didn’t operate church services the way we do here in CHC.

In August 2006, a friend brought in a dance teacher from China and she asked me to take lessons with him. I told her I couldn’t think of anything more ridiculous. At that time, Pastor Kong was preaching about reaching out to the Chinese and we were told to bring our Chinese friends to a dinner party hosted by CHC. I then told my friend I would take up dancing only if she lets me take him to church. But by February 2007 I was fed up with dancing and had decided to give it all up.

On that fateful day, I rang my sister Carol to tell her of my decision and in the evening of that very same day, Carol, David, Howard and I went to a Christian meeting held by another church. Nobody knew us at this place and certainly no one knew about my dancing! The four of us went up for prayers and when it was my turn, the pastor told me, “Dance for the Lord.” I remember all of us looking at each other awestruck! The next morning I thought I should check this prophecy and who better to check with? God Himself of course.

So during my quiet time, I asked Him “Was this from you?” And this was the second time I heard from Him “If I don’t send you who can I send?” I didn’t even know this verse was from Isaiah. So I carried on dancing, but I wasn’t sure if He was sending the right person for the job. I was not known to be the epitome of patience back then. In one very frustrating moment I said to God, “Are you sure I am fit for this job? I lose my temper so I am not exactly the right ambassador for You!” Of course, God just lets us rant and rave because He knows what’s really in our hearts.

So the next day I continued with my lessons. I then met a Japanese man who was in Shenzhen. He invited me to go to Osaka to attend a party where the world champion was doing a show. I was clueless as to who this world champion was. That’s how I met Mirko Gozzoli and his previous partner Alessia Betti.

Sometime in November 2008, God told me a dance studio is like a fishing boat. I behaved like Jonah and told Him there was no way I was going to start a studio, it will mean that I’ll be tied down in Singapore. So I told Him “Why can’t I just carry on as it is now? Go to any studio to take lessons etc.” Strangely during this time it became very difficult for me to get into any studios. I then gave up and told God if He really wanted a studio, He will have to find the place as it is not easy to find a huge space without pillars, in a convenient spot for transportation etc. He then found our current location. It was April 2009 and the world was still reeling from the collapse of the financial system. The chief landlord was having a very difficult time trying to get someone to take over 4,000 sq ft of space. Even NTUC was negotiating for two weeks, not prepared to make the commitment. So I came, I saw and I put down the down payment.

The next sign from God was my friend Rosa asking me what I was going to call the studio. I told her that since it belongs to God and not me, I will let Him name it. During this period, I was reading the New Testament and the Old Testament simultaneously. In both Testaments, I reached the part about floods. In the New Testament it was Matthew 7:25, “If you don’t build your house on a rock, when the flood comes it will be washed away.” And of course in the Old Testament, it was Noah’s Ark, Genesis 6:17. I told God “Please not Noah’s Dance Studio!” He then reminded me “The Ark is a very big boat! So I told Rosa the next day, the name of the studio was Ark. We all thought it was a very appropriate name as the animals went in two by two, and so do dancers. She then asked me “Can you make it work?” Although the rent per sq ft was cheap when one multiplied it by 4,000 the amount became quite daunting. Anyway, I put up a brave front and told her in the words of Esther “If I perish, I perish.” As if God was ever going to let Esther or me perish!

After this I went to Italy for training with Mirko. On the last day of this trip, on May 7, 2009, my Italian friend asked me what was the name of my studio. I said Ark and she repeated the name in Italian and said, “Arca.” In my heart I told God, the Italian name sounds so much better than the English name but since it is Your studio, You can call it anything You want, even Noah’s Dance Studio. Very shortly afterwards my friend’s daughter handed me a paper bag containing a gift. Holding the paper bag together was a sticker with the name “ARCA” on it. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

During this same trip I had received a phone call from O School asking to rent Arca, as they were in-between studios. They couldn’t extend the lease at their old place and their new premises at Scape weren’t ready. God is good. O School stayed for about 9 months. After they left, strangely one studio closed, two dance clubs shut down and most of the dancers came to Arca.

God also organized my meeting with Mirko and for him to teach me. Normally world champions don’t give solo lessons. For my first trip in September 2008, Mirko had organized for one of his students to accompany me during my lessons with him. But on that trip, for some reason, the student couldn’t make it. So being the gentleman that he is, Mirko gave me solo lessons. He must have really suffered!

In March 2009, I invited him and his wife and her then partner to come and join us in the celebration of one of his students’ 21^st birthday in Singapore. I thought it might be a good idea to perform a show with him, but then I thought better of it. I probably couldn’t afford his fees, so I didn’t send the email. On his arrival and before the party, he surprised me by saying “Sara and I would like to give you a present. I will do a dance with you.” You can imagine how elated I was.

I have the greatest respect for him as a teacher and as a person. He is very charismatic and full of love and kindness for all his students, whether they are finalists in Blackpool, young amateurs, senior couples or even, senior partner. He truly is God’s gift to me. Without him I wouldn’t be able to do half the things I can do now. He has never placed a limit on my ability. Whenever I remind him I am 56 years old, he will always say, “No excuse.” Without Mirko, many wouldn’t know who I am. But with Mirko as my lighthouse, God has given me a platform from which to reach out to the dance world.

On this trip, Mirko then started saying he liked this name Arca (after all it is Italian) and suggested starting a studio in Italy with the same name. Praise God, we have just found and bought our first studio in Italy! We carry on God’s vision under Progetto Arca in Italy.

Late last year, I was beginning to wonder if what I was doing is in God’s will since I wasn’t bringing huge numbers to church. Of course, there had been a few from different parts of the world, as far flung as Estonia, Lithuania, and Russia, reaching out and testifying to a few but today, we have many from Arca in church whose very presence is by itself a miracle. God is indeed very good.

So why did God bring me to CHC? Well, it’s the only church in Singapore which has a dance school!

I was called when I was 50 and I remember telling my youngest brother then, I am so happy that God called me so late in my life so I could enjoy my earlier years of merry making, but now six years on I look at my past life and wish that God had called me earlier instead so I could have avoided all the mistakes I had made back then. That’s why when I became a Christian, the verse that appealed to me most was in Galatians 2:20,

“It’s no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave himself up for me.”

I am the one who owed 500 denarii (well, actually more like millions of denarii) but God has forgiven me my debt. I pray that all who don’t already know Jesus will come to know Him as soon as possible.

Berklee-bound songwriter Lee Fengheng shares about his recent win at NEA’s Eco Music Challenge 2011.

Contributed By Theresa Tan

Lee Fengheng (in red) with his vocalist Robert Sunga (in black) and other contestants from the competition. PHOTO COURTESY OF LEE FENGHENG.

Not many 21-year-olds can boast about having a self-penned song playing on the national airwaves but for Lee Fengheng’s heartfelt ode about saving Mother Nature, he was crowned winner of The National Environment Agency’s Eco Music Challenge 2011 in August. “World Without Fences” is the Clean and Green Singapore 2012 campaign’s official theme song and has been played on Mediacorp’s 98.7 and 93.3 radio stations. The song also appears on the Eco Music Challenge Season 2 album launched in October, with sales proceeds going toward an environmental non-governmental organization.

While Lee has competed during his secondary school- and university-going days, this is his biggest break yet. Impressively enough, Lee is a self-taught musician who has never had any formal music training, save for some early guitar lessons from his church ministry leader.

However, his foray into song-writing only came in 2010, when he joined the People’s Association Song-writing Competition. In the recent singer-songwriter competition organized by 987FM’s called The Next Big Thing, he emerged among the top five in the final round together with his vocalist, Robert Sunga, who was also the vocalist for “World Without Fences.”

Lee, a City Harvest Church member who once volunteered in the JAMs (Jesus For All Minds) Church as a guitarist is now serving in his cell group in the same capacity. He will be pursuing his studies at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in United States next year.

City News catches up with the passionate musician for a chat about his main takeaway from the Eco Music Challenge 2011 as well as his plans for Berklee.

What do you think is the average Singaporean’s awareness about green issues?

Singaporeans probably already know it. Many times, it’s about whether they choose to embrace it, or close one eye and ignore it. I think the NEA has done a great job in educating the public about going green. It’s evident in the posters we see around in toilets, shopping malls, and parks.

How did it feel to see and hear your song on national television?

I was thrilled! It wasn’t just about being able to see it on TV, it was the immense satisfaction I got seeing the fruits of my labor; I had random people telling me they heard my song and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was also surprising when the song was played in the movie theaters while I went to the cinema one day. It was something money couldn’t buy, and I thank God for it.

How has taking part in this competition altered your awareness about the message of Clean And Green?

It made me more aware of the environment and our surroundings. Going green is more than a campaign, it’s a lifestyle. I’ve come to realize that we all have a part to play and it takes unity for anything significant to happen. I have grown to embrace this lifestyle and educate others when I can.

What are three things Singaporeans can do today to make this world greener?

It begins with the little things: they can make the effort to clear their food trays after consuming their meals, turn off any electrical appliances that are not in use, and use environmentally friendly bags when going grocery shopping.

What are you currently doing as you wait to enter Berklee?

Currently, I perform four to five nights a week at various places such as Timbre @ The Arts House, Timbre @ Substation, One Altitude, Oriole @ 313, One Twenty-Six)with my band, Afterhours. I also teach at SOMA (School Of Music And The Arts) and Medley Music School during the day. I continue to write and produce songs in my free time. I am also applying for various local scholarships and grants to fund my music education.

What will you be studying at Berklee and what are your plans upon graduation?

I plan to study Composition and Production at Berklee. I would like to be a session guitarist, composer, as well as a producer. Having knowledge of many musical instruments gives me the ability to arrange music in different styles and helps me with composing as well. I am also interested in film-scoring and writing jingles.

What advice do you have for aspiring musicians?

Don’t give up. Be sure of what you want to do. I think many young musicians have a misconception of a music career. They think that they have to be the solo artiste singing original songs, selling CDs and performing at concerts. There are actually many options in the music industry—be it a recording engineer, session musician, songwriter, producer, gigging musician in pubs/clubs or a music teacher. Young musicians should be prepared to spend hours in practice and sacrifice time out with friends. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment to be successful. They also need to always return to their roots and remember why they wanted to do music in the first place. That is very important for longevity in the career as well.

Log on to Lee Fengheng’s Facebook page at “Feng Music” for more updates and information.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you can help raise awareness and funds by shopping at Watsons.

Contributed By Theresa Tan

Live and loud at last year’s Pink Ribbon Walk. The Walk has grown from year to year. PHOTOS COURTESY OF BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION

As some of you are reading this, thousands of participants are gathering at the Waterfront at Marina Bay for the Watsons Pink Ribbon Walk. They will traverse a 3.8 km route in support of breast cancer awareness.

The walk on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. takes participants past key attractions around Marina Bay including the Art Science Museum, the Floating Platform, Merlion Park, and The Promontory. This is also the event that launches Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Singapore.

This is possibly the third Pink Ribbon Walk BCF has held in its 13-year history. “Since BCF first started, the key launch for Breast Cancer Awareness Month has taken on several forms: a vehicle rally, a car rally, a run and now a walk,” says Noor Quek, president of the Breast Cancer Foundation. “The walk has been on and off, but [this year it is] bigger and better, and caters for as broad a sector of society as is possible. Walking also allows for older people, children and less fit individuals to participate at their pace. An evening walk makes it even more fun and manageable, as they can enjoy the skyline at sunset. This year, a carnival and some fun events like an auction of Dell computers, Zumba and the Pink Gloves Dance will add to the festivities.”

Quek notes that this year’s walk has garnered greater support from families and corporations, “men, women and children, rather than groups of young people. It seems to be seen as a good, healthy way to bond, and for a good cause.”

Also, health and beauty retailer Watsons has adopted BCF as its official charity for the second year running. Watsons has an admirable target of raising S$100,000 this year for the foundation through three avenues: the Watsons Pink Ribbon Walk, the selling of BCF pink ribbon pins and the giveaway of BCF Breast Books, and the Watsons’ Pink Shelves Program, which launched on Sep. 22 and will go on till Nov. 16.

Cathy Yeap, managing director of Watsons Personal Care Stores, tells City News why this cause. “According to the Singapore Cancer Registry Interim Report 2005-2009, breast cancer remains the number one cancer killer among women in Singapore. On average, approximately 1,492 women are diagnosed with the disease annually, with at least 354 lives claimed every year. With the increase of breast cancer cases in Singapore, Watsons strongly believes in promoting the cause of protection and prevention against this disease.

“Through its 105 Watsons Personal Care Stores, Watsons would like to reach out to its more than a million customers that visit the stores each month, most of them women—including its 400,000-strong card membership database—to help raise awareness of breast cancer. With an increasing presence and involvement in the healthcare industry with 30 pharmacy outlets and more in the pipeline, Watsons also aims to take a greater step towards health initiatives by supporting BCF.”

The BCF has also organized Pink Ribbon Runs.

The Pink Shelves program, which runs in 40 Watsons stores islandwide, has four partners: Brands, Johnsons & Johnson, L.D. Waxon and Procter & Gamble. Participating products range from vitamins and bird’s nest to shampoo and facial care items. For every product sold, S$0.10 will go to BCF.

The monies raised will go towards funding awareness activities, “in particular, counseling training sessions, support and volunteer services to in- and out-bound breast cancer patients as referred by hospitals, and outreach via various forms of media. The money raised will also fund activities for support programs,” explains Quek, adding that the Pink Ribbon Walk, as a support program, has been paying off in greater ways.

“Looking at the increasing number of participants … it would appear than more people are beginning to appreciate the fact that early detection can save lives and breasts. [The Walk is] a nice, non-fearful way to pass a serious but hopeful message to a wide audience.”

“Watsons hopes that the funds raised will provide BCF programmes the means and expertise to help patients and even survivors to cope with the tough times they are going through,” adds Yeap.

For more information, go to the Breast Cancer Foundation’s website at www.bcf.org.sg and Watsons at www.watsons.com.sg.

This season of Arise & Build, themed “My Church, My Life”, sees City Harvest Church members ready to arise together again and give to God’s house.

Contributed By Theresa Tan

This weekend of Sep. 24 and 25, City Harvest Church will enter into the sixth year of its building fund campaign.

The Arise & Build Pledge weekend will happen on Nov. 5 and 6, and the four-month Building Fund period is from November 2011 to February 2012.

This announcement, made by Kong Hee, senior pastor of the church to members at a meeting on Tuesday, Sep. 20, was met with warm applause and loud cheers.

Themed “My Church, My Life”, Arise & Build this year focuses on City Harvesters and how many of the turning points and key moments in their lives are closely tied to God and church.

Arise & Build is one of the defining elements of City Harvest Church, an act of faith exercised in one heart and spirit by the church. Since 1994/1995 when it started the first building fund to pay for the rental and set-up of Hollywood Theatre along Tanjong Katong Road, the church and its members have seen their faith and giving rewarded by God, in physical and spiritual ways.

For Cheo Meng Chin and Josephine Lim, long-time members who have given since the first building fund, this is an exciting time. “We have been anticipating this Arise & Build campaign as we are excited that we can once again step out in faith, expect the unexpected and for miracles to happen and doors to open,” says Lim. “We saw how our firstborn, now 12, gave generously two years ago, and she was happy with her participation in the last campaign. So, this is really an expression of the Bible verse, ‘As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’”

Members young and old give to the building fund collectively to fulfill the vision for this place for worship. Like the people of Israel in 1 Chronicles 29, who gave to the building of the temple of the Lord —“with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the LORD”— we bring our gifts, living out the saying, “Unequal amounts but equal sacrifice.”

A PERFECT PLACE FOR WORSHIP

In April this year, City Harvest Church fulfilled a six-year dream for a new place for worship when it moved into Suntec Singapore. While it already owns a building at 1, Jurong Street 91, that space has a seating capacity of only 2,300. Suntec Singapore is the perfect location for CHC as it easily fits the size of its 22,049-strong congregation, is centrally-located and accessible by public transport, and it has existing facilities and retail amenities to cater to the needs of members and attendees.

In March 2010, CHC became a co-owner of Suntec Singapore via an investment in the consortium which owns Suntec Singapore. Through the co-ownership and lease agreement signed, the church has non-exclusive use of Halls 601 to 603 on the sixth floor, the Theatre plus 10 meeting rooms for 47 weeks of each year for the next four years; CHC has the option to renew for another six years thereafter. The church’s use of the space complies with URA’s updated 2010 guidelines for religious use of commercial venues.

“The reality in Singapore is such that without a co-ownership [or] joint venture, it is very difficult and costly for a church to own and use a property for the long term beyond the plots allotted by HDB, which are offered on 30-year leases only,” explained Kong at the meeting. “In view of the above ownership structure of Suntec, the ‘co-ownership and lease’ model has been the most realistic and cost-efficient way for CHC to use the premises for worship. At the same time, our strategy allows us to use the returns from our shareholdings to substantially defray the rental cost incurred from the usage of the halls.”

The sum CHC projected for the use of Suntec Singapore is S$310 million over the next 10 years. This amount is not what the church paid for its stake in the consortium; it is for the total investment in the consortium, purchase of fixed assets or capital expenditures (seating tiers, graphics wall, LED screens, etc), the estimated future rental expenses, and other operating costs related to the usage of the licensed area in Suntec.

“Based on the amount raised from previous Arise & Build campaigns, we will conservatively need another eight to nine years, from 2011 to 2020, to raise the amount … CHC hopes to achieve the goal of self-sustainability in a shorter period,” said Kong.

Currently, the amount that CHC needs to raise is S$229 million over the next eight to nine Arise & Build campaigns, he said.

The church accounts for the funds raised and its expenditure at the end of each financial year. These accounts are revealed to executive members at the Annual General Meeting, and thereafter, made available online at the church website.

For Dee Teo, 35, this will be her first Arise & Build experience. “I’m excited to give to the Lord, to build our place of worship. I’ll challenge myself to give!”

For Lau Quan Han, 25, “this Arise & Build brings new excitement. I have given through junior college, national service and university and I’m keen to give especially since God has blessed me with my current job. My giving this time not only expresses my love for the church, but my gratefulness for God’s faithfulness too.”

A number of members City News spoke to felt that the decision to use Suntec Singapore has been carefully considered and was the right one. “I feel it is the most wise and prudent decision at this point of time. Suntec is suitable not only in terms of location, but also to the numbers and growing needs of the members of our church. And we have a stake in it. I am confident that this is the best possible move Pastor Kong and the leadership of City Harvest can make,” says Gideon Yeo, 25.

Kong closed with a call for all members to knit their hearts together and to honor God and love people through this Arise & Build season. “Thank you for choosing to stay committed and united together … Our church will keep on learning, improving and we remain committed to each and every member. Let’s continue to build a church without walls, reaching out to the unchurched, loving people fervently and most importantly, loving and glorifying Jesus in our lives.”